THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412070108
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: E12A EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
A farmer, an industrial planner and a high school coordinator are the newest members of Chesapeake's Planning Commission.
Rodney L. Foster, Larry W. Radford and Gladys A. Wilfore were appointed to four-year terms on one of the city's most important boards last week. They replace Charles W. Shirley, Sylvia S. Watson and Richard A. Pippin, the commission's chairman.
The appointments were the first to come under the new Republican majority on the City Council. But the new commissioners said politics had not brought them to the commission and would not drive their terms there, either.
``I'm not a `D' or an `R', so my appointment is less political than others, I guess,'' said Radford, careful not to speak the taboo words that he says can only get in the way of making sound planning decisions for the good of the entire city.
``I know we can't be 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial,'' Radford said, adding that economic development would minimize impacts on city services and provide jobs. ``But I'm not anti-business or anti-residential. I'm really just from a neighborhood.''
That neighborhood is the Drum Creek section of Western Branch, where Radford has lived for 29 years. Radford organized a civic league there to oppose a proposed commercial rezoning in a largely residential area in 1989. Winning that battle made him believe that residents could steer and stem growth working within the city system.
``I used to just be a registered voter,'' Radford said. ``But that was the spark that got me started.'' From there, he served for two years on the Mayor's Task Force on Drugs Advisory Commission.
``I feel like I could bring a more common-sense approach to how we manage our growth,'' said Radford, whose planning experience has so far been with the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where he is an estimator-pipefitter. ``I listen more than I talk; I'm a consensus builder, if you will.''
Radford will be building consensus with two new members coming from very different, and some would say, under-represented, sections of the city - Indian River and southern Chesapeake.
``Farmers are the biggest producers in the city, and none of the representatives on there are farmers,'' said Foster, himself a farmer who has lived in St. Brides since 1951.
While Foster says he agrees with many of the controlled-growth policies of the Republican majority now on City Council, he says he will not be afraid to act independently in his recommendations for southern Chesapeake or for the city as a whole.
One of the first challenges for Foster and others will be the upcoming comprehensive plan for southern Chesapeake. The merits of that plan, he said, will hinge on the future of Battlefield Boulevard.
``Until you can find a way in and a way out of that area,'' Foster said, ``there's no sense in even doing any planning. Because you'll be landlocked into the southern area, and we just don't know enough about what that area is going to look like yet.''
While regional diversity is important, Gladys Wilfore said, the city's residents depend on the commission to move past immediate interests for the good of the city.
``I'm working for the whole city, not just Indian River,'' Wilfore said. ``I don't believe in this little niche over here and that little niche over there. I am concerned about Indian River, but we're all in it together.''
A past president of the Women's Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Chesapeake General Hospital Auxiliary and the city's Community Services Board, Wilfore now coordinates an in-school suspension program at Indian River High School.
While her involvement in community affairs has taught her much about her city, Wilfore said she has a lot more to learn about city planning.
``I have to study the issues that are coming to the commission,'' Wilfore said. ``We have to be able to provide for people coming in, and by the same token we can't make it harder for the people who already live here.'' by CNB