THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170869
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Frustrated over the slow pace of redevelopment, the City Council plans to ask the General Assembly for power to condemn land for economic development.
Without that power, some council members argued at a workshop Tuesday, the city will never be able to attract job-producing industries. If that power goes too far, others warned, no one in the city will feel safe.
Councils now have the power to take private property for public use, such as roads and pumping stations. The Beach council also wants to be able to pay fair market value to acquire private land for industrial parks and other development projects.
The council's decadelong effort to redevelop the Burton Station neighborhood precipitated Tuesday's debate.
The city wants to put a business park on the site of Burton Station, a 100-year-old declining residential neighborhood that borders Norfolk International Airport. It has tried for several years to acquire property in the neighborhood, but has been slowed by the confusing history of the land.
The lots have been passed down through so many generations and among so many family members that it is almost impossible to unravel their true ownership. Without figuring out exactly who should be paid for the property, the city cannot buy it.
Expanded condemnation powers would let the city take control of the land without clearing the title.
Most council members agree that the additional power makes sense if the people who live in the houses or can show at least some ownership rights agree to the sale. But they are divided about whether to ask for the power to condemn land against the wishes of the landowner.
``It's just something I'm really afraid of,'' council member Barbara M. Henley said. ``I don't want to have to live in fear that some City Council will decide (my) property should be industrially developed, and I don't want our citizens to live in fear.''
``We're so scared of the word `condemnation' because it was misused by Norfolk and others that we can't think straight,'' responded council member John A. Baum, who supports broad condemnation powers. ``I can't imagine developing any industrial parks without this.''
Council member Louis R. Jones, who has led the effort to redevelop the neighborhood, said there will always be someone who doesn't want to sell to the city or who wants too much money for the land.
``It's not in the public interest,'' he continued, ``to go out there and buy all of those properties and have one or two holdouts.''
The council members did not reach a decision Tuesday but informally decided to reconsider the issue after the city attorney redrafts the proposed request.
Every fall, the council gives the General Assembly members from Virginia Beach a laundry list of requests to consider during the upcoming legislative session.
Also on the council's legislative agenda:
A commitment of at least $2 million to support the expansion of the Virginia Marine Science Museum;
A request to delay the opening of schools until after Labor Day to encourage tourism; and
A promise to expand legislation passed last year on elected representation to include the School Board. The General Assembly overlooked the School Board last year when passing legislation that forces the council to equalize the size of the city's voting districts. Without the changes, council members and School Board members would be elected from vastly different voting districts.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB