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Don't let Buckroe be next private 'public' beach

David Squires

Urban Affairs

March 5, 2009

HAMPTON

Public beach access once again might be slip-sliding away in Hampton.

If you have a boat, there's plenty of public beach access. Just north of Buckroe Beach, once you clear the private beach area, there's a nice stretch of sandy shore behind the Salt Ponds development. There's just no place to park -- thanks to a 2006 fight in which Salt Ponds residents successfully stopped the city from adding 15 measly parking spaces.

The residents feared that the parking area would "bring riffraff and even sexual predators to the quiet, upscale neighborhood," the Daily Press reported at the time.

More "public" beach stretches from Salt Ponds northward past Grandview Beach clear to Factory Point. But Grandview has only a handful of parking spaces and some restrictions -- leaving that area yet another private "public beach" for the residents in their grand beach homes, as well as for fishermen and other smaller "special" interests.

And leaving the rest of us up the proverbial creek.

So it's not surprising that many Hampton residents are watching carefully as the city hears proposals from three developers who want to build homes in a one-block section at Buckroe -- the last decent sized public beach on the Peninsula.

The Buckroe area has deep historical relevance. For much of its early history, Buckroe was a segregated whites-only beach, separated by a chainlink fence from Bayshore Beach, which was for black residents.

"They had a roller coaster on the white side," said William "Al" Smith, 78, a retired civil rights attorney. "On the Bayshore side, you had vendors and the beach. There was also a dance hall that could be rented."

Bayshore was also a big tourist attraction, drawing top acts such as musician Duke Ellington and comedian Redd Foxx and attracting black tourists from all along the East Coast.

"If you were black, you just went straight to Bayshore," Smith said. "You didn't go on the other side, or you'd be arrested."

Today, the former Bayshore is a private beach for private residences just south of Buckroe Beach. It's the area roughly between Seaboard and Atlantic avenues.

By the 1970s, Buckroe was an integrated beach that still held charm and familiarity for many black residents -- and not just because of its proximity to the now-closed Bayshore.

Hampton native Sharon Russell-Hunt, a real estate broker for more than 25 years, continues to favor Buckroe Beach for its undisturbed charm -- compared with the hustle and bustle of Virginia Beach, the region's most famous beach.

"I think it's one of the bestkept secrets, as far as the beaches in Hampton Roads," she said. "It's well maintained. It's not crowded. It's not developed. ... When I have friends visit, I take them to Buckroe."

As for the city's plans for Buckroe, she said, "If they keep the public parking and keep the activities they have during the summer months, people will keep using it."

Three companies are vying to develop four acres of the city's 50-acre master plan. On March 11, the Hampton City Council will hear presentations from all three in a public meeting.

Residents, beware: Keep your eye on the parking spaces.

Buckroe Beach now has about 400 marked parking spaces, a far cry fewer than when parking was permitted on the grass. A year ago, one of the highest parking counts was more than 1,000 cars, according to Terry O'Neill, director of the Planning Department and the Neighborhood Office.

O'Neill said the master plan allowed for up to 680 parking spaces.

A closer inspection reveals it needs twice that many -- and likely a parking deck along Mallory Street and Pembroke Avenue.

Also, there are no guarantees that should the homes sales take off, a cash-strapped city wouldn't convert some of the designated "green space" to more residential development.

Next could come complaints about overcrowding, parking restrictions and possibly even a gated entry.

O'Neill said that wasn't likely, though the city couldn't guarantee against it.

"There're not many 100 percent guarantees in life at all," O'Neill said.

That's why the developer of this project must be committed to working with the city to ensure that Buckroe Beach remains an open public beach.

Or the public once again will be left up the creek without a paddle -- or a parking space.

David Squires can be reached at 247-4639, by e-mail at dsquires@dailypress.com or online at dailypress.com/urbanblog

Yesterday, I sent you some data on the late Clovis C. Coffman, Jr. who is one of your Famous Marines. Here is a photo of GySgt "Buck" Coffman USMC dining with President Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam. "Buck" was awarded the Navy Cross by the President that day, and it was featured in Life Magazine. TYPHOON Regards, Joe Madagan ('57) of FL

Since you chose them as your theme painting I had to send you this photo of me in front of Juliet's balcony in Verona taken last March. Shakespeare's play was apparently based on a true story... OHHHH, Jean, so cool - what a fabulous time you must have had!!! Thanks so much!
		Wednesday, March 5, 2008
		Jean in Verona