THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508030189
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Two Virginia Beach civic leagues are on the warpath over separate public projects and the City Council is getting the smoke signals loud and clear.
So, Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf is calling for public hearings on both issues in the next two months to clear the air.
The first project under scrutiny is the long-awaited $100 million hurricane protection plan, which would stretch from Rudee Inlet to 89th Street along the Oceanfront and which has roused the ire of the North Beach Civic League.
The second is the proposed new office complex for the city's Health and Social Services departments on South Independence Boulevard, which has members of the Larkspur Civic League in a temper.
And, said Oberndorf at Tuesday's informal council session, representatives of both groups have given her an earful in recent meetings.
A confab with Roger L. Visser, president of the North Beach Civic League, revealed that many Northenders oppose the part of the seawall project that calls for bolstering the dune line from 58th to 89th streets.
Plans, drafted by the Army Corps of Engineers, would place 10 permanent crosswalks over the rejuvenated dune system, a point that particularly irks Northenders.
``They don't oppose the resort storm plan,'' Oberndorf told fellow council members. Building a new seawall and boardwalk and widening the resort beaches to the south is fine by them.
``They say they'd rather give the money (their share) to Sandbridge (for sand replenishment).''
Also bugging Northenders, said Oberndorf, are the cost-effectiveness of the hurricane protection plan - Northenders doubt it would work - and possible plans for converting the Atlantic Avenue median strip into a public parking area.
``I told him that that was not the intention of the hurricane protection plan,'' Oberndorf said of the median strip proposal. ``But Dr. Visser was still worried, because that is not binding on future (city) councils.''
The council will set a hearing on the issue soon, she promised.
Another ear-bending session with the Larkspur Civic League representatives concerned the proposed new offices of the Health and Social Services departments.
When they left her City Hall office Larkspur leaders gave Oberndorf a stack of petitions and letters that damned the plan.
Basically, the plan calls for the city to sell a seven-acre parcel it owns on South Independence to Olympia Development Co., which would design, construct and lease the building back to the city.
Once completed, the city would be free to sell its existing health and social services office site at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Little Neck Road. Part of that building has been used for a winter homeless shelter. The structure, which once housed a Miller's department store, needs a new roof and heating and air conditioning systems.
Larkspur leaders insist they had no prior notification of the plans, Oberndorf told council members. And their chief concerns were for the potential increase in traffic and noise in an already heavily traveled area.
Privacy was another bothersome issue, said Councilwoman Louisa M. Strayhorn. Larkspur residents found that the developer is going to build a four-story building, which would overlook their back yards and swimming pools. ``They are also fearful of future expansion (of the building). They're truly upset over it and don't feel enough planning has been done,'' she said.
A big problem, said Oberndorf, is that the land is already zoned for business use and the council is not legally required to approve the construction of an office building on the site. It is, however, required to hold a public hearing on the issue.
The council agreed to air the issue on its Aug. 22 meeting, a night session. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Larkspur residents object to a plan to move the Health and Social
Services offices from the building, above, on Virginia Beach
Boulevard and Little Neck Road to a new building to be built on
South Independence.
by CNB