THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
There is a fine line between defending one's own turf and setting the record straight.
We are residents of Norfolk, actively involved in our community and very concerned about the redevelopment of East Ocean View. We write in response to staff writer Alex Marshall's report (Jan. 3) on a presentation to City Council by staff from the city and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority regarding funding issues for the East Ocean View redevelopment project.
We were present at the same presentation. Mr. Marshall's story contained a number of important inaccuracies.
First, facts about the East Ocean View redevelopment project:
1. This 30-block, 90-acre area is blighted and peppered with deteriorated properties that present a fiscal liability to the city. This reality is widely recognized.
2. The high crime rate and other negative elements threaten public health and safety.
3. The redevelopment plan (adopted in October 1993) was unanimously approved by the NRHA board of commissioners, the Planning Commission and City Council. The plan was also endorsed by the East Ocean View Civic League and the Ocean View Coordinating Committee.
4. City leaders took a bold and very public step in bringing in one of the best town planners in the United States today - Andres Duany - to work in a very open and inclusive process to produce a master plan for East Ocean View. This plan was presented to a standing-room-only crowd that gave it a standing ovation.
5. NRHA secured bank financing of $9 million to begin redevelopment. Acquisition and demotion of some of the worst properties in East Ocean View is well advanced.
The financing proposal presented to City Council on Jan. 2 was for discussion purposes only; this fact was reported almost as an aside in the last paragraph of your report. The nature of redevelopment is such that the economics require public investment initially; if the economics of acquisition and demolition made the project profitable from the very beginning, the private sector would surely pursue such work. Once land clearance has begun, then bank financing for infrastructure can be repaid from the sale of land.
Bank funds cannot be used until public investment is in place and that's what was discussed with City Council. Since the beginning of the project, it has always been the redevelopment authority's plan to use locally generated city funds. The approach presented to City Council to utilize city funds did not represent any departure from previous proposals.
Your headline, ``Revitalization efforts hit rough spots, project costs may fall on Norfolk,'' was followed by the subhead``Banks won't fund Ocean View redevelopment.'' This second line was simply wrong. A $9 million bank loan enabled the city to begin the project. Offers from other banking institutions have already been forthcoming and can be used at an appropriate time. This misstatement does a tremendous disservice to the city, as well as to builders, Realtors and bankers who are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in East Ocean View.
Redevelopment of East Ocean View is good for the city for a number of reasons. Redevelopment will:
Triple the real-estate value of the area, which in turn will produce increased revenue for the city and improve the city's ability to provide services to all neighborhoods.
Eliminate a blighted neighborhood and a breeding ground of crime.
Create new homes in a city trying hard to attract new residents despite the absence of vacant land for new development.
Create an attractive new community with a broad income mix among its residents, which social scientists believe is preferable to a concentration of low-income citizens.
Staff writer Marshall's writings on East Ocean View have a history of bias. His article in Metropolis magazine (Spring '95) contained editorializing in his coverage of the Duany charette. We offer this passage as evidence: ``East Ocean View . . . is a neighborhood on death row, awaiting execution by bulldozer.''
We find it deplorable that The Virginian-Pilot, which purports to be genuinely interested in the well-being of this community, allows inaccurate and biased reporting. We hope that in the future closer attention will be paid to reporting the facts and not allowing the injection of personal biases into published articles.
W. RANDY WRIGHT
City councilman
DONALD L. WILLIAMS
City Planning Commission
L. ROBERT LAYTON
City Planning Commission
DOYLE E. HULL, chairman
Board of commissioners
Norfolk Redevelopment
and Housing Authority
JAMES JANATTA, past president
East Ocean View Civic League
Norfolk, Jan. 5, 1996
KEYWORDS: EAST OCEAN VIEW by CNB