THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408050293
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDY PARKER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 173 lines
Hattonsville, which has a population of about 70 people, has been trying to slam the door on construction of a regional jail since 1991. But now, it appears that the project is likely to become reality. The jail will house prisoners from Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth.
RESIGNATION is the mood in Hattonsville.
The African-American community is home to a predominantly elderly population of nearly 70 individuals descended from freed slaves.
For more than three years, it has resisted the proposed location of a regional jail within ear shot of its approximately 25 homes
It appears that, after winning a battle, they've lost the war.
On Tuesday, the Planning Commission approved use permits to develop site and elevation plans, traffic patterns and designs for the proposed 875-bed facility on a 40-acre triangular plot bordered by Ballard Road, Elmhurst Lane and Victory Boulevard.
``We'll just have to leave everything up to divine providence,'' said Hattonsville Civic League president Sylvester Brown.
``Most people are against it and we've expressed ourselves repeatedly. But we have an uncaring city government. It seems the city manager and others are bent on putting it in Hattonsville.
``The council has the last word,'' Brown said, ``and we just don't have the means to fight.''
Hattonsville appeared to have won its struggle against construction of a regional jail on its southern border in 1991.
The initial proposal, which had been under study since 1988, was shelved when Virginia Beach and Chesapeake backed out of financing a portion of the costs for a facility that would house inmates from their cities as well as those from Portsmouth and Norfolk.
With only two cities in the plan, financing from the state, which accounts for half of the construction costs, was lost. The state requires at least three cities to be involved in any regional jail project.
Two years later, Newport News and Hampton agreed to become partners with Portsmouth and Norfolk.
Once again, Hattonsville residents found themselves embroiled in a fight to keep from becoming neighbors with felons.
``I think everybody out here just feels beaten up about this whole jail thing,'' said Willie N. Brewer, a retired Seaboard Railroad inspector who has lived in Hattonsville since 1955. ``We've given up the fight.
``We tried during the last council election to fight against those who are against Hattonsville. We didn't win.''
During the council elections, two incumbents were defeated. One was in favor of the regional jail, one was against. The only incumbent re-elected, Johnny M. Clemons, is on record as opposing the jail's location in Portsmouth.
``I don't understand why Portsmouth must be the dumping ground for every negative regional project in Hampton Roads,'' Clemons said Thursday.
``We've already got a regional refuse dump with SPSA (Southeastern Public Service Authority), a medical waste facility, and now we'll have a regional jail capable of expansion to house more than 1,600 inmates. I am very much opposed.''
Clemons is sympathetic to Hattonsville residents.
``The people in Hattonsville have been deceived,'' Clemons said.
``They were encouraged by the city to upgrade their homes and now they're going to have a jail less than an eighth of a mile from their back yards.''
In spite of opposition from Clemons, Lee V. King and Bernard Griffin, a council majority voted in September 1993 to enter into a contract with Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News to build a regional jail in Portsmouth.
When the Planning Commission's recommendation to issue use permits comes before council in September, Clemons predicts a 5-2 vote in favor of the project, with him and Griffin voting against it.
With the establishment of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail Authority earlier this year, the road toward construction of a regional jail has encountered few potholes.
In fact, the process seems to be an unparalleled success in regional cooperation.
The authority, with representatives from each of the four cities, has held several meetings since January.
So far, it has hired architectural and financial consulting firms, held discussions on how to manage construction of the facility, approved a financing plan, and developed job descriptions and salary scales for the proposed jail's staff.
``I've always heard there's little regional cooperation in Hampton Roads. But cooperation between the cities in the jail authority has been incredible,'' said Norfolk's Sheriff Robert McCabe.
``It's also very necessary. Serious jail overcrowding in each city requires us to get along,'' McCabe said.
And as if to carve the reality of future overcrowded jails into granite, the state Corrections Department says construction of another regional jail in Hampton Roads will be necessary by the year 2003, just six years after the Portsmouth prison opens in 1997.
Although the proposal to build a regional jail has been plodding along for nearly seven years, the authority chairman, Sheriff Clay Hester of Newport News, sees light at the end of the tunnel.
``We'll still be overcrowded, and our problems won't be solved, but the regional jail will help house our more troublesome inmates,'' he said.
Regional cooperation in the matter of a regional jail is not something Clemons, however, thinks is anything to point to with pride.
``Of course there's cooperation and everything is going smoothly,'' the vice mayor said. That jail's going in Portsmouth, not in one of their cities.
``I'm a member of the Hampton Roads Regional District Planning Commission. At a recent meeting, I asked a representative from Virginia Beach why can cities cooperate on the location of a regional jail, but not on a horse track.
``His answer, `Who wants a jail in their city?,' '' Clemons said.
``If this facility has just one incident, one escape, that will add another major negative perception about Portsmouth.
``That's something this city doesn't need.''
What the city does need is additional jail beds.
``The present jail was designed for 197 inmates, but some days over 500 are being held here,'' said Portsmouth Sheriff Gary M. Waters.
``I am sympathetic to the people in Hattonsville. Nobody wants a jail in their back yard. But I think their fears are due to a lot of misinformation.
``This will be a state-of-the art, extremely secure facility,'' Waters said.
The location of the proposed regional jail will be close to residential neighborhoods other than Hattonsville, including Collinswood, Rollingwood and Oregon Acres.
Cavalier Manor, while nearby, has a major physical barrier in Interstate 264, separating it from the jail site.
By comparison, the downtown waterfront jail is in proximity to the residential communities of Olde Towne and Olde Towne South.
``The downtown jail has had only one escape in the past 10 years, and he went to New Mexico.
``Escapees don't spend their time in town,'' Waters said.
Portsmouth will be allotted approximately 187 beds in the proposed regional jail, beds that Waters wants to use for females, juveniles and inmates with medical and/or mental problems.
``The new facility will be specially designed to help that kind of person,'' Waters said.
The regional jail ``will enable us to maximize use of the entire eight floors of the downtown jail,'' Waters said.
The city stands to realize economic benefits from having the regional jail.
Portsmouth will receive $2 million from the sale of the 40-acre site. And for the next 20 years the city will receive a total of $250,000 from each of the other localities in lieu of real-estate taxes on the property and facility.
According to Robert P. Creecy, director of management services, the jail is expected to employ about 300 people.
``There will also be spin-off spending at city businesses, such as restaurants, groceries, Tower Mall, and gas stations, for example,'' Creecy said.
``And that doesn't include monies spent in the city while the facility is under construction.'' ILLUSTRATION: File photo on cover
File photo
A 875-bed regional jail proposed for a 40-acre site bordered by
Ballard Road, Elmhurst Lane and Victory Boulevard is expected to
resemble the Western Tidewater Ragional Jail in Suffolk.
Photos
Willie N. Brewer retiree, Hattonsville resident since 1955
I think everybody out here just feels beaten up about this whole
jail thing. We've given up the fight.
Gary M. Waters Portsmouth sheriff
I am sympathetic to the people in Hattonsville. Nobody wants a
jail in their backyard. But I think their fears are due to a lot of
misinformation. This will be a state-of-the art, extremely secure
facility.
Johnny M. Clemons Portsmouth city councilman
If this facility has just one incident, one escape, that will add
another major negative perception about Portsmouth. That's something
this city doesn't need.
KEYWORDS: REGIONAL JAIL HAMPTON ROADS REGIONAL JAIL AUTHORITY by CNB