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Colonial Beach rejects donation of former Happy Clam site for town park Date published: 10/19/2009
BY FRANK DELANO An offer to give the town of Colonial Beach a 1.2-acre waterfront lot to use as a park has been rejected by town officials. Elizabeth Safley said she and her husband, Allen Griffey Sr., offered to give the property and its 300 feet of beach to the town in exchange for a conservation easement limiting the property's future development. But Town Manager Val Foulds said she and other town officials could not come up with "a valid, compelling argument" to recommend the offer to Town Council. "We're struggling to get our arms around the whole public space issue right now," Foulds said this week. This summer, large numbers of visitors led the town to close a popular park near the Potomac River and institute fees for weekend parking. The surge of beachgoers also brought complaints from nearby residents about trash, behavior and the lack of public restrooms. Now the town is considering new restrictions on beaches and parking. Safley said reports of the town's problems prompted the offer to give the town a new beach for fishing, sun-bathing and boating away from residential areas. "The public beaches are approaching capacity. One would think the town would have an interest in such a valuable gift on behalf of the residents," Safley said. The spurned 1.2-acre property is currently valued by Westmoreland County at $225,000. It sits beside State Route 205 at the town's west end. The parcel was the site of The Happy Clam from 1979 until 2003, when the popular restaurant was blown away by Hurricane Isabel. In 2005, restaurateurs Richard and Malley Moncure partnered with Safley and Griffey of Stafford County to rebuild the restaurant, with Moncure continuing to operate it. Safley said the partnership has town approval to build a new 4,700-square-foot eatery with 45 parking spaces on the site, but the economic downturn delayed construction.
Fould's concerns include "the possible future reduction of its area by improvements to the busy highway"??? So, the though here is to collect hundreds of dollars of property taxes now, then pay for the property later [read: eminent domain] by spending thousands. I've seen blind mice with more vision...
I am sure the owners would love to get rid of this property...it cost them in taxes. and theycan't build there. Colonial Beach needs tax revenue, not more property that does not generate revenue. Adding a park to this strip of land would create more problems that in solves...parking, traffic backing out on a busy road, maintenance cost, another park to monitor, chesapeake bay act issues, etc.
Smart Move I say!
No comparison to Ocean City. The OC government is is just a lackey for the merchants now..it is so crowded since they started advertising in DC and Baltimore that you have to drive to Bethany or Rehoboth to get away from the maddening crowd.
Nya_Nyas, it lookslike you just want to stick your head in the sand, and just don't want to know what goes on at the beach.
I do not understand the thinking of those in the high seats.
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