Virginia Beach moves to buy Camp Pendleton plot

VIRGINIA BEACH

The purchase of 17 acres off General Booth Boulevard was a line item on the City Council's agenda Tuesday night - an item 21 years in the making.

The saga of the land that belonged to the National Guard's Camp Pendleton began in 1987, when then-Gov. Gerald Baliles declared 567 acres outside the main post as surplus.

The city already had used much of the land at that point. The property had been leased from the state, and housed Red Wing Golf Course, Birdneck Elementary School and the Owls Creek Tennis Center.

When Robert Matthias, assistatn to the city manager, told the council on Tuesday that there's a lot of history behind the land, longtime staffers and council members smiled knowingly.

Virginia Beach set money aside to purchase the land almost immediately after Baliles' declaration. But talks stalled.

George Allen - looking for prison-building money when he served as governor - viewed the sale of surplus state land more favorably. After years of pushing by the region's delegation, state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle introduced a bill in 1996 that cleared the way for the purchase.

In December 1996, the city agreed to pay $6.3 million for 550 acres of the land, promising to use it only for municipal and recreational purposes. A new Seatack Elementary was built and the golf course was expanded.

The state recently decided to put the last parcel up for sale - 17.64 acres off General Booth Boulevard, between Birdneck and Dam Neck roads. Tuesday, the council approved $300,000 to buy it.

"We've always thought this was a strategic property," Mathias said. That sounded much like what he said 12 years ago: "It's an important strategic move for the city."

About one-third of the land is encumbered by either a 100-foot power-line easement or wetlands, and Matthias said its future use isn't clear. It could be a greenway, he said, or open space.

John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com