Posted on 05/03/2002 3:46:43 PM PDT by countrydummy
Feds to Homeowners: Make Room for a View
Sheila Davis has lived near the beach in Florida, but she chose to raise her family in Hinton, W.Va., a city nestled along the New River in an area known for its railroad history and national historic district.
She owns an acre of land where she shares her mobile home with three teenage daughters and her husband and plans to build a log cabin.
But a road improvement plan that ballooned into a federal park project has threatened to force Davis and dozens of other Hinton residents from their homes, all to create a better view. And the situation is not unique to West Virginia.
In order to fix New River Road, a two-lane stretch that was riddled with potholes, Raleigh County and the state asked for federal assistance.
They were offered funding, but the roadway was designated a scenic parkway. Then government agencies were required to be involved, including the National Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Natural Resources.(p)
Davis said that as late as May 1998 homeowners in the area were assured that their property would not be affected unless they were willing to sell it. But that changed last September, when the original plans were expanded.
The National Park Service wants to create an unobstructed "viewshed." The issue has not been settled, but one option under consideration is forcing people to sell their homes.
"If, in fact, this is going to be a scenic parkway, then we feel the scenic qualities should be protected," said Lorrie Sprague of the National Park Service. "Wherever you happen to be at that point in time, and what you see from there is your viewshed."
Doug Tolbert of the New River Parkway authority said, "The response to their concerns was that we acquire the additional right-of-way." This includes all the land from the road to the river -- where dozens of homes now sit, many of which have been in families for generations.
Davis and others rallied to save their homes and have had some success being heard. Ann roach, who lives in Ohio but hopes to retire to her home overlooking the river in Hinton, said the issue can't be solved with the money being offered to those who don't want to sell.
"I don't know the answer, but I just keep on fighting," she said.
The case in Hinton is not unique, according to Mike Hardiman, spokesman for the American Land Rights Association. Rather than spending time and money maintaining its current property, he said, the National Park Service has sought out new sites across the country.
"The whole thing is a disgrace," he said of the parkway project. "It is an absolutely perfect case study of the mentality of abuse of taxpayer money and of individual citizens at the hands of the park service, in particular over the last eight years."
Currently, all sides say they are seeking alternatives, but the search for a compromise hasn't gotten anywhere.
"My dad died giving me this land," Davis said, "and this is what I have for myself and for my children."
--Fox News' Bret Baier contributed to this report
I am sending the info in this email post to make this process and request for help as easy as I know how:
This is what you can do to help:
In today's Hinton News, Doug Tolbert, Coordinator of the New River Parkway Authority is begging for letters IN support of the New River Parkway! This Parkway is a road now that can only stretch 10 miles, as the rest has been put on hold "indefinitely", yet one that would strip private land owners of all of our rights, cost all tax payers untold millions in land acquisitions and construction/maintenance fees! This roadway is truly a road to no where!
He is quoted as saying that due too a "few people that oppose" this parkway, that the area stands to loose federal funds! Who cares if it strips landowners and tax payers of their hard earned rights and monies!
We find it amazing and wonderful that he is making these pleas in our local paper on the account of a "few"! How wonderful that a "few" can move mountains!
Please contact the following representative of the West Virginia Department of Highways requesting a "No-Build Alternative"!
Director James E. Sothen Phone: 304-558-2830 Fax: 304-558-0605 Email: jsothen@dot.state.wv.us
You may also wish to send cc to Robert C. Byrd: senator_byrd.senate.gov to Jay Rockefeller senator@rockefeller.senate.gov and to Nick Joe Rahall NRAHALL@mail.house.gov
You all have a say in this proposed project because it will be 80% federally funded! Your tax dollars at work to steal homes and heritages form American families.
You may also wish to send letters to the editor of the Hinton News: HINTON1000@aol.com
The land you save may well be your own!
You may also wish to request your copy of the SDEIS from the West Virginia Department of Highways (see above)and use that email to do so...
Once again, from the bottom of our hearts, thanks for all that you all have done and will do to insure that we are able to keep our homes and heritages!
E-mail addresses for Gazette reporters and editors: The following reporters and editors have individual e-mail addresses. If you wish to contact someone whose name is not on this list, send e-mail to gazette@wvgazette.com, with the person's name in the subject line. Publisher Craig Selby: cselby@wvgazette.com Editor in chief James A. Haught: haught@wvgazette.com
Fred Long, Editor of the Hinton News HINTON1000@aol.com
Yer sh*ttin' me!
Now I am not advocating violence of any sort - I'm just saying that if some corrupt people disappeared, their corrupt rulings might be reversed.
We're talking about bad people here, and we've all been hurt by them, sometime in our lives!
Stay well and vigilant.............FRegards
Taken from them under threat of jail!
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