THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409150188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
With the season nigh when trees are mostly nuisances that drop leaves, builders might pick up an ally or two besides the Planning Commission in their move to relax the city's tree-planting ordinances. But supporters of the ordinances that took a diverse committee 18 months to fashion aren't exactly potted plants. And they're objecting as much to the way the Planning Commission came to water down the ordinances as the attempt.
If the commission is persuaded there's good reason to revise tree requirements, then let it persuade other reasonable folks as well. Someday city officials will realize that leaving the public out of deliberations in which the public has already been or wants to be consulted is bad business.
And someday, more residential and commercial builders will realize that including aesthetics in their calculations is good for business. Among those who already have realized that are the owners of the Sea Escape, an ``aging'' Oceanfront hotel. They want city cooperation in turning their two parcels and a city easement at the foot of 17th Street into a park-cum-Dairy Queen with public restrooms attached. The clincher: The plan provides a vista of the beach from one of the main resort streets to the beach. How novel. How nice.
City agencies and Council will take up the particulars. But the extra attention to aesthetics deserves applause from the public and, as other older structures fall along Atlantic Avenue, the flattery of imitation from new investors.
With the season nigh when trees are mostly nuisances that drop leaves, builders might pick up an ally or two besides the Planning Commission in their move to relax the city's tree-planting ordinances. But supporters of the ordinances that took a diverse committee 18 months to fashion aren't exactly potted plants. And they're objecting as much to the way the Planning Commission came to water down the ordinances as the attempt.
If the commission is persuaded there's good reason to revise tree requirements, then let it persuade other reasonable folks as well. Someday city officials will realize that leaving the public out of deliberations in which the public has already been or wants to be consulted is bad business.
And someday, more residential and commercial builders will realize that including aesthetics in their calculations is good for business.
Among those who already have realized that are the owners of the Sea Escape, an ``aging'' Oceanfront hotel. They want city cooperation in turning their two parcels and a city easement at the foot of 17th Street into a park-cum-Dairy Queen with public restrooms attached. The clincher: The plan provides a vista of the beach from one of the main entry streets to the resort area. How novel. How nice.
City agencies and Council will take up the particulars. But the extra attention to aesthetics deserves applause from the public and, as other older structures fall along Atlantic Avenue, the flattery of imitation from new investors. by CNB