City officials in this historic northeast Alabama college town have seemingly abandoned comprehensive planning in favor of free-for-a ll spot commercial zoning that is eroding the traditional character of Pelham Road, Jacksonville's main thoroughfare. Pelham Road's attractive mix of residences large and small, some dating back a century and a half, once gave the newcomer a memorable introduction to Jacksonville. Now mini-marts and fast-food places are springing up willy-nilly.
On Pelham Road South, the towered Italianate mansion where Confederate General Pierre G. T. Beauregard--the "Hero of Fort Sumter"--had his headquarters during the Civil War is crowded by neon signs and asphalt parking lots. Pelham Road North, leading to the Jacksonville State University campus, was spared commercial sprawl until recently. ow it, too, is under siege as litigation looms over whether a gas station shall be allowed on what was a residential corner. The problem is further compounded by a rash of vandalism that has heavily damaged some unoccupied landmark houses along Pelham Road and intersecting Mountain Avenue.
Jacksonville's creeping blight contrasts with the successful balance struck in some other small Alabama college towns--such as Florence, Montevallo, and Livingston--between preserving their distinctive visual character and accommodating development. "It's a matter of civic vision," says one observer, "of thinking about long-term impact and not just short-term profit. And it's not just what's destroyed, but what's replacing it." Many Jacksonville residents are concerned, but so far this concern has not altered the course toward an increasingly nondescript main street.
Jacksonville's creeping blight contrasts with the successful balance struck in some other small Alabama college towns--such as Florence, Montevallo, and Livingston--between preserving their distinctive visual character and accommodating development. "It's a matter of civic vision," says one observer, "of thinking about long-term impact and not just short-term profit. And it's not just what's destroyed, but what's replacing it." Many Jacksonville residents are concerned, but so far this concern has not altered the course toward an increasingly nondescript main street.
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