THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506240091
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
When City Council voted Wednesday night to reject a shelter for abused children in the Hall Place neighborhood near downtown Suffolk, it acknowledged that neighborhoods should have a strong say in what comes into their presence.
That may seem simple enough, but the governing body doesn't consistently vote that way. If it did, the folks in rural Holland wouldn't be dreading the effects of a cotton gin that is being plunked in their midst, and residents on the Suffolk/Chesapeake border wouldn't be apprehensive about increased traffic they anticipate because of a race track approved by council.
Wednesday's vote wasn't unanimous, but politics often isn't. Councilman Thomas G. Underwood, who seems inclined to vote for anything proposed by anyone from Holland, in his Holy Neck Borough; and Mayor S. Chris Jones, taking the role of humanitarian, thought it perfectly okay to change zoning to permit an unwanted property usage.
Neither vote required courage. By the time they got to vote, the proposal already was defeated by five council members who had voted ahead of them. Their vote was simply to appear the good guys - in Underwood's case, the constant backer of his Holland constituents.
Mayor Jones proclaimed, ``What they (the children who would have been housed in the shelter) need is love, attention and caring.'' Anyone disagreeing with that would have to be soul-less, but that wasn't even an issue.
Despite the heart-tugging complexities of child abuse, the choice before the council Wednesday night was clear-cut: whether to rezone to high-density a house on South Main Street so the owners could operate an emergency shelter for children put in their custody by the Department of Social Services.
Hall Place residents, while no less caring than the mayor or Mr. Underwood, said it was the wrong place. They'd already had experience with the proponents. And, beyond that, they didn't think Hall Place needed another challenge.
The neighbors are right. Proponents Karyn and Dana Cook, remember, moved to the country and rented out the urban Main Street property they wanted to become the Lambs Nest shelter.
Even if they were on-site managers, that's not the same as 24-hour residents with a deep commitment to the neighborhood's welfare.
The Hall Place Community Association knows that, and its members know that revitalizing the struggling area already is a monumental challenge without inviting others.
The neighborhood is a mix of charming, restored homes and others that have fallen victim to blight. That's mostly the city's fault, seeing as how for many years it poured money into areas that had deteriorated far beyond the point of revitalization and neglected areas, such as Hall Place, that experienced a rapid intrusion of lowlifes who proceeded to pull down what once was a prime neighborhood.
Then, as long-time residents retreated to the country and elsewhere, formerly private homes became rental property. And that, as many a Suffolk resident can attest, is too often fatal or at least potentially fatal - the pride of ownership replaced by simple roof-over-my-head mentality.
Older Suffolk neighborhoods that have survived have done it in spite of, not because of, city policies. That's why it's so important that organizations like the Hall Place Community Association take a firm stand in behalf of conservation.
Just as it's a matter of survival for abused children to get temporary shelter - and heaven knows I pray that a suitable location is found - it's a matter of survival for neighborhoods to take on City Hall, rental property owners and others who challenges the survival of their neighborhoods.
Comments? Call 446-2494. by CNB