DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997               TAG: 9703060387

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  111 lines

EAST OCEAN VIEW PLAN COSTS SOME DEARLY

Robert Blandford bet his children's futures on a Bayside duplex. But now, the Virginia Beach man doesn't know what he'll do when it comes time to pack his youngsters off to college.

In 1986, Blandford, who's retired but was then in the Navy, bought the rental property on 27th Bay Street in East Ocean View. He intended to use the income from the property to finance the education of the children he and his soon-to-be wife planned. The children are now 3 and 7.

Six years later, the city approved the area for redevelopment, and the value of Blandford's investment began to plummet.

He used to get $300 rent for each unit, but now he's asking $225 and can't find tenants. And as far as selling it, there aren't even any lookers.

The city plans to buy the property as part of its estimated $60 million redevelopment project for the area. But because not enough money was set aside for the project at the beginning, it could be three years before the city buys Blandford's home.

Meanwhile, Blandford, 47, pays the mortgage on the vacant house by traveling extensively to do freelance explosive disposal work. He wants nothing more than to be available to his family by working locally. He'd also like to go back to school and, eventually, teach.

His wife, now a homemaker, taught in Norfolk public schools for 19 years.

BLANDFORD SAID HE'S READY to hand the property over to the mortgage company to save himself financially.

Trouble is, not even the mortgage company wants it. The place is boarded up, like many others in the 90-acre redevelopment district.

Blandford is not the only one in this situation, according to Dick Kelly, owner of a real estate company that owns and sells property in East Ocean View.

Kelly said he is aware of three people who have lost their life savings waiting for the city to buy. He also knows of five others facing the same fate.

``The city is trying to steal (the property),'' said Kelly, who added that he's lost more than $10 million himself. ``They're literally raping the area.''

BUT THE CITY SAID it simply doesn't have funds available to buy up all the property at once.

David Rice, executive director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, told Blandford in a letter dated March 30, 1995, ``Our actions are not designed to depress property values.

``We believe that concentrated and systematic removal of badly deteriorated properties is the most effective and sensible approach to rebuilding this blighted section of the City of Norfolk.''

Kelly haggled with the NRHA over the purchase price of his 102-unit complex in early 1995. The case went to a citizens condemnation panel, but Kelly ended up receiving only $1.68 million, even though arbiters set the value at $2.68 million.

Under Virginia law, the redevelopment authority has the right not to acquire property it condemns if it doesn't like the price. Also, the agency can withdraw its purchase offers up to 30 days after a court ruling, so Kelly settled.

``NO TRESPASSING,'' WARNS the sign on the front of Blandford's duplex.

``For Sale by Owner,'' says another sign on the one-story building.

``This used to be a real nice neighborhood,'' said Blandford, as he removed the screws from a piece of plywood covering the front door of his house on a recent, gray, drizzly day.

He looked back over his shoulder to watch a young man saunter past, apparently taking a short cut through the yard. The interloper jammed his hands deep into his red-and-black sweat-pant pockets and, with long strides, reached the chain link fence at the rear of the property. His long legs cleared it in an effortless hurdle.

Blandford stepped inside his home. The smell of mildew was in the air, but the interior was in good shape.

He makes mortgage payments of $598 a month. That adds up to $21,000 expenses Blandford will have between now and the year 2000, when the city will presumably pay him for the property. But, by then, who knows what it will actually be worth, he said.

IN 1987, THE YEAR after Blandford bought the building for $61,500, it was assessed at $64,120. By last April, the assessed value had dropped to $47,300.

Officials with the redevelopment authority said they base their offers on fair-market appraisals. As proof that the authority offers fair prices, R. Patrick Gomez, the agency's director of community development, said only six of the more than 100 property purchases have sparked condemnation proceedings because of disagreements with owners over price.

BLANDFORD HAS TRIED EVERY avenue he can think of to get help.

He hired a lawyer and wrote to local and state officials, to no avail.

The most recent response he received, dated Feb. 13, is a reply to a letter to Gov. George F. Allen. In it, Robert T. Skunda, secretary of commerce and trade for Virginia, advises Blandford to ask the city for help, which he did four years ago.

``I served my country in defense of the Constitution for over 23 years, only to have the city of Norfolk deny my 5th Amendment rights,'' he said. ``They've denied me my rights to my own property, because I can't sell it. Who's going to buy it?''

The city said it will buy the property as soon as funding is available.

Mayor Paul D. Fraim, in a letter to Blandford dated May 3, 1996, cited ``funding constraints'' as the reason for the phased purchase of properties.

But Blandford said he thinks the city is putting money ahead of people - holding East Ocean View property owners hostage.

``It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. It's wrong to do this to people.'' MEMO: Staff writer Jon Glass contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: [Photo]

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Robert Blandford stands in front of his condemned building on 27th

Bay Street in East Ocean View. Blandford, and others, say the NRHA's

delay in buying their property has caused them near-financial ruin.

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