Having
Your Say:
Al Norman on Cheap Gas or No Cheap Gas
July
27, 2001
The
issue about BJs is not "cheap gas or no cheap
gas", the issue is should we consider placing some
limits on the number of gas stations we place in any one
area, and should we encourage gas stations inside
parking lots.
When
BJs came to Greenfield, they built a huge parking lot
that was much larger than required by our zoning. This
allowed them to come in several years later with a phase
II to build a gas station in an area already saturated
with 4 or five stations within one mile.
Is
this good public policy allow this to continue? Gas
stations are environmentally unfriendly, and should be
built only if they serve the need and convenience of the
public--not simply to allow some big company to wipe out
the family owned gas stations he have in town.
The
issue is much deeper than cheap gas, just as the issue
with Wal-Mart was much deeper than cheap underwear. The
issue is over-development in Greenfield, the dominanance
of large corporations displacing locally owned
businesses, and the quality of small town life in
Greenfield.
I
would not encourage making this issue just cheap gas.
Al Norman
Greenfield
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