Panel advances bill to aid redevelopment in East Ocean View

By HARRY MINIUM, The Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND - A State Senate committee agreed Wednesday that Norfolk needs
more time to redevelop blighted areas in East Ocean View.
With little debate, and half a dozen Norfolk city officials in the
audience, the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee unanimously
approved SB 1138. Without the bill, sponsored by Sen. Nick Rerras,
R-Norfolk, city officials say redevelopment efforts in East Ocean View
would end in July.
Councilman W. Randy Wright told the committee that the bill has
generated no opposition in East Ocean View, and that parts of the
Chesapeake Bay community remain seriously blighted.
City officials said the legislation is needed because of a law written
by then-Del. Thelma Drake in 2002 that specified that redevelopment, and
thus any taking of blighted property through eminent domain, ends in
July.
Drake, now a c congresswoman, said Wednesday she supports Rerras' bill,
though she doesn't necessarily believe it's needed.
Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority officials said there are as
yet no firm plans to further redevelop the East Ocean View.
The housing authority led efforts to develop a 90-acre area of East
Ocean View where the East Beach community is being built. Approximately
1,600 homes, most of them blighted and some taken by eminent domain,
were razed to make way for East Beach.
However, swaths of dilapidated apartments and rundown homes remain, city
officials said.