THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300279
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Picture this: It's late summer 1995. The beautiful new 11-acre Girl Scout center has been built on Cedar Road, just down the road from City Hall. A troop of Scouts strolls across the wooden bridge over Bells Mill Creek and heads up the shaded path into the woods.
From the treetops, a shrill song pierces the silence. The girls glance up. ``It's a white-breasted nuthatch,'' says one. ``No,'' says another. ``It looks more like a tufted titmouse.''
Suddenly, an agent of City Council's Nature Police crashes through a thicket. ``Hey! You girls got a wildlife study permit?'' he demands to know.
It's far-fetched. But not much more far-fetched than an actual ordinance being considered by City Council.
``No person, entity, or governmental body shall commence or conduct any study of wildlife in Chesapeake without first obtaining a permit for such activity from the City Council,'' the proposed law reads.
Drafted as a gross over-reaction to a scientific study in Northwest River Park, the proposed ordinance is one of the most ridiculous ideas to come out of council since it considered issuing bow-and-arrow licenses a couple of years ago.
If the ordinance were to become law, the bird-watching Girl Scouts would be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor because they failed to file a lengthy application form and submit to a public hearing prior to their nature walk.
The longer the councilmen wait to abandon this folly, the sillier it makes them look. by CNB