THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 14, 1995 TAG: 9508140225
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 162 lines
North End residents are perfectly happy with their shoreline and don't want any part of a long-planned hurricane protection project that would raise their dunes, widen beaches and alter access.
Many homeowners in the largely affluent neighborhood fear that the changes will destroy the character of their community, particularly those who paid up to $1 million for oceanfront vistas and short treks to the beach - which they worry will be lost.
The long-awaited Hurricane Protection Project calls for widening the beach from Rudee Inlet to Fort Story, building a seawall and expanded boardwalk from Rudee Inlet to 40th Street, erecting a new bulkhead from 40th Street to 58th Street, and replenishing the dunes from 58th Street to Fort Story.
It is designed to protect the resort and North End residential areas from the ravages of a major sea-borne storm.
``It looks almost like they're forcing something on the North End we don't want,'' said Dr. Roger L. Visser, president of the North Virginia Beach Civic League.
But the city and the Army Corps of Engineers, partners in the $93 million project, are disturbed by residents' reaction. They blame it on confusing and erroneous information that's sweeping through the neighborhood with the force of the very thing they're trying to protect the community from.
``There are a lot of misperceptions about what we have planned,'' said Diana Bailey, a corps spokeswoman. ``Nothing we've proposed is confirmed.
``We have a lot of wiggle room in negotiations with them.''
Regardless of the details of the project, North End residents say they simply do not want any sand.
Residents accuse the government of pushing the project on them to help the more vulnerable resort strip get sand, a new seawall and boardwalk. If the North End was not included in the project, they say, the resort area may not have secured federal funding on its own.
Businessman Hunter Hogan, who has watched the dunes and beach grow naturally over 45 years as an oceanfront resident, said: ``I've seen the government do some dumb things, but this takes the cake. . . . We already have so much sand it's like crossing the Sahara Desert.''
The irony is that while the government is throwing sand at a community that does not want it in the northern part of Virginia Beach, residents in the southern part at Sandbridge begged for years for a beach replenishment project. In the end, Sandbridge got approval for sand only because Sandbridge homeowners agreed to pay a special tax to help finance it.
Recognizing the paradox, some North End residents have suggested the city use money slated for their sand to help Sandbridge. Hogan has even urged the city to scoop up some sand from the North End and take it where it is needed.
The city admits that including the North End is critical to the entire project's financial viability.
``Adding in the North End helps bring up the entire cost-benefit ratio for the whole project,'' said Jack Usher, project engineer for the city. ``I see nothing wrong with that. It's good business to do it.
``And all the engineers think we need it to intercept a major storm.''
Federal funding for projects like this is based on a cost-benefit ratio. While the resort strip meets the minimum ratio on its own, the case for funding becomes more compelling when the North End is factored in because of the relatively small amount of work that's needed to protect pricey property.
``We get a lot of bang for our buck in the North End,'' Bailey said.
While the details of the plan have not yet been finalized, North End residents find some of the proposals bothersome.
They're concerned that the enhanced dunes will block their views of the ocean.
The city says the dunes - which have been building naturally over the years because of a northward drift of sand - already block views from the first floor. And of the 167 oceanfront properties, only six houses may lose their view from their second story because of the dune enhancement.
Under the plan, the dune line from 58th Street to Fort Story will be raised to 18 feet above sea level. Now, the dunes range from 15 to 24 feet above sea level.
About 67 percent of the dunes will have to be elevated. The rest will not be touched.
Engineers say a continuous 18-foot elevation is necessary to protect against a major storm, the kind that hits once every 100 years.
But residents say that it won't be long before natural processes build the dunes to that height anyway.
``I'm no scientist, but I'd be very cautious with tampering with the natural dunes and the way they're developing so well on their own,'' said James B. Lonergan, an 86th Street resident.
Residents say the plan does not provide enough beach access and that the proposed elevated, concrete dune crossovers are unsightly.
The original plan provided for 10 concrete crossovers, built 3-and-a-half feet above the sand, located about every three streets. There would be no other access points, making residents take longer, more circuitous routes to the beach.
Most of the stub street crossings now have wooden walkways paid for and built by neighboring residents.
However, after learning of residents' objections in June, the corps of engineers began revising the plan.
While nothing is firm yet, the corps has agreed to put some kind of access at the end of every stub street. No decisions have been made about whether they would be concrete, wood or a combination of both. Some crossovers would have to be accessible to handicapped people.
``We are willing to work with them,'' Bailey said. ``We want to make it as palatable to them as we possibly can.''
The corps initially went with concrete crossovers because they're more durable and require less maintenance than wood. And they chose to elevate them to minimize the impact on drifting sand and the growth of stabilizing grasses underneath.
``We need to find a balance between environmental concerns and North End resident concerns,'' Bailey said. ``They have to remember this is not a recreation project from our standpoint, it's a beach erosion control and hurricane protection project.''
Oceanfront residents also are concerned about the 61 private paths that lead from their back yards over the dunes to the beach. Usher said all of those would likely be eliminated and residents would have to walk to the closest stub street to cross the dunes.
``They're already violating a city ordinance prohibiting people from walking across the dunes,'' Usher said. ``But it's never really been enforced for some reason.''
Residents fear that the new seawall, from 40th to 58th Street, and the concrete slab connecting it to the existing seawall, is basically an extension of the boardwalk.
But the city says that's nonsense. The concrete slab will be covered with sand and possibly sprigged with dune grasses and sea oats.
Usher said the concrete slab is necessary to prevent a storm surge from undermining the new seawall.
Some homeowners believe that rebuilding North End beaches will attract more beach-goers and bring greater pressures for expanded parking and public restrooms.
Usher said the city has no plans to allow parking on the medians, or to build parking lots or restrooms.
``By putting higher dunes out there, I don't know how that's going to attract more people,'' he said.
At a civic league meeting in July attended by about 150 residents, only a handful of people raised their hands in support of the project. To better gauge residents' opinions, the civic league last week delivered questionnaires on the project to every North End household. The results will be forwarded to the corps of engineers and the city.
While the conflict began more than 10 years ago, the issue has been dormant because many on the North End believed that the project was dead due to the federal budget crunch.
But the House has already approved ``new start'' money for the hurricane protection project. If the Senate also approves the funds, the project could begin next fall.
The city and corps are scheduled to meet with the civic league's board of directors on Sept. 12. A presentation will be made to the full membership on Oct. 10.
``This isn't our first fight, but it may be the most important we will ever wage,'' Visser wrote in a letter to North End residents. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MORT FRYMAN/Staff
"It looks almost they're forcing something on the North End we don't
want," says Dr. Roger L. Visser, president of the North Virginia
Beach Civic League.
THE HURRICANE PROTECTION PROJECT CALLS FOR:
Widening the beach from Rudee Inlet to Fort Story.
Building a seawall and expanded boardwalk from Rudee Inlet to 40th
Street.
Erecting a new bulkhead from 40th Street to 58th Street.
Replenishing the dunes from 58th Street to Fort Story.
by CNB