THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070475
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
The City Council approved two public-private ventures in an attempt to increase the city's tourism draw.
For the first time in almost a decade, the council allowed commercial development on the eastern side of Atlantic Avenue, permitting owners of the 50-year-old Sea Escape hotel to demolish their building and replace it with a Dairy Queen.
In exchange for the zoning reclassification, the owners agreed to turn half their property into a public park, build a performance stage and operate public restrooms. The city will pay about $130,000 to demolish the existing public restrooms at 17th Street.
City Manager James K. Spore said the move is good for the city, claiming it will add a new park at a fraction of the cost to develop the 24th Street Park.
He said the move also would open another view of the Oceanfront, provide modern restrooms and help create a catalyst for further redevelopment of 17th Street.
In a separate action, the council completed plans to lease 185 acres of city-owned land on Seaboard Road to the Brassie Golf Corp.
The company will build and maintain an 18-hole public golf course on the site, bringing the city one course closer to the ``critical mass'' it needs to become a golfing destination for tourists, Councilman Linwood O. Branch III said.
The city's other golf courses were either built entirely at public expense, Branch said, or were built by private developers in exchange for being allowed to build dense subdivisions.
Now, Branch said, the city is ``looking at golf courses as an economic tool and a development tool.''
The city needs for or five more top-quality golf courses to cash in on the lucrative market that put Myrtle Beach, S.C. on the tourism map, Branch said. Only about 8 percent of the current golf business in Virginia Beach is due to tourism, he said.
The golf course measure passed by just one vote after a two-hour debate on public involvement in the golfing business.
Operators of several local golf courses complained that the city was creating unfair competition by subsidizing a rival course. They also criticized the city for taxing only public golf courses and for providing inexpensive city courses which keep them from charging higher green fees.
Several operators also questioned the lease agreement the city has worked out with Brassie, saying the company vastly overestimated how many people would use its course.
The lease would run up to 40 years. After the first two, the city's profits from the course are dependent on its revenue.
Councilman Robert K. Dean, who was on the losing side with Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, and Council members Barbara M. Henley, John D. Moss and Nancy K. Parker, called the measure ``welfare for the wealthy.''
The council was more easily convinced that the 17th Street Park was a good idea, voting 10-0 in favor of that plan. Parker abstained because of previous business dealings with the motel's owners.
The motel will be demolished almost immediately so the ice cream parlor can be built in time for the tourist season. In addition to the open-air stage, property owners have promised to build an eight-foot ice cream cone sculpture as a landmark and promotional tool.
The owners, Richard Maddox and his family, have agreed to pay $115,000 in back taxes on the property before moving ahead with their plans.
Both council measures are examples of the city's efforts to create public-private partnerships ``to further the goals and amenities of the city for our residents, guests and businesses,'' said Mark R. Wawner, the city's acting director of economic development.
``We all want places to eat ice cream cones and listen to music,'' he said.
In other business, the council agreed to pick up the tab for a nearly $100,000 revenue shortfall for the American Music Festival, held at the Oceanfront over Labor Day weekend. The first-time event, which is expected to be repeated next year, had lower than projected attendance because of bad weather the first half of the weekend.
The event was organized by Virginia Beach Events Unlimited, whose contract to run major summer-time events and Oceanfront activities expires at the end of the month. Three other companies have submitted bids for the $1 million contract, which is scheduled to come before the council next week. by CNB