THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610150110
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
LENGTH: 104 lines
After the two speeches, the 60 people in the audience were given an opportunity to ask questions of several city officials in the room. What follows are some of those questions and answers:
Eileen Moore: My first question is, how come it's on the ballot this year?
City Council member Louis R. Jones: We've been thinking about it and talking about it for about a year. . . . The reason we put it on the ballot when we did is because we just didn't want to wait another year. We felt like it was important for us to go ahead. I'm sorry you've got the impression that it's going on the ballot fast but the truth of the matter is that's not the case.
Leslie K. Fenlon: The City Council's resolution (authorizing the election) states that the City Council recognizes that ``there is a need (for a redevelopment and housing authority).'' Can you define the need?
Jones: The state law of Virginia is unique in that it gives the power and authority (to condemn land for economic development) to a redevelopment authority (and not to the City Council). It seems to me kind of odd that an independent authority can be established by the governing body that would have the authority and power to do these things whereas the body that actually establishes it doesn't have that power. That's the state law in Virginia, unfortunately. That's the best way I can answer your question.
Fenlon: Is this aimed at Burton Station?
Jones: Burton Station (a neighborhood abutting Norfolk International Airport) is one of the areas in the city that brought to light the lack of authority that the city has to deal with this kind of a problem. But to say it's aimed at Burton Station particularly, no. It's aimed at . . . whether or not there's an ability to be able to deal with blight - or rehabilitate areas and prevent blight from occurring.
Steve Vinson: If the issue is blight, are there not existing city codes (to) prevent this deterioration? Given, unfortunately, that we do have poor quality (housing), we're going to pay for the sins of our predecessors. Some of that is not remediated by the enforcement of codes but wouldn't the enforcement of codes take care of a lot of these problems?
Director of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Andrew M. Friedman: Yes . enforcement would be one key way to help but there are other ways. My understanding about what makes a neighborhood a good place to live is that it's a safe place, the property is maintained and the citizens are involved. There certainly are places where code enforcement as it exists today is not sufficient to help the kind of conditions that are necessary.
Some subdivisions have gone in such a way that the power of condemnation would be useful to that neighborhood. As an example, there are some neighborhoods where drainage ditches exist behind the properties. The continuous problem of maintenance creates a constant conflict between neighbors, because each neighbor owns one little chunk of the drain. There's no real feasible way to solve that problem right now. That could be solved.
There are some neighborhoods where there are no parks for the kids to play. That, potentially, could also be solved. There are also some neighborhoods where vacant housing owned by absentee landlords are just kept vacant. With code enforcement we have the ability to compel them to maintain the outside - put boards over it and keep it secure - but it's still going to be a vacant eyesore in the neighborhood. In that case an authority can be useful.
Roger Visser: Can the authority, for economic reasons, condemn something? . come in and say we can get more tax dollars from this property if we condemn it and put up hotels and motels, and therefore we're going to do it even though it's not a blighted area?
Deputy City Attorney Randall M. Blow: No, sir. The area has to be blighted or deteriorated or there has to be adverse property conditions before (the area can be declared a redevelopment area and condemnation can be used). The housing authority makes that initial determination and the determination would have to have the blessing of the council. . . .
And thereafter, even after the area is determined to be blighted and deteriorated there would still be an opportunity for judicial review. If somebody wanted to challenge that determination, the court would have to agree that the area was in fact blighted and deteriorated. There are various levels of review. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Burton Station, a neighborhood abutting Norfolk international
Airport, is one of the areas in the city that brought to light the
lack of authority that the city has to rehabilitate this kind of
urban blight or to prevent it from occurring.
Graphic
Photo
Beach NAACP objects to redevelopment authority
The Virginia Beach chapter of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People is the only organization that has come
out against the creation of a redevelopment authority. The group's
president, E. George Minns, has threatened to file a civil rights
suit if voters approve the ballot question, arguing racial
prejudice.
In a three-page letter to the city attorney, Minns argued that
the authority would target black neighborhoods that are blighted
because of decades of city neglect, and that the election process
puts black voters at a disadvantage to their white peers.
Minns said he would have liked to have presented his views at the
Council of Civic Organizations' meeting, but was not invited. He
also tried to get the city to dedicate time on its municipal
television station, VBTV Channel 48. The city denied his request,
saying that allowing him air time would violate a prohibition
against spending city money to advocate a position in the election. by CNB