THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180327
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 53 lines
After nearly seven months of deliberation, the City Council said yes to YES on Wednesday.
The council voted 6-1 to include Youth Entertainment Studios - a nonprofit Virginia Beach-based program that educates at-risk teens through media and film - to be included in reuse plans for the Navy's surplus Driver Radio and Transmitting Facility.
Councilwoman Marian ``Bea'' Rogers dissented.
YES is a partner of private Regent University. Under the plan, Regent will own 35 acres of the 597-acre site after the Department of Education conveys the land to it.
Also under the plan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will get 208 acres, an environmental center for Old Dominion University will get 150 acres and a city park, and an area for the Bennett's Creek Little League will get 204 acres.
Although YES will now have a Suffolk home, several residents weighed in during a public hearing before the vote.
Concerns included racism, Pat Robertson and private vs. public land use questions.
Paul C. Gillis, president of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP, said a petition signed by about 300 residents opposed to the plan was racist.
``It smacks of racism,'' Gillis said of the petition, which was presented to the council Wednesday. ``We have a racial problem in this city. So I caution you and counsel you to give this program an opportunity to succeed.''
However, Sam L. Callis, who lives near the site and signed the petition, said race had nothing to do with the issue. Callis and other residents said organizers for YES had misrepresented their true intent for the land. Callis and others said a private, tax-exempt institution should not benefit at the city's expense.
``Pat Robertson owns Regent, and they are trying to get the whole project,'' said an angry Callis. ``They are using this YES group to draw a wedge in this community. I hate to see everything called racism.''
There was little discussion before the vote. However, Councilman S. Chris Jones and Rogers asked if there would be enough city services to support the project.
Jones also asked if the council could move dormitory housing for YES away from the Driver site. City Planner Scott Mills said those issues would be addressed during the zoning process for the site.
In other city business, City Manager Myles E. Standish recommended to the council during a work session Wednesday that the housing code be changed to enforce a criminal misdemeanor penalty for inspection violations.
Previously, the housing code imposed civil penalties of up to $100 for infractions. Standish said moving the code back to criminal imposition would allow more incentive for citizens to keep buildings up to standard. City officials said they will continue studying the proposal before it goes before the council. by CNB