Deal of the Day
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County leaders may take aim at sales on 60 Published: August 12, 2009  Photo by Roslyn Ryan By Roslyn Ryan, Editor By 9 a.m. on what promised to be a sweltering Saturday morning last week, behind the Red Barn convenience store on Route 60, Melinda Taylor had already unpacked the bulk of the boxes she had filled helping her mother-in-law clean out her house. Odds and ends collected over many years joined the odds and ends of at least a dozen other families, hauled to the grassy field and spread out on tables for yard sale hunters to peruse and pick though. The sale has become a weekly tradition in the county, and last Saturday’s Red Barn gathering was one of a handful of other yard sales dotting the county from one end of Route 60 to the other. Now however, citing concerns over parking and safety issues, the county is taking a second look at the weekly sales held up and down the county’s main thoroughfare. The issue drew strong words from District 4 Supervisor Scott Daniel when it came up during a workshop last week. “For me it’s a public safety issue,” said Daniel, pointing out the danger of cars parked alongside Route 60 and the possibility of a shopper getting hit exiting his or her vehicle. “Someone is going to get run over. [I don’t have a problem with yard sales] but they need to be done in a safe place.” Powhatan, unlike many localities, does not have an ordinance specifically dealing with yard sales, but the county can ask that the site comply with current access management standards, which would mean putting in a turning lane. The county has already placed no parking signs along the northern edge of the property, but officials say that has led residents to simply park along the southern edge, on Route 13.
Red Barn owner Ajay Gandhi, who leases the property and allows yard sale goers to use his restroom on Saturdays, says he deosn’t see the weekly sale as a sfety issue. “I’ve been here three years and I have never seen a problem,” he said, noting that parking along 60 is no longer an issue since the county posted the signs. Supervisors, it seems, disagree. But while the group sales at Red Barn have raised concern, Supervisor Carson Tucker insists that the county is “certainly not in the business of regulating regular homeowners.” The supervisors plan to ask staff to consider a course of action for dealing with the safety issues involved, but Tucker said they will not be going after individual residents in their own yards who are trying to unload a few boxes from the attic. Board members says safety is their primary concern but there is also another issue at play. People holding yard sales are currently not required to have the temporary business license that other roadside businesses, such as produce stands, are required to have. For sellers like Pop Goode, it’s a question of fairness. Goode and his friend Ray “Pop” Kite are both disabled, and say they typically use whatever money they make selling produce in the summer to fund a few fishing trips. Last Friday found them set up in the parking lot of the Shell station just up the road from Red Barn, relaxing under a tent and greeting most of their customers by name. They have been trying to apply for the required permit, but have run into a road block: while the manager of the Shell has given them permission to sell there, they cannot get in touch with the absentee owner to get his required signature on their paper work. The whole situation leaves a bad taste in his mouth, Kite says. “I’ve been out here 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tucker said the Board is aware of the concerns of vendors like Goode and Kite, and said that equity is definitely a concern. “Why should some people be forced to go through the protocols while others don’t have to?” he asked. While the board is considering asking the Planning Commission to take up the matter, County Attorney John Rick warned those in attendance at last week’s workshop that they may face a difficult task. One way of dealing with the issue may be to simply expand the definition of temporary businesses, but Rick warned that there may not be a way to make everyone involved happy. “This is not an area that is subject to a perfect solution,” he said. The next Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Mon. Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. at Powhatan High School.
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Pamela of Powhatan VA
Aug. 13, 2009, 10:03 PM
Why does such an innocuous article bring out such ugliness and personal attacks? Everyone has the right to their opinion and that right should be respected. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. And learn some online manners please. Powhatan Resident
Aug. 13, 2009, 04:13 PM
NO YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO! POWHATAN IS STUPID STUPID STUPID TO LET ANYONE CAMP OUT ON ROUTE 60 BECAUSE THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY SAID THEY COULD. IT IS A TRAFFIC HAZARD AT RED BARN AND OUR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IS STUPID TO LET THIS HAPPEN. IT’S THEIR OWN FAULT. SEND EM ACROSS THE STREET WHERE THERE IS NO TRAFFIC PROBLEM. Bornhere of Powhatan
Aug. 13, 2009, 03:04 PM
Ricky, what an ignorant question..If I had been hit by a car going 60mph, would I be here…Have you, yourself, been hit by a car going 60mph?? And what does it matter to you? Does it directly affect you or your travels?? I think people have the right to do what they want, and if the person who owns Red Barn or the property involved, who else cares?? Don’t people still have the rights to do what they want in this country? RICKY BOBBY of P-Town
Aug. 13, 2009, 02:41 PM
Bornhere, have you ever been hit by a car going 60 mph?? Would you like the people trying to clothe their families hit by cars? It is a commercial activity, on commercial property, and most importantly its not safe. Go have fun yardsaling, whatever you gotta do, buy some shirts with pit stains already on them, thats cool, but when you are creating a high traffic use on route 60 without the proper access thats just dangerous for everyone. Powhatan Resident
Aug. 13, 2009, 02:34 PM
OPEN UP THE FAIRGROUNDS ACROSS THE STREET!!! THERE IS PLENTY OF OFF STREET PARKING. THE COUNTY ORDINANCE IS MESSED UP TO BEGIN WITH BECAUSE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS DID NOT ADDRESS ROAD SIDE VENDORS PROPERLY ANYWAY. THEY ALL SHOULD BE AT THE FAIRGROUNDS ACROSS THE STREET AND NOT SCATTERED UP AND DOWN ROUTE 60 - PERIOD! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, EVERYONE WILL BE CAMPED OUT ON ROUTE 60 SELLING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. RICHMOND, CHESTERFIELD AND GOOCHLAND DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS? SOMEONE WANTED AN EXCEPTION, NOW EVERYONE WANTS ONE. WE ARE MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE IT WORK BY NOT MOVING IT TO THE FAIRGROUNDS. WHO IS DOING WHO A FAVOR? SOMEONE TURNED THEIR BACK BECAUSE SOMEONE HAD A FREIND THAT NEEDED A FAVOR. BETCHA. Bornhere of Powhatan
Aug. 13, 2009, 12:46 PM
Ricky…not very culturally diverse there, are ya?? For some folks, this is a time to get out and see neighbors,friends, and to meet people..For others, who might have lower income, it’s a chance to clothe their families, or find something useful for their home…“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure..” And…don’t be so quick to judge the folks who enjoy this past time…Until you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins.. RICKY BOBBY of P-Town
Aug. 13, 2009, 12:28 PM
Say someone does get hit going to this “yard sale” that looks more like a flea market, then who are you going to blame? The “Bored” recieves complaints(from citizens) on all kinds of stuff, including the red barn yard sales. You should have a yard sale in your yard and who wants to buy people’s old clothes anyway???? Big Jake of Powhatan
Aug. 13, 2009, 07:45 AM
Aw come on here people! Why does the County government feel that they have to mess with another harmless, positive for the community event? Yes, there is a dange of someone getting run over on 60, but the same danger exists when pulling out of all of the driveways along 60. Why doesn’t the ‘Bored of Supervisors’ close off all access to 60? That way there won’t be any mishaps. Why does the ‘Bored’ feel it necessary to legislate away a person’s individual responsibility for their own actions? Bornhere of Powhatan
Aug. 13, 2009, 07:23 AM
Why can’t those men just sell their produce out their garden and be done with it?? Why license everyone to death?? Tax everyone to death?? And they’ll take a simple thing like yard sales, gnash it down to the finest details, to justify their jobs…Just leave the people alone..These people are peacefully convening, and enjoying what is for some, a social time. We’ve got too much government meddling in people’s lives..Butt out.. rosi of south richmond
Aug. 13, 2009, 06:35 AM
Why can’t you just leave people alone? Why do you have to keep finding ways to make things hard on simple, hard-working people? The land of the free where the FEW can feel FREE to legislate away the FREEDOMS of the MANY. Submit Your Comments Below |
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