Submitted by ThrowYaBoatt t3_z7ycav in rva
Why is this such a big issue? The only explanation I’ve seen is a 2009 traffic study, NIMBY, and also “no more chain establishments”.
I understand that intersection is difficult as it stands today.
Don’t understand why replacing an empty building with a business is a huge deal.
134 comments from last week:
https://www.reddit.com/r/rva/comments/yztsbt/residents_in_richmonds_stratford_hill/
I think the issue is neighborhood doesn’t want the added traffic, the noise and light pollution, and the expansion of the footprint into the parking lot (removes parking from local businesses and restaurants) plus loss of value of houses as the FHA corridor becomes more like midlothian TPKE.
The protesters fear it is also a bad look for the neighborhood as gateway to the wetlands, pony pasture park system.
What added traffic and noise and light pollution? There’s already 2 existing centers at that corner which include a Food Lion, 7/11, McDonalds, GoBird, Galley, etc.
These things snowball where people get all bent out of shape and whip others up in a frenzy. Especially in an area that was kind of sleepy before but isn't now. No one in Glen Allen or Short Pump or Midlothian give a damn about a new sheetz because they have those up all the time.
Let’s push the 7/11 onto the other side of the street!
The thought is that it would just…add more, I guess?
This is the issue.
I can see that- I do appreciate the calmer side of this corridor of Forest Hill but it’s also nice that at least something is going into one of the many abandoned sites
But I wanted to make a post of my own!
Because the businesses that are already there will lose most of their parking spaces plus the amount of traffic coming and going will be a nuisance. We don’t need another gas station.
People want to be angry about something. Now that they killed the casino they need something new to get whipped up about.
Parking space? That shopping center is always empty as it is
Have you ever seen a Sheetz?
Put a tiny casino there.
Not when I’m there. Especially the spaces closer to forest hill. The spaces close to Hathaway tend to be empty however.
That’s…. A good solution
If Nextdoor is any indication, people think that drug deals will be happening constantly in the parking lot (so little Johnny and Susie will get hooked on reefer!) and unsavory criminals will be waiting at Sheetz to kidnap any children within a 500 foot radius and be gone on the interstate before Mama even notices that little Johnny and Susie aren't in the candy aisle anymore.
Also all the nice suburban houses will Animorph into billboards and the community center will become a giant shopping mall, thus "commercializing quiet suburbs".
We have little lotto slot machines all over the city
It's all neighborhood behind it, and they don't want people gaming the back routes through the hood to sheets.
I don't get the anger towards it. I mean, some will love it, some will hate it.
For me, there is a lil jump I get to take on the motorcycle right there that goes away. I also think that will change the businesses there, more to support the in and out of the gas station,
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The only thing that would piss me off would be as a tenant, that you are bringing in a quick food place when I am selling restaurant. There are a few in that shopping center.
I’m stoked on a sheetz there.
If the Wawa near 288/64 is typical for a combo food/gas store, I can understand why residents would be hesitant. That Wawa overfills at lunch time.
>It's all neighborhood behind it, and they don't want people gaming the back routes through the hood to sheets.
This is frustrating to me. There are ways to resolve these issues. The fact that they don't happen makes me very skeptical of neighborhood concerns about it.
Closing the little gap next to the McDonald's on Old Westham should be sufficient without meaningful inconvenience for the homes there. There are more things you could do based on how much residents actually care about traffic.
I agree! I think there is some resentment too because forest hill is not 45-50mph right up to that. Not posted speed but actuals.
That's a widespread problem in the US. We like to put shops and houses right next to roads where cars are trying to go fast.
I'm reminded of this problem with some elementary school; I don't recall which. The issues was cars would cut through the road in front of the school while driving fast. This is dangerous.
I looked at the map and... they can just make that road a dead end. Problem solved. Makes me so mad.
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My in-laws live in the neighborhood behind it (Willow Oaks), and they don't see what the issue is. Compared to the shitty abandoned building already there and the nasty 7/11, Sheetz would be a good change.
They need a Hustler Hollywood store there instead of a Sheetz.
Sheetz….. after dark, specifically
Yeah - have you seen that corner which has been an abandoned flower shop?
Then people can park in the spaces closer to Hathaway.
Relatively certain the old flower shop building was originally a 7-11 (without gas pumps)
Yes it was. I used to buy lots of Milwaukees Best there back in high school.
It was about 20-25 years ago. I used to live in Stratford Hills off Longview. The Dunkin Donuts used to be a tiny McDonald's, and the current McDonald's used to be a Hardee's.
When they have potatoe buns and raw onions for their big hotdogs...its a truly guilty pleasure of mine.
I gobble that dawg like I'm in a nature documentary about dawg gobblin.
They filmed there? Interesting.
Or people could buy their gas somewhere else.
Just do what we do everywhere else: disallow left turns.
Problem solved ^^^and ^^^subsequently ^^^created
And where would they get their Shnack Wrapz?
My mom is near there and all up in arms but can't explain why. They're also building a new Exxon where Liberty Valance was and no one is saying shit about that.
There are good reasons and some not so good ones. Depending on which side of the fence you fall on, you’ll use those talking points while willfully ignoring/misinterpreting the other sides point to claim the moral high ground.
Why is “no more chain establishments” in scare quotes? I think it’s a totally valid stance.
Build a casino
It might slightly disturb traffic between 11:00am-1:00pm on a weekday as people stop by for lunch but outside of that, I can't imagine it'll make too much of an impact on traffic.
Even late night (midnight - 3pm) I don't imagine it turning into the Shockoe Exxon or anything.
The Wawa up the street is mostly dead at night [as opposed to the Wawa on Midlothian that can be overwhelming (and overwhelmed) at night]. Even the Sheetz on Midlo never gets really wild at night or on the weekends (maybe because everyone is across the street at Cook Out).
I can kinda understand just generally not wanting a giant gas station at that intersection in terms of creating a more human-scale, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood crossroad but it doesn't really seem that intersection is really heading in that direction in the short term either way.
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What back roads could they possibly be taking?
Are people going to take Cherokee via Huguenot?
I live in Stratford Hills and also frequent the 7/11 on that corner plenty of times throughout the week.
Im not saying I’m desperate for a sheetz to go in. I’m just wondering why it’s such a big deal.
The stretch of Forest Hill between that intersection and Chippenham has a lot of empty buildings so I don’t get why it’s a big deal that something is getting built there.
I used to take that shortcut every day.
Pops wastin' no time to throat the glizzy.
I can’t wait to see all the townspeople argue about it.
Gas stations are tiny casinos
People in that neighborhood love to complain. Open up a hobby or craft store and give them something to do other than whine about anything new trying to be built on forest hill .
I would open up a Sheetz in my front yard for the fries.
That 7-11 sucks for gas and I don't ever buy anything there. I'd definitely prefer a Sheetz. Wawa is past where I typically go on Forest Hill (except if I'm out to Trader Joes) and when i have gone there, it's backed up. I waited 30 minutes for air there once. We could use the tax revenue. In so tired of all the same people complaining about changes to the Forest Hill corridor. Except the casino, they were right about that crappy proposal.
What I miss is the old Martin's gas pumps and my fuel perks.
Mini tacos are more addictive than heroin
We will take it at Semmes and Cowardin
Not a single word. And it will be a car wash too. Across the street from Tommy’s. Between two tacky ass vape stores. NIMBY’s act like this is some nice ass neighborhood, but it’s not. It’s just a normal, American, shit ass thoroughfare.
The shitty ass Sev and abandoned buildings are the only gateway to the wetlands we need!!!! /s
BRING BACK HARDEES.
Traffic has always been a bitch at that stoplight, and having another gas station across from the 7-11 at the same intersection is going to cause terrible problems. Additionally, it will likely cause future rent problems for all the local businesses in that shopping center, eventually forcing many of them out. Yeah, that dilapidated storefront should have been torn down ten years ago, but a huge fucking gas station is not the right idea at all. No Sheetz!!!
In case anyone’s interested, here’s a link to the NBC12 article that includes direct links to civil drawings and rendered architectural elevations.
https://www.nbc12.com/2022/09/15/plans-new-sheetz-richmond-fuel-controversy/
Yes, I did it five days a week for six years. People haul ass down Hathaway and Cherokee, and I imagine that would become a far bigger problem if this thing is built.
Drug deals in the parking lot? That will not be a “new” thing.
I live within walking distance and I don't really understand the objections. If I were given the choice between a Sheetz and a little green space there I'd go for the green space 100% but that isn't the choice we're being given. That intersection is all concrete as far as the eye can see anyway. Food Lion, 7-11, 2 garages, McDonald's, that new chicken fast food place and a dozen or so other shops. This seems like pure NIMBY-ism and it's not even understandable "I don't want a housing project in my backyard" NIMBY-ISM. It seems whiny to me even as a neighborhood local but that's just my $0.02.
As an aside, I wonder what the owners of that Thai restaurant and Natalie's Taste of Lebanon and Galley etc think about it. It might drive traffic to their businesses a bit?
I literally drove by the signs today and was asking my friend what was going on. Pissy ass boomers it seems like.
I live right down the road and I am thrilled. I moved here last year and realized that people in this part of town just like to complain about everything.
Right! That is actually super tacky and people should be protesting that. I don’t get it!
I live not far from the proposed spot, I personally love the idea of a Sheetz, I frequent the area already for food from McD’s and Go Bird, and occasionally gas from 7/11, Sheetz would give folks a decent alternative option for food and gas.
I really am having a hard time seeing the issue here. Seems like a home run, they’re not booting anyone out for the shopping center, it’ll increase traffic for those businesses, and it’ll get rid of one of the many empty buildings on Forest Hill. When are we going to get out of the mindset of “preserving” an area? When all these businesses leave and create more empty buildings because nobody wants them to grow?
Bring on the Sheetz!
Well, I can think of better uses for the space - but they wouldn’t be as profitable. So I can see why the sheetz is going there.
I sure wish it could be a local coffee shop/cafe. That’d be a great place to pop into on the way to or from the river. Something like Crossroads is in Forest Hill.
But that’s pure fantasy. SHEETZ is definitely coming, and it’ll dominate the area. It’s going to be huge and ugly, but it’s gonna make the landlord happy for sure.
When there was construction people would follow the river, turning just west of willow oaks and driving through there to either Huguenot or back over to forest hill.
People already fly through cherokee, and it has that lil side road connecting it to hathaway.
Yeah Rockfalls Tavern is there drugs deals are nothin new
Wawas food is better than sheets that’s why
It’s NIMBYS, there’s not much logic
Asterion7 t1_iy8pl0u wrote
People prefer 7/11