THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
How could they say no to all those kids?
The City Council on Tuesday made a painful decision to give up nearly $11,000 in taxes a year, rather than tell more than 500 kids who attend programs at Girls Inc. of Southampton Roads that they'd have to stay in a leaky and deteriorating building.
In a 5-2 vote, the City Council approved a use permit that allows Girls Inc. to build a new youth center on a highly visible commercial lot on Portsmouth Boulevard.
Mayor Gloria O. Webb and Councilman Bernard D. Griffin opposed the project because it goes against a council policy prohibiting any new tax-exempt agencies in the city and because the city will have to pay $15,000 for a left-turn lane into the youth center's parking lot.
Councilman Cameron C. Pitts also voted against giving the agency a tax-exempt status and asked it to pay for the road improvements, but in the end he voted to allow construction.
``To my knowledge, we've never paid for road improvements as part of new construction,'' Pitts said Tuesday. ``And this tax-exempt status is going to cost the city $250,000 over 20 years. We said we weren't going to factor in any more tax-exempt organizations in potentially commercial areas.''
But Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons argued that the center's benefits outweigh the lost tax revenues.
``We need to be supportive of any positive programs in this city,'' Clemons said. ``This is an opportunity where what the city can't do for its youth, this organization can.''
Girls Inc. would have paid about $11,000 a year in taxes once the new 13,200-square-foot building, including a swimming pool, was completed. The current taxes on an empty business there are $2,600. The agency must still apply for tax-exempt status with the Virginia General Assembly.
Portsmouth occupies only 30 square miles, and about half of that land is tax-exempt. Most of the tax-exempt property belongs to the federal and state governments. Another significant portion of tax-exempt property is owned by the city and the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
More than two years ago, the City Council adopted a policy that it would not allow any new tax-exempt property.
The Girls Inc. site, near the corner of Hodges Manor Road and Portsmouth Boulevard, is one of the city's few prime commercial sites larger than 2 acres.
Currently the agency leases a building from the School Board in the Westhaven section of the city. State licensing requirements would have force the agency to close the building unless major renovations were made. Girls Inc. of Southampton Roads also has a second location, in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, which will be moved to the new location.
``We feel we're providing a valuable service to the city - a service worth more than the $11,000 in taxes per year,'' Diane P. Griffin, the treasurer for Girls Inc. and no relation to the council member, told the council during an earlier work session.
Gail Bishop, a neighborhood activist and a member of the city's crime prevention steering committee, said the youth center could be an answer to some of the city's crime problems.
``This is a center where the children have activities - structured activities - and they are not out on the streets,'' Bishop said.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL by CNB