THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020603
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 63 lines
By a one-vote margin, City Council defeated a motion Tuesday that would have altered the direction of Bayview's commercial hub.
Under the city's general plan, numerous properties in the 1500 block of Bayview Blvd. - now zoned commercial - would eventually be rezoned to residential. The proposal under consideration Tuesday would have later allowed the city to open a wider area to commercial development.
The proposal originated with the Bayview Civic League's board of directors; was promoted by its president, John Roger; and got backing from the city's Planning Commission.
But a large contingent of disgruntled residents was opposed to the proposal, saying that opening the area to more commercial development would lower property values and change the character of the neighborhood at the city's north end.
More than 700 residents signed petitions protesting the proposed change. They said, too, that they were miffed because their voices had not been heard at the community decision-making level.
At issue were a grocery store, a ``medicine''-soda fountain that's closed much of the time, and a barber shop that owners have hesitated to pour money into because, under the city's current general plan, the zoning could have been changed to residential. Thus, the buildings had fallen into disrepair.
Community leaders and planners had hoped to give the business district a jump-start with the proposal, which also included changing the general plan's designation for several properties near the hub from residential to commercial.
Before the 4-3 vote Tuesday, City Council members expressed some of their sentiments over the issue, which has divided one of the city's most active civic leagues.
``It's the first time a community has wrestled with the commercial decay that's everywhere in our city,'' Councilman W. Randy Wright said. ``It's a unilateral problem . . . a spreading cancer in neighborhood commercial districts.''
Wright said he favored approval of the measure because it would be an invitation to get proposals from merchants.
Councilwoman Daun Hester expressed concern ``about a strong community divided over an issue.''
``You must sell it to the neighborhood,'' she added.
``John, you all have not sold your product,'' Councilman Mason C. Andrews told Roger. ``There should be a better consensus.''
Andrews also said that the problem, in his view, was one of folks not knowing for sure what the change meant for their neighborhood.
``It's fear, the implication of approving the unknown,'' he said.
Robin Wallace, one of those who spearheaded community opposition to the change, indicated after the vote that the victory was bittersweet.
``I don't feel a whole lot of satisfaction that we had to practically tear the neighborhood apart to get this done,'' she said. ``But it felt good, too. We weren't blown off.''
Voting against the proposal were Andrews, Hester, Herbert M. Collins Sr. and Paul R. Riddick. Voting in favor were Wright, Mayor Paul D. Fraim and Councilman G. Conoly Phillips.
KEYWORDS: ZONING by CNB