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It also specified that any such business must be certified by the Alliance of Professional Tattooists Inc., or the Association of Body Piercing Inc.
That was acceptable for Robert Gleason, manager of USA Tattoos in Colonial Heights. Reputable tattoo and body piercing establishments welcome such certification requirements, he said.
"It's good that (the commission) did that. That will be fine," Gleason said.
Not so peacefully passed the public hearing for the proposed Downtown Revitalization Plan. Several city residents spoke up to protest the plan's suggested demolition of the old Patrick Copeland Elementary School, which sits on the edge of downtown near the public library. As presently conceived, the plan calls for a street to be laid across the site, giving access directly to the Appomattox River from downtown and making room for a hotel and houses to be built around it, said March Altman, Hopewell's Director of Economic Development.
"It has the potential to open the downtown and make a vibrant connection to the waterfront," Altman said. Broadway businesses would renovate their facades; a parking deck, new library and new city plaza would go up downtown; and the municipal building would be expanded to gather into it the social services and health departments. Randolph Road (state Route 10) would see its right-of-way narrowed and get roadside trees and brick paver crosswalks, as "traffic-calming measures" to make it less formidable to pedestrians.
All of that the citizens applauded - except for the call to tear down Patrick Copeland.
"I'm all for the much-needed revitalization, but I don't want to see Patrick Copeland demolished. I'm dead set against that," said city resident Pete Calos.
The building, he said, is solid, well-built and its Great Depression-era birth date gives it historic status in the city.
"Patrick Copeland is a classic beauty," Calos said.
Resident Joyce Pritchard condemned what she called the commission's "rush to demolish," and said that she and others had collected some 150 signatures on a petition to save the old building. The building could see immediate use as a space for community events, which would bring customers to patronize downtown businesses, she said. In contrast, she asserted, tearing down a building with historic status would cost the city taxpayers and then disqualify the site for any state or federal funds to construct the road or new buildings, costing them again. Just put demolition on hold, Pritchard said.
"We're proposing a one-year pilot project: Patrick Copeland to serve as an incubator for building the cultural activities (people) want in Hopewell. I urge you and City Council to take advantage of our citizens' interest and energy," she said.
While renovation continues on the Beacon Theatre and other construction is years away, Patrick Copeland could go into immediate service for slide shows, presentations and other events for which the current library simply doesn't have the space, she said.
"History is Hopewell's most important asset... Why not continue the legacy of learning there (at Patrick Copeland)?" asked Katherine Podlewski.
But the Commission remained unswayed.
"Mold... is deadly. Asbestos... will get you sooner or later. Lead... affects mental function," said Commissioner Charles Pender, referring to three contaminants alleged to be found in the old building.
"I have never smelled anything funny or felt unsafe in (Patrick Copeland)," said Christina Bailey, a city resident.
She noted that Ward One voted in the building last month and police use it for training. But economics also matter, Pender said.
"I think the life of the city is at stake. It's better to sacrifice a building or two so that the life of the city can be revived," he added.
He then looked over the petition responses, which included an allegation that the city Municipal Building was once thought to have asbestos contamination and had been proposed for demolition.
After Altman said that, to his knowledge, no such contamination was ever found, nor was the municipal building ever threatened with demolition, Pender took the petition response and publicly tore it into several pieces.
"They tried to persuade people with evidence that was not there. It was irrelevant, invalid," he explained later.
Downtown already has too many properties not on the tax rolls, he and other commissioners further said; the city can't afford another one. Following that, the Commission voted unanimously to recommend the Downtown Plan to Council, with the only amendment being no proposed closure of Main Street. "Without vision, the people perish," Pender said, quoting scripture.
"We do have a vision," Bailey shot back. "Our vision is the revitalization of downtown, without costing the city taxpayers (the money to tear down Patrick Copeland and build new facilities there)."
The Plan, the Commission stressed, remains a conceptual plan, subject to change. There is still time for citizen comment and City Council will have the final word on approval following a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. January 14.
* Cliff Davis may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254.
