THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020470
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHERRELL EVANS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH
The latest rift centers on Bosher's Holiday Trav-L Park campgrounds on General Booth Boulevard.
{REST} Bosher, who says his tussles with the city over property ownership issues date back 15 years, maintains that he and his family own the whole site, all 80-plus acres. The city, joined by the state's Department of Military Affairs, disagrees. It accuses the Boshers of extending their wooden cabins and picnic tables into 3 to 5 acres of state-owned property.
The land is considered important because it lies just outside Camp Pendleton, a National Guard center. The state owns more than 550 acres surrounding the center, and the city has tried to buy those 550 acres for more than 20 years.
The General Assembly and Gov. George F. Allen earlier this year agreed to sell. The area in dispute is not part of that package, but it is part of another 22 acres that the city wants to buy.
The various parties say they hope the dispute can be resolved amicably, but that hasn't stopped the accusations. Bosher says the city should just be grateful his campground is there.
``I think the city is really jealous of it,'' Bosher said, ``but don't drag me into a fight with them.''
The controversy over the land has involved three tiers of government:
The state believes it owns the land.
The city wants to buy the land.
The Navy is concerned because the land is near Oceana Naval Air Station.
In the 1970s, the Navy began acquiring air rights and easements from people who own land surrounding the base. It wanted to limit development to lessen the chances of casualties in case of a jet crash, and to limit complaints about noise from jets flying overhead.
The Navy hired a local firm to survey 4,000 to 5,000 acres surrounding Oceana. That survey, done by John Sirine & Associates, concluded that the Boshers own the land.
``I'm going to stand by the survey until somebody shows me it is incorrect,'' said John Sirine, president of the company. He noted that all the research and title work for the survey was provided by the Navy, and that this is the first time the survey has been challenged.
The Virginia National Guard has said it - and not the Navy - has precedence.
The survey, said Guard spokesman Tom Wilkinson, ``doesn't have any credence with us because (the Navy) never owned the land.''
The Guard maintains that its own real estate records show the state owns the land. Still, the Guard is conducting a 60-year title search and will turn the results over to the state attorney general's office.
The feisty Peter Bosher - owner of the Sea Bay Development Corp. and numerous real estate holdings in South Hampton Roads - has tangled with the city before. He maintains that about 15 years ago he had to retain an attorney to battle charges from the city that it owned a lake that he says was later proven to be his.
Then last year, when the city wanted to widen Pacific Avenue, it used its powers of eminent domain to force Bosher to sell part of a parking lot he owned at the Oceanfront. A financial settlement was reached Wednesday. But the hard feelings continue.
In the latest dispute, Bosher maintains that the city is encroaching on some of his campground. He says his land stretches 200 feet onto the playground of Birdneck Elementary School - but he says he has never bothered the city about that.
Meanwhile, the city has additional charges of its own. Robert Matthias, an assistant to the city manager, said Holiday Trav-L Park has more than 1,100 campsites when its permit allows for only about 700. Matthias said the Boshers may have to come before the City Council to get the additional campsites approved.
There's more: The Virginia National Guard maintains its records prove the Boshers are encroaching on even more state land near Camp Pendleton. And this time, it's land that the state already leases to the city.
Located on that land are the city's Fire Training Center and a section of Holiday Trav-L Park used to store recreational vehicles.
by CNB