We've only just begun

One meeting is not a revolution

A recent outpouring of citizen outrage at the workings of Goochland County government resulted in positive action.

There is still much to be done.

While attention has been focused on the utilities mess, sale of the Fairgrounds Building property seems imminent.
The matter has been on the supervisors’ closed meeting agenda so often in the past few years that it attracts little notice.

According to Wayne Dawson, proprietor of Dawson’s Pharmacy in the Courthouse Commons Shopping Center, the supervisors will soon sell the Fairground Building property to the shopping center’s developers, North Carolina based Chase Ventures, to build a Walgreens store there.

What does this mean for Goochland?

At first blush, the presence of a “big box” retailer brings sales tax revenues for the county and additional retail choices for residents. A closer look, however, raises some troubling questions.

In 2008, according to Walgreens.com, the company opened 629 new stores as part of an aggressive corporate expansion program. Those new locations resulted in a net gain of 561 stores after closings and relocations. Sounds like customers at 68 stores had to make other arrangements for their pharmacy needs.
What if the Goochland store does not meet company expectations?
Since Walgreens is expected to lease rather than own the building, it will be easy to close a Goochland store and send its customers to its nearest store on Ridgefield Parkway to have their prescriptions filled by strangers. A vacant building would be left behind.

According to Dawson, Rick Palamar, a principal of Chase Ventures, told him that his lease, which expires at the end of 2009, will not be renewed but that Walgreens would offer him a job. As an alternative, Dawson could open a pharmacy in a new shopping center at Lake Anna. Dawson lives in Crozier.

Comments made by Palamar, said Dawson, suggest that his interest in locating a Walgreens in Courthouse Village has more to do with Chase Ventures’ relationship with the Walgreens company than the good of Goochland or the health of the shopping center. Dawson also said that Palamar indicated that only a major national company like a Walgreens could afford to pay the county’s asking price.

Owning his own pharmacy in a small town setting like Courthouse Village was Dawson’s lifelong dream. He has invested his life savings in Goochland. Dawson often gets out of bed in the middle of the night to help his customers. He is also a compounding pharmacist, which is a rarity in today’s world of corporate chain drug stores.

Dawson contends that he just wants to continue providing good service to his customers and be an active and supportive member of the community.

Dawson’s Pharmacy is a local business, owned and controlled by a county resident. While there are no guarantees that Dawson will be open forever, his business decisions will be based on conditions in Goochland, not made by far away bean counters to mollify corporate stockholders.

People who bemoan the county’s lack of suburban amenities need to understand that in Goochland “rural character” does not mean Short Pump with large lots.

This is another example of unintended consequences coming back to bite the county.

Several years ago, a developer allegedly expressed interest in purchasing of the entire parcel, including the Fairgrounds Building corner, to build a shopping center. That developer reportedly offered to build the county, at his own expense, a new community center to replace the existing derelict building in return for the corner lot.

The supervisors rejected that offer for unknown reasons. Had the property been developed in accordance with a master plan for the entire parcel, Dawson’s problem might never have arisen. This is yet another example of lack of foresight on the part of the supervisors.

The county needs economic development to pay its bills.

However, two separate efforts to develop senior citizen communities in the east end, which would have many brought jobs and much revenue without school children, recently evaporated during initial talks reportedly because of excessive demands on the part of the county. Senior community jobs should be especially attractive because they cannot be moved offshore.

Yet, the supervisors are ready to sell to Palamar with few conditions other than that the check clear.

Why hasn’t the county tried harder to attract types of businesses not already in Courthouse Village to the site?

If there are not enough nearby rooftops to support a small hardware store, are there enough to support a big box pharmacy? If Walgreens comes, what’s next, Starbucks and Best Buy to put Javajodi’s and Lacy’s out of business?

We have the start of a “there there” in Courthouse Village. A big box retailer would destroy the neighborhood ambiance that is taking root in the county seat. The size of a typical Walgreens is out of scale with the area. A chain mega-pharmacy is not a local sustainable business that builds and enhances a spirit of community. It’s just a quick buck with a long, bitter aftertaste.

On February 3, the supervisors are expected to decide whether or not to sell the property to Palamar.
Let your supervisor know that paving the way for a Walgreens in Courthouse Village destroys rather than preserves rural character.

Pay attention! We’ve only just begun.