Letter to the Mayor and Council Members
January 23, 2006
Dear Mayor Kearney and Council Members,
I received a City of Hampton letter dated January 18, 2006, and have included the contents below for clarity:
“Thank you for taking your time to address Council concerning the adoption of the Buckroe Beach Master Plan.
Council has taken an extraordinary amount of time in the public meetings, debate, and adoption of the Master Plan for the Buckroe Beach area of Hampton. Every opportunity has been given to consider additional information and new perspectives and no member of Council has mandated otherwise.
The second Planning Department process has permitted the commission and the public to reconsider what should be done immediately and those items that need to be put on hold as we assess the developments at Fort Monroe.
Thank you for your continued involvement and participation as we move forward with the revitalization of this beautiful area. If I can be of service, please feel free to contact me.”
(Signed: Ross A. Kearney, II)
Not exactly understanding what is being said in the letter, Mayor Kearney, is it possible to meet to discuss it further?
In the meantime, I have expressed many of my concerns here in this letter. Although this letter is long, the information is very important, and I ask that you please read it to the end, and be considerate of my observations, concerns, analysis, and requests.
I disagree as stated in the above letter that every opportunity has been given to consider additional information and new perspectives…
May I point out once again that the general population of Hampton was never given the opportunity they deserved to see a different vision for the public property in Buckroe, and that sound decisions cannot be accomplished without first offering yourselves and the public different choices.
On Wednesday night, January 18, 2006, I attended a workshop concerning the design of the Buckroe Fishing Pier site. An ad placed in the Buckroe Civic Association (BCA) newsletter invited residents of the Buckroe community to participate in the workshop facilitated by the Hampton Planning Department. I learned later that Chesapeake Landing homeowners had also received a special invitation to the workshop.
Eighteen Buckroe residents attended the workshop. I was not surprised at this extremely low attendance number because the majority of Buckroe residents were not aware of the meeting. About half of the attendees were members of the BCA, and the other half were from the immediate area.
The workshop concerned all citizens of the Buckroe community, and, as such, the City of Hampton should have advertised the event through a media reaching all households.
The BCA informs its members of community events by way of their newsletter, but as was proven in the past with the planning of the Buckroe Master Plan, the City of Hampton should not rely on one special group as an effective means to inform all Buckroe area citizens.
The City of Hampton learned this lesson the hard way with the public property (i.e., the Bay Front Initiative) under the Buckroe Master Plan, and made corrections in the following plans for the Kecoughtan Corridor project by publicizing their community planning events on several sources including airing on TV channel 47. The public should have been given the same courtesy for Wednesday night’s workshop.
The workshop only addressed a few topics that actually directly concerned residents currently located immediately adjacent to the pier/restaurant site. The workshop facilitators were primarily interested in public-wide opinions regarding fencing choices around the property, pavers and lighting designs, styles, colors, parking, other amenities and things of this nature for the area at the pier/restaurant site as well as the area along Resort Blvd.
Two people in my group from Chesapeake Landing had only one concern. They wanted to make sure the restaurant has a trash compactor.
Frank Huff was concerned with overflow parking in front of his property because it would block the view of the beach from his property. The facilitators assured him there would be no overflow parking in front of his place. (This was one of the very problems with parking along the First Street extension and one of the main reasons it was adamantly opposed at the last Council meeting.). I thought a bike rack would be a nice addition to the area and underground electrical wiring would make for a more attractive and less obtrusive area.
Parking was the biggest issue of concern discussed at the workshop. The plans call for 75 parking places in the parking lot slated to go next to the pier and restaurant. Overflow parking is planned for Resort Blvd. and in the area at the South end of the park (the area next to the Light House). No overflow parking is slated to go into the new neighborhood (the proposed area for the new higher-priced homes), planned for the surrounding areas of Seaboard Avenue, Bay Shore Lane and S. First Street.
My analysis of the parking situation reveals the following issues desperately need further planning considerations:
(1)
Seventy-five on-site parking spaces are proposed to service both pier and restaurant patrons. For your information the Surf Rider restaurant near Ivy Home Road, and which is probably a good guess of the size of restaurant to be built on the pier site, had 100 vehicles parked in the lot at dinner hour last Friday night.
That is a good indication Buckroe’s pier restaurant will have at least a 25-vehicle overflow for restaurant patrons alone, particularly on holidays and weekends….exactly when anglers will be flocking to the pier. Because of the shortages of piers in the area, and the great demand for a Buckroe fishing pier and the new pier restaurant, we all can agree pier and restaurant patrons will be furiously competing for parking places.
Having said that, the overflow parking planned for the area leads to second and third considerations:
(2)The overflow parking for the pier and restaurant is slated for Resort Blvd. and the parking area next to the Light House….the very area that will compete with the public parking area for beach goers. Just imagine what a nightmare that is going to create for everyone.
(3)The facilitators acknowledged overflow parking in front of Frank Huff’s place of business would be unsightly and a nuisance and indicated no plans exist for putting overflow parking in either his area or the area of the newer homes slated for the surrounding areas of Seaboard Avenue, Bay Shore Lane and S. First Street
In assessing the pier/restaurant area of Buckroe, one needs to look at the whole Buckroe Beach resort area to see a better synergistic approach. City leadership should recognize now is the time, while in the planning phase, and with the Bay Front Initiative on hold, is the time to make the right decisions; decisions that are smart and fair and appeal to the majority of untold thousands of patrons with varied interests that are expected to visit the area after its redevelopment.
As Buckroe is improved and manicured, it is safe to say we will see a great increase in visitors.
One only has to live here, visit frequently, or check the records available through Parks and Recreation for parking statistics to see even in its un-manicured state the Buckroe area sees a high volume of visitors. For this reason, we must consider now accommodating our visitors with their expectations such as convenient parking and other amenities.
As you are aware, my hope for the three B Lots is to keep them available for public use and adequate parking. In addition, it has been pointed out that if Hampton plans a city-park for those lots correctly, Hampton will see revenue coming from hundreds of thousands who are drawn naturally to our Chesapeake Bay waterfront.
Openness and airiness should be the continued feel of Lots B. They should remain public so all can enjoy the area as much as do we who live in Buckroe.
Regrettably, now we all must live with a First Street extension that cuts through our one connecting lot to the beachfront, and we must deal with the resulting traffic hazards.
I am not happy about the decision for the cut through of First Street. However, all is not lost if we stop there and council carefully considers and hopefully denies the planned toe-in parking for the other side of the Pavilion Park along First Street. Parking vehicles on either side, but particularly that side, will obstruct the public’s entire view along the only remaining scenic stretch of Hampton’s Chesapeake Bay.
Additionally, because of the parking problems the area will experience around the pier and restaurant, public parking needs to remain in the B Lot currently used for paid parking. Keeping that lot available for parking will prevent the need to add the additional toe-in parking on First Street.
That B lot is closest to the beach and could be surrounded by neat shops or concession stands. Such use would then be two-fold, for beach patrons and for shop patrons, making it useful for businesses to remain open all year, with potential year-round profitability, particularly because of our mild, short winters.
I have heard a few BCA members complain they do not want parking in the B Lot area because it will be unsightly.
Think about what they are saying, and please realize Buckroe residents living on Tappan, Richmond, and Pilot Avenues feel the same way Frank Huff feels when it comes to having cars parked in front of their homes. They are not going to like it either. No resident of Buckroe, to include Frank Huff or the new homeowners for the proposed new homes near the pier/restaurant, wants to compete with visitor parking and have unsightly vehicles in front of their homes, spoiling their views.
Vehicles, including cars, trucks, vans or SUVs parked in a large, nicely landscaped, public B Lot will not be as unsightly to Buckroe residents as vehicles parked throughout the older Buckroe neighborhoods.
As a natural progression, especially with the new face-lift planned for Buckroe, the areas of Tappan, Richmond, and Pilot Avenues will clean themselves up. With property taxes increasing due to the influx of pricier homes and the renewal of the area, the older neighborhoods in Buckroe will eventually follow suit and become more attractive. The older neighborhoods in Buckroe should not have to start out with another strike against them… that being the only residential area in Buckroe under the planned redevelopment with increased on street, overflow parking.
It is not necessary to put parking on those older streets, particularly since we are still in the planning stages and while we still have better choices. More importantly, it is not just and fair to older neighborhoods particularly when none of the other pricier neighborhoods will be burdened with the problem.
Please, Council, as leaders of our community and as stewards of our city, do everything you can, while you can, to ensure Hampton does not have discontent amongst its residents, visitors and tourist over parking issues at Buckroe Beach.
I even have heard a few BCA members say it will be better to put overflow parking at the proposed community center parking lot and trolley beach patrons to the beach.
This situation will create another parking dilemma with community center patrons, and it will be a huge inconvenience for beach patrons. Most people will probably first circle around the beach until they find a closer place to park, thus creating needless traffic jams. In addition, beach patrons carry things such as chairs, floats, coolers, blankets, kids, etc. How many people do you think will enjoy lugging all of those things from their cars to a trolley, and then from the trolley to the beach, and then back again at the end of the day? Here again, like the Salt Ponds Beach, access to Buckroe Beach will become a big hassle and, as many of our citizens predict, sooner or later it will become another “private” beach for just local residents.
Hampton’s theaters, shopping centers, and convention/coliseum areas, provide appropriate-sized parking lots and convenient access for their patrons. The Buckroe Beach bay front area is no different. Those B Lots front Buckroe’s theater-like area of the beach and offer sufficient, convenient, and appropriate areas for visitor parking requirements, and they do that without impeding on any of Buckroe’s neighborhoods, old or new.
Back to the pier/restaurant issues -- According to the planning facilitator, that area is still in the planning phase. Therefore, special consideration should be given for additional parking across the street from that site.
Now is the time to get it right. Now is when we have the chance, and with the one B Lot preserved as a shop-lined parking lot for beach patrons, the parking area near the Light House will be less of a problem for overflow parking from pier/restaurant patrons.
Although it has been mentioned before, has anyone really considered what increased parking at both ends of the Pavilion Park, and added toe-in parking around its perimeter will do to the size of the usable recreational area inside the Pavilion Park? It will provide less square footage of natural attractive open space, and again additional vehicles will obstruct the views and mar the beauty of the area.
I offer this information to you in an attempt to be helpful and to participate in the planning of my community. Unfortunately, I, along with thousands other Hampton residents, was not informed of the planning meetings in the beginning regarding the B Lots, so “yes” it was and is harder for our voices to be heard.
In his letter, Mayor Kearney thanked me for my continued involvement and participation in the issue. This is what citizens hear all the time. We are told if we want things done in our communities, then we need to get involved and speak out.
However, after a year of speaking out and trying to ensure things were done fairly and right for all Hampton residents concerning their property in Buckroe (i.e., the Bay Front Initiative), I now understand why more people do not participate in such activities -- a topic that should be discussed in more depth, but not at this time.
In my case, the one thing that has kept me going is the tremendous public response and support that I get from people everywhere I go. Not once have I had someone frown on me with the exception of a few BCA members, for our efforts to save Lots B. The 11,000 signatures on our petition are real. They are from Hampton citizens who are expecting to make a change and are counting on our efforts to do that. It is impossible for everyone to be as actively involved in this issue as I am, and as are the other “Green Space Ladies,” but that does not make their voices, as represented by their signatures, any less significant or important.
The petition signers are speaking to you, and I am asking you to listen to all of their voices by offering a different vision for the Buckroe Beach Bay Front, and create positive change for our City and its residents.
Very sincerely yours,
Trish Ferraro
