THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502210117
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: In The Neighborhoods
SOURCE: Mike Knepler
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
We all need to probably remind each other that this is a partnership that we're all in.
- Cathy Coleman
Downtown Norfolk Council
A recent Planning Commission discussion spotlighted how downtown advocates promote their visions - and prompts some ideas for closing the perennial gap between downtown and the neighborhoods.
The commission had invited briefings from Barry Bishop, executive vice president of the Greater Norfolk Corp., and Cathy Coleman, executive director of the Downtown Norfolk Council.
Greater Norfolk represents corporate leadership and has helped bring about major projects such as Nauticus and Waterside.
The Downtown Norfolk Council has big and small downtown companies, churches and residents, all joined to promote downtown.
The planning meeting featured a lot of talk about communication and partnership, and some head scratching about why neighborhoods get upset with downtown.
Bishop and Coleman noted their good relations with City Hall.
``Because we are so involved in day-to-day management of downtown, we have, I think, an excellent working relationship,'' Coleman said. ``We could pick up the phone and talk with staff at, really, any level and get our message across.
``When we call them, they come to realize that whatever we're asking about has been well-thought out, and that we've tried to do everything we could to either solve a problem on our own or get the answer on our own.''
Coleman said her group is represented on the important Mayor's Downtown Development Committee. Bishop said the mayor, city manager, and development director attend his meetings.
Yet, Bishop and Coleman voiced concern that many people don't understand development.
Maybe, Bishop said, there should be a consensus-building project to show links between reviving downtown and Norfolk sections, such as Wards Corner, Park Place, Southside and Ocean View.
``We've got to come up with a mechanism so we could get people excited about where we are going,'' he said. ``I'm not saying that everybody is always going to agree . . . but have something where we could help bring everybody around a table and come up with a blueprint for our future so that we're all rowing in the same direction.''
Coleman said her group tries to promote downtown as ``everybody's second neighborhood'' by including civic leagues on its mailing list.
But even some planning commissioners felt out of the loop.
``I have been disappointed on numerous occasions when our staff came here with things from your organizations that we didn't know anything about, as if the Downtown Norfolk Council or the Greater Norfolk Corp. were the city's planning commission,'' Commissioner Anthony Paige said.
Commissioner Bob Layton said timely information on downtown projects could make the commission a stronger ally.
Coleman invited commissioners to downtown council meetings.
But to get more citizens behind downtown development, better communication should not end with downtown groups.
Neighborhoods need to feel important at City Hall, too. The planning commission could invite presentations from the Federation of Civic Leagues, Inner-City Federation of Civic Leagues, Ocean View Coordinating Committee and Norfolk Residents Organization.
Downtown Norfolk Council and Greater Norfolk Corp. could visit neighborhood groups, even share ideas and expertise to help neighborhoods with their issues.
The result may be a stronger sense of partnership in which all parties feel included. by CNB