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Town Council to Hear Grievances between Wendell Distributing and Local Citizens

November 12, 2023 by Wayne Creed 9 Comments

The November 16th Town Council Regular Meeting plans to deal with the parking war taking place on Madison Avenue involving Wendall Distributing and local citizens.

The What —The issue stems from Wendell’s Distributing’s inability to park and unload delivery trucks without inflicting damage on the properties of private citizens.

The Why — One of the issues is that Wendell is the only Anheiser-Busch distributor on the entire Eastern Shore, so the inventory is enormous. That means many deliveries, with most, if not all, coming in large tractor-trailer rigs. Why has the truck problem not been resolved? Efforts have been made, but it is not an easy problem to solve.

Gossip, Rumor, and Sources — Off-the-record accounts and other sources tell the Mirror that this problem is a symptom of other issues taking place within the business. According to sources, the long-time President and CEO, Frank Wendell is now considered persona non gratis at the Madison Avenue location. The day-to-day operations are now being handled by younger, less experienced staff. Sources tell the Mirror that the absence of Mr. Wendell’s experience and expertise in large part accounts for the gap we are seeing in the proficiency of warehouse operations.

What’s Next? Since the distributor and the neighbors have not been able to reach a favorable compromise, this falls into the lap of Town Manager John Hozey, who has the unenviable task of devising a solution that even the Town Council can grasp.

This business is on the agenda at the November 16th meeting:

Parking Restrictions on Portion of Madison Avenue
i. Presentation from Citizens
ii. Presentation from Wendell’s Distributing
iii. Resolution of Intent 20231116

The meeting will be held at 6:30 at the Cape Charles Civic Center, immediately following the public hearing.

Filed Under: Bottom, News

Comments

  1. Raymond Otton says

    November 12, 2023 at 11:11 am

    Told my wife 10 years ago, when the town switched to tourism as the main source of revenue, the distributor’s days were numbered.

    And here we are.

    Reply
    • JUSTBEACHY says

      November 13, 2023 at 1:13 am

      No no no! We came here to retire. We have nothing g against Wendell’s. Just asking for new management to be nice neighbors ouje Frank Jr. Was.

      Reply
  2. Mr. Sanders says

    November 12, 2023 at 2:45 pm

    Don’t blame Frank. Lisa runs the show around there.

    Reply
  3. Joy says

    November 12, 2023 at 3:33 pm

    Perhaps that area of Madison and Fig is no longer a perfect area for a commercial business. Would that not have been something the Planning Commission should have taken into consideration when making adjustments to the Comprehensive Plan? The character of the Town is changing – shouldn’t our plan change with it, or should we adhere more stringently to the plan when allowing these changes to take place?

    As stated, Wendell’s has been in its location for 40 years. How long have each of the surrounding property owners been in their location? What happened to “Buyer Beware”? These owners bought a home in an area that supports a commercial business. Who is entitled here? What were the expectations of living in the vicinity of a commercial enterprise? Wendell’s also needs to be a good neighbor. Maybe it is time to think outside the box and regroup for a better solution. But…..that takes time and money.

    There has been much concern towards keeping the status quo on rental properties in order to support the retail businesses on “Main Street” (formerly known as Mason Avenue or Front Street). Where is the concern to help Wendell’s continue to service this Town and the Eastern Shore?

    Reply
  4. Jay Sherin says

    November 14, 2023 at 12:41 pm

    If I may opine, what we are seeing isn’t a new phenomenon, just a recent twist to a VERY old problem. What is the problem? Simply, we allowed interstate-type vehicles to utilize local streets. It was “modern” to embrace the motorized vehicle (MV) and logical to embrace all types en mass. There IS a thing called central city/town and a thing called outskirts. Cities in the Netherlands gets the realities of what is a central thing and what is necessary for businesses to thrive. I sort of get the idea that once you are “in town” you stop driving a MV and use your golf cart (GC). However, I would say that the cart is merely a “quaint” idea of “downsizing” from your big, bad vehicle to something more urban. You can’t walk or even better use a bike? You are afraid you are going to get run over by the MVs or GC? Well then, get over with the idea that you HAVE to drive them and get some exercise. And do it in a way that gains momentum and NOW those vehicles remain parked.

    I can’t argue that the locals may choose to do this but it will be hard for the tourists to get up to speed. Question, if there are folks who arrive with passion for a “Between the Waters” bike event, you can’t embrace real eco-tourism by encouraging self-sufficiency in transportation? I mean self-propelled and not your self using your own MH or GC.

    Obviously this does not directly address the issue of old school business freedom and newer ways to transport. My take would be simply, use much smaller vehicles to their facility and use the tractor trailers away from the town. OR you use the facility with the trailers during late evening/early morning times when there isn’t much competition for space. That IS what the Netherland cities do. All it takes is some common sense and the desire to solve issues rather than make YOUR WAY the only way. Good luck.

    Reply
    • Nioaka H Marshall says

      November 14, 2023 at 5:38 pm

      Ummm… We aren’t in the Netherlands. This is America. If folks had a problem with the delivery trucks,they should have purchased a different property.

      Reply
      • Paul Plante says

        November 14, 2023 at 11:42 pm

        Anyone truly interested in the underlying issues here should read the very informative article on the subject in the Cape Charles Mirror titled “When Commercial and Residential Lives Clash” on October 1, 2023
        http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/when-commercial-and-residential-lives-clash/

        Reply
  5. Paul Plante says

    November 14, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    Uh, I think the problem has to do with the fact that these long trailers cannot be backed into the facility without running over the property of others, which is a trespass.

    Budweiser is the cause of this problem, as I understand it, and it appears Budweiser doesn’t give a damn for the rights of others in CC by sending these long trailers into an area of Cape Charles where they don’t fit.

    And why should these aggrieved neighbors stand being dictated to as to their property rights by an out-of-town, for-profit company that has absolutely no rights in CC itself?

    T’were me, I would be taking this up to the CEO of that company, Brendan Whitworth, who leads Anheuser-Busch’s growth and long-term commercial strategy which draws on his deep experience in the CPG industry and years in the Marine Corps and Central Intelligence Agency by calling 1-800-DIAL BUD (342-5283), Monday-Friday, between 11am-6pm (CST), or send them an e-mail by going to their site, to wit: https://www.anheuser-busch.com/contact-us

    Reply
    • Jay Sherin says

      November 16, 2023 at 9:52 am

      I’ll drink to that!

      Reply

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