Restaurateur shares vision for downtown

Editor:

This is the first time I have ever written a letter to the editor. In my current situation as a business owner, expressing a specific opinion can be a concern, because of the possible reaction of community members and customers.

I need to make an exception. After reading the article about the town of Madison’s actions regarding mixed use zoning, I am moved to speak. I hope folks will take this in a positive light. I feel like the Ghost of Madison’s Future -- not a welcome character.

No one denies the authority and obligation of the town to enforce and manage zoning and building codes to provide a safe and happy environment for living in Madison. However, especially in the state of Virginia, the bastion of property rights in America, the town has not given sufficient support to the inherent rights of property owners to realize the highest and best use of their property.

All I ask is that the town council and other officials work from a forward looking, positive standpoint of how can we help property owners enhance the use of their property, not how to thwart reasonable hopes and aspirations.

Elected leaders have an obligation to establish a vision and explain their views. As far as I can see we have not seen either in the town of Madison.
I hope that Madison will not remain a town with businesses, dead and inactive, and dusty, empty second floors with more mice than people as residents, and buildings unimproved and unrepaired. Things must change to avoid that bleak future.

I see mothers and fathers, children in strollers, and welcomed visitors strolling on warm summer evenings down a bright and inviting Main Street with quaint shops, professional offices, historic homes, and the warm glow of the living light coming from all the windows on Main Street, first and second floors. I see Madison as the center of the county, not just another decaying street behind the strip malls on U.S. 29.

This is a commitment town leaders should make, to positively support, to lead, rather than only circumscribe the fair expectations of property owners. The presumption should be that what the property owner wants should be permitted, barring an overriding rationale for stopping it, and if the precise request cannot be supported, then the town should suggest solutions that will achieve a fair compromise. Simple rejection is not enough.

Michael Riley
Syria
Owner
Madison Inn restaurant