DATE: Thursday, October 16, 1997            TAG: 9710160495

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   45 lines

PORTSMOUTH CITY LOT MAY STAY GREEN

A request to rezone the vacant city-owned land at the corner of High Street and Cedar Lane was declared illegal Tuesday night by City Council, which then acted to keep the land green and clean.

Prepared to speak against the rezoning, more than 200 residents of Churchland packed council chambers. But the city headed off their protests.

Raeford Eure, a local engineer, had asked that the 1.7 acres be rezoned to permit construction of an office building with 88 parking spaces on the land that now is covered with tall trees.

But since Eure did not own the land, his request was illegal, Planning Director Jim Gildea told the council.

``An individual may not seek rezoning of another's property without the approval of the owner,'' Gildea said. ``In this case, the applicant does not have that approval.''

Council members quickly voted to deny the request.

Then Councilman Jim Martin suggested that the city rezone the property to a preservation district. The P-1 designation has been applied to places like City Park and the Hoffler Creek Refuge and even to some cemeteries, Gildea said.

``It is a statement of intent for the preservation of critical environmental and open space area,'' he said.

``It could just remain as it is,'' Councilman Cameron Pitts said. ``We don't have to construct something on every single green space in this city.''

In addition to the site in question, Councilman Ward Robinett asked that the council consider changing zoning of other vacant parcels in the area along High Street and Cedar Lane, which could include a vacant corner lot diagonally across from the city-owned lot.

The lot Eure wanted for an office building was given to the city in 1981 by Joseph Garner Jr. The lot was zoned residential.

Pitts noted that the city's comprehensive plan calls for single-family residential housing on High Street from Maryview Medical Center to the former Churchland High School site. Coleman Nursery across Cedar Lane from the city-owned lot is the only business grandfathered in the residential area.

Residents of neighborhoods from the Churchland bridge to the city line were among those who attended the meeting.

When Mayor James Holley called a short recess to permit the citizens to leave, many applauded the council's action.

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