THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509270155
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Last week I sat in on a meeting of the Olde Towne South Civic League, a fledgling group that is aiming to create a safer, happier community in an area that sometimes seems disconnected from Downtown and Olde Towne, although they abut each other.
Over the past several months, residents have seen some deterioration in parts of their neighborhood, which is sandwiched between Interstate 264 and High Street. They want to head off any additional problems before they take root.
``We've got to wipe out apathy,'' newly elected league president Jasper Short said. ``We can't just get together. We have to act together.''
Short is a Portsmouth native who works as a systems engineer in Virginia Beach.
``I wouldn't want to live anywhere but Portsmouth,'' he said. ``But I want to live in a clean, safe place.''
Housing in Olde Towne South is a combination of new single-family and condominium structures and historic homes, many of them apartments.
During last week's meeting, residents voiced complaints about absentee landlords, complaints common to almost every older neighborhood in town. They spoke of drug dealing in the area, loud noise and people throwing trash onto the streets.
Sadly, until the city can figure out how to control the errant absentee landlords, we'll always have serious problems.
Police Chief Dennis Mook recently told City Council the city should look at taking houses from people who knowingly rent to drug dealers. The law offers that option, and I think that's a super idea. I bet if the city took one or two houses from absentee landlords who rent to anybody, we would see massive changes in the caliber of tenants in some houses.
The Olde Towne South group started small, but Deloris Overton, the city's registrar and one of the league founders, expects the group to grow quickly.
I bet it does, too.
After the Olde Towne Civic League recently limited its membership to residents of the league's historic district, the Olde Towne South group decided to open its membership to all Downtown residents, including those in Crawford Square condominiums and those scattered throughout the Downtown area.
That will give all residents a voice and should give the civic league additional clout.
The melding of Olde Towne South and Downtown will be good for everybody. Certainly, it will create more of a community feeling for the residents.
``And community is important,'' Short said at last week's meeting. ``We need to know the people who live around us.''
Community is Portsmouth's ace in the hole. It already has its beginnings in neighborhoods that have been around a long time. Even though they have changed over the years, they are intact.
By building traditions, new residents can build a new community.
If enough people come together in the name of clean, safe neighborhoods, we can overcome the few who do things that keep Portsmouth's image tarnished.
By the way, Downtown and Olde Towne South residents who want to find out more about the civic league should attend the next meeting, on the third Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Downtown Public Library. by CNB