Beach initiative at Oceana yields new homes, less density

VIRGINIA BEACH

The city began buying property around Oceana Naval Air Station in 2006 to roll back residential growth near the master jet base. 

In the past year, it has resold 22 of those lots to individuals and developers who have sometimes built houses even larger than those in the neighborhoods.

In some cases, the city resold the lots for less than half of what it paid.

“I really didn’t think that they were going to build anything there,” said Patricia Groman, who sold her family’s two lots on Reuben Street to Virginia Beach in 2007 under the city’s $15 million-a-year program to preserve Oceana.

Groman, who used the proceeds from the sale to buy a retirement home in North Carolina, said she expected the Virginia Beach land to remain vacant because  the city’s program was aimed at reducing density around Oceana.

But there’s a new home for sale where Groman used to live.

“It upset me,” Groman said. “It was a contradiction.”

Virginia Beach officials argue that their program is reducing density. It was never the city’s intent to leave vacant lots in the middle of neighborhoods, said Becky Kubin, a city attorney who is helping to manage the Beach’s program.

“The goal is to reduce the density any way we can and still have enough critical mass in the neighborhood so it is a livable neighborhood,” Kubin said.

The city launched the Accident Potential Zone 1 and Clear Zone acquisition plan in response to the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s 2005 criticism that the master jet base should be moved out of the city because Virginia Beach had allowed too many homes and shopping centers to be built under Oceana’s flight path. The growth threatened both aviators and residents, the commission said, because it was in a high accident potential area.

Buying lots was one of several measures, including rezoning property, to roll back encroachment.

Under the plan, property owners can voluntarily sell their land and development rights to the city. In most cases, the city paid more than the assessed value for the land. Since 2006, the city and state have spent $41.9 million to buy about 57 acres in APZ-1 and the Clear Zone.

The lots that the city bought in the Clear Zone, at the end of the runways, can not be built on again.

But the properties in APZ-1 can  be reused, under the plan the city adopted, as long as the new use  is  compatible with the Navy or it reduces  potential density.

If, for example, the city bought land that was zoned for a duplex, even if it  had only one home on it at the time, when it was resold the new owner could put a single-family home on it. The new owner also would  have to add noise-reducing elements to the building and agree not to sue the city or Navy over jet noise.

The Beach has  leased some of the  houses it purchased to non profits, used some of the land for a park, sold  some  property to neighboring land owners  so they can increase their yard size, sold some for renovation, and converted other sites to business uses.

Overall, the city’s actions have  “produced a significant reduction in actual and potential incompatible residential land uses in these areas near NAS Oceana,” said Kelley Stirling, the base’s spokeswoman.

In Groman’s case the city sold both lots, which were zoned for duplexes, to Ocean Bay Homes  Inc. as one buildable site. A portion of one of Groman’s lot was in the Clear Zone, so that lot cannot be used for living space, Kubin said.

Joe Ferrara, a Cheltenham Square resident who is on the committee that oversee s the buyout program, said most of his neighbors aren’t surprised to see the homes go up.

“Part of it was not Swiss-cheesing the neighborhoods,” Ferrara said. “The bottom line was that we didn’t want them to get vacated and wanted to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood. That’s what the city had committed to.”

Eric Haynes, a London Street resident, said that while he prefers seeing homes on his street instead of vacant or neglected property, he doesn’t think it’s a good deal for taxpayers.

The city sold many of the properties for significantly less than  it paid. The city bought  property near Haynes’ home for $225,000 and resold it to Ocean Bay for $40,000. The city spent $374,000 on a property on Middle Lane and  sold it, also for $40,000, to Murray Homes Inc.

“That’s our tax dollars, and they never recouped the money,” Haynes said.

While the prices have been low, they were usually the highest bid that came in for the property, said Robin Brandeburg, with the Beach’s real estate department.

When the city started selling the lots in late 2008, it would  get only two or three bids. Ocean Bay and Murray Homes have been the only developers rebuilding in the Accident Potential Zone.

Ocean Bay had sold the city almost 2  acres with 22 potential homes for nearly $2 million in 2007. The company  recently bought more than 3.5 acres nearby for $566,500, but it can  build only 12 homes on the land.

Officials from Ocean Bay and Murray did not return phone calls.

Brandeburg believes that bid prices for the lots will increase as competition to develop them grows. The city plans to bid the next group of lots for rebuilding or rehabilitation in March.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com