THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070653
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Most rooms are boarded up, but the weary-looking Sea King motel isn't quite ready to check out.
A handful of remaining residents - living there rent-free - say they might not leave without a fight.
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority has targeted this once crime-ridden landmark of East Ocean View for demolition.
The authority gave the motel's five residents until Sept. 30 to move out. But they are still there and say they have nowhere to go.
They accuse the redevelopment agency of playing dirty.
Timothy Evans said he was getting ready to take a bath Wednesday morning when the faucets suddenly went dry.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Evans had to carry in buckets of sandy water from the nearby Chesapeake Bay just to flush his toilet.
``I have no problem with them going to court and evicting us legally,'' said Ronald Bubb, who lives at the motel with his wife. ``However, it's obviously a pattern of harassment, as far as turning off utilities and coming by every day, `When are you going to be out of here? When are you going to be out of here?' ''
Agency officials acknowledge that the water was cut off, but they insist it was a mistake. By Thursday afternoon, service had been restored.
Water had been turned off because a redevelopment employee misinterpreted some advice from the agency's attorneys, said Robert Draper, director of renewal services.
Norfolk officials say Sea King residents are the real wrongdoers by illegally living in the old motel past last week's deadline.
``Can you believe the audacity of those people?'' said City Councilman W. Randy Wright. ``They're squatters. That's all they are.''
The redevelopment agency bought the Sea King in June and has allowed the last few occupants to stay rent-free through the end of September so they could find new housing. Residents also did not have to pay for water or electricity.
But the free ride is over.
``Code enforcement is on us to get the building down,'' Draper said. ``The police department says the place is a big problem and to get it down. It's costing us a ton of money just to have the property maintained.''
Draper hopes to evict the tenants later this month. The agency is taking them to General District Court on Oct. 18.
The Sea King was slated for demolition as part of a 90-acre redevelopment project in East Ocean View. The tract will be rebuilt with middle-income to upscale homes.
In 1993, the City Council decided to clear most of the neighborhood after declaring the section was too blighted to be revived by any other means. For years, it had a reputation for crime, drug trafficking and other social problems.
The Sea King, at 4140 E. Ocean View Ave., was blamed for many of the problems.
In 1991, police said no other address in Norfolk generated as much law-enforcement activity. Officers had responded to 235 calls, making 107 arrests on 131 charges at the Sea King. Nearly 80 percent were drug related.
Police also said the motel was a common site for prostitution.
The remaining residents say crime has declined in the last few months. They praised police but also credited themselves for safeguarding the doomed motel.
``Myself and Tim here, we have been watching this property since Day One,'' said Bubb, who shares a second-floor room with his wife, Patricia Kramer. ``We run off just about anyone we see who doesn't belong on the property.''
Trespassing is a major problem now, residents say, with vagrants breaking into boarded-up rooms.
``If I was out on the street,'' Timothy Evans said, ``and I saw a place like this, do you think I'd sleep on the street?''
Most of the residents say they may have to face the prospect of homelessness in a few weeks. But they also may try fighting the redevelopment authority in court. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GARY C. KNAPP
Timothy Evans carries a bucket of sandy water Thursday from the
nearby Chesapeake Bay to his room in the Sea King motel in East
Ocean View. The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority has
targeted this once crime-ridden landmark for demolition.
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by CNB