THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: OPINION
SOURCE: By COLIN D. COWLING JR.
LENGTH: 85 lines
As a lifelong resident of the Eastern Shore and Northampton County, I appreciate The Virginian-Pilot's recent coverage of the proposed development around Cape Charles and the attention drawn to this depressed area.
However, exception must be taken to the contention by Dickie Foster of Baymark Construction and your paper's implication that such a retirement-and-``vacation-homes'' development could be the savior of the poorest county in Virginia. Such thinking is based on the false assumption that tax base equals job base. While the reverse is generally true, the former is not.
A county, state or nation can achieve wealth only by producing it - by production and subsequent high-end jobs. On the other hand, retirees by choice and by definition are nonproducers. They are consumers, as are bedroom communities that choose to produce elsewhere. And while some temporary construction and low-end service jobs would result, the bottom line is that nobody ever consumed themselves to wealth and prosperity.
However, as a politically active conservative and one of the more vocal critics of Northampton County's absurdly restrictive proposed zoning ordinance (to quote Molly Ivins: ``Perhaps the text sounded better in the original German''), I would be among the first to defend Mr. Foster's right to do as he pleases with his property should he buy it. Provided, of course, that certain community-based questions that extend beyond the development's boundaries are sufficiently addressed.
The first among these is the question of sewage. If a development with septic tanks of this scale is allowed, it will pose a threat to the area's groundwater and will probably result in the fecal coliform contamination of the balance of Plantation Creek. To threaten ground water or allow Plantation Creek to suffer is simply unacceptable.
The obvious answer is centralized sewage, which leads to the problems with the current sewage-treatment plant at Cape Charles. A former operator of this plant went to jail, and the plant once again has recently been cited for violations. The sewage-treatment plant at Cape Charles will have to be greatly enlarged and improved beyond the current plans in place to accommodate the proposed industrial park.
In addition to the questions of cost and who pays, further enlargement of the Cape Charles sewage plant then leads to a problem involving the required shellfish condemnation and restriction zones around such facilities. These zones are based upon the size of the plant, the rate of discharge and downstream, or tidal-flow, studies. If the current zone is enlarged by even a few hundred yards, it will include the clam beds and hatchery of Cherrystone Aquafarms, which in some respects form the backbone of Northampton's $10 million aquaculture industry.
Yellow Virginia Department of Health condemnation signs would also adorn the shore of Cherrystone campground, a business that accounts for almost half of Northampton's tourist dollars. The possible outcomes are self-evident, as is the need for adequate research to determine the ultimate size of the required zones.
The second problem is one of solid waste. Cape Charles has no suitable location for a landfill, and Northampton's outdated landfill is rapidly filling up while consuming more than 10 percent of all locally generated tax revenue. To enlarge and update a new one to accommodate Mr. Foster's planned 75 percent increase in the counties' residential housing will require another large expenditure.
While most environmental questions are usually solvable by method and money, the third problem is freshwater.
In a county where major water users are routinely blamed for problems, the combined consumption of 3,000 residences, two golf courses, an industrial park plus the current usage by the town of Cape Charles will total a rate of groundwater withdrawal never before attempted in Northampton County. This unprecedented groundwater withdrawal will be in an area which recent studies concluded to be among the poorest sites for water availability in Northampton County.
Unfortunately, the current Brown and Root groundwater withdrawal permits predate any plans for an industrial park as well as these more recent studies. The community needs a better answer to the question of water. It cannot allow itself to get into a position where excess groundwater withdrawal results in saltwater incursion, and a choice will have to be made between a residential development or the industrial park and the sorely needed jobs it promises.
Although I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Foster, it is my understanding that his business reputation is respectable. And in the real world, the human factor of who is doing what is at least as important as the information used to write this article. Outcomes generally lie somewhere in the middle. MEMO: Colin Cowling is 1st District regional vice chair for the Eastern
Shore, and Northampton County chairman of the Republican Party.