Mr. Gammino, STOP apologizing! You made a business decision that allowed you to continue operating. I for one THANK YOU for the influx of spent dollars, and subsequent taxes into the area and see no need for you to continue to grovel before the commissars of the apparatchik.

Were I you, after viewing the empty, dusty, crap cluttered storefronts littering Mason, I’d wonder why the Town is singling ME out for oversight and not the locally born owners of those stores?

Thank you
David

Close your doors. Fire all your local staff. Close all distributor accounts. Don’t pay your electric bill, water bill, local taxes and employment taxes. Allow your building to go fallow, and fall into disrepair. Do not have customers who will spend money at local establishments.

That seems to be EXACTLY what the Town desires.
Or am I wrong?

Perhaps a fine, plus in-kind commitments/contributions to the town from the hotel owner, would be better alternatives. We don’t want to cut off our nose to spite our face. Especially since, over one short summer, the newly renovated Cape Charles Hotel seems to have become for many new visitors to it, the face of Cape Charles.

The applicant had a duty to know and abide by the guidelines before construction started. If the applicant wanted to seek a variance to the guidelines, he should have done so before starting construction. The hotel is in a historic district, and the applicant does not have the option of substituting his own style preferences for the adopted guidelines without the requisite approvals.

And I disagree with your contention that without ‘strict guidelines’ chaos would ensue. Tacitus told us….”‘The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.”
We, The United States Of America seemed to have had done pretty well for a loooong time without the overwhelming presence of the State.

A great day, a better weekend and a Merry Christmas to all!!