For years, Hinesburg locals complained about two derelict buildings along Route 116 in the village center. The eyesores made the "town look like the white-trash a**hole capital of the universe," one person wrote to officials.
The Giroux family, which owns the lot and several others nearby, finally took down the structures last week. But what went up in their place caused almost just as much consternation: a "coming soon" sign for a Dollar General store. On a Hinesburg Facebook page, one person wrote she was "feeling shocked and disappointed" by the impending arrival.
"A business like this changes the vibe of a town, and not for the better," she wrote, garnering some 70 responses. Others posted to Front Porch Forum or contacted the town.
All the concern was for naught, according to Matt Giroux, who put up the sign as a prank. His point: Things could be worse than just empty buildings.
"I thought I could get a laugh out of it," Giroux said. But, he conceded, "I'm expecting some heat."
The Giroux family previously owned a nearby property that was slated to become a Hannaford supermarket, but, after about a decade of pushback from the community, the chain pulled the plug on the project. Some in town "have that whole NIMBY thing," Giroux said. His family plans to create some sort of mixed-use commercial and residential building on the now-cleared Route 116 property.
Alex Weinhagen, the town's director of planning and zoning, confirmed that he received several emails from concerned locals. "All I can say is that I hope community members are able to laugh it off the same way I did," he said.
It's not the first time a sign has caused a stir in Hinesburg. Weinhagen recalled a 2017 prank in which someone put up a "coming soon" advertisement for the "Rut & Strut" — a strip club on a property that would also offer deer hunting. It never happened.
The Dollar General kerfuffle was similarly short-lived: A few days after putting up the sign, Giroux took it down.