DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997                TAG: 9703040266

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   71 lines

SNAGS AT SANDBRIDGE A PROJECT ON SHIFTING SANDS

The city's emergency project to shore up the beaches of Sandbridge is in danger of washing away because of a dispute with oceanfront property owners over public easements to their private beaches.

If that weren't enough, snags in Washington also threaten the project.

The property owners say the city has failed to come up with assurances that the $8 million to place sand on the beach will actually be spent.

And if it isn't, they say, the city won't guarantee that the easement to the property will revert back to them.

The city has obtained signed easements from all but 10 of the 241 oceanfront property owners that would give the public formal right to what it informally has - access to the Sandbridge beach.

The City Council is expected, in closed session today, to discuss the situation and possible steps, including condemnation, to deal with it.

Some owners say all that remains for them to agree is getting assurance that the easement won't take effect if the project isn't carried out.

``We certainly did not want to be a hold out,'' said Steve McCarthy, who lives in Northern Virginia and owns a house in Sandbridge. ``We just wanted some clarity. If they say verbally that they'll do something, they should be able to put it in writing.''

But the issue is clouded by a longstanding dispute between the city and Sandbridge owners over who has the responsibility for removing failed bulkheads.

``The city has fought us the whole time over our right to put in bulkheads,'' said oceanfront owner and developer Randy Zehmer. ``We got the message that they didn't want us to bulkhead because they wanted our property to fall into the ocean.''

The City Council approved one-time emergency sand replenishment out of fear that erosion at Sandbridge has gotten so bad that the barrier spit was in danger of major destruction by heavy storms.

The $8 million project, expected to be completed this fall, would dump 1.5 million cubic yards of offshore sand on the beach.

About one-third of the funds would be paid from a special tax that Sandbridge owners pay for storm protection, another third from state funds and the remainder from city general funds.

Also endangering the project are federal roadblocks over long-term responsibility for keeping sand on the fast-eroding beach.

Even though the city agreed to put up all the money, it has asked the Army Corps of Engineers - the expert at beach renourishment - to do the work. The Norfolk office of the Corps seemed quite willing to agree, particularly because it doesn't get many big civil works projects to do anymore.

But because the Clinton administration is formally opposed to beach renourishment projects, corps higher-ups in Washington have had problems signing the agreement with the city, according to Fred Greene, president of the Sandbridge Civic Association.

``The Corps of Engineers cannot come out and publicly announce that they favor these kinds of projects because it is against administration policy,'' Greene said.

A corps spokeswoman acknowledged there has been a delay because the decision has to be made at corps headquarters in Washington.

City officials say the corps sought a number of unpalatable conditions, including an assurance that the city would not ask for funds for Sandbridge in the future.

``It really set us down,'' said City Coastal Engineer Phillip Roehrs. ``If they are going to make that a condition, we really have a problem.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color photo]

STAFF/file photo

[Color photo]

Oceanfront owner and developer Randy Zehmer.

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