Parking is essential
By Robert B. Allen
Daily Press
August 2, 2005
The Buckroe Master Plan includes five phases of improvements. Four of them are well thought out, and the city should progress with implementation. However, Urban Design Associates ran out of steam when it reached the Buckroe Beach bayfront portion of the plan.
The Bayfront Initiative should not be in the master plan. Once all that parking is lost to those unrealistically low-priced $135,000 condos - do you know of any beachfront housing selling for $135,000? - there will be no way to correct the mistakes.
Right now, families, churches and reunion groups crowd the open green parking lots, and they need a few more pavilions and benches and other small amenities to add to the beauty of the new sand that draws crowds to the beach. Those are immediate needs.
Planners are visionaries and they are aware that Buckroe Beach is one of the "crown jewels" of Hampton, but they fail to understand that Buckroe is a destination for many from other parts of the Peninsula and the state. Destinations bring folks in automobiles, and automobiles require adequate parking.
Robert B. Allen
Hampton
