THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260066
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 107 lines
The City Council took its first steps last week toward the creation of a redevelopment and housing authority in Virginia Beach.
The Beach is one of the few cities in the commonwealth that doesn't already have the power to condemn land to spur economic growth. A redevelopment authority could buy private land in areas deemed blighted, tear down existing buildings and resell the property to private developers who would build something more economically desirable to the city.
Such powers might be used to clear the way for building a long-sought industrial park in Burton Station or to facilitate economic development along the path of a proposed light rail line.
There has been no discussion of using the authority's other powers to help build housing for people with low to moderate incomes.
Within the next two weeks, the council will decide whether to ask voters on a November ballot for permission to create a redevelopment and housing authority.
Several city leaders said last week that the city will stagnate financially if it cannot help boost its tax base and lure high-paying jobs by condemning land for redevelopment.
The city has always resisted such a measure. There's never been official acknowledgment of any ``blight'' that needed bulldozing. And there's a sense that many residents felt abused by similar powers in other cities.
But times are changing in Virginia Beach.
The growth that kept taxes relatively low is no longer guaranteed.
The subdivisions that sprouted up all over the city in the '70s and '80s are costing more in city services than they are providing in taxes.
And the 33-year-old city is running out of viable land for new homes and businesses that would boost the tax base.
``I don't think we have any choice,'' City Council member Louis R. Jones said Wednesday, on the second day of a two-day council retreat.
Not everyone on the council supports the creation of an authority, but at last week's retreat, all 11 members seemed to want to call a referendum to let the public decide the highly charged issue.
Caught in the cross-hairs of this debate is Burton Station, a small, mostly black community wedged between Norfolk International Airport and Northampton Boulevard.
It's the best spot in the region for an industrial park, according to the city; and the ancestral home of many of Virginia Beach's earliest African-American residents.
The council has been trying to redevelop the 180-acre neighborhood for several years, buying the homes of willing sellers, paying to relocate them out of the neighborhood and tearing down the decades-old homes that they, their fathers or grandfathers had built.
The city has spent about $2 million in public money so far, but has been stymied by people who don't want to move and by property owners who think the city is vastly undervaluing their land. The public ownership shows a patchwork pattern on a city map: 2 acres here, another 1.5 there; no areas big enough to invest in new infrastructure or lure businesses.
In January, after several heated discussions with unwilling sellers, the council put its redevelopment plans on hold, agreeing only to buy property from owners already negotiating with the city. The council will be asked to consider two such purchases at its meeting Tuesday.
But several council members said they don't want to spend another dime in the neighborhood unless they know they can finish what they started by getting the power to buy land even from unwilling sellers.
``We had good intentions,'' council member John A. Baum said. ``But if we can't finish it, we ought to let the (public) know we've wasted a whole lot of money and done a few folks a favor.''
The council has not yet told Burton Station property owners about the possibility of a November referendum.
Any opposition to the referendum would likely come from those owners and from civic leaders who are anxious that their neighborhoods would be next.
``People have been burned in the past in other places,'' council member Louisa M. Strayhorn cautioned her peers.
Although the council's immediate interest is in Burton Station, city leaders said they want redevelopment powers in other parts of the Beach, too.
Council member William W. Harrison said at the retreat that his support of several city projects - from plans for a new convention center to a proposed light rail system between Norfolk and the resort strip - would change depending on the city's ability to condemn land.
``If we don't have the courage and conviction to go with this in November, it changes my opinion on other things,'' Harrison said. ``We won't have the power to do other projects.''
The council has already tried twice to gain condemnation powers without creating a redevelopment authority.
Twice in the past few years, the council passed resolutions asking the General Assembly to change the city's charter to give it the power to condemn land.
But the General Assembly rejected the council's first effort because only six of the 11 members supported it. And the council dropped its second attempt in January after Burton Station landowners objected to a carefully drafted law that would apply only to them.
The best way to pursue condemnation powers now is by asking for the public's support, the council said last week.
The city's other option, according to City Manager James K. Spore, would be to ask for help from Norfolk's Airport Authority, which has condemnation power and which years ago considered taking Burton Station land for an industrial park.
Spore said he will ask the council to consider that option and the possibility of waiting another year, until the city's new comprehensive plan is completed.
The council will decide whether to pursue the referendum at its Sept. 3 meeting. ILLUSTRATION: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL PROPOSAL
A REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY VIRGINIA BEACH CITY
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