The Vickery Center was packed last night with citizens worried about the possibility of a Dollar General store coming to the corner of Spanish Trail and Summit Boulevard.
For nearly 45 minutes, Mayor Ashton Hayward and his senior staff listened to residents upset about that corner being changed from residential to commercial.
The turnout was testimony to the power of social media and how hard people are willing to fight for their neighborhoods. Elected officials do respond to the voters, particularly when those voters are organized and attend meetings in large numbers. The crowd was a true mix of people–young families, retirees, professionals and college students.
Hayward spent a lot of time going over the process. The pastor of East Hill Baptist Church, the owner of the lot, talked about their decline and the need for the church to make tough choices. He said the church would like to be a good neighbor, but couldn’t back out of its sales contract.
The mayor drew applause when he used one of his “go to” catch phrases: “We’re trying to make our city attractive”….although he gave no specifics of his plans for neighborhoods.
Hayward said the city website will add (or has added, not sure which) a project tracker. He will look into making the area required to receive notices for zone changes extend beyond the current rule of 500 ft. from the site so that more residents will know when changes are being considered.
—–
A part of the problem is the city’s C-1 zone. Its definition is too broad and allows almost any kind of commercial enterprise. The city needs to look into delineating what types of businesses will be allowed in certain parts of Pensacola with more commercial categories. Neighborhoods could approve their own overlay districts to have more control over what type of housing and businesses they want in their areas.
This issue first came up when the tattoo parlor went into the retail space next to the Saenger Theater. The city had no way to stop it because the area had C-1 designation.
Two years later, Mayor Hayward still hasn’t addressed the problem. He didn’t bring it up last night.