DATE: Thursday, June 12, 1997               TAG: 9706120453

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   87 lines

BEACH PLANNERS APPROVE GOLF COURSE, 108 HOMES

A 205-acre golf course, put on hold last year after a Tampa, Fla., developer backed out of a deal with the city, is just a putt away from reality following a unanimous endorsement Wednesday by the Planning Commission.

The 18-hole championship golf course, named Heron Ridge, includes plans for 108 upscale, single-family houses off Seaboard Road south of the city's Green Line.

The Green Line is a boundary established in 1979 between the city's northern half, where services such as water and sewer are provided at taxpayer cost, and the southern half, where the city would not provide the services.

City planning commissioners and officials praised the Heron Ridge development because of the recreational opportunities.

They also said Heron Ridge, in which 80 percent of the 408-acre project is dedicated to open space, is the kind of development below the Green Line that should be encouraged. The tract is in the Princess Anne Borough.

``It will be a major open-space and recreational amenity for that area,'' said Robert J. Scott, the city's planning director.

Golf-course development plays a big part in the city's long-range tourism and economic development strategy, adopted by City Council in recent years. The aim is to spur business and tax revenues by extending tourism beyond the traditional summer season.

A study last year recommended the construction of at least five public golf courses, using public and private financing as a way of generating greater year-round tourist dollars.

If the City Council approves the Heron Ridge plan - the city is currently negotiating the deal with the development's principals - it will be the second top-quality golf course approved by the city this year.

The PGA Tour and Virginia Beach officials announced plans for a state-of-the-art Tournament Players Club at the city's Lake Ridge property earlier this year.

The city gave the land for the 18-hole course to the PGA and has agreed to install utilities and build a road to the site. Lake Ridge houses the popular GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater and will house a 6,000-seat multipurpose stadium, for which ground will be broken today.

At Heron Ridge, the city will share the cost of providing water and sewer services to the 108-house development with the buyers. The sewer lines will run into a nearby pumping station at the Foxfire subdivision and the water will come from the city's Lake Gaston pipeline, scheduled for completion at the end of this year.

Planning Commission member Jan Eliassen endorsed the Heron Ridge development because it preserves open space and fits in with the city's Comprehensive Plan.

Eliassen has been outspoken in recent weeks about the importance of maintaining the Green Line's integrity. Eliassen referred Wednesday to a proposal that he voted against last month to rezone about 58 acres of farmland for residential use in Princess Anne, just south of the Green Line. He said that project didn't compare to the Heron Ridge proposal.

The Planning Commission approved that development, Sandy Hill Farm, on a 8-3 vote. The City Council, which has the final say, is scheduled to vote on that proposal June 24.

Heron Ridge is ``as close to perfect as we're going to get,'' Eliassen said before the commission approved the rezoning of the land for the houses and a conditional use permit for the golf course.

``This is the kind of proposal we've been looking for with the golf course and the housing,'' agreed planning commissioner Betsy Atkinson. The houses will be on half-acre to three-quarter acre lots. The starting prices will be $300,000.

The original plan for Heron Ridge, east of West Neck Road, called for the development of about 40 single-family homes.

But the golf course's builder, Heron Ridge Golf Club, decided additional houses would be needed to make the development financially feasible.

Heron Ridge Golf Club will sell 51 lots for development, while Williams Holding Corp., which sold the golf site to the city in 1993, will sell 57 lots.

Heron Ridge Golf Club, headed by lawyer Thomas C. Broyles, jumped into the picture after Brassie Golf Corp. of Tampa reneged on a contract with the city. Brassie officials said they were unaware that the city had planned other golf courses nearby, courses that would compete for the same dollars.

City officials, however, said the golf company had been made aware of the city's efforts to become a popular vacation destination for golfers. The city bought 185 acres for the golf course in 1993 for $1.5 million. With Wednesday's deal, the city will acquire about 40 additional acres at no cost.

Broyles is a principal in nearby Hell's Point Golf Club at Sandbridge, one of the city's most reputable and challenging courses.

Eddie Bourdon, an attorney representing Heron Ridge, said Broyles will put in $6 million to $7 million to develop the course, which could open as early as spring 1999. ILLUSTRATION: Map

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