DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250502

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   29 lines

DEVELOPER AND CITY POSTPONE REZONING NEAR GREEN LINE

The City Council postponed Tuesday a developer's request to transform 58 agricultural acres just south of the Green Line into 98 upscale, single-family homes off Princess Anne Road.

R.J. ``Rip'' McGinnis, the developer of the project called Sandy Hill Farm, asked the council last week to delay the rezoning case while the city finishes reviewing its Comprehensive Plan, a document that guides development. The Planning Commission has spent the past 18 months revamping the plan and will send its recommendations to the City Council in August after holding four public meetings next month.

Sandy Hill Farm has forced city officials to revisit the mission of the Green Line, established along Princess Anne and Sandbridge roads in 1979.

The boundary was set up to keep the city from raising taxes to pay for services - water, sewer, schools and roads - in the city's rural south. Instead, the city has focused its efforts on providing services to the suburban north.

Critics have argued that McGinnis' proposal would set a bad precedent by opening up land south of the boundary to dense development. McGinnis says the property is in a unique area bordered by Three Oaks, a dense residential area below the Green Line, and commercial land across the street. KEYWORDS: REZONING GREEN LINE

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