THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 20, 1997 TAG: 9701180001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 36 lines
In respond to your Jan. 13 editorial on the proposed Seton House for Boys:
I have lived in the neighborhood for 33 years - have raised seven children and now have two grandchildren who frequently visit. My children were able to take advantage of quiet streets, woods and water as they were growing up. They often rode their bicycles and walked around the neighborhood - fishing and watching the turtles, the egrets and other wildlife in this part of King's Grant.
In the past few years, the Virginia Beach Education Association has erected a building near St. Aidan's. When they have meetings, there are 20-30 cars parked along Kings Grant Road, endangering bicycle riders. Now, along the same route, another conditional-use permit is requested to erect a $350,000 building taking away more trees, disturbing more wildlife and creating more traffic.
NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) you say. How about WIMS? Yes. Walk In My Shoes - I live here. This is my home, my neck of the woods, which I wish to preserve.
Is there a need for a Seton House for Boys? Yes, there definitely is. I have worked with teen-agers for more than 15 years as youth minister at St. Nicholas. Walk in my shoes and see the difference between the land St. Nicholas is located on and the land St. Aidan's is on. St. Nicholas has five times the land of St. Aidan's. There is a huge buffer area between the Seton House and any other home. The house was there - it did not destroy any woods or wildlife when it was built. It doesn't affect traffic on a major road into Kings Grant.
Are the neighbors upset? Come on by and walk in our shoes - we live here.
JAN BANKOWSKI
Virginia Beach, Jan. 14, 1997