DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090510

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI 

        STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   98 lines

WOMAN TOSSES WRENCH INTO BEACH SEWER PLAN MAIN PIPE WOULD CUT ACROSS HER PROPERTY; CITY COULD CONDEMN IT.

The city needs to extend sewage service to the burgeoning developments of its Lake Ridge mecca, but a woman who owns a piece of land along the proposed route isn't buying it.

And because of that, she's not willing to sell.

The city wants to buy rights of way for the construction and maintenance of the sewer line from Josephine M. Baldwin and about a dozen others. Construction of the sewer main is planned for next summer.

But Baldwin could flush away those plans.

``I'm going to fight 'em all the way,'' said the feisty senior, who would not divulge her age.

Baldwin could launch a court battle to postpone or alter the city's plans, and Beach officials could condemn her property for the good of the project.

The Hampton Roads Sanitation District, the organization that handles the region's sewage, says it needs to increase its sewer capacity at the Beach and in Chesapeake to meet the needs of existing and future customers.

The approximate five-mile main will run just south of the city's 1,500-acre Lake Ridge development, home of the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater and a planned PGA 18-hole championship golf course and a 6,000-seat multipurpose stadium. The sewage eventually will be treated at HRSD's Atlantic Treatment Plant near Sandbridge.

Because of the city's fast-paced Lake Ridge schedule, it has agreed to handle the design, acquisition and installation of the pipe. HRSD will reimburse the city for the design and construction costs.

Baldwin, however, stands in the way.

On the advice of her deceased father, Baldwin and her sister purchased the 60-acre property 40 years ago with cash as an investment. In the 1980s she received two offers to sell the property at The Kings Highway and North Landing Road for more than $1 million.

Baldwin also is protesting plans for two future roads, which would intersect on her property. The sewer pipe is proposed to follow the same path as the roads.

The future West Neck Parkway and Judicial Boulevard would cut a swath through her property that would devalue it and diminish her children's inheritance, Baldwin said last week from her Shore Drive condominium.

``You have butchered my property, and I want to know why,'' Baldwin said over the phone to one of the project's engineers.

Baldwin wonders why the whole project can't be laid on the city's Lake Ridge property, and why her property won't be able to connect into the pipe once it's finished.

``They think I'm dumb because I'm old,'' said Baldwin, a retired legal secretary. ``I don't think I'm dumb at all. I can see right through them.''

Clayton E. Massey, a senior associate with the engineering firm of Langley and McDonald, said, ``We're definitely not a conspiracy against old people.''

Langley and McDonald were hired to recommend an alignment for the roads.

Massey emphasized that the roads and sewer projects are still at the planning stage.

``The citizen input is a tremendous part of the equation,'' Massey said last week.

Bobby J. Wheeler, a city civil engineer, said that if the pipe is not expanded, it would be necessary to impose a sewer hook-up moratorium in five to 10 years, Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the city has evaluated several routes, and the future West Neck Parkway and Judicial Boulevard path was determined to be the most feasible.

He said the pipe is a collector for sewage being pumped from various subdivisions and other developments in that corridor, and is not designed to service individual sites. It is not strictly being built for Lake Ridge.

Several citizens weighed in on the proposals last week at a citizens information meeting. Many of the more than 25 who attended asked questions rather than protesting.

City planning commissioner E.R. Cockrell Jr. gathered around one map with his wife, Todd, and their neighbors George Crisp and Betty and Steve Knight.

Each said the proposed Judicial Parkway, two or more proposals of which cut through their properties, could be improved by taking it closer to property lines.

Massey said that could be looked into.

He said cutting closer to property lines might also minimize the amount of land Baldwin would lose.

``These are just colored lines on a page right now,'' Massey told them.

Cockrell, who bought his land on North Landing Road in 1966, said the road's going to happen. But, he wants to ensure it works out for him and his neighbors.

Massey said his company should have a recommendation for City Council on the proposed pathways by the spring, when a public hearing would be held.

Councilwoman Reba S. McClanan said she's trying to find out more about the proposals.

Baldwin ``blew my mind when she said the city has three alternatives and they all go through her property,'' McClanan said. ``It seems to me there might be some other alternatives; I just don't like to see somebody like that taken advantage of.'' MEMO: A map of the disputed properties along the proposed sewer main /B5 ILLUSTRATION: LAKE RIDGE DEVELOPMENT DISPUTE

Map

MICHAEL HALL

The Virginian-Pilot

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