THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140570
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The 100 block of East Washington St. is a small corridor of predominantly black-owned or rented businesses in the heart of downtown.
Dorothy Everett serves yam sandwiches here for 75 cents at Jenny's Restaurant, where a sign outside advertises ``Full course meals at a snack price.''
Down the street, William Beamon Jr. knows almost everyone who enters his Hot Spot Records & Tapes store.
It may not be paradise, but these owners are proud. They've managed to survive in an ailing downtown. Now, their places are about to be paved, their stores pushed aside for a parking lot.
The city targeted these and 11 other properties on the north side of the street last week to make room for the lot.
The City Council decided early this year to consolidate its courts into one building. After months of negotiations, it agreed to locate a $13 million courthouse downtown, hoping that such a building would encourage pedestrians and shopping.
But parking downtown is at a premium.
So city officials decided the row of businesses on East Washington Street, Commerce Street and Franklin Street would have to give way to a parking lot expansion.
The city has offered owners 93 percent of assessed valuation on their property. They'll receive another 10 percent in relocation aid if they remain in Suffolk, city officials have said. In addition, city agencies are helping find sites for businesses and housing for dislocated tenants.
``We know this is a rundown town; a dying part of town,'' said Everett, who still wipes the counter after each customer. ``But I have a good business here. And where are we to relocate? You put us behind a McDonald's or a Hardee's and we won't be able to do anything.''
Some property owners have signed sales contracts, some are negotiating and some will face condemnation proceedings in which the city buys the property for what an appraiser deems it is worth.
But Beamon and others are still crying foul. It's not the money, said Beamon. It's the principle.
``I have never seen a city that has lost so many businesses in the past be so inclined to kill so many other businesses,'' Beamon said.
``There is a growing belief in the community,'' Beamon recently wrote in a letter to the City Council, ``that the destruction of businesses on East Washington Street will be seen as a reflection of how this council views the black community and their concerns.''
The City Council and city officials have denied that race played any role in the matter.
``We have to improve the conditions downtown,'' said Councilman Charles Brown. ``Race was not an issue, and I guarantee that.''
Mayor S. Chris Jones has said that the city is trying to be as fair as possible to businesses affected by the courthouse parking.
Beamon has collected about 1,500 signatures in three weeks to protest the move and has spoken twice before the City Council.
``It's ridiculous,'' he said Thursday. ``The city does not want these businesses in this area. They do not want minority businesses in that area. And for us, it's not a matter of money; it's a matter of principle. And I'm insulted that no one on the council or the city can understand that or see that point of view.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
William Beamon Jr.'s East Washington Street record store and several
other properties will be replaced by a parking lot for the new
courthouse.
by CNB