Zoning, Health Care Big Issues at Town Hall Meeting
County Supervisor Granville Hogg meets with constituents at Cape Charles Museum. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
April 28, 2014
County residents filled the seating at the Cape Charles Museum April 23 for a Town Hall meeting hosted by Northampton County Supervisor Granville Hogg – the second since his election in November. The hot-button issues were county rezoning and diminishing health care.
David Boyd asked why the Board of Supervisors seemed to have thrown out the Comprehensive Plan and come up with totally different zoning that has no input from all of the meetings and effort that had been put into the Comprehensive Plan six years ago. Hogg responded, “I can’t answer that.”
Hogg said he had read many negative comments about the proposed zoning changes, and was disappointed that Board of Supervisors chairman Larry LeMond insisted that “we are moving forward and this is what we’re going to do.” Peg Volk asked, “Mr. Hogg, what is our recourse here? We’re talking recall.” Another attendee echoed, “recall.”
George Southern asked Hogg if he were willing to make a motion to withdraw the zoning amendment proposals to give the Planning Commission more time to review the changes. Hogg said that he would make the motion, and the room erupted in applause.
David Kabler said that he met with Supervisor Rick Hubbard the previous evening and asked him to back Hogg in withdrawing the zoning proposals, but received no assurance from Hubbard. Kabler said he had also asked Chairman LeMond to stop the zoning changes, but to no avail.
Kabler emphasized that a town meeting should be where citizens do the talking and their elected representatives listen. Hogg proceeded to listen as Kabler said he told LeMond that the Supervisors have two options: “One, they pass the zoning as adjusted by the Planning Commission, or two, they withdraw it. Option A is going to be a war. Option B is going to be placating things. Peace will come here. And they can act on the school and the hospital and all that.”
Hogg responded, “I guarantee you that there will be discussions going on after this evening’s meeting. I’m taking the velvet off of the hammer.” [Read more…]
Candidate Forum 7 P.M. Tuesday at Palace Theatre
Candidates for Cape Charles mayor and Town Council will speak 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at the Palace Theatre on Mason Avenue. The forum will be conducted by Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore.
CBES has been sponsoring Meet the Candidates Forums for all county-wide elections in both Accomack and Northampton for 15 years, but the Cape Charles forum is the first that CBES has conducted for a town election.
Over the years, CBES has developed a forum agenda designed to give each candidate a fair opportunity to make his or her best case for being elected. Candidates are sent several questions in advance to provide an opportunity to prepare their responses. After each candidate has made a brief introductory statement, they are asked to answer those questions. After that, members of the audience are invited to submit written questions. The questions are screened by several CBES members for appropriateness and significance, and those deemed most useful are posed to the candidates by the moderator. The forum concludes with each candidate making a summation of his positions and an appeal for the citizens’ votes. [Read more…]
Old Library Now Cape Charles Civic Center
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
April 28, 2014
Cape Charles Town Council voted April 24 to rename the former library at 500 Tazewell Avenue the Cape Charles Civic Center. Mayor Dora Sullivan and Councilman Frank Wendell favored the name Cape Charles Meeting Hall, but Councilman Steve Bennett proposed Cape Charles Civic Center, which won by majority vote.
The former library building was built in 1901 by the First Presbyterian Church. In 1926 the church built the large stone building on the corner of Strawberry and Tazewell now housing the Cape Charles Christian School, and the old church building was sold to the Northampton County Memorial Library for $5,000. The library opened in October 1926 in honor of World War Veterans. It was eventually turned over to the Friends of the Cape Charles library and the property was given to the town. In December 2012, the Cape Charles Memorial Library moved to the former Bank of America building on Mason Avenue.
The former library building will be used for Council meetings and work sessions; board and commission meetings; recreational programs, community events, civic engagement activities, and outreach programs.
In other business, Town Council voted to raise the lodging tax on short-term rentals by 23 percent and to remove the 1 percent funding for the ESVA Tourism Commission. Council will decide later how much to contribute to the Tourism Commission.
During a public hearing preceding the regular meeting, speakers pointed out that the vacation rental season has already begun and that changing the tax rate now would create a hardship for owners. As a result, Council made the new rate effective January 1, 2015, instead of July 1, 2014. The ordinance removes all references to the Annexation Agreement between the Town and Northampton County that was the authority for collection of transient occupancy tax by the county within Cape Charles, as well as references to state code authorizing the imposition of the tax.
Town Planner Robert Testerman reported that the Planning Commission sent its proposals for the Town Edge Overlay District to Northampton County but has not yet received a reply. The new zoning ordinance proposed by the County does away with the Town Edge Districts. That proposal elicited a strongly worded resolution from Exmore Town Council (CLICK). During discussion whether Cape Charles should pass a similar resolution, Councilman Bennett said he thought that the Exmore resolution was too strongly worded. Mayor Sullivan agreed. Councilman Wendell again raised concerns about encouraging commercial development on Route 13 and failing to see the need for the Town Edge District to protect the town and its businesses. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: Town Is a Financial Success Story
By PATRICIA A. BUCKLEY
April 28, 2014
Despite frequent alarms from a small but vocal group of town citizens in the last year or so, a systematic review of financial performance over the last decade shows that Cape Charles is financially healthy. Visitors today see an up and coming coastal town blessed with historic charm and abundant natural features that attract nature lovers and sports enthusiasts. While the changes in the physical attributes over the last decade are easy to see, less visible is the remarkable fiscal turn-around .
In 2004 when I first assumed the position of Treasurer, the town was practically on life support financially. Few funds were available for hiring competent staff or performing basic maintenance. Systems were antiquated and equipment was barely functional. Our infrastructure was crumbling from years of neglect.
Recently, I revisited the town’s financial health, doing a comparative analysis of the annual financial audit reports that are conveniently on the town’s web page and 2013 financial statements. As anyone who cares to check the record will see the improvement in the fiscal health of Cape Charles is truly remarkable. From 2004 to 2013, I found the following:
- The town’s total general government average revenues from 2005 to 2013 are up a stunning 150% over 2004;
- Real estate tax rates adjusted for assessments have increased only 15% through 2014 while consumer prices have increased 26%;
- A home assessed in 2004 at $150,000 with a tax bill of $705 is now assessed at $296,000 with a tax bill of $817;
- 50% of the real estate tax revenue now comes from the value of physical improvements to properties not present in 2004 such as new structures or renovations like the Wilson building;
- Tourist-related tax revenues (transient occupancy, meals, admissions) have increased 516%;
- Total town net worth has increased from $6.8 million in 2004 to $25.6 million in 2012. This is net value after subtracting all liabilities, including debt. Debt had increased from $1.8 million in 2004 to $9.1 million in 2012.
What this means is that we borrowed $7.3 million but got $26.1 million in assets, increasing our net worth by $18.8 million! [Read more…]
MONDAY 4/28: Planning Commission Working on Comprehensive Plan
Cape Charles Planning Commission will meet 6 p.m. Monday, April 28, at Town Hall to consider updates to the Comprehensive Plan. The meeting is open to the public. CLICK to view a 15-page portion of draft updates to the Comprehensive Plan.
SUNDAY 5/4: Eastern Shore Orchestra at Hungars Church
The Orchestra of the Eastern Shore will end its 2013-14 season with “Bookends—Bach to Britten,” at Hungars Episcopal Church on Bayside Road in Bridgetown (Machipongo) on Sunday, May 4, at 4 p.m. [Read more…]
FRIDAY 5/2: Cold Fusion Seminar at ESCC
“Cold Fusion: Oddity or Odyssey?” is the subject of a free 90-minute seminar 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 2, in the Eastern Shore Community College Lecture Hall, 29300 Lankford Hwy., Melfa, sponsored by Science and Philosophy Seminar of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. [Read more…]
EXTRA! Mayor Denies Council Knowledge of ‘Hand-Gate’
MAYOR SULLIVAN
PATRICK HAND
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
April 26, 2014
In an emotional statement April 24 to Town Council, Mayor Dora Sullivan refuted claims that three Council members had known for more than six months that developer Patrick Hand intended to buy property on Mason Avenue resulting in the loss of 160 parking places that for years have been used by the public with the permission of the owner.
The mayor’s statement came in response to an April 24 Wave commentary by Councilman Frank Wendell, who is running for mayor in the May 6 town elections. “At the April 7 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, Mr. Hand explained that he had been working with the mayor, three members of Town Council, and some members of the Art Walk committee for six or seven months on his downtown project,” Wendell wrote.
Mayor Sullivan said that after reading Wendell’s commentary she called Hand, who told her, “I did not have a plan six months ago. Therefore I could not have spoken to Council.” She emphasized that Hand had said, “I never met with you or a single Council person, singularly or in a group, six months ago.”
The mayor also said that she had the minutes of the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, but not the recording. “There’s nothing on there,” she said. When Wendell told her she should listen to the tape, she replied, “I don’t need to — I talked to him.”
Sullivan also said that “what bothers me the most is that the citizens of this town are not capable or care enough to come and say, ‘Is that true, did you really say that?’ We are full-grown adults. Instead, we read what we read, and we believe it.”
Regarding the Wave, Sullivan said, “What if I never read the Wave? I’m dead in the water, because I’m being eaten alive, and I have no idea I’m being eaten alive.”
A transcript of Mayor Sullivan’s April 24 statement appears below, along with an audio file. Following that is a transcript of relevant remarks at the April 7 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting and an audio file, enabling readers to both see and hear the words of Patrick Hand, who states: “This project started with me going to a couple, three different members of Town Council.” When asked how long ago he started his project, he states “seven months, eight months.” [Read more…]
