THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409130367
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
A battle that has lasted more than three years ended quietly in darkened City Council Chambers on Monday night when the council voted 5-2 to clear the final hurdle for construction of a regional jail.
Residents of Hattonsville had bitterly opposed locating the jail in their neighborhood, but it appeared Monday that they had given up the fight. Not one of 70 residents from the predominantly black neighborhood appeared at a public hearing to speak against the new jail.
The council was working in the dark - literally - when it approved a permit to allow construction of the jail on a 43-acre site between Elmhurst Lane and Airline Boulevard. Shortly before the council meeting began, power went out in the city's downtown area.
The council sat in silhouette during the 90-minute meeting. Two isolated lights illuminated small portions of the council chambers, and a hall light back-lit the dais where council members sat.
Because the elevators weren't working, those who wanted to speak at the public hearing had to climb six stories to the council chambers. One Hattonsville resident, 74-year-old Willie N. Brewer, said last month that he didn't have the energy to fight the jail any longer.
``I think everybody out here just feels beaten up about this whole jail thing,'' said Brewer, a retired Seaboard Railroad inspector who has lived in the neighborhood since 1955. ``We've given up the fight.''
The proposed $59 million regional jail would hold 875 inmates from Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton.
The state would foot up to half the bill for a regional jail, but if each city were to build its own jail, the state would contribute only 25 percent.
Portsmouth plans to sell the 43-acre site for $2 million to the Regional Jail Authority, which would build the facility. By providing the site, Portsmouth would receive the most inmate space and would contribute the least amount of money annually. It would also get $250,000 a year from other cities in lieu of taxes on the property.
Some Portsmouth residents have said in the past year that they favor the project because of the economic boost and the 350 jobs it will provide.
City officials have said they chose the site because it is large enough, is city-owned and is of little use for any other development unless public money were spent to improve it. Other sites, officials said, were either privately owned or ``not suitable.''
After the Planning Commission approved the site 3-1 last month, many Hattonsville residents said they were tired of fighting.
``Most people are against it, and we've expressed ourselves repeatedly. But we have an uncaring city government,'' Hattonsville Civic League President Sylvester Brown said last month. ``It seems the city manager and others are bent on putting it in Hattonsville.
The jail is scheduled to open in 1997. So far, the regional authority has hired architectural and financial consulting firms, held meetings on how to manage construction of the facility, and developed job descriptions and salary scales for the jail's staff. Monday's vote will allow the authority to begin its site plans.
Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons has opposed construction of the jail all along, saying Portsmouth officials are allowing the city to be a ``dumping ground for projects that other cities wouldn't have.''
Clemons and Councilman Bernard C. Griffith, who are both black, opposed the zoning change on Monday.
Even though the vote went along racial lines, Councilman Cameron C. Pitts said it was not a racial issue. Last year's 3-4 vote to join the jail authority, with the idea that the jail would ultimately be built in Portsmouth, also went along racial lines.
``I don't really see this as a win-lose situation,'' Pitts added. ``This is the best for the whole community of Portsmouth. A campus setting with no threat to the community. It certainly doesn't pose any safety problems.'' ILLUSTRATION: STAFF MAP
by CNB