THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506120034
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHAWN M. TERRY AND TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Several folks living in Woodbine, an upscale Churchland neighborhood, are so angry over the prospect of a shopping center at their back doors they have filed a lawsuit to block the project.
Even though the affluent families have decried the threat of trash, traffic and noise, city officials say this fiscally strapped city can't afford to pass up 450 full- and part-time jobs and $542,000 in projected tax revenue. The economic development department has been trying to sell the land for eight years.
When Caldor, a large discount department store, and Hannaford Brothers Supermarket signed a lease agreement with the developers to come to Portsmouth, officials saw it as a chance to relieve some of the city's money problems and an opportunity to sell the tax-exempt property.
Thirteen residents have joined with a local developer in the lawsuit. Arnold Leon, an owner of the Churchland Shopping Center across from the proposed site, has said he doesn't want the competition.
In their lawsuit, filed May 24, residents asked that the court declare invalid: a City Council resolution conveying the property to the Industrial Development Authority; the sales agreement between the authority and the developers; and the developers' rezoning application. It also asks the court to force the city to advertise the property for sale and accept bids and asks that a three-quarter majority of the City Council must approve the sale or transfer of the property.
Acting City Attorney George M. Willson said he will file a response next week asking that the suit be dismissed.
The city doesn't have much time for this fight - the developers want to begin construction of the $8.7 million shopping center by mid-September. The two major stores want to be in this area this year.
``We would like to move this forward as expeditiously as possible,'' said Mark Mancuso, vice president of CBL and Associates, the Boston-based company building the shopping center. ``However, we will continue to remain involved until the litigation is resolved.''
Matthew James, the city's economic development director, said the developers have other sites, in other cities, available. ``So while I think they'll be patient, they're not going to wait too long,'' he said.
If the developers can't build along High Street, it is unlikely they will build in Portsmouth, James said.
``We just don't have any other available sites in that area,'' James said.
The City Council is set to hold a public hearing for rezoning the land on July 10. The final decision is set for July 25.
Woodbine residents say that the city is selling out and that the project is sure to fail. They say the area can't support any more retail and that they want to keep the land open or use it for residential development or a mixed use of residential and office development. They also say the scale and scope of the shopping center are too big for the site. They want something that will have less impact on the neighborhood's tranquillity and on the environment - a portion of the site is designated as wetlands.
Laurie Gellman, one of the residents involved in the lawsuit, said the project is ``insensitive to the environment, to the neighborhood and to surrounding commercial development.''
``We're not saying it's a bad project,'' Gellman said. ``We're saying it's in the wrong place.''
Gellman suggested the project would be perfect for the decaying MidCity Shopping Center. Developers said they chose Churchland because it is central to Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk.
The developers have held several meetings with residents of the Woodbine Community and Churchland neighborhoods to work out a design.
In those meetings, residents have complained about noise, trash, traffic and lighting.
The developers have promised to landscape and buffer the shopping center from Woodbine; they will not have any entrance or exit into the neighborhood; on-site lighting will be directed at the shopping center. Jones said the developers also promised to allow trucks to deliver and pick up only from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
``Our development team made a commitment to work with the neighborhood,'' Mancuso, vice president of CBL and Associates, said. ``I believe we've put together very solid development proposals which address the Woodbine community's concerns while addressing the broader interests of Portsmouth.''
Residents are afraid that the city will be satisfied with the concessions and allow the shopping center even though they are still concerned.
If the city wants to survive economically, the nearby residents will ``have to sacrifice,'' said James A. Overton Jr., vice chairman of the Planning Commission. The Portsmouth Division of the Chamber of Commerce also supports the project.
KEYWORDS: DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING CENTER PROPOSED by CNB