Posted by: John H. at Jul 15 I hope Fairmount is successful in this action, even though I'm not a big fan of theirs. The Council (at least the 4 who opposed it) showed their pettiness in denying the Sonic based on traffic, noise, light, and pedestrian concerns. Seeing as how they also approved the Wendy's across the street (and it's closer to homes than Sonic ever will be), where is their justification for denying Sonic? It's certainly not because of any legitimate or logicial reason...this is political retaliation by the BURG-supported council members...and it's pathetic. By their logic in this decision, Wendy's should have been denied as well. And look at Fairmount's page for the project...they show a Dunkin Donuts drive-through in an outparcel. That too, by the council's current logic, must be denied...but on what legitimate grounds? They are treading on very thin ice and are sending a clear message to developers and prospective businesses to avoid the Town. Flag Abuse

Posted by: P. Allen at Jul 11 Lucy is absolutely correct, denial of the permit was purely another tactic by the hoodlums at BURG...they couldn't kill the project entirely, so they have, + I know people involved...embarked on an agenda to kill piecemeal. First & Main + other projects will continue to attract business owners + shoppers because our Downtown Blacksburg landlords do a miserable job of maintaining their buildings + charge wack rents. Case in point, on-going failure to upgrade the dance studio facilities which closed from water damage. An issue they've been fighting for years. BURG + Downtown Merchants can whine all they want, but if they don't deliver infrastructure business requires to succeed the owners+consumers will go elsewhere. The great thing that is happening downtown is the Main Street Inn, Black Box Theatre, the expanded Farmer's Market + Park, Main Street improvements, VT Performing Arts Center, Lyric. The need is to get A: Landlords to pull their weight and make it a desirable destination; B: "Grown Up" Businesses need to move in-Art Galleries, Design Studios, Above Retail Loft Residences, One/Two "mid-upscale restaurants" that aren't pubs or college sandwich shops, until business owners can add those to the mix, you're going to continue to see the struggle. Tattoo parlors + sub-shops don't attract consumers beyond undergraduates. Thousands of employees at our research facilities, university + professional employers want more than that. Until Downtown 'gets it' it will struggle. It's time to grow up. Flag Abuse

Posted by: Jeff at Jul 10 I'm against the possibility of a Wal-Mart as much as the next person. But putting in a Sonic has nothing to do with this. I'd love to have a local Sonic come in! Flag Abuse