One Neighbor Protests as County Decides to Seek Forest Heights Grant

By Desiree Parker Wednesday, March 24, 2010

James City County Supervisors decided to go ahead at Tuesday night's meeting and apply for a $1.4 million state grant to spruce up Forest Heights, but not without a few words of caution.

The Forest Heights neighborhood, a mainly low- and moderate-income neighborhood along Forest Heights Road, Neighbors Drive and Richmond Road between Prime Outlets and Wellesley Boulevard, needs some fixing up. A Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (VDHCD) block grant totaling $1.4 million would cover most of the costs for improvement, which would include widening and paving gravel roads, improving stormwater problems, and adding a park, a sidewalk and a walking path.

There are 49 occupied homes on the 38 acres that would be included in the first phase of the improvement project if the county receives the grant. Most neighbors had attended a meeting about the proposed improvements last year, and 47 of the 49 filled out a survey the county prepared at the time.

Though two homes would need to be demolished under the current plan, Richard Hanson, administrator for the county’s Housing and Community Development, told supervisors at the meeting that property owners knew about the plan and were on board with the idea.

Supervisors Mary Jones and Chairman Jim Kennedy stressed repeatedly that they wanted to make sure residents all knew what was happening and that they supported the idea of the refurbishment.

Though he didn’t say everyone liked the current plan, Hanson did say that staff had received lots of positive feedback, and that the community had been requesting road improvements for the last ten years. He said they understood that meant they had to relinquish control of the road, and that nearly all the residents had signed a petition for the county to fix up the road.

“I hope … you have the community on board, and on the same page,” Jones said. If the grant is received, Jones said she wanted to be sure the county communicated what was going on to residents in no uncertain terms.
Kennedy agreed, citing the Ironbound Road improvement as a good lesson. Some homeowners during that process said they didn’t want to sell to the county – Kennedy stressed his feeling that residents should sign an official document assuring the county they knew and agreed to the redevelopment plan.

After supervisors voted unanimously to go ahead and apply for the state grant, which will likely be awarded over the summer, a resident within the planned refurbishment area came forward to address the board.

India Johnson, clearly angry, said her home was one of the two slated to be demolished. “I don’t approve of this plan,” she said. “They want to condemn my home.” She told supervisors her home was brick, and had a basement. The home the county offered to put her in exchange had no basement and was not brick.

She complained that the plan called for moving other homes near her back from the street, while getting rid of hers.

Four others in her neighborhood also didn’t agree with the plan, she said. “I have fought this for nine years,” she said, “and I am seeking legal counsel.”

Jones and Kennedy pointed to Johnson’s complaints as a good example of why they had made their earlier points.

Supervisor John McGlennon said that, while he understood and agreed with the need to communicate to residents what the plan will be, that when a majority of people agree with an idea, it isn’t always a good idea to walk away when one or two aren’t happy. “I don’t think we can close the door … due to one statement of concern until we have all the facts,” he said.

Other business
Supervisors also approved a new green building policy, which would encourage environmentally friendly site design, building and refurbishment for county projects. New buildings will need to have silver LEED certification, and any residences the county might build will be EarthCraft built (or comparable).

Read details about the policy here  http://www.jccegov.com/agendas/bosagendas/032310bos.html.