BRISTOL, Va. – After an emotionally charged public hearing where residents begged city leaders to not act hastily, the City Council delayed action on a controversial street realignment plan.
A crowd of about 75 applauded the 4-0 vote to table a plan to install a traffic signal on Bonham Road while creating a new intersection with Alexis Drive, Robin Circle and Linden Drive near Interstate 81’s Exit 7.
Vice Mayor Harold Leonard abstained from voting and did not participate in the discussion because his brother’s house is directly in the path of the proposed project.
After the vote, design opponent Cathy Stephenson praised the council’s decision.
"I’m thrilled that they’ve given us this time," Stephenson said. "It will give them time to think about it and maybe rethink it."
More than a dozen people spoke during a public hearing and while nearly all said the area needed a traffic signal, a majority urged city leaders to reconsider the proposed design. They said it would promote more commercial development and create even greater traffic problems in the future.
"We want to work with you, and we want you to care about and respect us," resident Pauline Jones said during the hearing. "Our community has paid a lot for development on both sides of Bonham Road."
The residential area is already surrounded by commercial development and can only access Bonham Road via Robin Circle.
Resident Buck Jones, who also supports a traffic signal, urged the council to consider a route that wouldn’t involve taking the Leonard home.
"I think there’s a way to do this without taking this man’s home," Jones said.
Cecil Leonard, the vice mayor’s brother, told the council the first time he learned about the plan was when he saw an advertisement for the public hearing in the Bristol Herald Courier.
"Somebody at the city could talk to me to see if I want to sell my place," Cecil Leonard said. "I wish somebody could talk to me."
After the meeting, Mayor Jim Rector said city leaders would likely meet individually with residents in the affected area.
"I think the council members will talk with these people and get some feedback before we try to make any decision," Rector said. "All of them seemed to support some type of traffic signal, but some of them opposed the realignment."
Some residents alleged during the hearing that city leaders wanted that particular design to aid commercial developer Steve Johnson, who recently purchased two parcels on either side of Robin Circle.
Rector, Council member Fred Bowman and City Manager Bill Dennison each said they were offended by those claims.
"I have made no deals with anyone. I can’t say it any plainer than that. And that’s all I’m going to say," Dennison told an unidentified man who challenged the city manager just after the vote.
Johnson said last week he has no specific plans for either piece of property.
City officials had been trying to move the project forward to access about $2.04 million in state transportation money available during this fiscal year, Dennison said.
In other action, the council voted unanimously to rezone almost 12 acres on Fairview Avenue from M-2 manufacturing to R-3 residential.
Property owner Michael Stramiello told the council he plans to build condominiums and apartments on the site, which is part of the former Tenneva site.
dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532
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