COMMENTARY:
Don’t Ignore Mason Avenue Parking Needs
By DEBORAH BENDER
April 14, 2014
Local developer Patrick Hand has an idea to redevelop the old Be-Lo grocery store property on Mason Avenue. There is no question that the old shuttered grocery blights the streetscape of Mason Avenue. No one can argue against having a nice new building on that lot. But with important matters to consider about the proposal, Town Council has thrown caution to the wind.
At a recent Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, Mr. Hand said that he approached some members of Town Council six or seven months ago about his plans for the property. He proposed selling some of the property to the town for public parking, but he and Town Council could not agree on a price. But rather than ask townspeople what they want, Council cut off negotiations.
Then Town Council decided to buy seven empty lots on the entrance to town. Why did Council think it was more important to buy those lots from Dickie Foster than to purchase parking on Mason Avenue?
Residents, homeowners, shop owners, and some members of Town Council were left in the dark about the Be-Lo proposed project until just a few weeks ago. Most of us only heard about the plan at the March Town Council meeting. Later, a few adjacent property owners received a letter about the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting held last Monday. Mr. Hand’s proposal has never been raised with the Planning Commission or the Harbor District Review Board. It seems that they are only needed when it is time to pull out the rubber stamp.
For going on 20 years the parking lots at the old Be-Lo store have been available to the public in Cape Charles. They have been used for parking to attend functions at the Palace Theatre, to shop on Mason Avenue, and to eat at the Coffee House, as well as other uses. Where will tourists and shoppers park when those lots are closed? [Read more…]
COMMENTARY:
Promote Economic Development — Not Rezoning
Reprinted by permission from ShoreLine, the newsletter of Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore.
By DAVID KABLER
April 7, 2014
The reasoning behind the proposed revision of our zoning ordinance, we are told, is to pave the way to economic development. In that light, prompt disclosure of Northampton County’s actual efforts towards promoting economic development will be appreciated by her concerned citizens. We have recently hired a $100,000 per year Economic Development Director to direct us towards prosperity, and it behooves us to know what he has been doing these last 12 months to sell our place to the business world.
The Northampton County Board of Supervisors charged him with the task of revising and simplifying our zoning ordinance. That ordinance he has drafted with the aid of considerable staff, albeit lacking certain studies that could validate the work. The point of “simplifying” the ordinance for the benefit of economic development begs many questions: What are our goals? What is our business plan for marketing and selling the Shore to industry and business? What is our marketing budget, our inventory of real estate assets, our infrastructure assets — i.e. labor, training, materials, transportation, etc? What marketing aids such as brochures and pamphlets have been developed? What trade organizations are targeted? What presentations will we host at places where decision makers gather to meet? What advertising and publicity will we generate?
A good business plan includes a vision statement and the Three P’s: Product, Pricing, and Promotion. There is plenty of “product” zoned for business for sale, yet there appears to be no “promotion.” Our Development Director should build a partnership with the Shore’s real estate agents — our best sales people — who are on the front lines of economic development. Put the product up prominently on a shelf, advertise its availability to your customers, and go out and drum up business.
We hope that Mr. McSwain has not been sidetracked for zoning work. How many contacts has he generated, how many visits has he hosted and how many prospects have turned us down because of our so-called “preservationist” zoning? The County needs to entertain some “paying” customers and find out what their needs are before we attempt to fix something that we are not even sure needs fixing. The Supervisors need to supervise our star salesman to make some sales!
Let’s get down to brass tacks and let Mr. McSwain do what he does best. As well, our Planning Commission, and the public, ought to be privy to what our business plan is and how it is being fulfilled. I, for one, would like to see it in black and white or, better yet, in full color.
David Kabler is a Realtor, a local businessman, and a former Northampton County Planning Commissioner.
Submissions to COMMENTARY are welcome on any subject relevant to Cape Charles. Opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of this publication.
COMMENTARY:
Zoning Proposals Conflict with Comprehensive Plan
By JAY FORD
Executive Director
Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper
March 3, 2014
The Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper organization has expressed its concern to Northampton County officials over plans to overhaul the County zoning code. The County recently issued a statement by Economic Director Charles McSwain stating that “The proposed zoning code is consistent with the County’s adopted Comprehensive Plan.”
In fact, there are numerous conflicts with the Comprehensive Plan that would make this statement untrue. Furthermore, the County’s Planning Commission has not yet completed the five-year review of the Comprehensive Plan — nor have they held any hearings to present to the public any proposed changes to the existing Comprehensive Plan. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: Advice to the New School Board
By TED WARNER
February 3, 2014
On Wednesday, January 15, I drove back to Northampton County, across the increasingly overpriced Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I drove around Cape Charles, taking in the familiar streets, and eventually made my way to the Northampton County Public Schools Central Office in order to witness the swearing in ceremony of the county’s first elected school board.
For many of us, the ceremony marked the end of a long process which began several years ago.
Several hundred of us sat in the Old Middle School auditorium to express our outrage over the unceremonious dismissal of a popular high school principal. But there were only eight of us a few weeks later, facing that great, inevitable question: “What’s next?”
Over the next few months, we collaborated closely and struggled to develop a message that was respectful of a long litany of complaints about the state of our public schools, but was also forward-thinking, positive, and would ultimately lead to a positive change in the county. We recognized that the county’s public school administrators and School Board were not responding to needs of teachers, parents, and the community at large. For example, the county’s strategic plan addressed the topic of “community outreach” with only the ominously apathetic words “on going.” That, we felt, was not enough. So we began circulating a petition to create an elected (and not appointed) school board. The petition led to a referendum, which was overwhelming approved by the voting public in November 2012. Then we turned our attention to recruiting candidates for the School Board.
For my part, I was adamant that the candidates be subjected to public scrutiny and that they be asked to articulate an unwavering commitment to involving the expertise of teachers in their deliberations. I firmly believe that almost any problem in our schools can be better solved by a group of teachers, working in the classroom day in and day out, than by Central Office personnel or state-level officials in the Department of Education. Although I was there for every step of this story, I hope that this last point — that the teachers should be more respected — was my contribution.
After a series of public forums, of which the most productive was sponsored by the Northampton County Education Association, a professional association of Northampton’s teachers and support professionals, a group of candidates was selected. In November, the people elected their first school board.
When they raised their hands a week ago and took their oath of office, I hope they realized that although a long story had come to a triumphant conclusion, a new story was beginning. And that story begins with that same great, inevitable question: “What’s next?”
It saddens me that I will not be a part of answering that question. Shortly after the election in November, I accepted a position that required me to move out of the school system. My colleagues congratulated me warmly, and I was grateful for their support. As we all must, my decision to move on was responsible to my family obligations and respectful to the resignation process as defined by School Board policy. I certainly wish that Northampton County could have created the circumstances for me to remain. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: Signs of Confusion
Violation: “Signs shall not exceed 25 percent of the window area on which such signs are displayed.”
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 24, 2013
Did anyone, other than Cape Charles Town Council member and Planning Commissioner Joan Natali, actually read the new 20-page sign ordinance before voting it into law? Town Planner Rob Testerman says the Town’s attorney reviewed it, but a reader has pointed out that the time restriction on political signs violates Virginia state law.
The new sign ordinance is not only extremely proscriptive – it’s also frustratingly vague. For example:
PERMITS REQUIRED: Unless specifically exempted, a permit must be obtained from the zoning administrator for the erection and maintenance of all signs erected or maintained within this jurisdiction and in accordance with other ordinances of this Jurisdiction.
Does that mean that EVERY sign in town will need a permit? Even temporary signs, such as For Sale signs? The ordinance doesn’t say.
But speaking of permits, there are of course:
PERMIT FEES: Permit fees to erect, alter or relocate a sign shall be in accordance with the fee schedule adopted within this jurisdiction.
No fee schedule is shown.
Do we even know what a “sign” is? Yes, thanks to the ordinance:
SIGN: Any device visible from a public place that displays either commercial or noncommercial messages by means of graphic presentation of alphabetic or pictorial symbols or representations.
So a sign doesn’t even have to contain words. It might be pictures of pumpkins such as were displayed in the windows of the vacant Bi-Lo building on Mason Avenue in October. The signs are gone now, and a good thing, because they are illegal.
VIOLATION: “Pure Sea Glass” banner looks to be well over 25 percent of the window space.
The most restrictive rule in the new ordinance is this one:
WINDOW SIGNS shall be permitted for any nonresidential use in a residential district, and for all commercial and industrial districts, subject to the following limitations:
– Any signs attached to windows or glass walls advertising weekly specials or special services offered for a limited time by a business establishment.
– The aggregate area of all such signs shall not exceed 25 percent of the window area on which such signs are displayed. Window panels separated by muntins or mullions shall be considered as one continuous window area.
One really needs to read this several times before it sinks in. Essentially, it bans all “permanent” signs in storefront windows. Only “weekly specials,” or “limited-time” offers are allowed to be displayed.
But that’s not all – there’s also the size restriction: no more than 25 percent of the window area. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY by a Chicken-Hearted Resident
Two hens for every boy. (Photo: Stefanie Hadden)
December 21, 2013
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles resident Stefanie Hadden made the following presentation Thursday at the Town Council meeting.)
Hi friends and neighbors! Backyard chicken-keeping is a rewarding and educational activity. It is also harmless. Keeping a small number of hens on one’s private property, properly secured and cared for, is a forward-thinking win-win for the community. It is a perfect example of sustainable living, and an important counterpoint to inhumane industrial- scale poultry production.
Hens are friendly, curious and productive! They‘re quiet, clean, entertaining birds and make wonderful outdoor pets. They produce nutritious hormone and antibiotic-free eggs ($4.29 per doz. at the grocery!), keep yards free of ticks and other insect pests, and provide excellent garden fertilizer in the form of their composted droppings.
Did you know the average dog produces 12 ounces of waste per day, where a hen produces a mere 1.5 ounces? [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: I Remember Nelson Mandela
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 7, 2013
Rarely is anything printed in the Wave that does not relate directly to the Eastern Shore. But the passing of Nelson Mandela compels me to write about what he meant to me. I offer this commentary to those who may be interested, while recognizing that it is not for everyone.
Among the early accounts of Mandela’s death December 5 at age 95 was a striking quote from, of all people, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said: “President Mandela’s life is the closest thing we have to proof of God.” I would call that an overstatement, but I agree with the sentiment that Mandela, at least within the group of people we label politicians, was heads and shoulders above all the others. Mandela was a modern statesman in a time when the word seems obsolete.
Somewhere in my old collection of VHS tapes I have the Sunday morning recording I made of Mandela’s release from prison February 11, 1990, after 27 years of confinement. At the time I was training for my upcoming assignment to South Africa as a political aide to the U.S. ambassador.
I arrived in South Africa in June, just four months after Mandela’s release from prison. The country was in a state of hypertension, with all races fearful that a civil war would shortly erupt. For more than a decade, the conventional wisdom had been that war was inevitable.
This was where Mandela showed his genius for toughness encased in humility. During the negotiations between his African National Congress and the white ruling government, his eloquence, humility, intellect, determination, and yes – sense of humor – eroded the white power structure’s long-held conviction that a black president would run their nation into the ground, just as they had seen happen in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. [Read more…]
OLD SCHOOL: Messages From and To the Mayor
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is a message from Mayor Sullivan reprinted from the November 20 Town Gazette. It is followed by a message to the mayor from Old School Cape Charles.)
November 21, 2013
MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
I am pleased to report that the Supreme Court of Virginia has rejected both petitions for appeal of the decisions rendered by the Northampton Circuit Court filed by Old School Cape Charles, et al. We are looking forward to the developer now moving ahead with the historic rehabilitation of the former school property into an asset that contributes to our economy.
I am hopeful that we can continue to move forward in improving our Town.
Thank you,
DORA SULLIVAN
MESSAGE TO THE MAYOR FROM OLD SCHOOL CAPE CHARLES
The wheels of justice grind slowly, and Old School Cape Charles LLC has not given up the fight to save Central Park property from the hands of a developer who would turn the largest public building in town into an apartment house.
Old School Cape Charles still has the option of requesting the Supreme Court to review the decision of the Writ Panel that rejected our appeals. The question of “standing” looms large in the rejection. Circuit Court Judge Revell Lewis ruled that a community group formed for the sole purpose of saving a public asset does not have standing to question the decision of Town Council. Judge Lewis also decided that he did not have jurisdiction over the case involving the sale. So Old School Cape Charles plans to ask the Supreme Court to review the decision of the panel.
Then there is the question of the Town staff’s ignoring Historic District Guidelines which state that a parking lot should not be allowed in front of the building. Madame Mayor, you have refused to identify the front of the building, but we believe that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources will be able to locate the front even without your assistance. [Read more…]
