THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601050004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
After listening to the concerns of Burton Station property owners and residents, Virginia Beach City Council voted this week to pause indefinitely to consider how the city should proceed with its planned reincarnation of the 181-acre neighborhood as an industrial site that would expand industrial-park acreage in the vicinity. There's much to be said for tact by governments as well as individuals, but council should proceed with the project, and sooner rather than later.
Burton Station adjoins Norfolk International Airport. Its position depresses its value for residential use. Burton Station is thinly populated, poor, decaying. In recent years, Virginia Beach has spent a couple of million dollars purchasing Burton Station real estate and resettling displaced residents.
Many businesses welcome opportunities to be near airports and over the years more and more have set up shop in the parks near Norfolk International. Virginia Beach's expansion of industrial-park acreage at Burton Station might well be coordinated with Norfolk's plan to prepare the Lake Wright section for industrial uss. Coordinated development of Burton Station and Lake Wright would further strengthen the job and tax bases of both cities, and aid Hampton Roads' economy generally.
Now City Council has heard some Burton Station owners assert that their holdings are of greater value than is reflected in what the city has paid for some of their neighbors' real estate. But owners with whom the city has come to terms seem to have done fairly well, reportedly averaging about $90,000 an acre when all costs to the city are totaled. In the case of owners in residence, these costs include $1 per square foot for their property and resettlement in housing that meets their needs.
City Council set out to treat Burton Station property owners equitably. It has not strayed from that commitment. But the city will require condemnation authority to proceed with its plan in those instances when it is unable to strike a reasonable bargain. It was poised to ask the Virginia General Assembly for power to condemn real estate only in Burton Station for economic development. Meanwhile, it would continue to negotiate with owners.
Because of this week's protest, council will ask City Manager James K. Spore to review the city's treatment of Burton Station owners. That's well enough. But council would serve Virginia Beach poorly were it to abandon its measured march to acquire Burton Station for industrial uses. by CNB