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It's a common theme that the overwhelming majority of Blacksburg residents want smart, sustainable economic growth that preserves the unique character of this town.
The problem is that developers are more interested in making a quick buck. Back in early May of 2006, Llamas Inc. submitted a rezoning application to build a "mixed use" development project. Like good entrepreneurs, they knew how to talk the talk to paint a pretty picture in the hopeful minds of town council.
The original site plans, according to the developers, consisted of "a mixed use town center with commercial, residential, office, retail, hotel, entertainment, public and cultural facilities ... that provides a distinctive appearance and a true sense of space." According to the developers, this would include "Pedestrian-scale storefronts, small-scale shopping, walkways, manicured landscaping and open public areas compliment one another to create a social atmosphere." Residents were assured that the plan couldn't work with a big box and town council approved those original plans.
Then things began to unravel and the residents of Blacksburg had their trust shattered. The site plans originally submitted became drastically altered in late March of 2007, allowing for an 186,000 square-foot store that, strangely, looked exactly like a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Turns out while the developers were promoting the idea of small-scale stores to the public they were out pursuing talks with large-scale big-box retailers. Rumors began to swirl and residents of Blacksburg did the smart educated thing to do. They began protesting and campaigning for legislation to protect their common interests.
Ordinance 1450 was proposed and Blacksburg residents made a strong showing at town council in a meeting that consisted of over four hours of citizen's comments. The overwhelming majority of the Blacksburg residents who took to the microphone to voice their concerns were pro-1450 and against any big-box store near Margaret Beeks elementary school.
It is important to note that ordinance 1450 was a very moderate proposal that simply stated that any project over 80,000 square feet required a special use permit. Due to overwhelming public pressure, 1450 passed unanimously, providing one more necessary tool for the town's residents to fight for smart, sustainable economic growth. A necessary tool after it had been discovered that the lighting plans for the project posted on the town's website in early June of 2007 specifically labels the mysteriously large big-box as "Wal-Mart," confirming long-held fears.
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And the Town Council which is mostly made up of outsiders who did not grow up in Blacksburg, but instead migrated from other parts of the country and brought their view of an "ideal town" with them qualify as local? Right.
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I'd say our elected Town Council is more representative of local citizens than out of state developers. They count on us for input in the local democratic process and have done a fantastic job in responding to the needs of our community.
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The council is more representative of the hippie-liberal-environmentalist crowd than the average Blacksburg citizen. We have our share of greenies here, but they are by far not in the majority, they just managed to get elected to the council because of the whole Toms Creek Sewer debate, and are now working to entrench their anti-growth idealism on the Town.
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