Merchant Association Gives Development Chief the Business
Northampton County Economic Development Director Charles McSwain addresses Cape Charles Business Association September 11. Association president George Proto is at left. (Wave photo)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
September 12, 2013
Recently hired economic development director for Northampton County Charles McSwain knew he was walking into a hornets nest when he addressed the Cape Charles Business Association meeting last night, and he came prepared with disclaimers and a philosophy of positive thinking.
But Business Association members weren’t buying it when McSwain tried to defend the County’s development plans – especially as they relate to commercial development on Route 13. Association President George Proto told McSwain, who only recently moved into the area, to “drive up Route 13 and see towns like Exmore with development on the highway. I haven’t been able to see any town not negatively impacted,” Proto said.
Deborah Bender said that highway development outside Onancock, where she once lived, “killed the town.” In the same way, on the highway outside Cape Charles, “a Rite-Aid would hurt,” she said. “And a hotel would hurt the B&Bs.”
“I like to think about this in a completely different way,” McSwain said. “Cape Charles is a very attractive place that has its own identity – not something we have to worry about dying.” He argued that commercial development on Route 13 around the Cape Charles traffic light would slow down through-traffic and “make people make that right turn.” A gas station or a motel at the intersection “would stop the high-speed traffic coming through. Once they’ve stopped, train the retailers to say something good about Cape Charles,” McSwain suggested. [Read more…]
Letters Between Business Association, Mayor Worth a Read
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
September 11, 2013
Tonight (Wednesday) the new economic development director for Northampton County, Charles McSwain, speaks to the Cape Charles Business Association. One of the issues is development on Route 13 and its effect on Cape Charles businesses. The Town of Cape Charles has some leverage because it can choose to promote commercial development on the highway or discourage it — depending on whether it agrees to facilitate sewerage for commercial properties outside town.
Two letters appear below: the first is from Cape Charles Business Association President George Proto to Mayor Dora Sullivan, and the second is the mayor’s response. Anyone interested in Route 13 commercial development might also be interested to read the letters.
SHORE THING: You Tell ‘Em, Ted
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
September 9, 2013
A recurring theme of critics of the Wave runs like this: “We’re tired of all the negativity. Don’t tear down; build up. If you think you can do better, then run for office. Get involved. But don’t spend your time criticizing what others are doing.”
Our critics don’t seem to have much appreciation for what’s known as the “Fourth Estate.” According to Wikipedia, the “networked Fourth Estate” can be defined as “technologies that are associated with the free press and provide a public check on the branches of government.”
Providing a public check on government is the main purpose of the Wave. In a tiny town like Cape Charles, how are you going to know what’s happening at Town Council, the Planning Commission, the Historic District Review Board, or the Wetlands and Coastal Dunes Board? Attend all the meetings as a spectator? For most people that’s just not practical. But to be an informed citizen you need to know what’s going on, and that’s where the Wave comes in. We actually report those meetings. We’re not running for office, but we are involved.
The two “real” newspapers, Eastern Shore News and Eastern Shore Post, from time to time file stories about Cape Charles, including Town Council, but those papers cover the entire Eastern Shore and don’t focus on Cape Charles. Hence the Wave.
The aforementioned papers sometimes are criticized as too “wishy-washy,” afraid to call a spade a spade. So it did our hearts good when we read the fiery opinion column by Eastern Shore News editor Ted Shockley the other week. His rebuke is directed at Accomack County supervisors after they refused to fund a new library. Shockley pointed out that the supervisors waste plenty of money through poor management. Here’s a condensation of what he wrote: [Read more…]
Annual Forestry & Wildlife Tour of Northampton County
September 7, 2013
The annual Forest Landowners bus tour for Northampton County typically has 50-75 participants. Teachers, local government officials, and interested citizens are welcome to join forest landowners on the tour, and scholarships are available for K-12 teachers.
Meet-up is 8 a.m. Thursday, October 3, at the Food Lion, Northampton Shopping Center in Exmore. Tour begins promptly at 8:30 a.m.
The day will be spent visiting privately owned forestlands to view and discuss active forestry and wildlife management options. The day concludes at Chatham Vineyards.
There will be numerous opportunities throughout the day for participants to interact with one another, and with natural resource professionals. Robbie Lewis, with the Virginia Department of Forestry, will be the main tour guide.
The tour will conclude by 4:30 p.m.
Registration is $45/person; $80/couple and includes lunch, refreshments, and transportation.
Register by September 25 at http://forestupdate.frec.vt.edu. For more information contact: Neil Clark at [email protected] or 757-653-2572.
ITINERARY
Stop 1: Mattissippi Tract, Explore the remnants of a house built during the Colonial Era. Discussion will cover topics such as pre-commercial thinning, aerial herbicide release, and waterfowl impoundments (they do duck hunt on the Shore ya’ know). [Read more…]
TUESDAY 9/10: Harbor District Public Hearing with Town Council and Planning Commission
Cape Charles Town Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint public hearing 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 10, at the Town Hall, 2 Plum Street, to hear public comments regarding proposed modifications to the Cape Charles Zoning Ordinance, Section 3.9 – Harbor District. [Read more…]
The Way We Were: 9 Years Ago in the New York Times
Once McCarthy’s Hotel, then Cape Charles Hotel, now Hotel Cape Charles. (1930s penny postcard)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
September 5, 2013
This week marks the 9th anniversary of the New York Times feature article “Waking Up Cape Charles.” The story is a useful and interesting benchmark of how far the town has come, how much things remain the same, and how history repeats itself. Although a 10th-anniversary retrospective would be the most appropriate, we just couldn’t wait another year. So here are excerpts from the article published September 3, 2004, by Tim Neville and annotated (in italics) by the Wave for today’s reader:
In 1991, houses in this town on the Eastern Shore of Virginia were so cheap that when Barbara Brown found one just four blocks from the Chesapeake Bay, she bought it with a credit card. The house — two stories and 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms — was in terrible shape, said Ms. Brown, who paid $15,000 for it. . . . Ms. Brown, a psychotherapist, gutted the place, rehabbed it and sold it in 1996 for $65,000. . . . Today it might sell for $250,000 or more.
That house, 123 Peach Street, has a tax value of $156,800 today. Barbara Brown has remained faithful to Cape Charles, and last year opened a new office on Mason Avenue, as reported by the Wave (click here to read).
[T]he economic boom is hard to ignore. Houses and commercial buildings that stood falling apart five years ago now sell for $250,000 or more. New homes boasting breezy British West Indies architecture — many approaching the $1 million mark — pop regularly out of the sand. McCarthy’s Hotel, closed for decades, is scheduled to reopen by Thanksgiving under a new owner who is restoring it to its 1930’s roots.
The “restoration” at 235 Mason Avenue, known as Cape Charles Hotel, looked nothing like the 1930s penny postcard pictured above. The Cape Charles Hotel ultimately failed, was sold by the bank, and underwent another extensive remodeling, opening in 2012 as Hotel Cape Charles. [Read more…]
EDITORIAL: Conflict of Interest
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
September 4, 2013
This editorial should not have to be written, because the issue should be obvious. Sadly, that is not the case in Northampton County – or especially Cape Charles, where conflicts of interest are more common than September hurricanes. (Click here for an egregious example five years ago.)
Resident in Cape Charles is a remarkable individual known to all as Bob Panek. Once the acting town manager, he now prefers to be the assistant. He was the chief consultant for construction of the Town’s wastewater treatment plant. He is president of Citizens for Central Park. At candidate debates before the last three elections, Mr. Panek decided which questions were asked and to whom, despite his unconcealed partisanship. And finally, which is the point of this editorial, he is chairman of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Public Service Authority, whose purpose is to study, implement, and operate water and sewer systems.
Mr. Panek was appointed by Cape Charles Town Council to represent the Town on the PSA. This was wrong, because it violates the principle of separation between a paid public employee and an elected or appointed official. One might have hoped that Town Council understood that principle, after two town employees ceased to serve on Town Council. A paid town employee should not be appointed or elected to a town board or commission and should not be the town’s representative on a county board or commission. [Read more…]
Town Won’t Reveal Route 13 Monthly Sewer Rates
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
September 3, 2013
Two public meetings are scheduled this month to provide information about plans for mandatory sewer hookups and a nearly doubling of County land taxes in an area along Route 13 north and south of the Cape Charles traffic light and along a portion of South Bayside Road. But property owners’ burning question won’t be answered at the meeting. That is: How much will my sewer bill be?
Cape Charles residents pay a monthly charge of $60.85 for up to 2,000 gallons of sewage treatment. They also pay a separate charge for water, but at this stage only sewerage is proposed for Route 13 area customers.
The Town’s water consultant and assistant town manager, Bob Panek, has been coy about how much County customers might have to pay. “I have no idea what the rate would be,” Panek told the Cape Charles Business Association July 23.
Panek is also chairman of the Public Service Authority, the County entity that is proposing sewerage on the highway. The Town and the PSA are supposed to negotiate a sewer rate. Since Panek cannot negotiate with himself, he has turned over the calculation of a rate structure to other Town employees.
Panek told the Business Association that doing a rate analysis would be “about a day’s work.” But his estimate was optimistic. Town Council had scheduled a September 5 work session to review a proposed rate structure, but last week the work session was postponed until September 25. It seems that, without Panek’s involvement, the financial analysis will require about a month instead of about a day to accomplish. [Read more…]
