THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604130001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Kerry Doughertty
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
A member of Virginia Beach City Council made a startling admission to me this week.
During a conversation about the future of the city, this Virginia Beach booster casually remarked that one of the best things to happen to the city was the water crisis which has plagued it for the past decade.
Without a water shortage, this council member said, development would have spun completely out of control and Virginia Beach would be entirely built up - with cheap cookie cutter houses, discount stores and strip malls.
In other words, with full reservoirs, Virginia Beach would be a good deal more unsightly than it is.
Think about it. Or better yet, take a drive through the 15- to 20-year-old subdivisions that were thrown together during the building boom of the 1970s and early 1980s. Some of these neighborhoods are so shabby it's hard to imagine the houses will even be standing in another 15 years.
The water shortage forced the city to put the brakes on development and has given officials a chance to catch their breath. It has also offered an opportunity for the city to look ahead and come up with a vision of what Virginia Beach can become in the next century.
On the other hand, the Lake Gaston Pipeline is under construction - moving along at 1,000 feet a day. That means the respite will be over in about two years.
The city needs to be ready when the Lake Gaston spigot is turned on or those developers and politicians who lack of vision but love a quick buck will muscle the others out of the way.
That's one of the reasons Virginia Beach needs to act on the Lake Ridge Project in a careful, but timely manner. If plans are not approved and completed by the time the city gets water, you can be sure that developers will be quite happy to take that prime chunk of property off the city's hands. And some short-sighted politicians might be willing to sell.
If that happens, the city loses a vast recreational area and, instead, gets more housing.
The Lake Ridge plans, drawn up by CMSS Architects, who also designed the Richmond Renaissance, the Shockhoe renewal project and The Innsbruck in Henrico County, have been criticized by several members of council in the past weeks. But Burrell F. Saunders, a partner in the firm, says the critics didn't take a close look at the plans. The concerns they raised about integrating various elements have already been addressed. For instance, the plans include walking paths through the two Lake Ridge golf courses.
The amphitheatre, which is still under construction at Lake Ridge, is already selling out concerts this summer and promises to be a huge success. Aesthetically, this outdoor, partly covered venue promises to rival Wolf Trap and similar outdoor theaters.
Everywhere you look in Virginia Beach there are hopeful signs that the city is maturing and becoming an aesthetically pleasing place. The Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue beautification immediately come to mind. So does the tasteful Municipal Center complex.
On the drawing boards are stunning plans for the Central Business District - also drafted by CMSS Architects. Those who never thought the CBD would happen need only look at the success of Barnes and Noble Booksellers as proof that businesses are willing to join a project that is well-planned and upscale.
And this past week the City Council did a surprising thing. It voted 9-1 not to allow a Target store to locate at the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Lynnhaven Parkway.
Although the debate was couched in terms of traffic on Princess Anne Road, there was an underlying message that perhaps the city had reached the saturation point for these big box stores.
It's been disheartening for those of us at the Beach to watch as Norfolk doggedly pursued ambitious plans for MacArthur Center with an elegant retail anchor like Nordstrom. As improbable as the whole MacArthur project sounded from the start, it looks now as if Norfolk might make it happen.
What has the Beach managed to lure during the same time frame? One discount super store after another and a good selection of fast food restaurants.
This should stop before its too late. Virginia Beach has more natural beauty than most of the cities I've visited. Our beaches seem to stretch on forever, our bays and inlets are pristine. Seashore State Park is a quiet refuge from traffic and the honky tonk. Ft. Story, with it's quaint cottages and lighthouses, looks like a picture postcard. And the thousands of acres of farmland in the southern part of the city is lush and fertile.
The water is coming. That is very good news for this thirsty city. But City Council and the citizens of Virginia Beach need to stay sober as they begin drinking.
MEMO: Ms. Dougherty is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot.
by CNB