THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250444
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
An East Washington Street shop, condemned by the city to make way for its new courthouse complex, was spared the wrecking ball Tuesday - at least temporarily.
While Bill Beamon will get another hearing Nov. 20 to decide the fate of his Hot Spot Records & Tapes, Circuit Court Judge Rodham Delk agreed at a hearing Tuesday to allow city officials on the property to remove asbestos.
If Beamon fails to prove his case, an order to vacate the premises by Nov. 30 will stand, Delk said.
``We believe we have a strong case against the city, and we're glad we have one more time,'' Beamon said.
In July, the city notified Beamon that it planned to take his property to make way for the $14 million courts complex and asked that he leave by Oct. 31. Beamon went to court Oct. 5 to contest the matter and claimed he didn't have enough notice to hire a lawyer.
In the interim, he hired Joseph T. Waldo as his attorney, and Waldo argued Tuesday for a new hearing and claimed that a number of tenants, including Beamon, who live in apartments above the shop had not gotten notice to vacate. Delk agreed.
``. . . The city is going to have to give them notice to quit,'' said Delk. ``I'm more sensitive to residential tenants than commercial tenants.''
Assistant City Attorney Kay Rudiger said Beamon had not cooperated by giving the city the names of his tenants. Rudiger also said Beamon had been aware of the condemnation proceedings for months and that he could have gotten an attorney.
Beamon is the lone holdout. A year ago, the city offered about a half-dozen, mostly black-owned, businesses in the 100 block of East Washington Street 93 percent of the assessed valuation of their property, plus 10 percent for relocation if they remained in Suffolk.
Waldo argued that racism and selective urban renewal played big roles in the city's condemnation plans. Suffolk took a ``checkerboard approach'' by jumping past mostly white businesses that were closer to the courthouse site, he said.
Several former East Washington Street business owners and businessmen who attended Tuesday's proceeding agreed.
The Rev. Bernard Mann said it seemed inequitable that the city would help a white woman move her business when other, black businesses were told to relocate.
``Under the surface, it seems racial,'' said Mann. ``That's a bad display for the city after they granted him the money to start up (his business).'' by CNB