DATE: Wednesday, April 16, 1997             TAG: 9704160479

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   48 lines

DIVIDED COUNCIL IN CHESAPEAKE OKS CAHOON PLANTATION PLAN

The second planned-unit development this year, one touted as ``the largest recreational complex in the city,'' was approved 5-3 Tuesday by the City Council.

But unlike the easy approval of the Warrington Hall planned-unit development earlier this year, significant concerns were raised by the council about Cahoon Plantation Estates and the impact it could have on the city's efforts to keep pace with its schools and roads.

The council explored several motions to try to find a way to control the development's impact on local schools. None was adopted.

A motion made by Councilman Alan P. Krasnoff asked that no home be occupied until a planned Great Bridge Middle School South is constructed. After the developer's representative said that was not possible, Councilman W. Joe Newman withdrew his second and the motion failed.

In the end, the rezoning was approved with council members John M. de Triquet, Newman and Krasnoff voting against. Voting for the development were: Vice Mayor John W. Butt, and council members Dalton S. Edge, Peter P. Duda Jr., Dwight M. Parker and Elizabeth P. Thornton. Mayor William E. Ward was out of town.

``We are facing some fiscal crossroads in this city,'' Krasnoff said. ``This is going to be a very costly development to citizens.''

De Triquet called approval of the development ``dangerous'' and ``imprudent.'' He said adding the cost of new roads and schools created by approval of Cahoon Plantation Estates would front-load the city's budget, which is currently expected to be $19 million short over the next two years.

The development is being touted as a destination resort with 36-holes of golf, indoor/outdoor swimming, tennis and racquetball on 472.5 acres surrounded by homes that will sell at an average price of $180,000. The development will be adjacent to the Las Gaviotas community near the intersection of Dominion Boulevard and Cedar Road in Great Bridge.

The development might include a gated community on private roads, said the developer's agent, James R. Bradford. However, these plans conflict with a city policy that does not allow private roads in planned-unit developments. The matter remains unresolved but will likely reappear before the council.

One of the development's three planned 18-hole golf courses will be built first. New homes here can't be occupied until after June 1, 2000, about the same time Great Bridge Middle School South is slated for additions.

No money is budgeted for construction of the school, or many of the other schools planned around the area. KEYWORDS: PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu