Letters for Aug. 12: Offshore wind will be disruptive to Sandbridge – The Virginian-Pilot

Re Offshore wind developer sensitive to publics concerns (Other Views, Aug. 6): I read the column by Kenneth Kimmell, vice president of offshore wind development for Avangrid Renewables, with interest. I question his due diligence.

He states there is ample parking on the north side of the market. There are approximately 70 spaces in the lot he references. The lot the company will commandeer behind the market has 136 spaces. That creates a shortfall of 66 spaces where residents can now park.

He goes on to state the traffic along Sandbridge Road will not be impacted by the laying of cable. Now, I admit Im not a traffic engineer, but unless they plan on using a shovel instead of heavy equipment, it is impossible not to impact the flow of traffic.

Kimmell goes on to state, our intent is to lay cables only in already disturbed areas ... . Sandbridge Road is a two-lane road that is barely wide enough for two cars to pass safely. Over the years we have pleaded with the city to improve this section of Sandbridge Road. Their reply has always been they cant because it is protected wetlands. I would like to know where these already disturbed areas are located and why the city hasnt used this information to improve the road in the past.

The wind farm is located off the coast of North Carolina where there have been 55 hurricanes since 1851, according to UniversalProperty.com. North Carolina is the third most vulnerable state for hurricanes on the east coast.

Janet Y. Meyer, Virginia Beach

Re Offshore wind developer sensitive to publics concerns (Other Views, Aug. 6): I read Avangrid Renewables response to Sandbridge residents concerns. My question is why not tie in the power for both wind projects, Dominion Energys recently approved and Avangrids newly proposed, at the same location?

Having Avangrid tie in at the state military reserve as proposed for Dominion does mean some more miles of undersea cabling, but it would save the expense and disruption of digging up Sandbridge. After all, whether the cables from the two projects come ashore separately or together, they are going to tie into Dominions infrastructure.

James Luehman, Virginia Beach

This morning, at my local store, I met a young mother and her 3-year-old son. She held a sign that said, Please help us. She was a beautiful young mother with sparkling blue eyes and an exaggerated thin frame. Her face was blistered from the sun, her nose sore and peeling.

She and her son were sleeping in a car. She had a fistful of $1 bills given to her from the sympathetic shoppers who passed her, but not enough for one nights stay.

I filled her meds and called shelters and emergency services. The first emergency service for homeless mothers and children was an adoption agency. I called another emergency shelter. It was closed on the weekends. Then I called another; she could only get in if she was beaten and abused.

Finally, a Norfolk agency said, there is no help. She can put her on a list; this worker buys hotel rooms for mothers and kids with her own money. But unless youre a pregnant mother, politicians do not care. Children dont vote and neither do the homeless.

Republicans, as long as they can claim, they are saving the babies, they dont care. But once the child is born and is homeless or in need of medical care? They blame you for societys ills.

The mother and 3-year-old? I left her begging in the Walmart parking lot. There is no help for them; they will no doubt sleep in a car again tonight, in America in the 21st century. Where is our humanity?

Lisa Petry, Chesapeake

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Re Virginia Beach book critics argue one-size-fits-all obscenity standard no longer effective; advocates disagree (Aug. 8): I see that Del. Tim Anderson and former congressional candidate Tommy Altman are back at banning books again.

They are not satisfied with taking books out of school libraries, but are going after bookstores as well. As stated in the article, Altman didnt like what he read on seven pages of a book that is 240 pages long and decided to object to it. These gentlemen not only want the pages banned from bookstores, they want a temporary injunction against anybody who sells, transports, etc., the books. Why dont people, especially these two, understand that a parent can decided for his or her own child what he or she reads?

What is next for Anderson and Altman? Burning books?

Lynn Davidson, Chesapeake

Every law-abiding U.S. citizen and immigrant seeking citizenship should be supportive of stopping Mexican cartel, illegal infusion of fentanyl and all drugs across our southern border. Period.

Come on, President Joe Biden, stop the death pill. Direct and focus the Department of Homeland Security on its job to safeguard the homeland. Today, you are miserably failing. Come on, Biden, wake up and get engaged.

John R. Baer, Yorktown

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Letters for Aug. 12: Offshore wind will be disruptive to Sandbridge - The Virginian-Pilot