DATE: Saturday, August 16, 1997             TAG: 9708160285

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY 

        STAFF WRITER  

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   64 lines

BEACH LAWSUIT EXPECTED ON DREDGING LYNNHAVEN

How deep is 5 feet? Well, it could be 6 - if, in the fine language of government bargaining, ``tolerance'' is taken into account.

On that definition hang the hopes of hundreds of homeowners on the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River - and a lawsuit the city is likely to file to settle a dispute over how deep it may dredge to reopen many parts of the river to boating use.

City officials said Friday they will formally notify the Virginia Marine Resources Commission next week of an intent to appeal a ruling last month that the long-awaited dredging of the river's main channel could be no more than 5 feet - which Beach officials say is not deep enough to protect many pleasure boats.

The appeal goes to the state Circuit Court in Virginia Beach.

At the same time, just in case there's room for negotiations, the city plans to file a motion asking the VMRC to reconsider its July 22 ruling.

The VMRC said that dredgingany deeper than 5 feet would result in damage to marine life in the river. The city said the decision would result in dangerous conditions for boaters and that 6 feet would allow room for error and variables caused by silting.

Commission staff members, expecting a lawsuit, were guarded Friday, but they indicated that there is some wiggle room in the otherwise-firm ruling.

``There are discussions as to what depth the dredge will be allowed to cut to achieve a 5-foot depth,'' said Environmental Engineer Randal D. Owen.

As far as the VMRC's ruling went, ``5 feet is 5 feet,'' said senior staff adviser Wilford Kale. ``But in dredging, one can never be held to 5 feet without a tolerance.''

In other words, said Beach coastal engineer Phillip Roehrs, ``We have to be allowed to dredge up to 6 feet in order to get 5.''

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 waterfront property owners on nine major Western Branch tributaries continue to wait after 15 years of discussions.

``It's just dragged and dragged and dragged, and they're getting really impatient,'' said George Londeree, president of LACA Inc., a company that has helped homeowners plan and carry out dredging projects in both the Eastern and Western branches since 1990.

LACA has designed 50 projects on Western Branch tributaries.

``If the city is ready to go in December, we would need to be on line with our first project in early spring,'' Londeree said.

In the complicated business of dredging permits, cities must not only get state approval but pass muster with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Roehrs said the city had at last gotten the Corps of Engineers' approval. In a statement sent to the city in July, Corps District Engineer Robert Reardon said the project would have ``no significant impacts.''

The EPA was expected to follow suit by late July, Roehrs said, but since the VMRC ruling, it has suspended further action.

Even if the depth question is answered, there is still a sticking point: time restrictions.

The VMRC said the dredging could only occur between December and February along a 2 1/2-mile stretch below Hebden Cove because of possible interference with flounder spawning grounds. The city called the restriction arbitrary and unworkable.

There's no room for compromise there, Roehrs said, adding, ``We are not satisfied.'' ILLUSTRATION: VP MAP

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