THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160200
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 183 lines
IT LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER a rejuvenated Pacific Avenue, with tree-shaded curbs, median strips adorned by sculptures of marine life and a north-south vista unimpeded by overhead utility wires.
Traffic along the street would be slowed down and thinned out by altering major entrance routes and making extensive use of public transportation in the form of buses or trolleys.
But can the city afford this $46 million to $68 million dream design at a time when it's balancing other building needs?
The City Council must answer that question before proceeding with any beautification work spelled out in the recently released plans by a city-hired consultant to revamp Pacific Avenue and the major arteries leading into it.
The city must decide what items on an extensive list of tourism-related improvements it wants to pursue, City Councilman Linwood O. Branch III says.
The plan, designed by Langley & McDonald of Virginia Beach, calls for starting work on Pacific Avenue in October 1997 and continuing in phases through 2004 during the winter, in the same way Atlantic Avenue has been upgraded over the last 10 years. It envisions a wider, slower-paced street free of overhead wires and bordered by a fringe of shade trees and shrubs along the medians and curbs.
Money, as usual, remains the biggest obstacle to moving ahead with the proposed beautification work.
The city has spent $47 million since 1985 improving the Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue.
The cost of rebuilding Pacific would vary, depending upon the funds needed to buy rights-of-way, pay for underground installation of wiring and the fluctuating construction costs. And the city would have to buy about five Pacific Avenue businesses to make way for the streetscape project.
The Tourism Growth Investment Fund - the mechanism designed to pay for the project - will be largely depleted over the next few years to pay off another major undertaking: the $100 million Hurricane Protection Plan.
The plan is designed to protect the oceanfront from Rudee Inlet to 89th Street from a major ocean-borne storm. It would provide a wider, roomier Boardwalk, wider beaches, a new seawall to 58th Street and an improved dune system from 58th to 89th streets. It would cost the city about $33 million. The federal government would fund the rest.
Over the next few years, the expense of paying off the project would leave a balance of $800,000 to $1 million in TGIF. This sum would have to be spread around on other tourism-enhancement projects now on the books.
But Branch said the 20,000-seat amphitheater and expanded Virginia Marine Science Museum under construction may produce tax revenues that could help pay for Pacific Avenue improvements and propel the project to the top of the priority list.
``We've come a long way in 10 years and we're at a point now where we'll have to look at our options,'' Branch said. ``We've got other issues out there that we have to consider first, like the schools.''
Roger Newill, chairman of the Resort Area Advisory Commission, the panel that oversees tourism-related projects and activities, sees big obstacles ahead for the immediate financing of Pacific Avenue.
``If it's a $50 million project and we spend over $5 million or $8 million a year - as best as I understand TGIF - there's not enough in there to pay off bonds or enough cash flow to do it,'' he said.
To fund the work - or portions of it - the city may have to rethink its spending priorities, he said. Money earmarked for other state and local highway projects and sewer and water jobs could be diverted to Pacific Avenue beautification work.
Juggling other local funds could make up some of the difference, but the importance of continuing Atlantic Avenue improvements onto Pacific Avenue may have diminished in the past year, Newill contends.
Suddenly, projects with greater dollar-generating potential are becoming higher priorities. For instance, Newill said, there is a proposal to develop an entertainment center on the old Dome site and ongoing negotiations for an upscale shopping complex on Laskin Road, between Baltic and Pacific avenues.
``I'm still feeling that if I had $50 million in my pocket right now I'd do Ocean Square (the Laskin Road retail development) and the same sort of thing at 17th Street,'' he said. ``I'm not convinced Pacific Avenue is the most important thing to do right now.''
That's not to say the Pacific Avenue corridor plan doesn't have merit, Newill demurred. ``I think it makes sense, but it doesn't mean it'll return any money to the TGIF treasury.''
The renovation plan has a long way to go before it becomes reality, Branch said. ``There are going to be a lot more meetings and a lot more discussions.''
The plan is to be reviewed by resort businesses and civic groups before it is forwarded to the City Council in March.
Meanwhile, some business operators and residents who would be affected by the project view the renovation as a potential boon. They cite the Atlantic Avenue improvements and say that Pacific Avenue should be accorded the same treatment.
Peter Coe, operator of Taste Unlimited, a specialty food shop at 36th Street and Pacific Avenue, is all for moving ahead with Pacific Avenue improvements.
``Assuming they're not going to take away any sidewalks, I think it's one of the most important steps Virginia Beach is going to take,'' he said. ``I support it wholeheartedly. Today Pacific Avenue is an important gateway to the resort area.''
``I think it would be such a wonderful thing,'' said Maryanne Nixon, president of the Resort Beach Civic League and Coalition, an organization representing residential areas adjacent to the resort strip. ``I would like to see it extended back into our neighborhoods - go all the way to Birdneck Road.''
Not everyone, however, agrees.
A wholesale remodeling of Pacific Avenue would be impractical in the eyes of Albin R. Mailhes III, operator of Around the World Mini Golf at 16th Street and Pacific Avenue.
``There are parts of it that are good,'' Mailhes said. ``Putting the (utility) lines underground and improving the sidewalks is fine, but something they need to do on Pacific Avenue is to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph. At first glance, I think it's a monumental waste of money.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
Area Shown: Area of proposed improvements for Pacific Avenue
Drawing
Architectural drawings by LANGLEY AND McDONALD, P.C.
Staff photos by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Color Cover photo: Stop sign at 2600 Pacific Avenue.
A sea of utility poles and wires - looking south at 22nd Street -
would be buried out of sight under the Pacific Avenue plan.
Photo
AGAINST:
There are parts of it (the plan) that are good, . . . but . . . At
first glance, I think it's a monumental waste of money,'' says Albin
R. Mailhes III, operator of Around the World Mini Golf at 16th
Street and Pacific Avenue.
Photo
FOR:
I think it would be such a wonderful thing. I would like to see it
extended back into our neighborhoods - go all the way to Birdneck
Road,'' says Maryanne Nixon, president of the Resort Beach Civic
League and Coalition.
Graphic
HIGHLIGHTS OF PLAN
Traffic along Pacific Avenue would be discouraged by offering
visitors alternative ways to get to the beach, such as a regular bus
or trolley loop that covers the resort strip from Rudee Inlet to
40th Street. Routes to outlying areas and shopping centers would be
linked to the loop at 19th Street and Pacific Avenue.
Motorists also would be dispersed along alternate routes
branching out from the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway exit at
Birdneck Road. Approaching motorists would be shunted east and west
into beachbound corridors like Laskin Road, Norfolk Avenue and
Birdneck Road.
Nineteenth Street, between Pacific and Arctic avenues, would be
closed and part of Laskin Road and 30th Street would be converted to
one-way streets. This would enhance adjoining property - such as the
Dome site and a large Baltic Avenue tract - for development into
entertainment or retail centers.
Overhead utility lines would be buried in underground duct banks,
just as they were on Atlantic Avenue, to rid Pacific Avenue of the
unsightly clutter of utility poles and overhead wires.
Sewer, water and drainage lines would be upgraded.
Pacific Avenue would be widened to 80 feet throughout its length,
and its now drab contour would be spruced up with landscaped median
strips. North-south traffic would be restricted to 30 mph, a dip
from the current 35 mph speed limit. Two lanes of traffic in each
direction would be interspersed by left- and right-hand turn lanes.
Drive-through businesses, such as fast-food restaurants, pizza
delivery outlets and convenience stores would be discouraged to
reduce future traffic snarls.
On-street parking along Pacific Avenue and diagonal parking along
the eastern leg of Laskin Road would be banned.
So-called ``gateways'' to the beach, such as the Rudee Bridge,
Norfolk Avenue, 21st Street and Laskin Road would get special
decorative and landscaping treatment, and turn lanes would be added
to ease peak traffic flow in the summer months.
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