THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504130154
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
By next spring the folks in Chimney Hill and Windsor Oaks subdivisions will have a new neighbor - a Super Kmart with 193,000 square feet of floor space.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the rezoning that would convert 42 acres of what was once a 157-acre farm tract between Holland Road and South Independence Boulevard into a giant retail complex that will be open 24 hours a day.
The property previously was zoned for multi- and single-family residential development that could have contained 1,100 new homes.
Attorney R.J. Nutter, representing a group of property owners that includes Thomas C. Kyrus, a land developer and a member of the city's Resort Area Advisory Commission, said the Kmart project would be completed at a total investment of nearly $30 million. The tentative opening date is spring 1996, he added.
Only a few surrounding neighbors stood to object to the pending development at the Tuesday council session. They cited potential problems with traffic along already congested Holland Road, drainage run-off problems and possible security problems in adjacent residential areas, arising from the round-the-clock retail operation.
Peggy Kennedy, of the 800 block of Addison Ave., said the proposed retail complex abuts the rear of her property and offers no buffer nor adequate drainage plans to handle storm water runoff.
``I just moved to Virginia Beach from Norfolk and - whammo - it's going to be Norfolk all over again,'' she said.
Robert Williams, a Chimney Hill resident, said he had two major concerns. One was with a proposed strip shopping center on the property that would be only 40 feet away from the nearest housing. Another concern, said Williams, was noise generated by the complex.
Gary Stone, of the 3600 block of Chimney Creek Road, foresees traffic woes worsening along Holland Road. ``The traffic problem is bad now, but when the Kmart goes in traffic is going to get worse,'' he said. ``And I don't see how it could get worse.''
Even Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley, who voted for the rezoning in the end, took a critical look at the project. ``I'm just disappointed that we continue with this kind of development,'' she said, ``with the big parking lots and the strip shopping, forcing people onto the highways.''
Henley said she recently attended a conference on ``Alternatives to Urban Sprawl'' at the Brookings Institution in Washington, and saw a variety of designs that wove commercial development in with existing residential areas in aesthetically pleasing ways. ``I wish we would start reading and doing things that are not objectionable to the neighbors,'' she said. ``It can be done and this would be the place to do it.''
Nutter offered a low-key and diplomatic rebuttal. ``I don't think we could have made a Super Kmart fit that bill,'' he said.
It was Councilwoman Louisa M. Strayhorn, who pushed for passage of the development, arguing that a Super Kmart ``would bring revenue streams instead of costing the city money for 1,100 new residences.
``This looks like a good deal,'' she added.
The land rezoned for the Kmart was once eyed by Sentara Health Systems as a site for a medical complex that included a 75-bed hospital. The bid was rejected by the City Council in April 1989 on the grounds that it was not needed.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL REZONING by CNB