THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060587
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A15 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision 96
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 63 lines
In a close vote, Beach residents decided they wanted to remain the only city in the region without a redevelopment and housing authority.
With all but three precincts reporting, unofficial tallies showed the measure failing by 4 percent of the vote.
The decision makes it nearly impossible for the City Council to complete its plans to transform the Burton Station neighborhood into an industrial park.
Council members had hoped to launch a redevelopment effort in this mostly empty area between Norfolk International Airport and Northampton Boulevard.
Without the authority, however, several council members Tuesday said they would try to recoup the $2 million already spent buying land in the neighborhood.
``We have got to stop Burton Station acquisition immediately,'' Council member William W. Harrison Jr. said Tuesday, ``and put the property (we've already bought) back on the market.''
An authority would have given the council the power to condemn land held by owners who did not want to or who could not sell because of title problems. Without it, there is no way to acquire the remainder of the land and resell it to industry, Harrison said.
A handful of voters who rejected the authority Tuesday said they didn't like anything that expanded the government's powers.
``I don't see any need for it,'' said John McKenzie, 62, who cast his ballot at the Church of the Ascension. ``I think there's enough government already in place.''
The authority would have been able to condemn blighted land for economic development, tearing down run-down neighborhoods and replacing them with homes and businesses that add more to the city's tax rolls. The city can already condemn land needed for schools, roads and other public projects.
After voting Tuesday, several supporters said they thought the city needed help dealing with growth and eventual decline.
Jane West, 47, a retired nurse who voted at Williams Elementary School, said she thought a redevelopment authority would have helped the city prepare for growth.
``We'd better plan more carefully if we're going to house that number of people,'' she said.
Other voters were upset that the referendum was put on the ballot at the last minute and was not adequately explained to voters. The City Council has sought condemnation for economic development for years, but decided on the last possible day, back in September, to put the issue before city residents.
``I really didn't know that much about it,'' said Denise Johnson, 25, a distributing company employee who voted ``no'' Tuesday at Seatack Elementary School. ``I need to know a lot more about it than I do.''
Another reason many voters may have felt uninformed about the ballot question was the lack of a campaign on either side.
The measure was supported by business leaders and more than half the members of the City Council, who said it would help keep the city financially strong. Opponents included many civic groups and minority leaders who worried that a redevelopment authority would exploit low-income homeowners and give the council too much power. MEMO: Staff writers Paul Clancy and Dave Addis contributed to this
report.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA BEACH by CNB