THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200536
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 77 lines
The state Supreme Court has sided with protesting homeowners in a two-year skirmish over a federal judge's plans for a waterfront house in one of the city's more luxuriant North End neighborhoods.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr. harvested the wrath of his neighbors on 52nd Street in 1994 when he set out to build a three-story, Charleston-style house on a smallish lot alongside Crystal Lake.
The lot, which the judge had carved from the larger lot that held his primary residence next door, was to be the site of his retirement home.
But in a velvety, tree-lined neighborhood where the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed one of the houses, the judge's idea to wedge a building nearly 40 feet tall onto a 5,000-square-foot lakeside lot was less than welcome.
Morgan, over the neighbors' repeated objections and appeals, was granted zoning and wetlands variances necessary to match his house to the lakefront site. The zoning board did limit its height to 35 feet.
The neighbors took another tack. They sued the judge in Circuit Court, claiming that when he cut his single lot into two, he violated a 60-year-old deed covenant that said only one house could be built on each lot. The judge won that round, too.
The neighbors appealed. The Virginia Supreme Court overruled the lower court last week, deciding that the deed restriction was clear, valid and designed to protect the character of the neighborhood.
The restriction, the court ruling said, was ``part of a general plan to keep density low, preserve an area of large residential lots and maintain property values.''
``Our intent was to preserve the neighborhood like it is,'' said Adin K. Woodward, one of seven neighbors involved in the two-year legal battle. At one point as many as 150 North End residents petitioned against variances for the judge's house.
``The house he wanted to build probably would have been very attractive,'' Woodward said. ``It's just that that cramped-up lot was the wrong place for that house. That lot is probably one-third the size of the smallest lot in the subdivision. It's just not suitable.''
The building site is ``awfully close to the water,'' Woodward said Wednesday. ``We've seen water halfway up on that lot without even a hurricane.''
The judge was granted a variance to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act to build the house to within 10 1/2 feet of the lake.
In the midst of the wrangling, Judge Morgan sold his home and the disputed lot. The original house was demolished and a new one, for a new owner, is rising on the site.
The contested lot remains vacant. Judge Morgan was out of the city this week and unavailable for comment, a spokesman at his office said.
``We haven't met with him personally,'' said R.J. Nutter, one of the judge's attorneys, when asked if Morgan would appeal the ruling. ``He has asked us to look at what options may be available.''
The judge, he said, is ``obviously disappointed in the outcome. We felt that up to this last ruling, virtually every board, commission and court that looked into this matter at length had ruled in his favor.''
Despite having sold the land, Nutter said, the judge wanted the issue resolved. ``He elected to proceed notwithstanding the sale of the property. .
For their part, the surrounding homeowners ``didn't want that neighborhood getting junked up,'' said Joseph W. Hood, their attorney.
``He originally wanted to build something nearly 40 feet tall on a little, bitty lot that was not even decent as a side yard, much less as a lot to build a house on. It was within a foot or two of 5,000 square feet in a neighborhood of 40,000-square-foot lots.
``If the homeowners hadn't won this case,'' Hood said, ``everybody with a big lot there could have subdivided, and it just would have gone crazy.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHARLIE MEADS/The Virginian-Pilot
Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr. had hoped to build his retirement home in
this 5,000-square-foot lot - between the water and the house shown -
alongside Crystal Lake.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE SUPREME COURT RULING by CNB