Grass-roots effort might alter Buckroe
HAMPTON -- After months of grass-roots outcry to save open space near the water, the City Council is rethinking development plans for the muddy, grass lots near Buckroe Beach.
"We are now seriously, as a council, looking at doing something different with development," said Vice Mayor Joe Spencer. "I'm listening to all kinds of options."
During a special meeting Tuesday, each member of the council laid out a vision for how the beachfront should look in the future. Tentative ideas included an extended boardwalk, a mini-golf course and even a parking garage - but nearly every suggestion contained more park space.
The beach community became a political hot button over the past year after a group of residents started petitioning to stop plans to build homes or condominiums on the vacant lots. The council pressed pause on development in the fall so the city could consider the effects of closing Fort Monroe, but uncertainty has triggered wild rumors and also handcuffed staff at City Hall. "Some of us have been going through this process for a long time," said Mayor Ross A. Kearney II. "We have got to reach some sort of agreement on what we want to do - or what we don't want to do."
The Council asked staff to tinker with some of the ideas and come up with a way to bring civic groups, business owners, developers and residents back into discussions about Buckroe. "We've got to have a legitimate process," said Councilman Turner Spencer. "We've got to have a lot of community input."
It's unclear how soon brainstorming could begin or who will get to help the city craft a new plan.
"We can do this, it just takes time and a little money," said Planning Director Terry O'Neill. "There's got to be some discussion about who serves on the committee and given the history, that's not going to be easy."
The redo is likely to focus almost entirely on the lots just off the beachfront. "I don't want to redo the whole Buckroe plan," said Councilman Rhet Tignor, "and I don't think that anyone does."
Despite the outcry to preserve the area as a public park, Turner Spencer said that some of the land should be sold to help rejuvenate the languishing neighborhood.
"You've got to have some money, some investment, some capital," he said.
The ideas tossed around during Tuesday's meeting were a welcome change for Sandra Canepa, who was one of the original petitioners fighting to keep open space.
"It's a heck of a lot better than what we've been hearing," she said. "We're very pleased." The delay isn't ideal, but maybe it can heal the divisiveness in Buckroe, according to Amy Hobbs, a former president of the Buckroe Civic Association and a redevelopment advocate.
"As long as something happens, I'm OK with it," Hobbs said. "I just don't want to see mud pits anymore."
Copyright (c) 2006, Daily Press
