DATE: Wednesday, July 23, 1997              TAG: 9707230650

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   48 lines

BULLDOZER NEW WEAPON IN NORFOLK'S WAR ON VICE

City officials have armed themselves with a new weapon in their war against drugs and prostitution: the bulldozer.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved changes to the city code that will enable officials to seize and demolish buildings - including hotels and motels - that they determine are housing activities involving illegal drugs or prostitution.

City officials said that, for the first time, they now can take any steps deemed appropriate to reduce drug blight and illegal sex on grounds that such activities are a threat to public safety, health and welfare.

``I think the tolerance level with drugs and prostitution is pretty nil in the general public right now,'' City Councilman W. Randy Wright said. He added that the changes are central to addressing problems in his ward in Ocean View and in other areas of the city.

Under the new code sections, owners of targeted buildings will be sent at least two notices within a 45-day period warning them to take corrective action.

If the owners fail to respond, the city could move into action, including boarding, repairing or bulldozing the structures. The city would send the owners a bill to recover the costs involved.

Wright said he didn't think the measures were going too far.

``Extreme situations call for extreme measures,'' Wright said. ``And there's a safety net built in. They (owners) have more than adequate time to clean up their houses, so to speak.''

Buildings are considered to have a problem with drug blight if the property is regularly used by people taking, selling or harboring illegal drugs.

The ordinance dealing with ``bawdy places'' is designed to deal with prostitution, acts of lewdness and ``assignation,'' defined by Webster's New World Dictionary as an appointment to meet, especially a secret tryst by lovers.

The city launched a crackdown on prostitutes and their customers earlier this year, ordering the city attorney's office to begin actively prosecuting the cases in General District Court.

``I think the City Council has made it very clear to rid the city of prostitution and drugs,'' Sterling Cheatham, assistant city manager, said. ``We've invested a lot of money in these enforcement efforts, and we just want to get the message across.''

In another step Tuesday, the council approved an ordinance mandating AIDS testing for convicted prostitutes. The results would be confidential. The city would pay the cost of testing.

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