Christopher Newport University, city task force outline Shoe Lane property timeline; public outreach planned

Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany and researchers from Christopher Newport University (CNU) presented an update Feb. 25 to the Newport News City Council on the Shoe Lane Task Force’s effort to document the disposition of properties acquired as the university expanded.

The task force, established in 2024 by Mayor Philip Jones and CNU President Bill Kelly, has compiled a parcel-level inventory and timeline showing multiple phases of acquisition from the 1960s into the 2010s. “We have been focusing on…outreach, coordinating with families both present who live near CNU and live on Shoe Lane,” Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany said. Dr. Johnny Finn, an associate professor of geography at CNU, and student researcher Sanithia “Tia” Tucker described research methods and preliminary findings.

The presentation said researchers have identified about 26 parcels that were part of “Shoe Lane proper,” with the possibility that the list may expand to 28 as records are reconciled. Tucker said most transfers to the CNU Real Estate Foundation were sales from private owners rather than eminent domain, although the university’s Board of Visitors approved resolutions in February 2004 and February 2005 authorizing the use of condemnation for seven privately owned parcels. Tucker said the task force found civil litigation records for two parcels on Prince Drew: one case (Prince Drew 314) in which a court-ordered payment to heirs followed a valuation, and another (320 Prince Drew) where litigation was dismissed after parties reached a sale agreement; Tucker said the latter property’s assessed amount was about $22,500. The task force said it has not yet located condemnation court records for the other five Board of Visitors–authorized parcels and that research is ongoing.

The presenters said the task force divided its work into two strands: (1) documentary research of deeds, transfers and institutional records; and (2) oral-history outreach to residents and descendants. Finn described an acquisition timeline and maps showing three research “phases” the team used to organize parcel transfers and campus expansion. Tucker said the team is building an online interactive map that will allow users to click parcels and view acquisition dates, transfer records and related documents. The beta map is expected by the end of the spring semester, with a more narrative “story map” planned for late spring or early summer 2025.

Council members pressed the presenters on outreach and engagement. Councilman Harris and others said community members and families who consider themselves affected — including the Johnson family referenced in prior news reporting — want to be contacted and to see results publicly available. Vice Mayor Bethany said the university president has met with five families still living adjacent to campus and that the task force intends to make records public once research and outreach are complete.

Task force members said they have worked with the city attorney’s office to fill gaps in assessor records and have presented preliminary findings to the city’s Uprooted Commission and CNU’s Board of Visitors. They also said a memo from the Virginia attorney general’s office reviewed CNU’s legal authority before the university pursued condemnation and described the use of condemnation as an “extraordinary action” in the state context.

The task force invited more participation from community members with lived experience of Shoe Lane; the presenters provided a dedicated email and phone number for contact: ShoeLanetaskforce@Gmail.com and (757) 837-2843.

The presentation closed with council members advising the task force to be deliberate given the sensitivity of the subject and to continue coordinating the website and outreach before issuing final recommendations. Council members said the task force will return with recommendations after completing research and interviews.