DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210252

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   73 lines

POLITICAL STORM BREWS IN SANDBRIDGE OVER REMOVING BULKHEADS

The nasty northeaster pulled away from Sandbridge early Monday, but the radar reveals a political storm brewing this week for the coastal enclave.

Like cold and warm air masses colliding, several residents of Sandbridge Beach are vowing to hold their ground against the city's attempts to seize part of their properties.

At issue: seven rusty, twisted bulkheads, among an original 44 that were battered by similar storms earlier this decade.

The city insists the bulkheads are hazardous and wants them fixed or removed. Officials have tried for more than a year, in writing, to get the property owners to comply.

The property owners, however, say the bulkheads protect their homes and aren't the city's to toy with.

``In this country,'' Helen McDonald, one of those residents, said, ``you cannot enter a private property and remove a working flood-control structure. Do you want them to come over to your yard to take down your fence?''

She said she'll defend her property, whether that means calling city or state police or taking action herself.

``They will find out,'' she warned. ``They're not coming on my property.''

As soon as Thursday, she and the others may be tested.

The city has awarded a $72,300 contract to Waterfront Marine Construction to remove the bulkheads. It's the same company that built the bulkheads.

The company intends to mobilize equipment Thursday or Friday and begin demolition as soon as Monday, said Phillip Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer.

The contract gives the developer 60 days to complete the work, a key part of an $8.1 million plan to widen Sandbridge Beach, Roehrs said.

The sand replenishment effort, scheduled to begin in the spring, would make the beach about as wide as the part between the resort city's 20th and 30th streets.

But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won't do the work if the hazards remain in the way - and if the city can't promise the beach would benefit the public.

To do that, the city must get all oceanfront property owners to grant legal use of the beach to the public. The corps needs access to pump sand onto the properties, and the public needs access once the project is finished. The city has acquired all but 14 of the 243 property easements.

Making matters worse, several of the outstanding legal documents are for the same properties that hold faulty bulkheads.

The city has until Feb. 28 to get the signed easements, and a struggle with the bulkheads this month may worsen an already frustrating situation for both sides.

City Attorney Les Lilley said Virginia Beach has the right to remove the bulkheads because they pose a danger to the public. He said property owners had ample time to fix or remove them.

Furthermore, he said, the city has the authority to acquire the easements ``by any means'' because the beaches have been public property for as long as anyone can remember.

He declined to elaborate on what ``any means'' might include, because that involves legal strategy.

Fred Greene, president of the 900-member Sandbridge Beach Civic League, said he thinks the property owners may change their minds about defending their bulkheads once they see bulldozers on the way.

He said residents and property owners overwhelmingly support the beach widening - even the people who have fought to protect their properties.

The weekend storm simply reminded everyone how important the project is, he said.

``We're fighting Mother Nature - it's a fact,'' he said. ``It's a further demonstration that we need to get sand on the beach.''

But that reality of an all-powerful Mother Nature has at least one Sandbridge man wondering whether the project is worth the expense.

``The question is, is Sandbridge worth it?'' asked Jon van Daalen, a general contractor who lives in the community. ``The answer is, I think, probably not. Because Mother Nature will go where she wants.'' KEYWORDS: STORMS BEACH EROSION SANDBRIDGE

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