{"id":6017,"date":"2009-12-22T18:24:55","date_gmt":"2009-12-22T23:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=6017"},"modified":"2009-12-22T18:24:55","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T23:24:55","slug":"mayor-carroll-thackstons-reply-to-andy-rices-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/22\/mayor-carroll-thackstons-reply-to-andy-rices-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Carroll Thackston’s reply to Andy Rice’s letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re heading back to the Town of South Boston’s proposed Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Carroll Thackston has issued his reply to Andy Rice’s letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nDecember 22, 2009<\/p>\n

Mr. Andy Rice
\nRice & Sons, Inc.
\n4 Edmunds Street
\nSouth Boston, VA 24592<\/p>\n

Dear Andy:<\/p>\n

Thank you for your letter of December 10th in which you expressed grave concerns over the Town\u2019s proposed Comprehensive Plan, specifically as it related to the Riverdale area. <\/p>\n

First let me address your statement that \u201cEncouraging existing businesses to vacate the Town, whether they relocate in the County or simply cease to exist is, a terrible message to send to anyone contemplating going into business in South Boston.\u201d Page 54 of the Comprehensive Plan states, \u201cBecause the area is in the floodplain and floodway, the Town should adopt a policy to steer the area towards a more compatible land use, but, without damaging the viability of existing businesses along the corridor.\u201d It goes on to say, \u201cThis vision may take decades to implement and can be accomplished as property owners willingly place their property on the market as the natural life cycles of their businesses determine.\u201d The last sentence on page 54 states, \u201cThe Town should establish a fund and solicit grant funding to purchase these properties at the fair market value as they come on the market, gradually clearing them for environmental restoration and conversion to a land use that is more appropriate for a floodplain.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as your concern that we are, \u201cencouraging existing businesses to vacate the Town\u201d that is just not true. Council even formally rescinded the request to the Corp of Engineers for a flood study project because the cost was prohibitive. <\/p>\n

Page A-18 of the Comprehensive Plan states in part that after the flooding from Hurricane Fran in 1996 the Corp of Engineers and Halifax County undertook an additional flood study. The study found that the most cost effective option to reduce flooding impacts was to relocate businesses from the floodplain. The relocation cost at that time was estimated at 5 million dollars. Page A-18 notes that as a result of community discussion on Riverdale, Town Council reconsidered the flood control project and agreed not to pursue this due to its costs and the input from the community.<\/p>\n

Furthermore Council agreed to work with Riverdale businesses and property owners desiring to continue business operations, yet still work towards a long-term community goal of ultimately relocating businesses out of the floodplain through voluntary acquisition of at-risk properties as they become available for sale. <\/p>\n

You made a number of other points which would require more detailed statements on my part and I don\u2019t want this reply to be too lengthy, but I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss the Plan. <\/p>\n

Let me conclude by quoting the last paragraph on page A-16 – \u201cThe purpose of looking at Riverdale for long term comprehensive planning purposes is three-fold:<\/p>\n

\u2022\t1st \u2013 the corridor is the major southern entranceway to South Boston and the Downtown Central Business District;
\n\u2022\t2nd \u2013 much of the developed corridor lies within the floodway, which is at risk for public and private damages; and
\n\u2022\t3rd \u2013 the Dan River is a natural community asset that could be better utilized for recreational and environment purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would invite you to visit the Town Manager\u2019s Office and study a copy of the Comprehensive Plan in detail – especially pages 47-48, 51, 54-55, 91, A-16-18, A20 and A22. <\/p>\n

If you do this, I believe you will have a much better understanding of the Town\u2019s long term goals and objectives, and you will better understand why numerous citizens spoke in favor of improving Riverdale in the early workshops sponsored by the Town and Hill Studios. The favorable comments also addressed the two other areas covered in the Plan: North Main Street and the Higher Education Center area.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your interest in this matter. <\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Carroll Thackston
\nMayor
\nCc: South Boston Town Council
\n Media <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re heading back to the Town of South Boston’s proposed Comprehensive Plan. Mayor Carroll Thackston has issued his reply to Andy Rice’s letter.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newscentral","category-south-boston","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-1z3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5966,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/10\/andy-rices-letter-about-the-riverdale-controversy\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":0},"title":"Andy Rice’s letter about the Riverdale controversy","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"December 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"We haven't had much on South Boston's new Comprehensive Plan proposal which impacts the Riverdale corridor leading into the town, but we do want to publish this letter from Andy Rice. We'll have more on this plan proposal and the potential impacts in the next few days. Let's take a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NewsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"NewsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5982,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/14\/barry-tucks-speech-to-the-south-boston-town-council\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":1},"title":"Barry Tuck’s speech to the South Boston Town Council","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"December 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight, the Town of South Boston held their own public comment section about the proposed 2030 Comprehensive Plan. Barry Tuck made a speech and he wants to share it with our readers. Dear members of the Town Council, Town Manager Ted Daniels and Respective Mayor, Carroll Thackston As the 2030\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NewsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"NewsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5778,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/04\/you-may-ask-where-is-south-boston-going\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":2},"title":"You may ask “Where is South Boston going?”","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"November 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm glad you asked that question! You're invited to a Community Meeting at the Prizery on Thursday, November 12. From the South Boston Town Manager's office... Join your neighbors, community leaders and the Town Planning Commission to review and comment on a draft of South Boston\u2019s plan for the future!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EventsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"EventsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/eventscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5093,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/22\/south-boston-town-council-agenda-for-824\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":3},"title":"South Boston Town Council Agenda for 8\/24","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"August 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What's on tap for the South Boston Town Council's work session on Monday evening? The meeting starts at 5:45 PM. I. COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING on AMENDMENT TO TOWN CODE - FLOOD HAZARD OVERLAY DISTRICT Adjourn II. CURRENT ISSUES COMMITTEE [Bryant, Chairman, Thompson and Morris] 1. JOYCE ENGINEERING REPORT ON LANDFILL\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "PoliticsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"PoliticsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/politicscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4607,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/12\/tgif-in-the-square-concert-frontiers-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":4},"title":"TGIF in the Square concert – “Frontiers” photos!","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"July 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2nd concert in Destination Downtown South Boston's \"TGIF in the Square\" was held Friday night in South Boston. Our good friend, Andy Rice took some awesome photos from the concert and agreed to let us feature them here! \"Frontiers\" - The Journey tribute band \"When the lights go down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EventsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"EventsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/eventscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4558,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/07\/south-boston-planning-commission-to-draft-skeet-range-ordinance\/","url_meta":{"origin":6017,"position":5},"title":"South Boston Planning commission to draft skeet range ordinance","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Berry Hill Inn Founders College Estate Resort & Conference Center, Come On Down! South Boston's got a new ordinance chosen especially just for you! Wednesday, July 8th, the South Boston Planning Commission will start the process of adding a new ordinance to the Town code that will permit firing ranges\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NewsCentral"","block_context":{"text":"NewsCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}