THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409290191
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
After many years of sometimes heated negotiations, the city is just a couple steps away from getting a wide public beach at Sandbridge.
The City Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a plan that would finance the 50-year beach replenishment project and open the 4 miles of private beach to the public. Three council members - Robert Dean, Nancy Parker and John Moss - voted against the plan. Councilwoman Louisa Strayhorn was absent.
The plan uses no general tax money to cover the city's share of the joint project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The key to the financial plan is to have the users of Sandbridge, residents and visitors, pay for the sand.
But before it's official, a public hearing will held on Oct. 25 about raising Sandbridge's taxes. The city is proposing to increase the real estate tax by 6 cents and the lodging tax by 2 cents the first year, then 4 cents thereafter.
Sandbridge land owners already agreed to the tax hike in a mailed petition. Of the 1,660 letters mailed by the city, 1,253 responses were received and only four opposed raising taxes.
A vote on the special tax district is expected Nov. 1. The new taxes would begin Jan. 1.
Next, the city must obtain public easements from 243 oceanfront property owners on a portion of their land to officially make the beach public. The Corps will not participate unless the beach is legally public.
Draft easements have been prepared by the City Attorney's office. However, a couple of speakers at the council meeting had some problems with the language in the easement agreement.
Attorney R.J. Nutter, representing 12 landowners, proposed wording changes that he said are ``not deemed to be substantive . . . We want to make sure the language mirrors the intent.''
The Sandbridge Oceanfront Property Owners Association has embraced the replenishment and easement plan, but does not speak for all oceanfront owners.
City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley said, in an interview, that he anticipates that all oceanfront property owners will voluntarily dedicate the easements, as much of the property within the easement is currently under water. He said he has not considered what happens if they do not.
``We've really not crossed that threshold,'' Lilley said. ``We've worked many hours to work out an easement agreement that is mutually acceptable.''
The beach replenishment will be funded 65 percent by the federal government and 35 percent by the city. Virginia Beach's share is $3 million initially and $1.8 million every two to three years. The federal share is $6 million initially and $3.5 million thereafter.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, who previously opposed sand for Sandbridge, voted for the plan. She said she was swayed by the fact that no general tax dollars will be spent by the city, and by the overwhelming support from federal and state government as well as Sandbridge residents.
``It did not come easy,'' Oberndorf said. ``I really, really wrestled with this.''
In addition to the tax surcharge, money would be kicked in from these sources:
A $2.8 million refund from the state from the sale of 550 acres at Camp Pendleton. The General Assembly has agreed to the rebate from the $4.7 million sale if it is used for beach replenishment at Sandbridge.
Money from redirecting to Sandbridge its share of lodging taxes earmarked for the Tourism Growth Investment Fund (TGIF), about $135,000 annually.
Revenue generated from city parking lots at Sandbridge and Little Island Park and from the fishing pier at Little Island Park - about $67,000.
The Corps of Engineers will start project design Oct. 1. The initial infusion of sand would come no earlier than the spring of 1997.
KEYWORDS: EROSION SANDBRIDGE SAND REPLENISHMENT by CNB