THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509270150
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The City Council, clearly unsure what to do with a proposed borrow pit that has been in turmoil for two years, has postponed a final decision on the issue.
``This is not an easy issue,'' said Councilman John W. Butt. ``Borrow pits never are, it seems like.''
Butt said there were still too many unanswered questions for him to vote, and other council members made similar comments. The issue was postponed to Oct. 17.
Borrow pits, large holes dug for the purpose of selling the fill dirt, have long been a headache for the council. They serve a necessary purpose, providing dirt for construction projects. But the heavy trucks that haul the dirt anger neighbors and damage old roads; the business taxes are hard to collect; and when the pits refill with water, people sometimes drown in them.
The story of Caroon's Ditch goes back more than two years. In the summer of 1993, Robert S. Caroon made plans to dig a 60-acre hole on his property along West Road near Chesapeake Airport. He said it would serve as a retention pond to drain the surrounding area.
But nearby residents, unwilling to deal with the dump trucks hauling dirt from the site every day, said it would be a borrow pit. Those residents insisted that Caroon needed the City Council's permission to dig, and they wanted the council to deny him that permission.
The council listened to residents, and on July 27, 1993, passed a new law requiring council approval for any drainage pond larger than five acres. That included Caroon's project.
A year later, almost to the day, the council gave residents what they wanted most of all and refused to allow Caroon to dig.
In December 1994, Caroon sued the city for $1.2 million, claiming the city's failure to properly drain that part of Chesapeake was damaging his property through flooding.
A Circuit Court judge recently sent the matter back to the council, asking the parties involved to try again for a resolution.
Through his attorney, Richard Matthews, Caroon presented the project Tuesday night as a drainage project badly needed for the West Road-Shillelagh Road area of Chesapeake. He showed photos of flooded fields and roads.
``Because the ditch cannot handle the water, it not only floods that area, but backs things up all the way back in a 12-mile area,'' Matthews said. He noted that the city's public works department has said it needs better drainage there.
``This is something that the health, safety and welfare of all this area of Chesapeake requires.''
If Caroon digs the borrow pit, Matthews said, it will save the city the cost of a public works drainage project later on.
``Hogwash,'' said Richard Serpe, a resident of West Landing Road. ``He says he wants to make sure everybody has drainage. That's hogwash. What he's trying to do is find a way to make money off this property.''
Neighbors said their homes don't flood, and the flooding Caroon talks about is on swampland.
``If you buy swampland, you expect to find some water on it,'' said Robert Scott, who lives along George Washington Highway. ``And everybody knows that's swamp down there.''
Residents said, and City Attorney Ronald Hallman confirmed, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers even had to stop Caroon from destroying wetlands and has yet resolve that case.
The council voted 7-0 to postpone consideration and get more input from its staff. Councilman Peter Duda was absent with a back injury and Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr. abstained because his brother-in-law has a financial interest in Caroon's project.
In other action, the council also postponed consideration of two permits for drive-through windows at Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road. Herman A. Hall is seeking the permits for a bank and a pharmacy on the site.
However, residents protested because of the traffic the project would generate at an already busy intersection, and because the land is historically significant in Great Bridge. The British officer who commanded troops at the Battle of Great Bridge in 1775 is reputedly buried near that location, where one of the earliest churches stood.
Council members noted that the land has long been designated for business use and that Hall does not need council's permission to build, only to put in the drive-through windows.
The council postponed a vote until Oct. 17.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL by CNB