THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410120162
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
THEY WERE HOMES that sprang up in green pastures, bits of country just minutes from the city where urban refugees thought they would live blissfully for the rest of their days.
The closest thing to a nuisance was a neighbor with an affinity for ceramic squirrels and cheap birdbaths.
But the neighborhoods grew, traffic followed and the bustle of city life crept in, busier and noisier than ever.
Near a historic district, the sign of a former fast food restaurant now advertises lap dancing go-go girls instead of burgers.
On the edge of suburbia, a bowling alley became a nightclub that residents complained kept them awake into the wee hours of the morning.
Not far away, a family restaurant became a country music bar - a magnet for loud motorcycles and patrons who spilled their barroom brawls onto the lawns of nearby homes.
Such was 1994 - a year that found stable working and middle class neighborhoods under siege. And residents took their misery to City Hall in droves.
A woman from Collinswood - a middle class neighborhood most noticeable for porch swings and Halloween displays - collected the liquor and beer bottles that had been thrown into her yard from people outside a nearby lounge.
She stacked them up in front of City Council members, said her piece and walked away, leaving the bottles there. She'd already picked them up once.
Such scenes did get City Council's attention.
Measures were taken in recent months to restore harmony between business and residential communities.
An ordinance now defines the legal limit of noise levels. Another ordinance requires a use permit for any nightclub or go-go bar and sets limits on where they can be located.
Last week a Circuit Court judge granted a temporary injunction to city officials, allowing them to close temporarily Ebony Showcase and David's II.
A future hearing will determine if the two controversial clubs should be shut down permanently.
Neighbors had complained for weeks, but the action was not taken until shooting erupted at the Ebony Showcase, forcing police to block off a portion of Airline Boulevard and warn residents to stay in their homes.
City Council's recent actions could help resolve problems that have come about from the years that city planners didn't pay much attention to transitional zoning and buffers between business and residential communities.
City Councilman Cameron Pitts, who has heard his share of complaints from citizens this year, said he believes the city's plan for the future also will remedy past errors.
``I think there are going to be areas we thought a shopping center would work where it's just not going to be commercial anymore,'' said Pitts. ``You can have neighborhood stores, but you can't have shopping centers in the middle of neighborhoods.
``They just haven't worked well.''
He pointed to Columbia Commons on the edge of downtown as an example of ``taking the commercial entity away and going back to residential.''
``It's almost like bringing the country back to the city,'' he said. MEMO: Main story on page 10.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Near a historic district, the sign of a former restaurant now
advertises lap dancing by go-go girls.
KEYWORDS: NEIGHBORHOOD CIVIC LEAGUE by CNB