THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030639
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Edwin B. Lindsley Jr., a land speculator who made his name and fortune by buying defunct companies with long-forgotten land titles, now claims he owns nearly all of the resort beach and Boardwalk.
In addition, the 70-year-old investor hints that if city officials ignore his claim, he may block the $92 million Oceanfront plan to build a new seawall and boardwalk and to double the width of the beach.
Lindsley made his claim in a letter to U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb and to the Army Corps of Engineers, which would conduct the project.
``I hereby request that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers require that the City of Virginia Beach prove that it has a marketable title to the property . Lindsley's attorney, Harold Barnes of Suffolk. ``Resolving the problem at this time may save millions of taxpayers' dollars.''
So far, Lindsley has not filed a lawsuit over this land, but he may eventually, said a title examiner who works with him.
The city, however, says it is ready to prove that it owns the beach and Boardwalk, and can cite a 21-year-old state Supreme Court ruling to support it.
In the past, Lindsley has relished legal fights over disputed land. Occasionally he hits the jackpot. In 1986, for example, the city paid Lindsley $400,000 to end a 20-year dispute over who owns a one-mile stretch of Ocean Park beach.
Lindsley declined to comment for this story. But Severn F. Kellam, president of Pembroke Title, said Lindsley acquired the resort beach by buying the assets of defunct companies that developed the resort town around the turn of the century.
Lindsley has used the same method over and over, buying parts of other properties and land easements from heirs of long-dead companies. Over the years, he has claimed interests in Pembroke Mall, Virginia Beach Junior High School, Mount Trashmore, Rudee Inlet marina, Ocean Park beach, Holly Road, and public streets in North Virginia Beach and Shadowlawn.
``Why the city of Virginia Beach didn't think to do this is beyond me,'' said Kellam, who said he has spent nearly two years researching Lindsley's title to the Oceanfront beach.
Kellam claims that Lindsley owns 2 1/2 miles of the resort beach, Boardwalk and the grassy strip beside it - everything from the resort hotels to the ocean - except for the beach behind the Cavalier Hotel and the old Princess Anne Hotel site around 15th Street.
Over the years, Lindsley has amassed an odd collection of properties in Virginia Beach. City records show he owns, or has an interest in, about 40 properties worth $3.4 million, including such unusual fragments as shorelines of lakes, canals and never-built roads.
Many of the properties are worth nothing on paper, but Lindsley often manages to sell them anyway.
So far, Lindsley has no definite plans for the Oceanfront beach, said his other attorney, Jerry M. Douglas Jr. of Virginia Beach.
Kellam, however, said Lindsley ``has in mind a very nice and generous settlement'' to his claim, but so far the city is not talking.
As a result, Lindsley may file a lawsuit in federal court, Kellam said.
City officials say Lindsley's claim is ludicrous.
``We're quite confident and comfortable in our ownership'' of the beach, Deputy City Attorney Gary L. Fentress said. ``I'm sure we'll take whatever steps are necessary, if any, to convince the corps of our ownership.''
To support its claim, the city cites a 1973 ruling by the state Supreme Court, a case called Greenco Corp. vs. City of Virginia Beach. The court found that developers had dedicated the boardwalk area to the city in 1908, and the city accepted it by building the concrete Boardwalk in 1927 and allowing continuous public use on the land ever since.
But Douglas said the Greenco case addressed only the city's easement over the property, not actual ownership. He and Kellam say they have letters in which city attorneys admitted several years ago that Virginia Beach does not own the beaches.
``The city has known all along,'' Kellam said.
It is too early to know how Lindsley's claim might affect the Army corps' beach plan, said corps spokeswoman Diana L. Bailey.
The corps and the city plan to build a hurricane-protection seawall, to double the width of the beach from Rudee Inlet to Fort Story, widen the Boardwalk and build up sand dunes on the North End. The 2 1/2-year project would cost $92 million and start in the fall of 1996.
The corps also dredges Rudee Inlet every fall, at a cost of $500,000, and uses the sand to help rebuild the public beaches. That project could also be threatened by Lindsley's claim.
In his letter to the corps, Lindsley's attorney warned, ``Please review the enclosed material before moving forward with the above-referenced projects.''
The corps, in response, said it will hold the city responsible for proving it owns the beach. City officials say they are not worried by Lindsley's claim, but regard it as a nuisance.
``Neither Mr. Lindsley nor anyone on his behalf has filed any action against us,'' Deputy City Attorney Fentress said. ``If they do, we'll defend it.'' MEMO: Staff writer Lise Olsen contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Map
STAFF
Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff file
Graphics
PAST CLAIMS
Over the years Edwin B. Lindsley Jr. has owned, or claimed to
own, parts of:
Virginia Beach Junior High School
Mount Trashmore
Rudee Inlet marina
Pembroke Mall
Ocean Park beach
Holly Road
Public streets in north Virginia Beach and Shadowlawn
HOW ONE LINDSLEY DEAL WORKED
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB