THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412200136
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SERIES: OUTDOORS PLAN
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Virginia Beach has 37 miles of beachfront, but only 14 of it is open to public use.
Even that is being slowly choked off by encroaching development of hotels, condos, vacation cottages and by civic groups with property claims to the waterfront.
This means that beach recreation for anyone not living on the shoreline is shrinking.
Longtime surfer and housing developer Paul West sees a time when the average Virginian will have little or no access to state waters.
``We only have that teenie little bit of beach and some day we're going to wake up and it's not going to be there,'' he said. ``Just because the beach is there doesn't mean we can take it for granted.''
Most of the city's waterfront is occupied by military bases, state and federal parks and wildlife reserves, which restrict or prohibit public visitation.
There is a remedy.
The city's recently approved Outdoors Plan calls for improving access to at least seven of the city's eight public beaches, from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to the North Carolina line. It also calls for adding amenities like parking, restrooms and lifeguards.
The areas most in need, the report says, are stretches of the bayfront: Chesapeake Beach, Ocean Park Beach and Cape Henry Beach. While they are open to the public, the public can't reach them. Residential and commercial development since the 1960s has cut off access routes and removed on-street parking.
Another problem is that residents along these shorelines are not thrilled by the idea of hordes of day users swarming through their neighborhoods.
Les Fenlon, president of the Council of Civic Organizations and a Great Neck resident, offers some insight into the way some of his waterfront neighbors feel.
``Due to vagaries of the wind and tide and so forth, we are always building the beach (here) and seldom is it destroyed,'' he said. ``But much of the beach is private by those high-rise condominiums. And it would be a major problem to be solved if that stretch of beach were opened to the public.
``I'd like to see it solved but I don't think I'd like to see it solved on the basis of the beach becoming public.''
Judy Connors, former president of the Ocean Park Civic League, said access to the Bay beaches has been slowly shut off as the city allowed home and condo developers to close off paper streets that end at water's edge.
``During my period of time as president is when we resolved the ownership of the beachfront and the reserved areas of Ocean Park,'' Connors said.
``And as a result of that . . . we got the beach replenishment. Our pledge at the time of the beach replenishment is . . . we would work with the City Council to create as much public access as possible, because it was a public beach. But creating public access in an area that has been allowed to develop as extensively as Ocean Park is not easy.''
Dane Williams, who lives in the Baylake Beach area, says the beach nearest his home was deeded long ago for use as a private beach. There are, however, one or two access points at the end of Sandy Bay Drive and Joyce Avenue.
``Of course we can't stop anybody - and don't want to stop anybody - from walking on the beach, but legally, according to what we understand, it's held in trust for the residents of Baylake Pines (and Baylake Beach) by four trustees. So, we do have a private access to our beach, but there is public access at either end of the neighborhood.''
West said that the upscale Croatan neighborhood, bordering Camp Pendleton, is now going through the same problems.
``There is almost no place for public access, north of Croatan Road,'' he said. ``There is one about 10 to 15 feet north of Croatan Road and two or three to the south. I don't think what property owners realize is, if they live on the west side of Atlantic Avenue, they will not be able to go to the beach.''
West adds that there is no on-street parking on Atlantic and few spaces inland. The only mass parking available is at the Camp Pendleton lot.
Drafters of the Outdoors Plan see Sandbridge as almost as user friendly as the resort area.
``Parking, restrooms, access for the physically impaired are available at Sandbridge and Little Island Beach facilities,'' the plan says. ``Little Island Park expansion has been delayed pending the resolution of property ownership and beach replenishment issues.''
North End beaches - extending from 42nd to 88th streets - all offer public access routes to the beach. What they don't offer is parking, restrooms or lifeguards.
And North Enders, especially those who live nearest the beaches, don't want the additional goodies. They are adamant about prohibiting expanded parking in their neighborhoods.
Framers of the Outdoors Plan have duly taken their wishes into account and have suggested, instead, that efforts be made to expand public use of the beach at Fort Story. That beach, which is open to the public now only on summer weekends, could offer expanded parking (nearly 200 spaces), toilets and lifeguards to day users.
The resort beaches are the most accessible, the plan concludes, but parking is a problem there as well. MEMO: [ALSO SEE: Related stories ran in The Beacon on pages 10, 11, 12, 14,
15, and 16 for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: SUGGESTED BEACH ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS
No more rights-of-way to city beaches should be closed,
especially in the Chesapeake Beach and Croatan areas. Acquisition of
additional access points is called for.
Since Chesapeake Bay beaches have poor access for windsurfing,
fishing and small craft launching, all beaches in the area should
include parking and access improvements.
Priority should be given to developing improvements to the
Chesapeake Bay, Fort Story and Croatan-Camp Pendleton beaches. One
new beach use facility - including parking, restrooms, lifeguard
services and concession stands - is recommended at the Lesner Bridge
spoils site.
Handicapped parking and beach ramps should be provided at all
beaches.
KEYWORDS: OUTDOORS PLAN by CNB