THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 15, 1994 TAG: 9408150226
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Life should be glorious for all in a place called Camelot.
But for the children of this community, residents say, there is no glory because there is no place to play: no public park, no gymnasium, no swimming pool. There hasn't been since the community was founded in 1966.
On Tuesday, the City Council will decide whether Camelot's developer, W.W. Reasor, can convert roughly 25 acres of undeveloped land to 78 single-family homes through a rezoning application.
The civic league says it wants Reasor to deliver on a 28-year-old promise they believe he made for recreational facilities before bringing more houses and people into the community. Reasor says he has lived up to every promise made to the city.
As the feuding approaches the three-decade mark, some say that the walls of distrust within Camelot have obscured the process of finding a solution to the original problem: finding a place for the children to play.
``Our struggle is for land,'' said Nettie Bailey, director of the Camelot Youth Movement and former president of the civic league. ``He did not keep his promises he made to Camelot or to the city, and now he is making more promises.''
In exchange for the rezoning, Reasor has offered to widen a stretch of Camelot Boulevard from Deep Creek Boulevard to George Washington Highway and to dedicate a three-acre park for recreation.
But citizens say those three acres were offered to the city when Reasor first developed the property in 1966.
The city rejected the offer, saying it would be unable to maintain the property. A Parks and Recreation Department spokeswoman said she could not be certain why it was rejected, but that the land probably did not meet city standards for a recreational site due to its size.
If the city didn't accept it for a park then, citizens ask, why will they accept it now?
``Look at it,'' said civic-league president Larry Spruill, pointing to a weed-covered land patch overlooking a muddy ditch. ``Would you want your kids to play in here?''
Charging that Reasor betrayed the community by offering land he knew the city would not accept, civic-league members are now demanding a viable land commitment from Reasor. And they want Reasor to build something there - a sports field, a community center, tennis courts, anything to keep kids from milling around Camelot's streets.
``They talk about building more jails and ending parole for these kids,'' Bailey said. ``Why don't we stop the problems where they start?''
Reasor and those who have represented him say it is not the responsibility of developers to solve a community's social ills.
``I have never made any promises, except to the council,'' said Reasor. ``And those promises have been fulfilled.'' He denied making promises of playgrounds and baseball fields to the civic league - another charge the residents make.
``It is not my responsibility to make that a recreation space,'' Reasor said. ``That's why we pay taxes in this country, so we can get services from the city, and having a park is a city service.''
Citizens still contend that, as part of the community, developers have to do their part. ``It's simple,'' said Vernon Johnson, civic-league member.
``He has to compensate our town for what he wants to do. He owes our kids a 30-year debt.''
Alone and in groups on Thursday, young children and teenagers alike wandered the winding streets of Sir Lancelot Drive and King Arthur Drive, or sat hunched over on the stoops of a shopping center with more boarded windows than stores.
``You see these girls right here?'' Bailey said, pointing to four girls walking along the middle of the street.
``That's their recreation. That's the playground here in Camelot.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON/
From left, Romell Waters, 6, Walter Hill, 11, and Melba A. Saunders,
13, ride their bikes in Chesapeake's Camelot section.
by CNB