THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702080345
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 80 lines
There is no reason to doubt that Sally Frohlich means well when she explains her opposition to using a neighborhood house to shelter the families of seriously ill hospital patients.
And few would question B.J. Nicklin's sincerity as she stands in the living room of the empty little house at the edge of the Point O' Woods subdivision and explains how it could be used to help so many hurting people.
Good intentions aside, the civic league and the Nicklins are involved in a classic suburban clash between preserving neighborhood integrity and providing temporary shelter for a special population.
At the center of the controversy is a 1960s, four-bedroom ranch on the corner of West Plantation and Great Neck roads that Nicklin and her father, Joe, hope to refurbish as a nonprofit facility called Bubba House.
Frohlich and a majority of civic league members who turned out for a December meeting want it to remain a single-family home. The Nicklins and their volunteers and financial supporters want to turn it into a home where out-of-towners undergoing chemotherapy and families of critically ill patients at nearby Virginia Beach General Hospital can find a clean bed, a well-equipped kitchen and a comfortable living room.
Bubba Nicklin, Joe's son, died of cancer a year and a half ago at the age of 31. The proprietor of Bubba's Beach Club on Laskin Road, he was a popular giant of a young man who battled Ewing's sarcoma for three years before his death in the summer of 1995.
``We were lucky, we were close to home,'' said Joe Nicklin, a retired project manager with a multinational corporation, ``but it was a hardship for patients who came from places like the Eastern Shore and families that came from remote parts of the city.''
Patients and families both, he said, could benefit from a place close to the hospital where, without charge, they could eat, sleep or just relax.
The proposed location for Bubba House is five minutes away.
``You just have to remember two right turns and you drive straight into the hospital,'' explained Nicklin, who said the location is perfect.
Some Point O' Woods residents disagree. With about 10 percent of the neighborhood's homes represented, members voted 18-16 in December to oppose Nicklin's request for a conditional use permit from the city.
Among the reasons cited were the encroachment of business into the neighborhood, increased traffic, reduced property values, lack of off-street parking and concerns over plans for funding and operation of the house.
``We don't want to come over as being ogres to people with cancer,'' Frohlich said. ``We just don't think this a good use of the property.''
Robert Loy, a Point O' Woods resident who supports Bubba House, doesn't share those views and has sought to allay residents' fears.
``As an ex-real estate agent, I assured them that it wouldn't affect their property values,'' Loy said.
Despite the civic league's stand, the Planning Commission voted 6-1 in favor of the conditional use permit in December. The measure goes before the City Council Feb. 25. Armed with pages of financial statements, plot diagrams, promises from backers, written policies for Bubba House guests and promises to make the former rental property a neighborhood showplace, the Nicklins hope to win final approval for their project.
Equally important, they hope to win the approval of their neighbors.
``We came over here at Christmas and found a wreath that someone placed in front of the house for us. We know that we already have supporters here,'' said B.J. Nicklin. ``We're looking for this house to be a sanctuary. We want to be good neighbors.''
Still, Frohlich is concerned.
``It's a nonresidential use in a residential neighborhood,'' she said. ``This is a city of neighborhoods and we need to keep those neighborhoods intact.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot
Above: Joe Nicklin hopes to use this Point O' Woods home for a
nonprofit facility to shelter out-of-towners undergoing chemotherapy
and families of critically ill patients at nearby Virginia Beach
General.
Map
Area shown: Bubba House
KEYWORDS: SHELTER ZONING