THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601250194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
A STUDY RELEASED this week calls for the construction of five high quality golf courses to transform the city into another East Coast golf mecca in the next few years.
While it outlines obvious economic benefits to the city, the document raised immediate concerns about potential conflicts with existing municipal zoning, permitting and land preservation policies.
City Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley, who represents the rural Pungo Borough, said she has reservations about study recommendations that seek to ease or eliminate strict zoning and permitting practices, which are seen as obstacles to golf course development.
Henley's comments came after representatives of PKF Consulting, an Alexandria firm that specializes in golf development surveys, had completed a council briefing on the 89-page, $52,000 study.
Certain PKF recommendations that call for housing or hotel development around the proposed courses and extending sewer and water lines to potential sites in the largely undeveloped southern region of the city also were unsettling, she said.
Particularly alarming, she said, were recommendations that existing land use policies be changed to benefit golf course development.
``That seems to take City Council out of it,'' she said. ``It really blows a lot of other policies.''
Councilman Robert K. Dean, a traditional foe of city involvement in tourism-related business dealings, questioned the fairness of using amusement taxes to underwrite golf course development. Other sports - tennis and bowling - wouldn't receive special treatment, he argued.
The amusement tax is part of special Tourism Growth Investment Fund pools, approved by the council in 1991 to pay for up to $93 million in tourism-related projects over the next 10 years.
The council, in recent years, has taken great pains to limit residential growth in the southern half of the city, largely because of the city's tenuous water supply situation. Plans to pump up to 60 million gallons a day through the Lake Gaston pipeline have - until recently - been tangled up in courts and federal regulatory agencies.
Despite threats from pipeline opponents in Virginia and North Carolina the city is expected to proceed with construction this winter and complete the project in two years.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and Vice Mayor W.D. Sessoms are sanguine about the prospects of developing golf courses in Virginia Beach, despite the reservations of Henley and Dean.
``Frankly, I don't see it becoming an issue,'' said Sessoms, referring to the land use recommendation in the study. ``It's quite obvious that was going to be picked up on, because that is opposite of what we've been doing.''
Said Oberndorf, ``What we need to do is to find that delicate balance for golf courses that wouldn't interfere with specific policies we put in to protect these areas.''
Added Sessoms, ``I think my frustration is that we have not had any ground breaking (for a new course) yet.''
Councilman Linwood O. Branch III, who was absent from the Tuesday briefing, also is optimistic about the consultant's message.
``What the study says to me is that we can do something - there is a capacity here for more golf courses,'' he said. ``It can be a boon - bring in more year-round visitors, create a better quality of life and create economic benefits.
``The city can follow through with the recommendations because the city is in control of land suitable for golf courses - West Neck Creek, Lake Ridge and the extra Red Wing property we're getting from the state.''
Operators of other golf courses in Virginia Beach and the South Hampton Roads area also would benefit, insists Bridget Pendergast, the resident pro at Honey Bee Golf Club, an 8-year-old public course at the end of South Independence Boulevard in Kempsville.
``I'd love to do more golf packages like they do in Myrtle Beach,'' she said. ``But we need more golf courses so we can draw more people here from the Northeastern corridor. Most of them bypass us now and go to Myrtle Beach.''
The PKF study was the result of a decision made last year by a city task force to look into
the feasibility of building more public golf courses in Virginia Beach, said Susan D. Walston, director of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.
PKF was one of six firms approached to conduct the study. The firm was directed to evaluate growth and development trends in South Hampton Roads and potential economic impacts of the golf industry on the community, then come up with a strategy to create more golf courses in Virginia Beach.
After three months the consultants came to the following conclusions:
Virginia Beach could become an East Coast ``golf destination'' by building five high quality golf courses through public-private cooperation.
There is demand for the additional courses in the region and the city's traditional market areas to the Northeast and Midwest.
There are 51 potential course sites in Virginia Beach with 18 existing in parcels of 150 acres or more in all or partly wooded areas.
Excluding land, the cost of building new courses - either upscale or signature - would range from $6.5 million to $10.2 million each. This would include club houses and other amenities.
Three of the courses should be upscale, demanding greens fees of $35 to $40 per round. Two should be ``signature'' courses, demanding greens fees of $49 to $65 per round.
The projected impact on the local economy, with all five courses in operation, would be $23.9 million in new revenues per year. This would result in $1.8 million in annual sales and amusement taxes.
It should proceed as a public-private venture with the city either giving the land to developers or making it available to them at minimal cost.
Ease or scuttle existing zoning and permitting regulations, especially those governing the largely undeveloped southern half of the city. Loosening them would allow developers greater latitude to proceed with ancillary single-family or ``resort hotel'' projects.
Extend utilities, primarily water lines, so operators can irrigate their new courses. Failing that, allow course operators to use ``gray water'' - treated waste water - for irrigation.
Consolidate advertising and promotional efforts through a single Virginia Beach Golf Committee and possibly a regional golf alliance, extending from Williamsburg to North Carolina.
Appoint an ombudsman, an expert in the field of golf course building and upkeep, to oversee the development of five courses.
Pursue the redevelopment of the existing Red Wing Golf Course near Camp Pendleton.
Seek bids for the development of one or more courses on the city-owned Lake Ridge property, which contains about 1,200 acres and is home to the $17 million amphitheater.
Golf course development looms large in the city's long-range economic development plans. Its aim is to spur business and tax revenues by extending tourism beyond the traditional summer season.
Development of golf courses is included in a 10-year, $93 million Tourism Growth Investment Fund initiative, which includes the $35 million expansion of the Virginia Marine Science Museum and a proposed expansion of the Pavilion Convention Center. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos, including color cover, by CHARLIE MEADS
Even in cold weather, golfers take to the links like Hell's Point in
Sandbridge. A $52,000 study found there is demand for additional
courses in the region and there are 51 potential sites in Virginia
Beach.
The study found that Virginia Beach could step up to the green and
become an East Coast ``golf destination'' by building five high
quality golf courses through public-private cooperation.
The study projected the impact of five new courses would be $23.9
million in new revenues per year, resulting in $1.8 million in
annual sales and amusement taxes.
Map
VP
POTENTIAL GOLF COURSE SITES
SOURCE: City of Virginia Beach, Porterfield Design Center
by CNB