THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100341
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
A proposed master plan for Ocean View calls for selling one Bayfront park for new houses and expanding other parks and commercial areas.
Some local landmarks could be razed in the process, including the Thirsty Camel and Mama's Italian Kitchen restaurants.
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and consultant Ray Gindroz unveiled the proposals, in concept, Wednesday night to a selected group of Ocean View civic leaders.
The civic leaders voiced general support for the concepts, and City Councilman W. Randy Wright promised to keep Ocean View residents and business interests informed through briefings starting next week.
``It's not an adopted plan. It's certain to be massaged in the details,'' Wright said. ``But I think we've finally put together a completed master plan for Ocean View that will take us into next century. I'm excited about that.''
Gindroz, who is based in Pittsburgh, also is Norfolk's primary consultant for its downtown and has planned several neighborhood revitalization projects here, including Park Place and Middle Towne Arch. He recently developed the new master plan for Portsmouth.
Gindroz recommended that the Ocean View plan be implemented in stages, but he did not suggest a timetable. Instead he asked the community leaders for their priorities.
Details on costs were sketchy, but Gindroz said some expenses could be covered by the sale of Community Beach park. The site overlooks the Chesapeake Bay across the street from the Ocean View Senior Center, 600 E. Ocean View Ave.
Gindroz noted that government money for urban revitalization is becoming more scarce. Already, the city has been forced to phase in redevelopment of a 90-acre section of East Ocean View because it has only $9 million of the anticipated $27 million to $35 million in start-up costs.
That 90-acre section of East Ocean View, east of Shore Drive, is not part of the master plan. It is being designed by Andres Duany, an internationally acclaimed architect and planner. The two plans are intended to complement each other.
Gindroz proposes to redesign parts of East Ocean View west of Shore Drive. Highlights include tearing down some apartment buildings to realign Pleasant Avenue and to create several new ponds between the Bay and Pretty Lake.
The ponds would serve at least three purposes: to control chronic flooding of low-lying streets, to help keep pollutants from filtering into the Bay and to create park-like space that makes the neighborhood more attractive for new single-family houses.
The city's stormwater management fee would pay for development of the ponds, said John Keifer, public works director.
Throughout Ocean View, the Gindroz master plan seeks to clear out blight and make stronger connections between inland neighborhoods and the Bay by improving and landscaping certain north-south connector streets. It also looks to reduce some of the hodgepodge of development that has characterized the community for decades.
For example, turning Community Beach into a residential subdivision would represent an eastward extension of the Pinewell-by-the-Bay subdivision. Gindroz estimated that 32 houses could be built.
In turn, new Bayfront parks would be developed west of the Ocean View Beach Park, creating a link to Sarah Constant Beach. Existing beachfront businesses, such as the well-known Mama's Italian Kitchen restaurant, would be demolished but given the chance to move to new commercial areas on the inland side of Ocean View Avenue.
Community leaders welcomed the potential for more businesses but expressed concern that roads be designed in ways that do not discourage shopping.
Other highlights:
Development of new and expanded commercial areas around the Ocean View Shopping Center on Ocean View Avenue between Granby and 1st View streets. Gindroz said it would give that section more of a downtown or village feel.
Realignment of the northern end of Granby Street into a T-intersection with Ocean View Avenue, causing the relocation of the Pretlow branch library and Virginia Power substation. New tracts would be created for commercial development.
Redevelopment along the inland side of Ocean View Avenue between 1st View Street and Mason Creek Road. Gindroz proposes mixed development with street-level shops and apartments on upper floors.
Redevelopment near 4th View Street, creating a possible site for a hotel-conference center. That would replace an existing motel and the Thirsty Camel restaurant.
The most tentative aspect of the master plan could be the reconstruction of the now-confusing 4th View Street-Ocean View Avenue-Tidewater Drive intersection.
Gindroz proposed a design that would expand some existing park land near the intersection and turn the area into ``Ocean View Central Park.'' It would be surrounded by a circular drive and have room for development of a new library-community center complex.
Many of the plan's components dovetail with design principles long advocated by Gindroz. They include making better connections between neighborhoods and amenities such as parks and waterfronts, and creating prestigious addresses for new development.
Most of the Ocean View leaders who attended the briefing advocated that the city give priority to creating new park land between Ocean View Beach and Sarah Constant Beach parks.
They agreed with the proposal to sell Community Beach as a trade off.
``I'm not going to support anything that reduces the amount of park land. But if we gain other park space . . . that would wonderful. Ocean View needs more open spaces,'' said Doug Derring, chairman of the Ocean View Coordinating Committee, a coalition of civic, social, business and religious groups.
Derring said he'll organize a town-hall meeting on the proposed plan, probably for April 13.
The Mayor's Ocean View Development Committee will be briefed on the plan at 8 a.m. next Thursday on the 11th floor of City Hall. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
Map
PROPOSED CHANGES IN OCEAN VIEW
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB