THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
When Vice Mayor W.D. Sessoms Jr. considers the city's 1,200-acre Lake Ridge property, he sees top-notch golf courses that lure tourists.
When council member Barbara M. Henley looks at the same parcel, she sees ``an opportunity to be spectacular'' that may be lost if the council moves to fill the land without outside help.
In question is a chunk of undeveloped property off Princess Anne Road that is one third larger than New York's Central Park.
The city is building its amphitheater on the parcel and plans to locate three schools there.
But the bulk of the property remains up for grabs, and suggestions have included Little League fields, a farm park, an equestrian center and a multi-purpose stadium that could wind up home to a major league soccer team.
Henley said she likes some of the proposals but thinks the city's master plan for Lake Ridge lacks vision.
She believes Virginia Beach ought to hire an outside consultant, who can bring experience and a new vision.
``I think it would be a shame,'' Henley said, ``even though there are really nice things (being proposed for the site), if we just take it and do the same-old same-old . . .
``Somebody who looks at it fresh for the first time might say, `Boy, have you got an opportunity to do such-and-such,' and that's what we're not getting it.''
So far, the city's planning process has seemed to favor Sessoms' golf ideas.
Sessoms argues that Virginia Beach is losing out to other tourist destinations because it doesn't have enough high-quality links to keep a serious duffer busy over a long weekend.
He talks about his quest for more golf courses so much that it's become a joke among fellow council members.
``And I'm going to build . . .'' Sessoms starts.
``. . . Three golf courses in '96,'' other council members pipe in.
Sessoms wants one or two of those courses built on Lake Ridge property.
This week, the planning department will mail requests to about 100 real estate and golf course developers around the country soliciting ideas for the land. Those suggestions are due June 1.
Planning Director Robert Scott told the council last week that they should pick a golf course developer this summer and begin construction of at least one course this year.
For Sessoms and colleagues Linwood O. Branch III and William W. Harrison Jr. the process has already dragged on long enough. When the council bought the land in December of 1994, it planned to put courses there.
Harrison said he's frustrated by the council members who say the process lacks vision and is moving too fast.
``I'm into my third year on council. We bought Lake Ridge in my first year,'' he said. ``I want to do something soon. I don't want to have to serve three or four terms to get something done.''
But Elizabeth K. Meyer, head of the department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia, said the type of planning Henley is contemplating could help make Sessoms' golf courses even better.
A good designer could integrate a course with the other amenities on the Lake Ridge site, she said. Winding a walking trail through the links, for instance, makes the course appealing to more than just golfers, she said.
``All of a sudden it's not a single use, but it's actually part of a structuring device for the community,'' Meyer said.
A public design process, such as one she participated in 10 years ago for Boston's Copley Square, could also help bring the community together, she said.
In Boston, the Parks and Recreation Department joined landowners around the square to hold a public lecture series about parks and their possibilities. A better-educated public then helped redesign the square, she said.
``A park has to come out of the site and the community's desire for gathering together,'' said Meyer, who grew up in the Lynnhaven area.
``(The development of the Lake Ridge site) could be seen as an opportunity to do something unique in terms of recreation, ecology and land-use planning,'' Meyer said. ``I'd be worried if it were simply a piecemeal project, both as a landscape architect and as someone who grew up in Virginia Beach.''
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, who sides with Henley, asked in a meeting Tuesday whether it would be appropriate for the city to hire someone like Andres Duany - who led the open-to-the-public redesign of the Ocean View section of Norfolk - to brainstorm ideas for Lake Ridge.
Scott, the city's planning director, answered that he thought it would be more appropriate for the private sector to hire such a consultant. Maybe some of the ideas generated from the 100 requests sent out this week will include such a proposal, Scott said.
Council member Robert K. Dean is dissatisfied with the process, so far.
``It's the standard old thing,'' Dean said. ``It's lacked imagination. I thought we would have an opportunity to bring someone who has some major, national credentials, not somebody who has just worked locally.
``I want to see some success stories. I want to see pictures. I want to see well-done projects that would be something new to Virginia Beach.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
Graphic
WHAT TO BUILD ON LAKE RIDGE?
JOHN EARLE/The Virginian-Pilot
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB