THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210195
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A 142-acre parcel of land, including a 32-acre borrow pit, on Twin Pines Road has been sold to a Virginia Beach developer after the city turned down the state's offer to sell it to Portsmouth for a dollar.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has accepted a bid of $1.5 million from Boyce-Widener Ltd., a company with plans to create a subdivision on the property.
River Shore Road residents are upset. After identifying more than 100 species of birds and a variety of wildlife in the area, they successfully argued to state highway officials that the land should be kept as a nature preserve. That's when the state offered it as a gift to the city. The Portsmouth Planning Commission supported the idea.
However, without public discussion, city officials refused the offer.
Mayor Gloria Webb said this week that she did not believe the city could afford to maintain the land as a nature preserve and that was the condition of the state's offer, an offer facilitated by Sen. Fred Quayle and Del. Billy Moore.
But nobody seems to know how much it would cost to maintain the area in its present natural state. Since the city would be doing no construction, the city would not have to deal with the extensive wetlands on Hoffler Creek.
Those who want to save the land as a natural habitat for the city contend that they were not given a chance to find ways to support their proposal.
Randi Strutton, a resident of River Shore Road, wants to use the land as an educational facility and believes the city could get grants and support from private foundations and organizations dedicated to preserving natural habitats.
Susan Taylor Hansen, an environmental lawyer who serves on the Planning Commission, wrote a letter to the state on behalf of the planners. She called the parcel a ``high quality wildlife habitat.''
``This is an asset to the city,'' she said Thursday. ``We have got to make room for nature.''
The presence of Hoffler Creek, its tributaries, and briny water in the borrow pit, along with the abundant wetlands, make the area a natural paradise. The unsullied woodlands.
At this time, the arguments in favor of a nature preserve appear moot. Developers are poised, ready to level woodlands and cover the area with houses and streets that will drive away the wildlife.
For a financially struggling city, that might seem to be the best way to go. But are we really that poor?
A refuge with so many species, many endangered and rare, is an educational tool for the future. Once the forest and the wildlife in it are destroyed, the habitat is forever gone. This rare space is something unique to Portsmouth, another of our amazing assets.
It's too bad city officials ignored their own Planning Commission and never gave the public a chance to offer alternatives. by CNB