THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090323
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 58 lines
The Planning Commission tossed a hot potato to City Council members Wednesday by supporting a proposed group home for runaway juveniles on the edge of the middle-income Kings Grant subdivision.
But in an unexpected move to placate irate residents, officials of Seton House decided to build its new facility at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church for girls rather than boys.
If the plan is approved by the City Council, runaway boys will be shifted to the existing Seton House at St. Nicholas Catholic Church on North Lynnhaven Road, which has been a girls' group home for the past 12 years.
This move was made to soothe St. Aidan's neighbors, said Michael Inman, who represents Seton House operations in South Hampton Roads.
``The fear was that boys would cause more problems than girls,'' he conceded.
In another conciliatory move, Seton House officials agreed to tighten eligibility and screen teen-age clients with the help of city police, Inman said.
They also agreed to offer clients private transportation to local schools and form an advisory committee, to include Kings Grant residents, to thrash out neighborhood complaints.
Another concession to neighbors would disallow any signs - except for a small one on the front door of the home - that would indicate the presence of Seton House on the church property.
The concessions did not placate nearby resident Walter F. Bankowski, who said he couldn't understand why the 11-member Planning Commission unanimously approved a use permit to build the group home for runaways on the St. Aidan's site.
``I'm just tired of having my neighborhood encroached on,'' he said afterward. ``Why do they have to put it in a residential area here?''
The two Seton House facilities would be only minutes apart. St. Nicholas Catholic Church is on Little Neck Road a mile or two to the north of St. Aidan's, which is located at Kings Grant Road at Edinburgh Drive.
St. Aidan's congregation has agreed to set aside some of its 3.15-acre property for the group home.
Originally, Seton House and St. Aidan's officials wanted to build the planned 5,600-square-foot frame building on the site to house up to 10 runaway boys, ages 10 to 17.
The Rev. Peter Hogg, rector of St. Aidan's, called opposition tactics ``improper.'' A pamphlet left at the church earlier this week warned of potential juvenile crime and plunging property values in the neighborhood, he said, and was a ``fear tactic.''
``It's simple and logical to have such a facility in this area,'' he said. ``No noble cause is good if it hurts somebody else.''
Lawyer Moody E. Stallings Jr., who was hired by Seton House opponents in Kings Grant, replied, ``We're not opposed to Seton House, but why does Kings Grant have to have another one? These are - whether we like it or not - problem children. Does it benefit a child to be in Kings Grant?''
The issue will come before the City Council in the next month or two for a showdown. The council has the last say on most city planning matters. The Planning Commission is only an advisory body.