THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9607310163
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 80 lines
Chesapeake is about to give away (or sell for perhaps as little as $1) a part of a public street that you and I own, and if you don't care, neither do I. The city has gone so far down the road to unsightliness that it really doesn't mater much anymore.
A little bit of beauty remains on Deepwater Drive, a street that starts at Bells Mill Road and runs about a quarter of a mile to Inland Colony, ending at one of the city's rarities - a quiet, pleasant vista.
Aspects from almost any other point in Chesapeake assault your retina with images of muffler shops, hamburger joints, car washes and strip shopping centers thanks to a City Council whose members treat aesthetics like a skin disease.
Once, people liked to drive or bike or walk to the foot of Deepwater Drive to enjoy a peaceful lunch, to crab or watch marine traffic on the Elizabeth River, anything to escape the municipal raucousness created by our leaders and in which they proudly bask.
Then, not long ago, in violation of the City Code, someone put a steel gate across Deepwater Drive about 150 feet from the river and snapped a padlock on it. Mayor William E. Ward and other city officials approved.
You have to see the gate to believe it. And if you look past it, you'll see Deepwater Drive continuing, paved in gravel, to the water.
From the mayor: ``City administration is comfortable with the presence of the gate and is reviewing the best way to vacate the ``paper street'' to (Inland Colony residents) for continued maintenance.''
From Traffic Engineer Bernard L. Whitlock: ``There is a 'paper street' not city maintained.'' (Whitlock has a short memory. His department put up reflective warning signs at the end of the street for motorists, and about two years ago, his department removed a sign reading, ``Neighborhood residents only.'' The sign was where the gate is now.
Again from Whitlock: ``We do not know who paid for it or installed it. . . ownership.''
From Chief of Staff Perry Rogis (whose title elevates the spirits almost as much as the view from the end of Deepwater Drive): ``. . . the subject gate was not erected by the city, and staff does not intend to seek its removal at this time.''
All three officials, undoubtedly after conferring with each other, were consistent in calling that portion of Deepwater Drive near the water a ``paper street,'' a euphemism for ``let's skirt the issue.'' There is no definition for ``paper street'' in law dictionaries.
There is, however, a legal definition for ``street'' and it ``includes all urban ways which can be and are generally used for travel.'' That fits Deepwater Drive for its entire length. Or did until the gate was installed and the padlock clamped on.
Now for some Chesapeake ordinances:
Section 66-8: ``It shall be unlawful for any person to place on any . . . street . . . in the city any fence, gate . . . whether they be for sale, exhibition or any other purpose.'' (The purpose of the gate, according to an anonymous gentlewoman is to keep ``outsiders'' away from the area. Only Inland Colony residents and someone in the Public Works Department has the padlock combination, she said; I thought I detected a tinge of angst in her voice.)
Section 66-14: All street closure proceedings shall be commenced by filing a petition with the city clerk (and paying a $100 filing fee) in accordance with the Code of Virginia (which calls for a public hearing, the appointment of three to five viewers - to be paid up to $50 each by the applicant - to determine if the closing has merit.)
Section 66-15: Abutting property owners or those asking for the street to be abandoned may be required to buy it at a fair market value.
So what we have is this: The city administration has, in effect, already abandoned the street without satisfying even one of the several legal requirements.
But some questions remain: Who will pay taxes on the property? Who will buy liability insurance for it? Who will maintain it? Will the private owners be permitted to sell it to a muffler shop or fast-food outlet? What happens if an ambulance is needed at the water's edge to remove an injured boater or a fire truck to fight a barge fire?
Concludes the mayor: Don't call him. Call the city manager at 382-61676 for answers.
Carl Cahill
Old Drive by CNB