DATE: Sunday, July 13, 1997                 TAG: 9707110276

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: OVER EASY 

SOURCE: Bill Reed 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

SOME USES FOR LAND AT SANDBRIDGE ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS

Here's a story of how your city government works for you:

Over the years a Sandbridge businessman accumulated some potentially valuable commercial land near the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge entrance.

Recently he was approached by a resort planner who had this idea for developing a luxury hotel on the property.

The hotel would be a five-star model, said the planner, and it would cater to well-heeled visitors, who are interested in communing with nature and tramping around in remote and bug and snake infested areas.

The businessman was convinced by the planner to hold on to his property until the city tests the market to see if a major developer is interested in building a luxury hotel on the Sandbridge shoreline.

The city, meanwhile, is extending a sewer line to Sandbridge. Soon it will reach the businessman's property, which already is zoned for B-1 commercial use. When it does, the businessman's land will become very very valuable - worth millions even.

Nevertheless, the businessman said he agreed to stick to the hotel plan because he would much prefer to see a beautiful, well-landscaped luxury inn on the site than a 12-story cinder block condo or a gaggle of burger joints and convenience stores.

To test the market, the planner and a group of hotel industry consultants said they need $40,000 to conduct a feasibility study. The study also would serve as a way of sniffing out potential hotel builders.

So the businessman, the planner and a representative of the consulting firm went before the City Council last week to ask the for $40,000 - plus $2,500 for expenses - to conduct the study.

A couple of council members, who are suspicious of the project and who apparently did not have their full eight hours of shut-eye the night before, insisted that the businessman must repay the $42,500 to the city after the study is completed and a hotel developer has signed on to the project.

During the council session, in which the hotel study was discussed, certain council members indicated that the businessman stood to reap an obscene profit on his land and hinted that there was something potentially sinister afoot about the hotel study.

The businessman, who attended the meeting, was not afforded an opportunity to give his side of the story.

Afterwards, the businessman was noticeably agitated. He is only trying to be a good citizen and a good steward of the land, he said, and he is weary of being bashed by cranky politicos who are playing to television cameras hanging in the council chambers and potential voters who might be watching.

He is very close to selling out to buyers who are lining up all the way to Richmond to purchase his property, rather than enduring any more guff, he indicated.

The point that apparently is lost on some dubious council members is that the businessman could sell his land to anyone who could pony up the money and laugh all the way to the bank - legally.

Meanwhile, the city and Sandbridge residents would be stuck with whatever el-cheapo monstrosity future developers might choose to create on the seaside tract.

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