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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2000
Re: Marathon Gas Station at Cross Creek -- Retail Expansion
I read with interest your article concerning the glaring lights at the Marathon Gas station located in the Cross Creek subdivision. It is truly unfortunate that so many people had to participate in solving a problem that is evident to all that live in the area, yet ownership of the station had to be dragged before the tribunal before he would agree to abate the problem, surely a telling message about the ownership.
The above incident brings two issues to mind 1) do the residents living in this area want/need the Marathon Gas Station/Dominos? 2) do they want further retail expansion?
The Marathon Gas station, as you stated, has been open since July and in all probability, has had a minimal impact on the nearby residents. Gas is available and cheaper on BBD, which is just a minute or two away, and I would venture to say a member of every household is on BBD at sometime during the day.
One of the problems with the Marathon Gas station is that it has litter spewed about its premises and it is rarely picked up. In addition to the litter, the general condition of the site leaves much to be desired. The cause of the litter is not an issue. All of us that live in the Cross Creek area have experienced, are experiencing or will experience the littering of our lawns with wrappers from the local fast food outlets. This is the result of the numerous trades men and women that work in the area (and maybe some of the residents).
I'm quite confident that it has been inculcated in each and every one of us in the Cross Creek area, to maintain our homes in a manner that is reflective of our upbringing. It is with that thought in mind we retrieve and dispose of the discarded papers, wrappers, etc. that happen to land on our lawns on a daily basis. It is apparent that the Marathon Gas Co., Domino's Pizza and Frank Aliaga have different standards than the residents.
In my opinion the only way to resolve this issue is to register a complaint with Marathon Gas/Frank Aliaga and Domino's Pizza and more importantly drive that extra mile to send a message and save a few cents on a gallon of gas.
The second issue is retail expansion. If Frank Aliaga is not going to be a good neighbor with his Marathon Gas Station/Domino's Pizza, what would make us believe that he would do any better with more retail outlets? An issue that is far more important than trash is the safety of the kids that attend the local school and the message: go ahead and litter.
We do not need additional retail outlets at the corner of Cross Creek and Kinnon.
-- M.J. Dowd, Covington Estates