We need 1 more Big box store in powhatan,va
This is a fast growing county.In order to keep the money in
the County, Let Wal-mart come to us. If not We are going to
Wal-mart!!
All who say no big box store, Belive me they are shopping at
a Big Box Store!!!

ALL YOU PEOPLE CAN ARGUE ALL YOU WANT, POINT IS IT’S COMING WETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!  THE FUNNY THING IS THAT, ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T WANT IT WILL MOST LIKELY BE THE FIRST ONE’S IN THERE!!! AND FOR ALL THE ONE’S WHO SAID, AW IT’S ONLY 6 OR 7 MILES TO THE ONE IN MIDLOTHIAN, YOU ALL SHOULD CONTINUE GOING ON TO THAT ONE, MAKES MORE ROOM FOR US, AND IT’S A NICE BIG PARKING LOT FOR OUR CROOKED COPS TO RIDE AROUND IN AND ” UNLAWFULLY ” CALL IN LICENSE PLATES FOR NO REASON!!!!!!!

I was dreaming Durrell was debating a guy in a donkey costume in the PHS auditorium. Durrell was just tearing the guy up. He had a blackboard and everything, drawing diagrams and flow charts and what not. Then I woke up, and Señor Wences was on the TV giving Johnny the business. I love watching the old Ed Sullivan Show.

Ed,

Thank you and I agree with that sentiment 100%. Not everyone will agree all the time, and sometimes will do so in varying degrees.

So long as the process is open and transparent, with intelligent and informed debate, then everyone wins even if their position does not carry the day.

Darrell,

You are a good example of a concerned citizen who actually cares enough to research first and make statements afterwards.  Unfortunately people like “Watching” and “Wise Up” would rather spout emotional garbage and call other posters “boy” or refer to people as “poor old welfare cases”.  I do agree that everyone is entitled to their opinions on a matter but some should think about the personal attacks before posting.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/projects/roads/cost_est_guide.pdf

Federal Guidelines

http://www.virginiadot.org/business/Gasb34-methodology.asp

VDOT’s numbers from 2000 that the page tells you you need to inflate.
“In developing a methodology to compute VDOT’s infrastructure value, many components, statistics and values were analyzed to develop average factors. VDOT suggests governments of the Commonwealth of Virginia take advantage of these average factors computed by VDOT when calculating infrastructure values. Please note, these factors were computed in the year 2000. In order to inflate these costs to current year values, we recommend you apply the appropriate rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index which can be obtained at the website addresshttp://www.bls.gov/cpi/ .”

watching (PTA Applicant),

I don’t need to be fed info that’s already part of the public record. This is information that anyone can obtain and verify themselves with a few phone calls and doing something called “due diligence”. I hope people do. Don’t take my word for it, see the data for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Drive through the Commonwealth Centre area, then drive through Chesterfield Town Centre area.
Look on VDOT’s website or call the local VDOT rep.
Talk to one of the rezoning/CUP attorneys or call the planning dept. and ask specific questions that they can answer. Use something called FOIA if needed.
Download the documents available at the County and Schools website.

It’s something that I know your liberal mind can’t comprehend…...someone who actually takes the time to be informed and can make logical conclusions from that data based on their own study. God forbid someone would take the time to become informed, rather than sitting back and spouting nonsense with no substanitive content like you do.

Of course 99% of what I am saying is a very complicated equation using something called “common sense” and “fiscal reality”, so I understand why you won’t get it.

durrell is being fed info!

who you gettin’ that from boy, the sender of the faulty press release?

either refer to the fact that you have heard in discussions or directly cite the source or have the source put his name on it like he did the press release based on a close reading of an incorrect newspaper article!

Good points Scott,

I’m not saying we can stop everything, but we CAN have ordinances and procedures that provide for nodal development and other ideas ( like South Creek). Where development is a turn off the main road and into the area as compared to stores and stoplights lining Route 60 up and down. We also need to get as much as possible in proffers for roads,etc.

For example: If you look at the Commonwealth Center Area. If you go onto Commonwealth Center Pkwy, most of the shops and the movie theatre are off the main road, same for the Walmart Center on the other side of 288. If you go further down towards Woodlake though, it’s nothing but shopping centers and stoplights as far as you can see right off the main road on both sides.

You’re going to get satellite stores and shops around a major area as is, but which one has lesser impact on traffic ? The area where you have entrance and exit at 1 or 2 stoplights OFF the main road, or the one which occupies several blocks and has a stoplight at multiple choke points ON the main road. Just an example.

All I am advocating is that we do it smart and maximize revenues and proffers in doing so. Trying to ignore growth is just as foolish as a come one, come all approach.

If we have codes and procedures that provide for specific development in specific areas under specific conditions and HOLD the line on those procedures, then we can do it smartly with minimal impact on the overall “feel” of the county.

If we try to block everyone and everything coming in, it will grow around us, and the revenues lost will be staggering, which arguably has already occurred for a decade or two.

If we do a come one, come all….then we may as well get annexed by Chesterfield, because only their revenues could save us from the mountain of Capital Expenses that will come with the development.

For example, at last check, it took approx. 1 Million dollars for VDOT to pave 1 mile of road (data could be off slighlty). Walmart’s projected revenues for a year are just over 650,000 meaning that all the revenue from that entire store for a year won’t even pave a mile of road.

Now look at VDOT’s rating of our primary and secondary roads and which ones need improvement right now, before any development and consider that ZERO dollars are in the CIP or the State budget for roads in the county.

Considering the county charges no gross receipts tax, and all revenue generated is a percentage (1% ?) of the state sending some sales tax back and property taxes, where is the money going to come from to improve the infrastructure for the development outside of the sites being developed ? It’s not rocket science to figure that out.

This is just one area, when taken in smaller amounts, a rezoning here, a CUP there….it seems to be not a big deal. When the entire picture of the budget, revenues and everything else is taken in together….the picture becomes a larger matter of concern.

In Farmville they held Walmart to a smaller store just to have them build a larger one just a few years later. The first build ended up sitting empty for some time. Tractor supply came and filled the building a few years later. They seem to get what they want in the end. I would rather have one large store to start with…..