Norfolk razes damaged decks built on public property

NORFOLK

Two years ago, Michelle Schenck sank her life savings into a bungalow on the Chesapeake Bay, a "forever dream house" with a private deck on the dune and a wide beach just beyond the back door.

She weathered her first major storm there last week - a nor'easter that took a giant chunk of the dune, left the deck lopsided and severed the staircase. Schenck couldn't wait to fix her outdoor sanctuary. She began the repairs Wednesday - the same day a Norfolk official came by and made her stop.

Since then, the city has demolished her damaged deck and staircase.

Others have lost beach access this week, too: Four other walkways and decks have been leveled - with more to come, said Lee Rosenberg, manager of Norfolk's environmental services division.

The city sees the decks as unsafe. They were built on city land, which made them illegal to start with, he said.

For years, the city has wrangled with dozens of Ocean View property owners such as Schenck, who Norfolk leaders say have encroached on the dunes by building decks, staircases and walkways, planting fences and flagpoles, and installing fire pits.

Rosenberg estimates there are 300 to 400 of these encroachments. As land values soared, more people with disposable incomes moved in and wanted to expand their outdoor living space, he said.

"It's really accelerated," he said.

Last summer, city leaders sought compromise instead of punishment. They considered letting some of the structures stay but never made a final decision, Rosenberg said.

But the solution seemed simple this week when it came to decks and walkways pummeled in the nor'easter, Rosenberg said: Anything built on public land is public property. Therefore, the city has the right to tear down damaged structures.

Rosenberg pointed to an elaborate construction perched atop the dune a few houses from Schenck's with an observation deck, a gazebo and a "private" sign on the railing. The storm chewed the sand from around the deck's pilings. It, too, Rosenberg said, would be condemned.

"It's as if someone built a gazebo in front of the Boardwalk at Virginia Beach" and told people to keep out, he said.

Rosenberg said such structures obstruct views and can harm the dunes. Some were not built to code, he said, and if someone were injured on them, the city could be held liable.

"I've been a pretty big defender of people who've had these a long time. But you can't authorize reconstruction of something that was done illegally to start with," said Councilman W. Randy Wright, who toured the Ocean View area Friday morning with Rosenberg, Councilman Don Williams and Assistant City Manager Stanley Stein.

"I didn't realize there were that many private walkways," Williams said as they surveyed the beach strewn with debris and mounds of tangled grass.

Homeowners will need a special permit from the city to replace structures torn down or condemned, Rosenberg said.

That doesn't seem right to Schenck, who moved to Hampton Roads a few years ago, eager to find a place to live with water views. She thought she could afford only a condo before discovering the two-bedroom, one-bath East Ocean View bungalow built in 1930. Its deck offered panoramic views of the Bay that made it more appealing and valuable, she said.

Still, Schenck said, she proceeded cautiously, meeting with the city building department three times before closing on the property. "I covered every base. Not once did anyone tell me it was illegal."

That news came only after she'd moved in.

"I don't know what more I could have done to prevent this. I thought I did my due diligence," Schenck said.

Both she and a neighbor, Theresa Cipriano, whose deck also was torn down by the city this week, believe their losses will diminish their property values.

"The reason I bought my house was because it had beach access and a great deck and a walkway to the beach. I would not have bought it otherwise," Cipriano said.

She was meeting with a contractor about getting her deck fixed when it was demolished.

No one warned her, she said. "I was at home. They could have knocked on my door and told me."

Wright defended the city, saying again that the deck was on public property and presented a safety hazard.

Schenck said city officials seized an opportunity to get rid of structures they didn't want in the first place. "They're taking advantage of a disaster."

But Rosenburg said that's not the city's intention. "Obviously, it hurts to tell someone it has to go," he said.

He'll be having a lot more of those conversations. Decks still leaned against dunes reduced to cliffs Friday morning. The city will be out again next week inspecting them.

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com