THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504120414
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
One of the City Council's top priorities for Portsmouth this year was stronger economic development, especially enticing more retail to the city. But when the city finally got some good news on that front Tuesday, a handful of residents threatened to block the multimillion-dollar project.
Rather than being celebrated, the report of a huge supermarket moving to Churchland and bringing a large discount store with it was met with promises of lawsuits and complaints that it would disturb an up-scale neighborhood nearby.
The owner of the nearby Churchland Shopping Center told the City Council Tuesday that he didn't want the competition from the new shopping center. Arnold Leon told the council that if it tried to transfer land for the shopping center to the Industrial Development Authority so that the development could begin, he would sue the city.
``There's no question we have a financial interest across the street,'' Leon told the council. ``We intend to use everything we can to stop the project because it's not in the best interest of Portsmouth. . . . There are too many stores in Churchland, and there's only so much expendable income in Portsmouth.''
The council was considering a transfer of the old Churchland High School site to the Industrial Development Authority so that the authority could sell the land. Then it could work out a building agreement among the developer and the two new stores. The council had not decided late Tuesday night whether to transfer the land.
``Transferring the land to the IDA is simply the first step in terms of moving forward to sell the property to the development entity,'' City Manager V. Wayne Orton said Tuesday. ``The developer and economic development will continue to work with the neighborhood to come forward with a proposal that everyone will be able to live with.''
The proposed shopping center project has met resistance from the residents and other shopping centers for months.
The developer, CBL Associates of Massachusetts, had worked out a preliminary deal with Caldor, one of the largest discount stores in the country, and with Hannaford Brothers, a Maine-based supermarket chain, to open stores in Churchland.
``I think that the right kind of retail will bring in customers who would also frequent Churchland Plaza,'' Orton said. ``Competition is very healthy. A store not known in the area will bring in people from Northern Suffolk, and Western Branch.''
Hannaford Brothers Supermarket is now pushing to bring supermarkets to Hampton Roads. Steve Herbert, assistant director of economic development, told the council that if the project were delayed, the city could lose the grocery store.
The project would provide about 450 full- and part-time jobs, and the shopping center is expected to bring the city about $542,000 in tax revenues.
In other business:
Several representatives from Portsmouth's black community came to Tuesday's council meeting to urge the city to begin hiring more minorities on the Police and Fire departments. The council admitted that the numbers of minorities in those departments are low and promised to work toward solutions.
The city manager has appointed a 17-person committee to make recommendations for improving the number of minorities. That committee, which includes five minority police officers and firefighters, will report to the council by June 13.
KEYWORDS: MINORITY HIRING POLICE DEPARTMENT FIRE DEPARTMENT
PORTSMOUTH by CNB