THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504180125
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Rehabilitating the Attucks Theatre is recommended. So are repairs for the Chesterfield pool.
These are two of 33 community development projects that the Planning Commission has endorsed for funding in 1995-96 under the city's federally financed $9.4 million Consolidated Plan.
The commission issued its recommendations on a 5-1 vote on April 13. The City Council will hold a public hearing in early May.
The dissenting vote came from Commissioner L. Robert Layton. He objected to financing the Tanner's Creek Project, a horticultural complex at the zoo that would hire and train the handicapped. He said that the project constitutes a significant change in grant funding policy.
``I object to shifting from the policy of dedicating grant money directly for neighborhood revitalization to projects sponsored by non-profit sector operatives,'' Layton said. ``It's not a judgment about Tanner's Creek - I think it's a wonderful project - but for a city devoted to neighborhood revitalization to take money from that small pool and turn it over for another purpose is a significant policy change.''
The Tanner's Creek Project would be given $250,000 from the federal grant. An additional $100,000 would be raised from private sources. The project would be operated by the Louise Eggleston Center in Norfolk, which serves the handicapped.
The proposed Consolidated Plan would allocate a majority of the federal funds to the city's Department of Planning and Codes Administration, and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Layton said.
For information on the public hearing, call the Department of Planning and Codes Administration, 441-2375. by CNB