THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411160464
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Demanding that developers deliver on long-standing promises of recreation for children, the residents of Chesapeake's Camelot community have been able to halt construction of 78 new homes for almost a year.
Now, after months of bitter accusations and fruitless bargaining, the City Council is giving residents and developers one last chance to return to the negotiating table and hammer out a solution both sides can live with.
Council members, many of whom arrived prepared to grant permission for the homes and put the dispute behind them, resisted throwing up their hands. They instead voted unanimously to delay ruling on a request to rezone the property for one more month.
At stake for W.W. Reasor, the developer, are roughly 25 acres of land, on which he wants to put 78 single-family homes.
At stake for the community is recreation, which Camelot leaders say is long overdue and should come before any more building.
But neither side can agree how much land should be dedicated to a playground or who should be responsible for equipping and maintaining it.
Civic leaders had presented a long list of demands to the developer, which included 13 acres of land set aside for recreation, a pool, lighted tennis courts, lighted basketball courts, jogging trails and a clubhouse.
Reasor instead offered a three-acre park site and agreed to move it from a spot that had earlier been rejected by civic leaders because it was at a remote edge of the neighborhood and surrounded by a ``moat'' where children could drown.
Raeford Eure, who represented Reasor at the podium, said the three acres was changed to a site directly across from Camelot Elementary School at the request of a four-member Camelot Negotiating Committee.
But in their testimony before council members Tuesday, two members of that Committee denied ever asking for that parcel.
After an hour of debate that included conflicting versions of what happened and who was involved, Mayor William E. Ward expressed the council's frustration but managed to delay a vote.
``This council has been playingaround with this almost as long as the Southeastern Expressway,'' Ward said. ``We've got to have some closure before we go to heaven on this thing.''
Ward and other council members offered both sides a final chance after demanding a sign that residents were willing to bend on their extensive list of demands.
Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer said that the list was unrealistic.
``If all of these amenities is what you have to have,'' Dwyer said, ``then we might as well vote on this now, because no developer in town and no city is going to give you all of this.''
Dwyer noted that there was a $2.2 million gymnasium under construction at Camelot Elementary School and that the developer had offered to widen Camelot Boulevard from Deep Creek Boulevard to George Washington Highway, saving the city close to $2 million on its road bond issue.
He also noted that setting aside the three acres for recreation would prevent construction of 45 new homes that Reasor could build without a zoning change.
``We're investing more money in Camelot than we are in any other community,'' Dwyer said. ``So it pains me to hear you say this council is turning its back on the community or insulting the community.''
As Ward and Dwyer spoke, many of the 60 Camelot residents in the audience nodded their heads. They seemed to acknowledge that the time had come to develop more realistic demands.
``It was a disgrace,'' said one of a group of residents who stopped afterward to talk amongst themselves but declined to give their names.
``That jogging trail thing was ridiculous,'' she said. ``I think if we just ask them for something reasonable, they'll work with us.''
C.C. Hawkins, chairman of the negotiating committee, gave no indications afterwards that he would drop any of the demands.
``Revolutionaries don't compromise,'' he said. ``We want 13 acres, and if we don't get it, we're going to take it.''
Dwyer and Councilman Alan P. Krasnoff were appointed to act as liaisons between the community and the developer to see if a compromise could be reached.
``The thing I have a problem with,'' Dwyer said, ``is that no one can even agree on things they've said or times they've met. That's when I made up my mind to put myself and Krasnoff as the liaisons. So when we come back, there won't be any `yes,' `no,' and we'll know what's going on.'' ILLUSTRATION: RICHARD L. DUNSTON/Staff file color photo
Residents of Chesapeake's Camelot neighborhood say providing a safe
place for kids to play must come before 78 homes are built.
by CNB