APPEALS: First the Hotel Balconies, Now the Park Toilets
Citizens for Central Park paid $2,000 to local architect Leon Parham to design a park toilet to resemble the sewer pumping station shown above. The toilet will cost $37,000 and would be a prominent feature of the streetscape approaching Central Park. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 10, 2012
Cape Charles Historic District Review Board made two decisions November 20: to reject the balcony design for Hotel Cape Charles, and to approve the design for a bathroom in Central Park.
Both decisions are being appealed.
At Hotel Cape Charles, owner David Gammino is gathering signatures for an online petition to present to Town Council. Gammino admits that the hotel’s glass-front balconies do not conform to the design originally submitted to the Review Board, but says that most people find them very attractive, and that he can’t afford to replace them.
Over at Central Park, Don Riley is also gathering signatures for a petition — not on a computer but on a yellow legal pad.
STOP THE TOILETS IN CENTRAL PARK! THE LOCATION IS INAPPROPRIATE AND THE BUILDING UNATTRACTIVE, reads the petition.
“All of the citizens who signed my petition were unaware of the location, design, or timing of this project,” Riley wrote in his appeal to Town Council.
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According to the Town zoning ordinance, “any party aggrieved by said decision” may appeal — first to Town Council, and then to Northampton Circuit Court.
Riley feels aggrieved, and worries that the out-of-town owner of the house at the corner of Plum Street and Monroe Avenue will be even more aggrieved when she finds out what has been approved across the street.
Under the heading “Planning New Construction or Additions in the Historic District,” the Town’s guidelines state, “Choose a design that relates to the design character of the historic buildings in the area.”
But the Historic District Review Board approved the bathroom because it conforms to the design of a nearby c.1980s sewer pumping station.
“There are many examples of nearby historic buildings, but the pumping station is not one of them,” Riley wrote in his appeal.
But just as hotel owner Gammino pleads that he can’t afford to change the glass balcony design, Citizens for Central Park President Bob Panek has informed the mayor that his group cannot afford to relocate the bathroom.
Panek noted that Citizens for Central Park obtained a $20,000 grant for the bathrooms and is contributing another $2,000 for construction drawings. The Town is providing an additional $15,000 for a total project cost of $37,000. Relocation would cost another $6,000, Panek estimates.
“We can’t afford to provide any significant amount of additional funding,” Panek wrote to Mayor Dora Sullivan.
Panek is also the assistant town manager, but his responsibility for the bathrooms is through Citizens for Central Park.
Riley wants more than just a relocation of the bathrooms. He maintains that the Historic Review Board should follow its own guidelines, and require a bathroom design in harmony with historic construction around the park.
Again citing the zoning ordinance, Riley has requested the mayor to order work to be halted on the bathroom until his appeal can be heard.
My comments concern Mr. Gammino: He chose to buy in Cape Charles, knowing it is a nationally recognized historic town. He commissioned his architect to draw up a plan to conform to the town requirements. He than changed his mind about how the building would/should look, and he is now running a popularity contest (signatures on a petition) to seek to overide the town’s decisions. He is actually asking the town to decide its own future.
To the town administration, and populace: Do you want an historic town or not? This is what brought many of us here — are we to abandon our past and the rule of law? This request would set a dangerous precedent, allowing other developers to flout the laws in Cape Charles and expect to get away with it. The town MUST hold a firm line on what is required by law. No matter how attractive the glass panels may or may not be, they DO NOT belong in our historic district unless approved by the Historic District Review Board.
The town council must likewise hold to the letter of the law in this matter. We either HAVE a national historic town or NOT — and that is the real issue being debated.
Being this all hinges on what the out of town homeowner on Plum Street and Monroe Avenue might think, why doesn’t someone just ask them? If they can’t be reached for comment then Mr. Riley cannot say what that person may or may not like. Oh and by the way, it should be an impartial party to contact that home owner.
It is my understanding that there is a serious need for restrooms in the park.
The idea was to match the pumping station with an attractive brick building, required handicap ramps, completed with shrubbery and landscaping to make it attractive and appealing. The location actually will balance out the park design.
Complaints should probably start with Citizens for Central Park as it is their hard work that turned an unattractive piece of land into the beautiful park we have today.
It will be interesting to see what the town council does about Mr. Gammino’s hotel. I totally agree with Roger in that if we let the hotel stay as it is it will open a huge can of worms regarding future problems of this sort. Mr. Gammino should have stuck with the plan that was approved and not done what he felt like doing and this whole problem would never have happened.
This is a historic town with a historic district and the looks of the hotel are far, far from historic.
While I realize that a lot of people have signed Mr. Gammino’s petition, many of them don’t even live here so why should they have a say in what goes on in this town ?
Why clutter up the park with more buildings. If Echelon wants to be a good member of the community they should include restrooms for the Park in the Old School. After all the school has always had large restroom facilities and it would be in keeping with the historic design of the structure. That would help to balance the sweetheart deal that they got when they took the parking area from the playground.
Ms. Bender, Do you mind if those that don’t live there spend their money there? Oh, that’s ok but I am not allowed to comment on issues regarding the town in which I own property? Wow, we really have lost the American way.
Again I say to Mr. Gammino, close your doors. Fire all your local staff. Cancel all your local distributor accounts. Cancel all your impending purchases. Do not pay local taxes be they income, employment or sales. Let the building go fallow and fall into disrepair. Deprive all the other local businesses the income derived from your customer base.
Who is John Galt?