CAPE CHARLES MIRROR

Reflections on Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore

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Cape Charles Christian School awarded full accreditation

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Cape Charles Christian School recently announced they have been awarded full accreditation from the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS).

The Virginia Association of Independent Schools is the leader in advancing and advocating for independent school education in Virginia. A nationally renowned organization, the association currently accredits nearly 100 Virginia schools.

The Cape Charles Christian School recently concluded a lengthy accreditation process, which involved several years of academic and strategic planning and reviews.

Holly Hubbard, Head of the Cape Charles Christian School states, “This process has proven to be an integral part of the development of our school. By meeting the very purposeful standards of VAIS, CCCS has reached even higher levels of excellence in education. We are eager to explore the many opportunities this affiliation offers. Our staff and board have worked tirelessly for several years to make our accreditation a reality. I would like to thank them and congratulation them for their important work.”

To learn more about the Cape Charles Christian School, visit cccsesva.org.

To learn more about the VAIS, visit vais.org.

New Leash Law Coming to Town

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Town Council discussed new ordinance language to change from “under control” standard to required physical restraint\leash control standard for dogs. The new language is below:

Sec. 50-191. – Animals on beach and other public places. (a) Animals prohibited during certain period. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person owning, having control of any domestic canine or other animal to permit such domestic canine or other animal to be on the public sand beach, the boardwalk or the grassy area west of the boardwalk during the period from 10:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m. between May 1 and Labor Day of each year, such period hereinafter referred to [as] the “season”. (2) It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or has control of any domestic canine or other animal to permit such domestic canine or other animal to run at large at any time. For purposes of this section, an animal shall be deemed to run at large while roaming, running, or self-hunting off the property of its owner or custodian and not kept on a leash or other physical restraint for immediate control. A leash or other physical restraint is understood to be no less than six nor more than twenty feet in length.

Council is in favor of the new ordinance, however, during the discussion, some changes were recommended.

The draft notes that it will be unlawful for any dog to be off lead anywhere, at any time. It was requested that the language be more specific, that during the 9 to 9 time period, dogs could be off lead on the beach.

There was some discussion about extending the beach time hours from 9:00 P.M. to 10:00 A.M.

The ordinance was originally scheduled to be voted on August 1st at a special meeting, but it may be added the agenda of the next Regular Meeting on the third Thursday in August. The Mirror will post the time once it is confirmed.

Town Council Rejects Mural on Hotel Cape Charles

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Town Council rejected an appeal by David Gammino, owner of the Hotel Cape Charles, for a Historic District Review Board Certificate of Appropriateness. Gammino had planned to have a mural installed on the facade of the hotel. An artist was going to be flown in from Europe to do the installation. According to Mr. Gammino, the piece was going to reflect our love for the natural beauty of the Eastern Shore.

Gammino argued that the hotel was not a historic contributing structure and that the Historic District Guidelines say nothing about public art, such as a mural.

The HDRB rejected the application citing the guidelines that stated that, as a contributing structure, not only could the applicant not paint a mural but if he did anything to the facade, he would have to return it to its original state.

A departure from earlier boards, the current HDRB along with Planner Zach Ponds argued that the hotel was a historic contributing structure due to the fact that it was within the historic district overlay. That is, every single structure within the overlay is considered contributing. This interpretation is backed by members of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

In the past, when Larry DiRe was Planner, there were many instances where homes inside the overlay were not considered contributing structures due to a number of factors.

From Wikipedia:

In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant. Government agencies, at the state, national, and local level in the United States, have differing definitions of what constitutes a contributing property but there are common characteristics. Local laws often regulate the changes that can be made to contributing structures within designated historic districts. The first local ordinances dealing with the alteration of buildings within historic districts was in Charleston, South Carolina in 1931.[1]

Properties within a historic district fall into one of two types of property: contributing and non-contributing. A contributing property, such as a 19th-century mansion, helps make a historic district historic, while a non-contributing property, such as a modern medical clinic, does not. The contributing properties are key to a historic district’s historic associations, historic architectural qualities, or archaeological qualities. A property can change from contributing to non-contributing and vice versa if significant alterations take place.

Does the Hotel Cape Charles add to the historical integrity of the town?

While the town pounded its fist on the guidelines in order to reject the appeal, the arguments used to do so were pretty flimsy. The decision was arbitrary and capricious,  an abuse of discretion, and made without any relevance.

Section of the mural that would have been installed (Image Hotel Cape Charles)

The actual reason for the denial was that the town just didn’t want a mural on the front of the building. Councilman Bennett said he thought it would be hideous and ugly. Councilwoman Burge said that, while she liked the mural, and the town needed more public art, that it was not appropriate.

The town used a bogus interpretation that the Hotel Cape Charles was somehow a contributing structure to the historical integrity of the town, and then leveraged an obscure section of the guidelines that dealt with paint, and was apropos of nothing. The denial was made even as there is nothing in the guidelines that deals with public art, or at a more detailed level, murals.

Town Manager addresses VOSH inspection

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Virginia Occupational Safety and Health made a surprise visit to our Public Works department on Wednesday and found a few minor issues. Town Manager Larry addressed those issues as well as our July 4th:

Two OSHA inspectors went to the public works shed yesterday later afternoon for an unscheduled inspection.  While our shortcoming are minor and relatively easy to fix I don’t know if the town will be fined, or required to develop a formal mitigation plan, or both.  Here’s the list of our shortcomings: the vehicle lift did not have an annual inspection; the kill switch on the riding mower seat does not cut off when the rider gets off the seat (in plain English that means the blade still spins should the rider fall off the mower and wind up under it); certain cleaning solvents and other shop chemicals are frequently distributed to smaller container from the large container they are shipped in, those large containers have labels stating the storage and handling information, but the smaller transfer bottles do not and so that related safety information is not present on all the containers containing the potentially harmful chemical.  

Known result: mower is now under lock and key and no one is using it until the kill switch is repaired; the smaller bottles are labeled with the correct Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS); the vehicle lift is not being used until a hydraulics inspector can inspect it.

I put a call into the Virginia department of labor office in Norfolk this afternoon to discuss the matter and the town should be receiving a preliminary report via email by close of business tomorrow (Friday July 19).  When received the report will be attached to next week’s weekly staff activity report as part of the public record.

Working meeting with VDHR staff Monday July 15, 2019

On Monday July 15, 2019 staff, Councilwoman Burge, the chair and vice chair of the HDRB met with Ms. Elizabeth Lipford and Ms. Aubrey von Lindern (certified local government co-ordinator for Virginia) of the VDHR to discuss some issues related to the historic district design guidelines among other thing.  The meeting was educational and encouraging.  The town is doing a number of things well and the guidelines have strong points.  As I did in January of this year, I asked Ms. Von Lindern about the recurring rumor that the town is in danger of loosing its historic district designation.  As she stated in January, she reconfirmed that the town is in no such danger, never has been, and continues to have an effective relationship with VDHR. To that end staff received email last week of a grant award of approximately $5,560 dollars toward HDRB professional development via a program with the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions.

July Fourth

Yes, it was crowded.  Yes, parking was difficult to find after a certain time of morning. Yes, the law was enforced, and we have the messages and emails from people ticketed for a variety of offences complaining about such enforcement and declaring they will not return to Cape Charles.  I personally wrote a letter of violation to residential squatters on the north side of town, and intervened on golf cart usage and parking.  Chief Pruitt has more information so I defer to him for that.

The Mirror thanks you for comments on Tourism

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Last week the Mirror published an article “Is Tourism Killing Cape Charles?“. While the article posited one view, the title was posed in the form of a question, essentially asking for input on this issue.

The Mirror wants to thank everyone that contributed either on the newspaper site itself or on Facebook and Twitter. Your input is very important.

It is a multi-faceted question, but one that is fundamental to living in Cape Charles.

This year, the town passed an $8 million dollar budget, and it did so without raising taxes. This could not have been accomplished without the revenue generated by the visitors that come here to have fun. The transient occupancy, sales and meals taxes they generate so far have allowed us to grow and prosper without imposing onerous tax increases on the citizens.

And as our friend Scott Wivell pointed out on our Facebook page, tourism is driving the job market in Cape Charles. Every business in town is hiring.

These are all good things.

On the contrary, there are some folks that find the number of tourists overwhelming and disruptive to their lives here. It was also noted by some that while there was this huge fight over the County’s 2015 zoning, using the mantra, “Don’t turn us into Virginia Beach or Ocean City”, some of the same folks are more than happy for that to happen, on a smaller scale, to Cape Charles.

That is the fundamental dichotomy: is the alteration of life in Cape Charles worth the revenue that tourism brings in?

Thanks for weighing in. The Mirror would love to publish an Op-Ed on this subject, either pro or con.

Eastern Shore Pottery opens under new ownership July 27

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The Eastern Shore Pottery is once again open for business under new ownership.  The store was purchased by JoAnn and Danny Goble and will feature many of the old favorites along with many new and unique items.

Join Eastern Shore Potter for their Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, July 27, 2019. 

They are located on the highway just south of Stingray’s, 27085 Lankford Highway Cape Charles, Virginia 23310.

There will be live music, food, and special sales beginning at Noon.

Eastern Shore Potter opens July 27th (Image ES Potter)

Pet of the Week: Storm

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The ESPCA is open for visitors Tuesday-Saturday (10am-3pm). Stop by and meet little Storm and his adoptable friends!

About Storm
Hey, I’m Storm and I’m a 3-month-old male kitten. I really love being petted and am very outgoing. I am litter box trained, up to date on vaccines and already neutered. I have grown up around other cats and enjoy playing with them.

Cape Charles Main Street wants you to attend Comp Plan workshop July 25

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Cape Charles Main Street wants to make you aware of an important opportunity for you to share your input on the future of Cape Charles!  We encourage you to share this with your neighbors.

The Cape Charles Planning Commission is beginning the process of updating the Comprehensive Plan. A comprehensive plan is a document designed to guide the future actions of a community. It presents a vision for the future with long-range goals and objectives for all activities that affect the local government.

Do you have ideas, opinions or concerns about the future of Cape Charles? This is a chance for you to share your vision!


When updating the Comprehensive Plan, participation from residents and other stakeholders is essential. As a part of this process, a public Kick-off Workshop will be held on Thursday, July 25, 2019, at 6 p.m. at the Cape Charles Civic Center. This will be the first opportunity for residents to help form the update process and give feedback to local government officials about the future of Cape Charles.


The focus of the Kick-off Workshop will be to discuss the Comprehensive Plan update process, project goals, and citizen/stakeholder expectations. Input from citizens at the Kick-off Workshop will be used help to shape the planning process and ultimately the new Comprehensive Plan.
Assisting the update process is the Accomack Northampton Planning District Commission, who will be present at the workshop.

The Town Manager and Town Planner will be in attendance, and the Northampton County District 1 Supervisor, John Coker, will be asked to attend as well. All Cape Charles Planning Commissioners and a representative of each Town Boards will be asked to attend.

If you cannot attend the workshop and want to share your ideas, please email or call Zach Ponds at planner@capecharles.org, or by phone at 757-331-2036. 

BLACK DRUM fishing with Jim Baugh Outdoors TV

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New Show!! BLACK DRUM fishing seaside on the Eastern Shore Jim Baugh Outdoors TV Feature, also includes Blessings of the Fleet from Cape Charles and a great Drum Recipe. Many thanks to our fishing host Sam and Jean Sellard and mate Joe! These folks know their stuff!!!

JBOTV Home base port, The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek, Cape Charles Virginia!
https://www.theoysterfarmatkingscreek.com/

Jim Baugh Outdoors Archives and all our latest shows and special features join us on our JBOTV YouTube Channel and please subscribe 
https://www.youtube.com/c/JimBaughOutdoors