Planned light-rail station divides Ingleside residents

NORFOLK

Tucked between bustling Virginia Beach Boulevard and the tranquil Elizabeth River, the Ingleside neighborhood has long been unified in defense of its quiet, secluded nature. Now, it's quite literally divided by light rail.

Ingleside will have the only walk-up station along the 7.4-mile, $232.1 million starter rail line that will run through the neighborhood along an abandoned freight rail route.

Reaction there is mixed. At the extremes, some residents are considering moving away from the rail line. Others bought homes to be near the train and are optimistic about saving on gasoline and the convenience of commuting by rail.

No matter which side of the tracks allegiances rest, it's clear changes are coming to Ingleside, a thriving mixed-race, mixed-income area. What's not known to residents is how the once-harmonious neighborhood will change when the rail line opens in early 2010.

"It's going to be this way until the train is running and people are able to see how it's going to work and how it's going to impact them personally," said City Councilwoman Daun S. Hester, who has lived in the

community for more than a dozen years.

Station opponents generally live closer to the corner of Ingleside Road and Mississippi Avenue, where the train will stop. Hampton Roads Transit estimates that 210 people will board daily there. Because the station is intended for residents, no parking will be provided.

Some neighbors are worried about crime, congestion, safety, noise, vagrancy and trash.

"When something is new, you understand the fear," Hester said. "We need to make sure we're listening to concerns and making adjustments as needed."

Opponents charge that's not happening.

"We're absolutely getting stonewalled," longtime resident Kathy Crist said. "If they're not going to take our station off the plan, what are they going to do to make this safe and attractive? We're not getting those answers.

"When you have a quiet, secluded dead-end neighborhood with a train running 18 hours a day, I think it's going to be a strain."

The civic league twice submitted a list of 35 questions to the city and Hampton Roads Transit. Among the concerns: shielding nearby homes from the track and station, providing safe railroad crossings, increasing police presence, traffic and parking. League officers have not been satisfied with the answers.

"We didn't ask for light rail and we can't stop it, so we ought to be allowed some accommodations," said Phillip Hawkins Jr., the civic league president, who lives directly across from the station site.

Longtime residents compare the train with a former bridge on Westminster Avenue that once allowed entry into the back of the neighborhood from Grandy Village and Chesterfield Heights. They said that until the bridge closed about a decade ago, there was more traffic and crime in the neighborhood.

Many residents "view light rail as opening the floodgates again to those kind of opportunities," Hawkins said. "That's the magic of this part of the neighborhood - there's only one way in and one way out now."

Hester said she understands the comparison, which is why it's important for the city to establish safeguards.

City and transit officials have met with residents at least twice in the last several months. Stanley Stein, assistant city manager, said the residents were heard but the city cannot yet address their concerns because detailed design of station areas has not yet begun. "Nothing is on the table or off the table at this point," Stein said.

HRT's current plan has a "basic package" for stations which are "not going to fly for some downtown stations and some others like Ingleside," Stein said. Anything beyond the basic design must be paid for by the city.

HRT spokesman James Toscano said the agency, which is building the light-rail line for the city, is considering some changes. He said it might install surveillance cameras around the stations as well as on trains and might shrink the size of the Ingleside station for neighborhood aesthetics.

"You're never going to have people unanimously in favor of anything," Toscano said. That doesn't mean the project won't benefit many in the neighborhood, he said.

Within the past year or so, a number of Ingleside residents purchased their homes because they want to live within a short walk of the rail station. One of them, Jason Phenicie, said he's "looking forward to being close to this area's only reasonable hope for good mass transit."

"It will be nice not to have to drive everywhere," Phenicie said.

Longtime resident Jimmie Wilson, who served as civic league president for more than a dozen years, said he's eager to ride to avoid traffic, high gas prices and parking problems. "In the long run, light rail is going to help not just this community, but help Norfolk as a whole," Wilson said.

When Wilson was president in 2001, the league voted in favor of the light-rail plan. Five years later, the league voted to oppose the neighborhood station.

Because of the mixed signals, HRT mailed surveys to more than 1,600 Ingleside households two years ago. Sixteen percent, or 258, responded. About 23 percent said they would not ride light rail, while the remainder said they would ride or might ride.

Some residents said the survey was misleading because it never actually asked whether they wanted a neighborhood station.

Hester said the residents opposing the station have been more vocal. "There are many who do want it, but it's not in front of their house," she said.

Stein said the city is considering buying the homes in the same block as the station if the owners want to sell.

Hester said that city officials, after years of delays on the project, were surprised when federal approval and money came through last year. She said as a result, the project has moved uncharacteristically fast and that communication with residents has been lacking. She said she sympathizes with their frustrations.

"The bottom line is the city and HRT need to do what's right for the community," Hawkins said. "If we get the cooperative spirit, I think we'll be fine and light rail will be fine."

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com