We had a very long meeting last night. There were more people there than I’ve ever seen before. As one might expect, the vast majority of those present were opposed to the store opening in Old Town. A significant subset of those opposed the store opening anywhere. Thanks to everyone that came out! Wish we had that much citizen involvement on a regular basis.
The City Attorney made a long presentation in order to give his opinion on the law in this matter. There is a copy of his document here. The long and short of this appears to be that this store has fulfilled the City’s requirements for a retail establishment and it may open. Many in the crowd disagreed with his opinion and urged the Council to simply pull the store’s business license. The Attorney also went through the machinations and lawsuits that PWC (whose budget is roughly 10x ours) endured in fighting with the porn shops in the County. IMPORTANT: They spent a ton of money but were ultimately unsuccesful in closing any of these businesses and ended up settling for an enforcement mechanism that was already available.
The Council listened to our citizens and then we decided to refer the question to our Land-Use committee to do two things: The Land-Use committee will investigate the current status of the business and explore the legal reality of a business like this operating in our Old Town. The Land-Use committee will also investigate the matter in order to establish the impacts of this sort of business on the community and then the committee will forward recommendations to Council to enact some regulation. This is important in that whatever action is taken must be carefully considered, not another ill-considered effort that ends up with the City in federal court. We must proceed by the numbers.
For my part, I don’t care much for the business as it currently stands and I especially don’t like the location of the business. I don’t want to see this kind of stuff in Old Town where we have spent so much effort and money to build a welcoming environment. When I brought forth Manassas Next – which included the work on Battle St. and championed the creation of an Arts and Entertainment district, this wasn’t the sort of entertainment I had in mind….
On a seperate issue: Some have asked about why the meeting wasn’t televised. They have suggested that we were trying to hide something from our citizens…Hiding something in a meeting with some 250 people present…Are you people for real? How much time do you think we have to do this job? I’ve got a company to run, a family to care for, bikes to ride in order to keep my diabetes in check and, during my free time, I’m on the Council. The fact is that we budgeted to televise only regular Council meetings…that’s the big secret. If you’re concerned about this or any other issue come on out to City Hall!!
September 8, 2010 at 10:42 am
Andy, thank you for sharing this and for the Council to hear citizen input. I know the City has an obscenity ordinance that is difficult to enforce. Is that something that citizen input can assist in? I know it was tried in the past with the MVC. PWC also has a common-sense ordinance on “adult businesses” that could be explored for the City.
September 8, 2010 at 10:56 am
@Dave: you’re quite welcome. Citizen input is always welcome and appropriate. If you have something, please forward it!
As for PWC laws, I’m sure you will see a healthy discussion in the LU committee about what PWC and other local jurisdictions do. It really is the best place to start as many of those laws have already been vetted in a court of law and there’s no reason to start from square zero.
Also, I need to get with you on some bike stuff soon!
September 8, 2010 at 11:18 am
Andy, I personally want to thank the Mayor, all of the Council, the City Manager and Attorney for last night’s session. I came primarily to hear the opening portion – the Mayor’s comments and City Attorney.
The points I made in my response to Delegate Miller over my views and concerns of the BPOL process and City Code were reflected – and answered for me in part – in what they said at the beginning, so if you had glanced over in my direction, there were several times during Bob’s explanation I was nodding my head.
The Council’s decision of what to do next further answered my concerns. Marching henceforth by the numbers reflects sound governance, regardless of the naysayers.
Personally, I found the most humorous moment to be when the gentleman referred to the gun shop in Old Town, and the sounds of people around me that one exist. That guy is an expert on black powder rifles, receives referrals from even our Musuem, and is an example of a true niche market. The reactions told me people don’t wander Old Town enough…heck, drop in that shop and the guy gives you a history lesson, even if not looking to make a purchase of use his service!
By the way, had a moment before the session began to speak to Del. Miller. I was told by him he was disappointed in my response – I guess he figures I would get up on a “high horse” instead of my usual look at it and see if we have a break somewhere in our City process or Code (and as you know yourself, both my son Andrew and I have several times pointed to disconnects).
Still, y’all are doing a great job of approaching this and taking proper steps, regardless of personal feelings. And that, my friend, is what being a true leader is all about! (the readers may now rise and give a standing ovation to the Council!)
September 8, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I figure it I’m going to voice an opinion on your blog, I’d better be ready to stand up and say the same in public, and I did last night. Thank you, Andy, and the Council, for the opportunity for all to be heard. We don’t always agree, but we are a great community, and that was evidenced last night by all the eloquent speakers, young and old.
September 8, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Cindy,
Sorry I wasn’t there…I was out of town on business and not only missed this event but another one as well. I would have stood up with you to say…NO MORE LAWSUITS! How crazy is that…That’s like buying a glass of water when you’re already drowning!
WOW Raymond, I’m not disappointed in your response…one of reason instead of emotion!
I believe I may have just joined the “party” of INDEPENDENT VOTERS.
September 8, 2010 at 1:55 pm
@Cindy – I don’t know that we agree on all of this but I thought it took guts to stand up and say your piece….
September 9, 2010 at 10:12 am
Cindy,
While I spoke in opposition to the establishment, I respect both your and Mrs. Kendall Alexander for being brave enough to publically support the right of the shop owner to open. That took guts, something the prospective business-owners are lacking, considering they opted to send their lawyers instead. Having read both yours and Mrs. Alexander’s follow on comments regarding your respective positions, I am glad that you and I can disagree, without being disagreeable. I cannot say the same for Mrs. Alexander, since she wishes to compare those in opposition to the Taliban ( see BVBL, Insidenova for her commentary). I object to this type of establishment on principle. I don’t like it. I think it detracts from the community as a whole. That said, I conceed that the owners do have a right to sell their wares as long as they adhere to all laws and ordinances. That said, my biggest objection is to the location. Old Town is not the place for this type of business. It will do more harm than good to the area, and other businesses. With all of the retail space available in Manassas, I am sure they could find a more suitable, less controversial location, and probably with a lover rent.
September 11, 2010 at 8:00 am
Isn’t this a “City” issue? What was Miller going to do about it other than grandstand? Also, I wasn’t there but I heard that Marshal was there. Shouldn’t he stick to his own corner of the world?
September 11, 2010 at 8:48 am
Steve,
I’m glad that you have left a respectful post to Cindy. It’s shame some of the posters on BVBL choose to resort to middle school name calling of Cindy. Anyone that has ever met Cindy knows she’s a very respectful person and gives back to her city and the county too.
I agree Old Town is not the ideal location for this business. However, the owners went through the application/permit process for a legal business and it met the requirements for approval. It is not the new owner’s fault that there was NOTHING on the books or in the Comprehensive Plan to prevent this store in the Historic Old Town district.
I can not be against a perfectly legal business. I’m all in favor of preventing this sort of shop in the future in Old Town.
Again, thank you for treating Cindy with the respect she deserves.
September 11, 2010 at 9:34 am
Cindy, you are a treasured member of this community who works her heart out. God bless you. I’m sorry and embarrassed by the personal attacks you have had to endure merely for speaking your mind.
It’s unfortunate when folks are personally attacked for just speaking their piece. The people who have attacked you really do not want Manassas to be a friendly place or they would have found a way to disagree with your point of view without being personally disagreeable.
September 11, 2010 at 4:19 pm
@Sue….The Council has had a long standing rule that anyone from anywhere can speak at Citizens Time. Order of speaking is based on “first come-first served” of those who sign up on the list, and of course, when the Mayor makes a call for anyone else who did not sign up. So Marshall speaking fits that policy.
There is much scuttlebutt about why Miller called it, and mostly folks say it was grandstanding since it is a Local Government matter. Other folks say it was a bit of pushing from Marshall to get it going. I do give credit to Miller for at least being gracious enough at the meeting to say the Council holding the special session and accepting comments met his objective.