DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997               TAG: 9703180284

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   93 lines

DEVELOPMENT TESTS SEWER POLICIES IN CHESAPEAKE

It's a development that could bring 631 - or 18,000 - people to the city.

It could mean development for 277 - or 4,000 - acres in an area that was not meant to sprout homes for 20 years.

It could dry up sewer capacity for all of Great Bridge and violate the city's Comprehensive Plan and local sewer policies.

And it could cost Chesapeake millions of dollars in capital and operating expenses, according to city officials.

The City Council approved rezoning for Edinburgh on Nov. 21, 1989. The mixed-use, golf-course community would cover 277.8 acres and be on the west side of Battlefield Boulevard across from Southeastern Elementary School.

Now the developers are ready to build and are asking to hook up to city sewer service.

The issue will be discussed by the City Council tonight.

By itself, Edinburgh will include 220 homes, none of which can be sold until the completion of a nearby interchange to be created when an alternate route for Battlefield Boulevard is built.

The development also will include 30.6 acres of commercial development and a privately owned, publicly accessible, nine-hole golf course.

But the development is likely to have an even broader impact on Chesapeake. Lack of sewer service is a major impediment to development in rural areas in Chesapeake and other area cities.

By extending sewer lines to Edinburgh, city officials worry, Chesapeake will open thousands of additional acres to residential development in an area the city hadn't planned to develop for 20 years.

Sewer lines were to be extended to the site when it was approved in 1989. But in 1994, the city was told the capacity in the Great Bridge Sewer District Area was reaching critical levels.

As a result, the council passed its Great Bridge Sewer Policy, which limited the number of sewer hookups to a first-come, first-served basis until a larger force main was completed. The policy also said sewer lines from the Great Bridge service area would not be extended.

At its meeting tonight, the council will discuss and possibly decide if this policy should be changed and sewer lines extended to Edinburgh.

Three options are being considered, according to city officials:

Extend a sewer line along Battlefield Boulevard to serve only Edinburgh.

This would still require a sewer hookup outside the Great Bridge sewer area, a break in city policy that could set a precedent affecting future city planning.

Several developments have previously been rejected by the City Council and Planning Commission based on this policy.

City officials have said hooking up Edinburgh could also cost the city $3.4 million to provide the capital needs for the development.

Also, allowing a small force main to the development would violate the city's Master Sewer Plan.

The Great Bridge sewer area has a capacity of 800,000 gallons per day. And with Edinburgh using 142,000 gallons of that, the remaining 658,000 gallons of capacity per day may not be enough to cover properties in the Great Bridge area when they are developed, according to city officials.

Extend a force main sewer line 2.7 miles down Battlefield Boulevard to the project site.

This scenario would extend a Hampton Roads Sanitation District line 2.7 miles to Edinburgh. This option would open for development 80 percent of the gross acreage around the site, or about 1,797 acres. The extension of the sewage pipe would expand the service area one mile from each side of the pipe.

This option would also cost the city some $37 million in operating and capital costs.

The development is located in what city planners refer to as the Countryside and Rural Overlay districts, areas of the city not intended to be served by public sewer for two more decades.

``The introduction of sewer into these areas would be a deviation from the city's current Comprehensive Plan and would constitute a leapfrog development pattern,'' city officials wrote in a report to the council.

Again, the development would lessen the capacity of the Great Bridge sewer service area.

If the number of homes per acre is increased under this scenario, the costs and other impacts increase.

Attach two force main sewer lines, one on Battlefield Boulevard and the other on Centerville Turnpike, to the development.

At one home per acre, 2,424 acres could be developed under this scenario. In addition, the city estimates it would have to spend $63 million to provide capital facilities to the area.

The city's Comprehensive Plan does not envision water or sewer service in this area of the city for 20 years.

Using a larger density, this option could cost the city $130 million in capital costs. MEMO: The council will discuss the matter at its regular meeting, which

begins at 6:30 tonight in the council chambers in City Hall. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Edinburgh Options

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SEWER

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