THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507170036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
William Mall wants to continue cleaning and packaging seafood at his bright blue warehouse in the heart of South Norfolk, surrounded by neat homes and some small businesses.
But the neighbors don't want him there. They say his operation smells, stops up the sewers and attracts a rough crowd of low-wage workers.
Their dispute will land in the public forum Tuesday night, when City Council considers whether to grant Mall a zoning change from business to light industrial use, which would allow his warehouse to continue to operate. The council is eager to promote business growth in Chesapeake, but the Planning Commission has recommended that Mall's request be denied.
At issue is more than just a change in a city ordinance. Residents of South Norfolk say the debate is a symbol of their years-long struggle to control the fate of their once prestigious neighborhood, which now has pockets of run-down or abandoned homes and businesses.
South Norfolk was a first-class city in 1963, when it merged with Norfolk County to become the city of Chesapeake, said Pauline Dennis, chairwoman of the South Norfolk Revitalization Commission.
``We are not supporting this (seafood plant) because it does not revitalize South Norfolk,'' she said.
Mall, a native of Pakistan, opened his business in 1987 on Chesapeake Avenue with a retail seafood store and wholesale operation, Ocean Foods Inc. Originally, he intended the retail outfit to be a large part of his business, which would have allowed him to comply with the zoning law for his property. Businesses in a commercial district can have some industry, as long as 50 percent of their operation is retail.
But that didn't work for Mall.
``We tried to push retail business, but it really didn't go good,'' he said. ``Local community did not support our retail business, and we were forced to close, because we could not survive.''
He closed his storefront in the early 1990s and turned his attention to cleaning and packaging seafood for bulk sale. Inside a string of closed-up storefronts and a gutted theater, he mainly processes conch purchased from Virginia watermen. The conch are pulled from their shells, cleaned, packed in 5-pound boxes and frozen. They're shipped in trucks that pull into large loading bays in the back of Mall's buildings.
Mall sells his products in national and international markets. He reported $3 million in sales last year, he said.
City officials say they had no idea Mall had been operating illegally since he closed his retail shop, even though he had applied for and been granted some building permits to renovate his space. Building inspectors had visited but had raised no concerns, said Carl E. Hall, the city's director of inspections.
``The inspector is not aware of what type of operation it is,'' Hall said. ``He's just looking at the construction. He's a building inspector, not a zoning inspector.''
Business owners are required to notify the city when they change the nature of their operations. Mall had a business license for his retail shop, but never alerted the city when he switched to full-time seafood processing, Hall said.
A resident complained, Hall said, which triggered a visit from a zoning inspector who notified Mall that he would have to apply for new zoning or close down his plant.
Mall said he believes residents are looking for any excuse to shut him down. It will be a financial burden on him to sell the buildings and move to another site, he said.
Besides, he said, the city should consider the revenue he generates and the jobs he provides.
``If the city of Chesapeake doesn't want me, I may go . . . (to) maybe some other city,'' he said. ``I'm sure Suffolk or Hampton or somebody would want these jobs.''
That would be fine with William C. Boyce Sr., who owns some apartments next to the plant. His tenants have had trouble with their sewers and with a fishy smell that periodically emanates from the plant, he said.
``My tenants have called me from time to time to tell me they couldn't operate their air conditioning because of the stench,'' Boyce said.
Ida S. Harrison, who lives down the block from the plant, said she would consider moving if Mall is allowed to stay. The smell is too much, she said, and the part-time workers who hang around the area sometimes cause trouble. Once, she said, a group of workers had a fight in her yard.
``We've been here a long time,'' Harrison said. ``I hate for the people not to have their jobs, because they need their jobs. But we just can't have that here.''
Boyce said it comes down to what is best for South Norfolk.
``In all of the past plans the city has come up to help renovate or redevelop the South Norfolk business area, none of the plans have suggested putting M-1 (light industrial) zoning on Chesapeake Avenue,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN/
Ocean Foods Inc. is in South Norfolk, an area of Chesapeake not
zoned for light industrial use. Owner William Mall has asked the
City Council to change the neighborhood's zoning so he can continue
to do business.
KEYWORDS: ZONING REZONING CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL
by CNB