THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180482
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A lake and wooded area owned by the College of William and Mary shouldn't be sold as surplus state property, a legislative review panel said Thursday.
The recommendation by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, contained in the final report of a two-year study of state-owned property, may help quiet a furor over the future of the 500-acre Lake Matoaka and College Woods property.
The controversy erupted after the holdings were listed in a preliminary commission report as candidates for sale.
A spokesman for Gov. George F. Allen said the land and lake remain on a list of state holdings that are under review for possible sale to raise money for prisons. That review is taking place independent of the commission's study.
``Right now, it's not off the table,'' said the spokesman, Ken Stroupe.
But a well-placed administration source said that while Stroupe's statement is technically correct, the property ``is probably not a good candidate for being sold.''
A gubernatorial commission reviewing dozens of state holdings is slated to meet Nov. 30, and a final report is due in January.
Philip A. Leone, director of Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, said his panel has gotten 750 to 1,000 letters and postcards protesting sale of the lake and woods.
The land, he said, ``should stay a natural area if they (William and Mary officials) want it to be. . . . We never recommended that it should be sold, particularly not for prison financing. It should remain with the college.''
The commission's final report, which includes recommendations on about three dozen properties, lists the William and Mary land in this category: ``Selling not recommended due to wetlands, flooding, or lack of access.''
In a more detailed section, the report said the William and Mary administration and board of visitors should either formally dedicate the land as a ``natural heritage preserve'' or declare it to be surplus property.
Leone said in an interview that even though the board of visitors has passed a resolution calling for protection of the land, the college's master plan still designates a portion of it for development. That discrepancy should be resolved, he said, and the college should seek formal state designation of the land as a heritage preserve. by CNB