THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120306
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
This has always been a city without a center.
The resort strip provided a name, but hardly a heart. The Municipal Center offered a seat for government, but at a distance from much of the population.
So city officials, in connection with a group of business leaders, have been working for more than two decades to create a town center, a place that could be readily identifiable as the core of Virginia Beach.
On Wednesday, the Planning Commission took another major step toward that goal by approving the creation of a zoning district that would allow downtown-like development in the area around Pembroke Mall.
The district, still to be approved by the City Council, would encourage tall buildings with businesses on the ground level and offices or apartments above. New streets would be cut to create the familiar grid of most downtowns. Trees and fancy walkways would be added to encourage people to leave their cars behind. Oceans of asphalt would be replaced by multi-story parking garages.
``I've heard people who have come to the Beach say, `When do we know we're there?' '' City Council member Barbara M. Henley said Wednesday. ``This would give us a focal point, give us a `there.' ''
Members of the city's Planning Department and the Central Business District Association have worked for the last year to redraft city ordinances to make such development possible. In a city dominated by automobiles and single-family houses, requiring 10-foot sidewalks is a pretty radical - and, without the new district, impossible - concept.
The new zoning district, the city's 35th, would create the legal framework to change the course of development, but it won't have any immediate impact. Assuming the council approves the district, city and business leaders would still have to develop a financing plan, design guidelines for the new buildings and a master plan for the 87-acre area bounded by Independence Boulevard, Constitution Drive, Jeanne Street and railroad tracks that run north of Bonney Road.
Much remains to be decided, said Thomas C. Pauls, comprehensive planning coordinator with the city's Planning Department, including: ``What will it look like; what will we have there; and who will actually pay for it.''
It could take months or more than a year to work out those details, Pauls said. Then, the city's zoning map would be changed to reflect the new district.
Once the map is changed, developers would have to conform to the new standards when building in the Pembroke Central Business Core District. Existing businesses that don't meet those standards could continue to operate, but might have some trouble expanding, Pauls said.
The mall would stay, but new stores and office buildings would be added along Virginia Beach Boulevard, Pauls said, to push development up to the street instead of behind a sea of parking. Commercial parking lots would be encouraged to accommodate cars.
Only after the map is completed, and future development patterns guaranteed, would the city consider spending public funds to encourage town-center-like growth, Pauls said. There are no figures yet on how much the public could be asked to contribute.
Sewer and main roads in the area are adequate, but it will be expensive, Pauls said, to cut new through streets, build a public park in the center, and add trees, nice street lights and fancy pavements.
The private sector will be asked to share the bills with the taxpayers, he added.
Wednesday, the board of the Central Business District Association reiterated its commitment to the project, once championed almost solely by Pembroke-area developer Gerald Divaris, who still sits on the association's board.
``This is confirmation of our public-private understanding,'' said Burrell Saunders, an architect with CMSS Architects of Virginia Beach, and president of the Central Business District Association. ``We're working together to create a special area for the city.''
The City Council will consider the proposed district on Nov. 28 at its regular meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. MEMO: DETAILS
Permitted in the new Central Business District zone:
Delis, bakeries and other restaurants
Banks
Art galleries
Gift shops, florists, card stores and other specialty shops
Dry cleaning establishments
Commercial parking lots
Medical offices and clinics
Allowed under some circumstances:
Residential development, mostly above storefronts and in the top
floors of office buildings
Outdoor cafes and plazas
Passenger transportation terminals
Heliports
Prohibited:
Car repair shops, car washes and car dealers with outdoor lots
Drive-throughs
Free-standing grocery stores
Detached or semi-detached houses
Nurseries
Mini-warehouses
ILLUSTRATION: Color map
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
VIRGINIA BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION ZONING by CNB