Buckroe Meeting
By Sandra Canepa
Daily Press
September 13, 2005
All Hampton residents opposed to building condominiums on the former Buckroe Beach Amusement Park site are urged to attend an upcoming public presentation on the Buckroe Master Plan. The city's plan to build a mass of high-density, high-cost condominiums on the Buckroe bay front is identified as the Bay Front Initiative under the Buckroe Master Plan, and it will be a major portion of the upcoming presentation.
The Buckroe Master Plan Presentation will be held Tuesday, Oct. 11, 7-9 p.m., at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, 1610 Coliseum Drive, Conference Room A-B-C. The presentation will permit citizens to ask clarifying questions, specifically about the Bay Front Initiative, but, most importantly, it will permit Hampton residents to join together in mass before city officials in the continuing effort to keep our precious green space from residential developers.
Thousands of Hampton residents have signed, and continue to sign, the citizens' petition to have the former Buckroe Beach Amusement Park site designated as a city park. By signing the petition, Hampton citizens strongly indicate they do not want condominiums on the Buckroe bay front.
I urge everyone to stand behind their signatures by attending the Buckroe Master Plan public presentation.
The city has indicated it plans a major publicity campaign to notify Hampton citizens about the upcoming Buckroe Master Plan public presentation. In the meantime, learn more online by visiting www.buckroebeach.org.
Sandra Canepa
Life in a virtual Hampton
By Vicky Greenwell
Daily Press
September 13, 2005
What would life in Hampton be if the playing field between ruling and working class were suddenly leveled? I built a virtual Hampton on my computer to find out. Influenced by the current mayor, I pretended I was elected with a mandate and set forth to make my virtual Hampton my legacy.
My plan targeted our tax base, housing, education and traffic. My unshackled process went beyond sacrificing neighborhoods on LaSalle Avenue and Kecoughtan Road, small-business owners or Buckroe's public access. My plan ignored race and income to afford everyone the opportunity to "take one for the team" so council can achieve its legacy.
I placed a new school on School Board Chairman Lennie Routten's farm in Fox Hill. This eliminates school overcrowding.
Condominium sales in virtual Hampton were enhanced with a view of the water the length of Chesapeake Boulevard and Chesapeake Avenue combined. True, former Mayor James L. Eason's home was taken via eminent domain for the new overpass connecting the two roads, but Councilman Charlie Sapp's house was spared. Eason's shopping center on Kecoughtan was sacrificed for parking and the shuttle terminal I wedged in to stave off traffic on Settlers' Landing Road and provide parking for downtown employees.
Increasing the retail tax base includes a Sam's Club in Phoebus near the interstate. Mallory Street becomes a mirror image of the Mercury Boulevard and Interstate 64 overpass and dead-ends in a cul-de-sac at Mayor Ross Kearney's back yard. An 8-foot easement and sound wall with shrubbery won't dim the glow from the "golden arches," but every plan leaves room for "collateral damage"!
Vicky Greenwell
Hampton
