Offshore Drilling Puts Fragile Virginia Coast at Risk

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

February 2, 2015

The Obama administration has announced plans to allow oil wells to be drilled off the coast of Virginia and several other southeastern states, with Virginia’s coastline placed at particular risk. Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper Jay Ford expressed “extreme disappointment” with the decision — “Potential spills would have devastating consequences for one of the most unique habitats on our planet. Our aquaculture industry, fisheries, tourism, and culture would all be put at risk,” he said.

Veteran journalist Peter Galuszka, writing in Bacon’s Rebellion, provides the following commentary:

Almost five years after the infamous Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama has again proposed opening tracts offshore of Virginia and the southeastern U.S. coast to oil and natural gas drilling.

The plan poses big risks for what may be little gain. Federal surveys show there could be 3.3 billion barrels of crude oil and 31.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the potential lease area stretching from Virginia to Georgia.

Energy industry officials praised the plan while complaining it doesn’t go far enough. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation condemned it. Besides the ecological risk, the move is a step away from refocusing energy on renewables that do not lead to more carbon emissions and climate change. [Read more…]

‘Addams Family’ House Finally Getting a Makeover

By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave

January 26, 2015

Walking past the Post Office towards the beach, as I pass the old gothic-Victorian house in a state of despairing disrepair next door, I am often reminded of the decaying mansion in Truman Capote’s novel Other Voices, Other Rooms. Stopping on the sidewalk just in front of the twisted iron fencing, looking up at the gabled top-floor windows, I half expect to see the figure of Capote’s “queer lady” gazing down at me.

The gothic imagery may soon have to find another room, as this historically beautiful home at 237 Randolph Avenue has found a new family that has already begun restoring it to its former glory. Meadow Green Builders has applied to the town’s Historic District Review Board for permission to construct a second-floor rear addition.

When adding on to an existing restoration project, several aspects need to be taken into consideration, such as the condition of the home, the structural integrity, how much of the original design has been left intact and how much of it has been altered over the years. Walking the tightrope of code requirements is also an issue — do the code requirements have an adverse effect on historic character?

As part of the restoration and addition, owners Jennifer Jackson and Bobby Baird, who currently reside on Strawberry Street, are going to leverage the historic tax credit program through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and have hired consultant Paige Pollard to handle the application process. Ms. Pollard previously worked for the Department of Historic Resources, and is also handling tax credit applications for the developer of the old Cape Charles High School.

The house at 237 Randolph is a gabled, ell-framed dwelling dating from circa 1890, making it one of the oldest homes in Cape Charles. In some cases, we have seen restorations go rogue (see the Wave’s story on Hotel Cape Charles), generally ignoring the historical significance of a structure (as well as the Historic Review Board) relative to time, language, and culture. That does not appear to be the case with Ms. Jackson and Mr. Baird. The intent here is to get as close to the original design as possible while making the space modern and livable. [Read more…]

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LETTER
Slow Down, Supervisors — This Is God’s Country

January 26, 2015

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Penny Lusk wrote the following letter to Northampton County Supervisors, and requested the Wave to publish it. We are pleased to do so.)

To: Chairman Richard Hubbard, District 4; Granville Hogg, District 1; Larry Trala, District 5; Larry LeMond, District 2; Oliver Bennett, District 3

SIRS,

Outside of Fort Adkins, Wisconsin, in the hill country, you might come upon a sign on the side of an old barn. In large letters it reads, “Slow down. This is God’s country.” Is the sign meant to slow traffic or to get folks to stop and see beautiful nature, or, in the stopping and looking, to soul-search about what is important for good living? The stalwart agrarian folk of that area have a good handle on nature, hard work, and community.

Please, please, Northampton Board of Supervisors, slow down with these new zoning plans. Eastern Shore families have the same basic values as those rural Wisconsin folk. If rural is unattractive, why are so many young adults coming back. They are black, white, and Latino. They are medical professionals, entrepreneurs, small business starters, teachers, lawyers, contractors, aquaculture farmers and workers, organic farmers, artists, and tour guides. Many employ others, and all pay taxes. Some work several jobs just for the privilege of living here and raising their children in this rural environment.

The economic crash of ’08, mostly due to speculation gone awry, left us here in Northampton County with many subdivided lots sitting empty, causing costs to the county and loss of state funds for our schools.

On the plus side, since then, aquaculture and tourism have boomed and more small businesses have come and stayed. Organic farming is growing, our conventional farming is stronger, and our nursery businesses remain healthy. How incredible is all this that such a tiny county with a limited aquifer and a fragile but very special environment with rare habitat could prevail!

We are also blessed with retired citizens who have come with experience and expertise because they like what we are and what is here. They have seen their worlds paved over in the name of progress. They bring their grandchildren here to see the stars. We really do shine in today’s world. [Read more…]

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COMMENTARY
Legal Followup on Selling a Pie to Your Neighbor

By KAREN GAY
Cape Charles Wave

January 26, 2015

Martin Luther King Day was an appropriate day for the many advocacy organizations to come together at the Richmond General Assembly for their Lobby Day. This is a day in which individuals and groups can visit their Senator and Delegate and express their interest in pending legislation. I attended to promote a bill to allow the farmer and individuals the right to create food products in their home for sale to individuals without government intervention. These products would need to be labeled as not government inspected and could not be sold for resale.

House Bill 1290 would allow you or your neighbor to bake a pumpkin pie and sell it to someone who wants to eat home-baked goods but may not be able to make it himself. Older folks who can’t get out of the house to shop could order meals from a neighbor and provide a livelihood for a stay-at-home mom and obtain good nutrition in return. This is the lowest level of commerce, and the ability to fend for oneself in the kitchen should be available to all citizens.

The problem with Virginia regulations is that they are geared to an industrial product in which a farmer has acres of corn, soy, and wheat, or a factory that produces sterile, shrink-wrapped food. There is a whole subculture of individual entrepreneurs for whom these laws do not work. The legal bar to creating a small home-based food business is so high that many people operate small businesses illegally, or look for a low-paid job with a retailer in which they have no personal investment aside from putting in the specified number of hours.

Working for oneself empowers people to think creatively and is the historic foundation of the economy in our country. However, our laws in Virginia stifle the individual in favor of the corporation or corporate farm. I advocate a two-tier system of laws that support both small and large enterprises. This approach would provide maximum choice to individuals who could then decide for themselves what kind of food they prefer to buy. This provides opportunity for everyone.

Let me tell you about two of the people I met who support the Virginia Food Freedom bill: [Read more…]

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County-Wide Rezoning Could Be Adopted in August

January 26, 2015

STATEMENT FROM CITIZENS FOR A BETTER EASTERN SHORE (CBES)

Due to the public outcry over the Northampton County Proposed County-wide Rezoning, and the potential impacts of such zoning on the quality of life of all our citizens, CBES pledges to help keep you informed. CBES has examined the Board of Supervisors’ Packet released last Friday, and is circulating the draft of the zoning timetable below.

CALENDAR FOR ZONING ORDINANCE ADOPTION

• Jan. 26:  “…review the revised draft documents and map to be sent to joint public hearing (only those items which have changed since the original March 2014 joint public hearing)
• Jan. 29: Revised draft document is available for the public’s inspection on the County website.
• Feb. 19 and Feb. 24:  Conduct two (2) public information meetings about the revised document and map.  To be held at Kiptopeke Elementary School and Occohannock Elementary School.
• March 4:  Board of Supervisors Recessed Meeting to review comments …”and decide if those comments need to be included in the revised documents.”  (A decision must be made that night in order for the remaining calendar to hold true.)
• Apr. 22:  Joint Public Hearing between the Board of Supervisors & the Planning Commission on the Zoning Ordinances & Map.
• July 31:  end of review time by the Planning Commission.
• Aug. 11:  “Next available Board of Supervisors Meeting where action can occur.” 

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Be-Lo Building Brought Low

January 19, 2015

Mason Avenue’s biggest eyesore is no more. The old Be-Lo grocery store, run out of business when Food Lion opened on the highway, got a mercy killing this past week as developer Patrick Hand cleared the area for a mixed-use building with commercial storefronts at ground level and condos upstairs. Also falling victim to Hand’s development are 160 public parking places surrounding the old building. The town plans to lease parking space on railroad property a bit further walk to shops compared to the old lot. (Photo: Irene Munz)

Watchdog Citizens Keep up Pressure on Supervisors

By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave

January 19, 2015

With brisk winds, temperatures in the 30s, and ice forming outside, over 100 people nevertheless packed the Northampton County administration building January 13 for the first Board of Supervisors meeting of the new year. Many who came were anxious over the proposed countywide rezoning ordinance that has been the dominant issue for the past year.

During public comment time, civic activist Ken Dufty documented several Supreme Court cases where decisions by local government had been challenged, warning that “we don’t want to go there, but we will” unless the Supervisors back down on the proposed rezoning and come back to the table. Otherwise they will be on a “crash course with the double doors of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Supreme Court,” Dufty emphasized.

Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore Director Donna Bozza added that Supervisors must reject the countywide rezoning proposal and that “public trust has been jeopardized. Reconsider for the good of the public.”

Former County Planning Commissioner Martina Coker criticized the proposal as a ‘”travesty that does not serve the citizens of the county.”

Newly appointed Chairman Rick Hubbard then addressed the audience, saying that the Board of Supervisors intended to finish the work left to do on the rezoning, that they had more information to gather, and after they compiled it and completed the process, they would open it up to the public for review. He reiterated that at present not even the Supervisors know what the rezoning will be or how it will look. He also stated that after completion, he would like to see two information sessions to gather information and recommendations before returning to the review process.

Another public comment came from David Boyd, who questioned the necessity of the PSA (Public Service Authority) sewer project for the Cheriton area of Route 13. Boyd said the entire project had been “hijacked by special interests” and that in the end, the only thing that would be accomplished would be alleviating the “boondoggle” that is the Cape Charles wastewater plant. [CLICK to read Boyd’s commentary in the Wave.] [Read more…]

COMMENTARY: Time to Disband the PSA

By DAVID BOYD

January 19, 2015

It is time to disband the PSA.

Originally the PSA (Public Service Authority) was tasked with developing a plan to construct a sewer which would serve Riverside Hospital in Nassawadox, in hopes of keeping that facility in Northampton County. When it became obvious we were going to lose the hospital, the PSA lost its primary purpose. At that point, Northampton County and four towns — Cape Charles, Cheriton, Nassawadox, and Exmore — revamped the PSA to handle wastewater issues in those towns and the surrounding County. The PSA would build or take over in-place wastewater treatment facilities and manage the operations and maintenance of them.

Of interest in this regard is the fact that Eastville, the County seat of Northampton County, chose not to join the PSA. Then the citizens of Cheriton found out what the monthly fee would be to treat their wastewater and they asked to be removed from the plan. Nassawadox and Exmore are no longer included in the plan in its present format either. So, this appears to have evolved into a plan to construct a pipeline to help bail Cape Charles out from its boondoggle of an overdesigned sewer plant, at the expense of Northampton County taxpayers.

The perpetrators of the PSA plan. however, claim the purpose is to attract business along Route 13, which contradicts the intent of the County Comprehensive Plan.

Since then, the PSA has spent more than $130,000 in grants and tax money with nothing to show for it. On September 16, 2013, the PSA held an informational meeting about a proposed tax district to pay for sewerage for commercial properties. At that meeting, more than 90 percent of the speakers said that they did not want a sewer pipe from Route 13 to the Cape Charles wastewater plant, or the related tax district. Immediately following those comments, the PSA voted to spend $70,000 for engineering plans for a pipe to the Cape Charles plant. Someone was not listening. [Read more…]

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WAYNE CREED Goes to a Town Council Meeting

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the absence of other reporting staff, Cape Charles’ most acerbic social critic, Wave columnist Wayne Creed, has recently donned a reportorial hat and dutifully recorded the actions of Northampton’s Board of Supervisors, which can be read in the news columns here and here. But in the column below, the indomitable Mr. Creed returns to his roots with an opinionated but highly informative commentary on Cape Charles Town Council’s first meeting of the new year.

By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave

January 19, 2015

With Christmas decorations ripped down, the sidewalks dark and lonely, the night cold and wet, the lights were turned on inside the Town Civic Center January 15 in order to conduct the first Town Council Regular Meeting of the New Year. Aside from two members of news media (Cape Charles Wave and Eastern Shore Post), only two other constituents braved the raw weather to attend. Mayor Proto himself arrived nearly 30 minutes late.

Town Council voted to request the Virginia Port Authority to carry over to the new year several grants previously awarded for harbor improvements. This includes $645,000 for offshore breakwaters and $185,000 for a wave attenuator and dock improvements. The VPA has altered the terms to a 75%-25% match, making the proposal more fiscally attractive. Local matching funds must still be identified for these projects. Councilman Steve Bennett aggressively questioned Harbormaster Smitty Dize in what appeared to be a leading manner, attempting to get Mr. Dize to acknowledge, or at least provide a modicum of actual requirements that might justify the request for funds.

“Are there no plans to spend the money (we have)? No contracts have been awarded?”

Mr. Dize only responded, “I’m with you,” and “the VPA likes Cape Charles. We spend their money.”

The motion to have Mayor Proto write a letter requesting the funds passed unanimously (Councilman Wendell was absent). There was no discussion by Council regarding who would actually write, edit, or approve the letter Mayor Proto is required to sign. [Read more…]

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Town Meeting Question: Who Will Pay for Spending?

By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave

January 12, 2015

A crowd of close to 60 people braved the frigid cold January 8 to attend District 1 Supervisor Granville Hogg’s Town Hall Meeting, held at Kiptopeke Elementary. Following the last few months of intense opposition to the proposed zoning ordinance changes, those in attendance were anxious for any further information regarding this as well as other items being undertaken by the Board of Supervisors.

The first item on Mr. Hogg’s agenda was the Public Service Authority Southern Node Project. Hogg reiterated many concerns that have been voiced after the Northern Node part of the project was rejected and focus was turned on the Southern Node: Is there a legitimate need for it, and is there a decent business plan in place that will justify it? And — just who will pay for it?

Martina Coker questioned whether the project is really going to create commercial growth, or will have the opposite effect. An example she used was the new Veterinary Clinic in the Food Lion Shopping Center, which had already been executed based on an established cost estimation and business plan, and whether it would be fair now to burden them, and future businesses, with an excessive new cost.

Along these lines, Roberta Kellam argued that since wastewater has already been approved in these areas, and existing septic systems are working, there is no indication that this project will create new jobs.

Former Supervisor Spencer Murray noted, ‘This is basically a build it and they will come scenario. Sensitive growth is good — the question is how you get it.”

The next topic addressed by Mr. Hogg was the proposed construction of a new Emergency Medical Services facility. The Board of Supervisors is looking three options:

· Fully restore the Machipango Middle School facility, with an estimated price tag of $3.8 to $5.5 million;

· Or, acquire the existing EMS property now being leased, and build onto that. Estimated cost, depending on the size of the new garage, would be $500,000 to $600,000.

· Or, construct the new EMS facility at the existing school bus garage in Eastville. Again, cost estimates are closer to the $600,000 figure. [Read more…]

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LETTER: Proposed Rezoning Betrays Property Owners

January 12, 2015

DEAR EDITOR,

I am writing to add my voice publicly to those who have already spoken and written their objections to the way in which Northampton County’s new proposed rezoning is being handled. I was a participant in several of the citizen workshops held when the present zoning was being reviewed, and am appalled at the way this is being handled now.

I am an elected public servant, having served on the Eastville Town Council for over 20 years, but I write this as a private property owner and business owner. I sent an earlier version of this letter as an email to the Northampton County Board of Supervisors in late March 2014. I received no reply from any of them.

Everything about the way this matter is being handled makes me suspicious that it is being driven by interests that DO NOT have the interests of Northampton County citizens and taxpayers in mind.

I, as a resident, property owner, rental home owner, bed and breakfast owner, and taxpayer, feel betrayed. I understand a desire on local government’s part to do something, anything, to improve the economic situation, but this is not the answer.

Eastville, on a much smaller scale, of course, has gone through the same process of Comprehensive Plan review and updating of its zoning text and map, and it was a steep learning curve for us on the town council at the time. County staff was fantastic,  helping us in every way they could, including bringing in planning and zoning experts from as far away as Colorado. Zoning is complicated and doesn’t interest everyone. But whether you care or not, your community’s zoning does affect you and your property values. This proposed county rezoning is opening a Pandora’s Box. [Read more…]