speechBCO

December 14, 2005

City Council Meeting

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, Council Members, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Burton

I would like to comment on how encouraging it is to see the public involved in other community projects such as the Kecoughtan Corridor project since I have been involved in the Buckroe Bay Front Initiative issue.

There have been notices in our local newspaper, electronic messages, televised events, and other methods used to bring awareness to the citizens of Hampton regarding the plans and meetings pertaining to the neighborhoods and businesses in the Kecoughtan Corridor area.

Several of the Council members have encouraged us to continue our efforts regarding the Bay Front Initiative, and in that I understood they meant bringing awareness to a situation that was lacking in total community involvement.

It has been a long year of working the Buckroe Bay Front issue, and it gives me joy to know that other communities are also benefiting from our hard work. It also makes me proud that our City leaders and staff are willing to make changes to accommodate the many citizens who are passionate about the land that they own and love. It gives me great hope that there will be a positive outcome for the Buckroe Bay Front issue.

Please know, although I might have come on a little strong at times, I have never meant to be disrespectful, and if any of you feel that has been the case, I sincerely apologize.

My heart is in saving the land at Buckroe, and I am committed to helping this process work its way out. I hope we can come to a resolution soon.

Sincerely,

T. Ferraro

April 13, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney and Council Members:

Since the passing of the 2005 Buckroe Beach Master Plan at the last council meeting, I have had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of people as I helped in the campaign to get signatures for the Petition against the Bayfront Initiative portion of the Plan. Most of the people I spoke to had not heard about the Plan, and they did not hesitate when asked to sign the petition. Many of those people live in Buckroe not far from the area we are trying to save. In addition, I have spoken to many other Hampton residents, and they also had not heard of the Plan and feel that they should have been better informed and included in the decision-making process.

We should consider the benefits that will be gained by developing Buckroe into a recreational green site. Recently, there was an interesting article by Alison Freehling in the Daily Press entitled, “Study Shows Virginians are Getting Fatter Fastest,” that gives us something to think about. The article states that a new federal-state study found that, since 1990, the percentage of severely overweight people in Virginia has ballooned at the most rapid rate in the nation. One of the reasons stated for the vulnerability of the peoples’ weight problem was that the urban neighborhoods are not designed for exercise. Also, with our aging population, retirees also are at risk for weight gain if they do not stay active. I find this information alarming, and I believe if we get out of the box, Hampton can take the lead and creatively turn our only remaining 10 plus acres of public green space into a recreational venue for our now and future generations and help reverse this obesity trend.

With the rate of development in our city rapidly expanding, we need to consider where the people will go to seek enjoyment and beneficial exercise. Will our citizens have to travel outside of our city to seek recreation?

We have the setting at Buckroe Beach to develop a not so out-of-the way fitness village with the water providing a soothing backdrop for an array of quality outdoor activities that will cater to all ages.

This ideal arena could be equipped with a fitness center, a few shops and eateries, and other activities such as a putt-putt golf center. An overwhelming number of people that spoke at the planning meetings held for public input wanted a coffee shop at the beach. We could have fitness trails that have training stations at different locations along the way. Bike rentals would make for a great form of exercise to folks. We could use the green space to offer Tai Chi classes and the like. Use your imagination and you will think of many activities to offer at our recreational park that would be healthy for our citizens, thus contributing to their wellbeing and at the same time satisfying our desire to keep our area open and green.

Furthermore, it is important to remind the council and the public that houses were built at the Salt Ponds Beach at the end of First Street, thus taking away a huge portion of our beachfront view and our playground there. Also, we, the taxpayers, recently spent one million dollars to replenish sand at the public owned Salt Ponds beach and only the new exclusive community living there is allowed to enjoy that area of the beach that we all once enjoyed. Currently, we are limited from using that portion of the beach through lack of parking. Can we get public parking added near the Salt Ponds beach? Will we experience this same beach access issue if we allow the development of condominiums and housing at the Buckroe Beach bayfront?

Finally, I wish to thank the Mayor and Council Members for agreeing to pass the 2005 Buckroe Beach Master Plan with the exception of “tweaking” the Bayfront Initiative portion of the Plan. With this exception in place, I ask the council to provide more comprehensive coverage of this Plan to all of the stakeholders of Hampton, so they will be better informed and involved in all future decision-making processes concerning this issue.

Please visit our website at http://www.buckroebeach.org.

T. Ferraro

August 10, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, and Council Members:

First, I would like to say “hurray” to the citizens in our neighboring City of Newport News for their victory in the Wal Mart land deal. They are rejoicing and are proud to have saved a special portion of their land from unwelcomed development.

Likewise, the citizens of Hampton will be proud when we can say that our precious land at the Buckroe bayfront is saved.

In our efforts to stop developers and investors from getting their hands on our land, the group of us leading the way, the Green Space Gals, decided to support the recall of Randy Gilliland. We feel he is not representing the citizens of Hampton, but instead is looking out for the interest of the developers and investors.

He first indicated this to us on March 23, 2005 when he showed his concern for the kind of message the Council would be sending to the developers and investors when they decided to pass the Buckroe Master Plan on the condition that they would “tweak” and “fine tune” the Bayfront Initiative.

Instead, we, the citizens, want our representatives to be concerned about the wishes and desires of the people and concerned about the kind of messages that they are sending to our citizens.

We put much thought and consideration into making our decision to support this recall. After viewing Mr. Gilliland’s campaign contributors online, we had no doubt about our decision especially when we saw the many developer and investor types listed there. You can find a link to that website at www.buckroebeach.org.

Our leaders must not be blind-sided in this very important issue – the saving of our green space at Buckroe Beach - that concerns so many peoples’ lives. Also, our leaders must not hold any resentment or seek retribution against the desires of the majority of the citizens regarding the Buckroe land issue because of our decision to support the recall.

My research indicates that the rich water environment, open spaces, and recreational offerings are among the most important quality of life factors that our region's residents value.

I asked of this council, have you conducted research to find out what quality of life factors are important to our citizens of Hampton?

Our leaders should not allow our most important natural asset in Hampton to be sold to private developers.

Our people are what make our city great, and our elected officials should support the wishes of the citizens and vote to save the Buckroe bayfront land as a public recreation area for the citizens of Hampton and visitors to enjoy now and forever.

T. Ferraro

June 8, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, and Council Members:

I hope you were able to visit Buckroe Beach this past weekend. I was able to get there on Sunday after the Blackbeard Festival. I think the 20,000 people expected in Downtown were at the beach instead. When I arrived there, my first thoughts were, I wish I could call the council to come down and take a look. While I am discussing my concerns here, I would like you to view the parking pictures I took on that day. This was at 5:30 p.m. I heard it was busier earlier and all day.

On this past Memorial Day, I rode my bike to Buckroe Beach to get signatures for the petition to stop the building of condos at the Buckroe Beach bayfront. Not to my surprise, a huge portion of the people I approached were not residents of Hampton. They were visitors from other surrounding areas and some as far away as California. Those people were our tourists.

I was extremely embarrassed when I visited the public restroom and found it in a nasty disgusting state. There were large puddles of water with clumps of toilet paper on the floor of the stalls with no toilet paper available for personal use. I saw a small child standing barefoot in one of those stalls. I thought to myself -- shame on our city for allowing this! It was not a secret; we all knew it would be a busy weekend for our beach, since Memorial Day is the kick-off of beach going. We should expect our City to service our public facilities as part of creating a healthier community.

In a recent Daily Press article, it was reported that Councilman Rhet Tignor said, “nobody’s gotten any value out of the land near the beach for years.”

I believe the value can be realized through the Hampton citizens and thousands of tourists who visit our beach every year. We should capitalize on the resources of our beach coupled with our many visitors to creatively bring revenue into our city without altering the space with condos, thus preventing the citizens from use of the space.

In doing so, we will also keep our citizens happy by satisfy their desire to leave that area open. Through enjoyment, the citizens have gotten priceless value out of that land and have been waiting for our City to improve, upgrade, and beautify it for a more enhanced enjoyment, just as the citizens of the Salt Ponds Beach wanted to have sand replenished on the public property facing their land. We have not been waiting for condos!

Some think condos will solve the problems of our crime and vandalism because it will bring people to our community who really care. That is shallow thinking. I urge all of you to visit Buckroe Beach and to talk to the citizens and visitors there. Go to all of the residents that live in Buckroe. They will tell you how much they love Buckroe and how much they really care.

George Kelling’s popular theory on “broken windows,” offer a metaphorical explanation for the quality-of-life issues related to environmental blight.

“The theory posits that a broken window left unrepaired in a building sends a signal that there is a lack of concern about the building. This broken window, left untended, leads to more broken windows. This pivotal event causes a chain reaction because when residents see that vandalism is being ignored, they begin to tolerate other negative activities as acceptable behaviors. In the same way, disorderly behavior, left untended, leads to fear and more serious crime. Neglect and apathy take root in a neighborhood, fueling further deterioration and often leading to other societal ills.”

( http://www.kab.org/aboutus2.asp?id=134)

So, let’s clean up our current situation to solve our crime and not add blight to our neighborhoods by parking cars up and down and in front of our current residents’ homes. We do not need to build condos to reduce crime and blight. Let’s keep that area open and available for our citizens and visitors to enjoy instead.

Get the developers out of the equation, and give the citizen owners of that land their due respect by allowing them a decision.

Please visit our website at http://www.buckroebeach.org for further information on this issue.

T. Ferraro

March 23, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney and Council Members:

I am here to voice opposition to the passing of the 2005 Buckroe Beach Master Plan. I hope to convey a better vision, one that I imagined from hearing the voices of the people who attended the public meetings held by the Planning Department and from the many people that I have talked to since. Also, I hope to convince you of the importance of further thought and consideration regarding this effort.

Shown on this graphic is an “Alternate Vision.” Many of the Buckroe citizens who attended the public meetings spoke of keeping the green space “green” at the beachfront. The people want to keep more green space available for public use than the small portion that will be remaining under the proposed plan. They want a parking area that will alleviate the load on our side streets. They want to see a few shops and eateries and play areas that appeal to all the different age groups. They want to enjoy the breeze from the bay on a space that is open and less crowded. They want the Planning Department to show them different visions for this area, so they have a choice.

I hear many voices saying that the city wants a tax base at the expense of the residents and visitors who rightfully should have a say. They feel that I am wasting time because the city leaders are going to do what they want to make a dollar – not really considering what the citizens want and what is being lost. They feel that our leaders are going to take away this special place for a price that will never amount to what it is worth left as is, or improved as depicted in this graphic. I urge you to prove the people wrong and make them proud that they elected you to represent our interests by saying “no” to building condominiums on our green space.

I see a paradigm that will be lost if we build on our precious land at the beach. How many charming cities such as ours can brag about having such a grand space? We are building up our city. We have our Malls, our PowerPlant, our Downtown, our Convention Center, and our Interstate. We built two parking garages and plan to build condominiums on our dwindling Downtown waterfront. We eliminated the lookout areas and discouraged people from enjoying the magnificent view along Chesapeake Avenue. We built homes on our Grandview Beach diminishing the natural habitat that we all enjoyed there. We built condominiums on First Street that took away a huge portion of our beachfront view. We put up gated communities at both ends of our beautiful Buckroe Beach. We are allowing only the new exclusive community at the Salt Ponds Beach to enjoy an area that we all once enjoyed by limiting us from using that portion of the beach through lack of parking.

The Master Plans of Hampton will undoubtedly bring business to Hampton. It will also bring more people to our area. We can use our wide-open green area at Buckroe coupled with our beach to “wow” our new residents, friends, and guests and still have enough area to accommodate our existing citizens. To use Councilman Randy Gilliland’s recent words concerning the proposals for the plans for the Hampton armory, “The people who are going to live in condos downtown are the kind who will be looking for entertainment options.” You can bet those “new urbanites” will love to get away and seek serenity at our playground at the beach. The area can be used as a selling point for our city. It can be our version of Central Park. Let us get our revenues from the other venues and keep the Buckroe Park for the enjoyment of the citizens.

Furthermore, although I am a member of the Buckroe Civic Association, and I have great respect for all of the hard work that they do to help improve the community, this organization does not speak for the entire community. The Buckroe Civic Association voted to support the plan as presented by the Planning Department on March 8, 2005. However, I request that the Council consider that vote as not being representative of the citizens of Buckroe.

Many of the people that attended and participated in the initial and subsequent presentations held by the Planning Department attended the final presentation held by the Buckroe Civic Association but were not allowed a vote on the decision to approve or disapprove the plan. It was only at the final meeting that the citizens were told that in order to vote on the plan, they had to be members of the Buckroe Civic Association and that they must be members for 30 days in order to vote on any issue. The process of involving the citizens of Buckroe in the planning effort was ultimately misleading and unfair.

I strongly believe that the green space at issue is much more valuable than the tax revenues gained by building on our precious land, and I believe that many other Buckroe residents as well as many of the citizens of Hampton and other surrounding areas agree. I recommend that the Council not just push this plan through, but give it careful consideration and further research.

T. Ferraro

April 27, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, and Council Members:

I wish to share my personal experiences while living in Buckroe, to express my concerns, and to ask the leaders to ensure that all of the shareholders are properly informed and supported by the majority of the citizen’s decisions regarding the Buckroe Bayfront Initiative portion of the 2005 Buckroe Beach Master Plan.

Having grown up in Buckroe, I have a special love for the area. Often, I ride my bike through the streets and along the beachfront. My trips through the neighborhoods and past the condo’s on the boardwalk are highlighted when I approach the open bayfront. The openness of the space there contributes to my enjoyment. I get a special feeling when I go there, and that is what attracts me and so many other people to this area.

Also, I get a good feeling when I drive down Pembroke Avenue and turn at the bend near 5th Street as I approach the magnificent view of the bayfront. I get that same feeling when I drive in from the direction of Phoebus on Mallory Street. That open green area is just as important as the sand, the water, and the blue sky. It all goes together for what it is meant to be – a place for the people to gather and play. We have no other place like it.

I believe if you look closely at the recently published detailed version of the Master Plan, you will see that the vision for that area does not make good sense. I also believe that if adequately represented and informed, the shareholders of Hampton would not have accepted and approved of this Plan.

In the Executive Summary, the Plan states, “Buckroe’s primary strengths are its natural features – especially its waterfront and its diversity. Buckroe Beach is one of the only true beachfront communities on the Peninsula. The beach and park are unlike any other public space in the region. It is a place where families come for the day, weekend and the summer to create memories and traditions.” This dichotomy is in stark contrast to what the Plan is proposing to take away from the people.

The Plan takes away a gathering area that accommodates the large numbers of people and families that go there

The Plan adds smaller replacement green areas to the new developments, and does not offer smaller replacement green areas to the older established neighborhood

The Plan makes it inconvenient for visitors to park

The Plan unnecessarily forces parking on residential streets

The Plan unfairly forces parking on the older established neighborhood and shows no overflow parking in the proposed new development in place of the trailer parks and the Golden Sands Hotel in the area of South First Street -- just as there is no parking at the Salt Ponds beach. Why should Richmond, Tappan, and Pilot Avenues take the brunt of the parking when we have a perfectly good space for parking that does not inconvenience or put a burden on people’s lives?

The Plan takes away waterfront property from many and gives it to a few

The Plan takes away a natural area that can be used for essential recreational exercise

The Plan takes away our only open public green space on the Chesapeake Bay

This Plan will create a debacle on our waterfront. We will lose the charm of the bayfront, visitors will be forced to walk further to reach the beach, and the residents who live on the streets directly impacted by the increase in traffic will lose their space and privacy. Furthermore, the bike path along First Street will be impeded by the influx of traffic and parked cars.

Living in Buckroe, I have experienced that the land that is currently used for event/overflow traffic, as shown on page 29 of the Plan, is always heavily used starting as soon as the weather breaks in the Spring. This holds true well into our mild Fall weather. This means the residents of Tappan, Richmond, and Pilot Avenues will have to deal with people constantly parking on their home fronts during a large portion of the year. It does not have to be that way for them. We need to change the Plan.

When will a notice go out to the citizens of Hampton announcing city-wide day and evening meetings to be held so citizens can be informed and participate in the “tweaking” of the Plan?

It is critical that we make the right decision for this property currently owned by the citizens of Hampton. We have ~147,000 people in Hampton alone, and with all of the new development, we will be adding to that number quickly. We must consider where the people will go for pleasure and exercise. Please do not let this Plan take the only open beachfront space away from the people. Visiting the bayfront is a therapeutic release for the mind and the soul -- something that creates happier and healthier societies. We are fortunate to have this special piece of land. To keep it will be a proud legacy to all. To lose it will be a tragedy.

Please visit our website at http://www.buckroebeach.org.

Sincerely,

T. Ferraro

May 11, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, and Council Members:

I am here to speak against the sale of our bayfront property located in Buckroe, and to ask the council to keep the citizens informed on the process and to notify the citizens before any property transfers take place. I respectfully request that the council consider further opportunities to allow the citizens of Hampton a decision in the disposition of the property located in Buckroe.

I have expressed my concerns in previous visits before the City Council. I have relayed information to you from the voices of the citizens, and have offered a different vision from citizen input. Also, I have pointed out the issues that we will be faced with once we no longer have that land available for public use, such as the parking issues, the elimination of the green space, and our public water views. For further study on my views, you can see transcripts of my previous talks to Council on the website www.buckroebeach.org under “Speeches.”

At this point, I ask the Council to recognize the questions posed in my previous talks, specifically the following:

1. Can the city provide comprehensive coverage of the bayfront initiative to all of the stakeholders of Hampton, so they will be better informed and involved in all future decision-making processes?

2. When will notices go out to the citizens of Hampton announcing citywide day and evening meetings to be held so citizens can be informed and participate in the tweaking of the bayfront initiative?

To give some ideas on ways to achieve these objectives, I suggest a more state-of-the art process that I discovered while doing research on how to get the public involved in a project of this sort. The “Community Planning Center” as advertised on the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) website, at www.pps.org is a concept that provides a variety of interactive ways for people to give input and to get involved in projects. Area residents participate in surveys either by way of email or on a website equipped with information regarding the space. There are other features the site offers that should prove to be beneficial. Most important, this method provides the things that we are lacking in the process we are currently using, such as giving a real voice to people in the community – residents, workers, business owners, and other stakeholders, allowing them to share information and ideas about the development and revitalization of our space.

I believe this method will prove to be fairer and more effective than the Delphi Technique that was used by the planning department in their attempt to include a few of the Buckroe citizens in the 2005 Buckroe Master Plan.

In addition to, and in conjunction with, the interactive community planning center process, the City could hold public town meetings for everyone in all of the different areas of Hampton offering a venue for public opinion to those who are not computer savvy.

Furthermore, our opposition to saving the green space, has suggested that adding eye-appealing properties, such as building condos will eliminate the drug problems that plague our community. However, according to an article in today’s Daily Press, and according to the police, the results of Operation Blowfish, a long-term drug investigation, “indicated that the drug trade constantly evolves with players who are not necessarily peddling drugs on corners,” and according to Cpl. Jimmie Wideman of Hampton, “Drugs are the fact of urban life.” The bayfront initiative proposes to make Buckroe an urban neighborhood. Drug problems in our society are not limited to the poor people who live in blighted neighborhoods. Our police department is tasked with patrolling our streets, and we should rely on them to do their job.

Taking away a public recreational area from the 147,000 citizens of Hampton will not solve our drug problems. There will still be drug problems if we build on that land. It will just be on a different scale. The bayfront area in question here is “naturally” eye appealing. We can, and should, enhance the area with a recreational park so the people will have a place to go for enjoyment and fun. This will help keep people involved with healthy and wholesome activities, and maybe they will be less likely to get involved with drugs.

I come before Council to seek justice in a democratic process that should be afforded to all the people. I seek good will among all of our neighbors and mean no harm in my quest to save this land that is so special to many others and me. I choose my words wisely, and am very careful not to mislead anyone. I encourage our opposition to stay the course with their mission to promote unity and effectiveness of effort among all citizens of our area by considering the numbers of people opposed to this plan and joining me in relaying that message to Council to get the public involved in the process before the land is sold.

T. Ferraro

May 25, 2005, City Council Meeting

Bayfront Initiative

2005 Buckroe Master Plan

by Trish Ferraro

Mayor Kearney, Vice Mayor Spencer, and Council Members:

I come before the Council to inform you and the Hampton citizens of my intentions and involvement in the 2005 Buckroe Master Plan. I oppose the Bayfront Initiative as it is currently stated, and I think it is important to explain why I am speaking out against it.

In the Fall of 2004, I received notice by way of a monthly newsletter from the Buckroe Civic Association (BCA) that the Planning Department and the Urban Design Associates (UDA) were holding meetings concerning the Plan. I would like to point out that I thought it was odd that no announcements were in our local Daily Press, and I was concerned that my neighbors who were not BCA members may not have been aware of this planning process. I attended those series of meetings, participated in the group activities, and listened to the leaders of each group as they reported their findings. All of the groups reported they wanted to keep the bayfront as an open green area with maybe a restaurant, a coffee shop, and a few other amenities.

Several of us had issues regarding the other initiatives and Planning made changes to accommodate our concerns. For example, some wanted to leave Tappan Avenue and Sixth Street as dead end streets, and many did not want to see Fifth Street closed to traffic. Planning listened and changed those portions to suit the requests. I just knew that with all of the opposition to building condos and homes at the bayfront that Planning was listening and would keep that area green, especially after hearing echoes from the audience saying they expected to see changes leaving the condos off the Plan at subsequent meetings.

Then, to my dismay, many of the people who attended and participated in the initial and subsequent presentations held by the Planning Department were not allowed a vote on the decision to approve or disapprove the plan. It was only at the final meeting that the citizens were told that in order to vote on the plan, they had to be members of the BCA and that they must be members for 30 days in order to vote on any issue. A request was made from the audience to allow those non-BCA members a separate vote, and not one of the several City employees present stood up to grant a vote.

Ultimately, the process of involving the citizens of Buckroe in the planning effort was misleading and unfair. Planning hoodwinked the public into believing they were participating in the decision-making process of our bayfront property.

It became apparent that the deck had been stacked against the citizens regarding the disposition of our most valued piece of land in the City of Hampton. I decided to speak out.

Now, let us lay the cards out on the table:

That 10 acres of land belongs to the 147,000 citizens of Hampton, and we all should have a voice in its disposition

Most of the citizens of Buckroe and of Hampton including local businesses, churches, and organizations were not aware of this Plan, and nor were they notified and invited to participate in the planning process

Developers and investors were aware of the Plan. Council acknowledged this on March 23, 2005, referring to the developers and investors as “watering at the mouth”

The BCA was the only representative organization that was involved in the process, and their leaders failed to promote unity and effectiveness of effort among all citizens of the area

The public should not have to join an organization in order to have a vote on decisions affecting our community

If condos and homes are built on this land, parking will be a major problem for both beach goers and residents. On the issue of parking, one only has to look at what is happening at our neighboring city of Norfolk at Willoughby Spit to see the results of development. Once the land is no longer public, the private sector will be able to do with it as they see fit.

Now, we the citizens are bringing awareness to the community of this Plan to strip the population of Hampton of their property without notification. The results in favor of our efforts are staggering as indicated by the high numbers of signatures on the petition and by the many businesses that have petitions in their shops. I respectfully request from the stewards of our City not to ignore our efforts and to see to it that we keep this land as a resource for the citizens to seek pleasure and relaxation by not allowing it to be sold to developers and by keeping it open and available for public use.

T. Ferraro