VIRGINIA BEACH (Tribune News Service) — A decade-old plan to build a waterfront restaurant in the Seatack neighborhood is reigniting pushback from the U.S. Navy after site work began recently.

The land-use issue flared up in August when contractors began clearing access to a vacant, wooded lot at the eastern tip of Owls Creek Lane. Navy officials took notice because the land is subject to a U.S. government easement, which restricts what can be built there.

Naval Air Station Oceana officials had notified developer Michael Sifen nearly a decade ago that building Owls Creek Oyster Bar on the lot would not be in compliance with the easement.

NAS Oceana Commanding Officer Capt. Josh Appezzato reasserted that position in an Aug. 23 letter to the developer stating that a restaurant would be in violation of the terms.

Plans submitted to the city indicate Owls Creek Oyster Bar would be a two-story, 5,000-square-foot restaurant, elevated on piles and have a 95-space parking lot. The city’s planning department approved a conditional site plan in 2016, noting that a restaurant was not in compliance with the U.S. government’s easement. City approval for site work was issued in July.

Seatack residents took notice of activity at the site and reached out to the City Council about the lack of information and opportunity for input.

At a recent council meeting, Virginia Beach Planning Director Kathy Warren said the zoning of the land allows for by-right development of a restaurant and that it didn’t require a City Council vote.

“This is the reason that the development could be approved without a requirement for public hearings,” Warren said.

Sifen’s company Sea Shadow Inlet, LLC., has owned the the 5-acre property that overlooks Lake Rudee for almost 20 years. Sifen declined to comment on the project through his attorney Eddie Bourdon.

The Department of Environmental Quality issued a general construction permit for the restaurant project in 2014. The storm water design status was set to expire this year.

“That’s why you see some activity on the site,” Warren said.

In the 1980s, the Navy acquired easements over properties in Virginia Beach to prohibit intensive commercial development in noise and accident potential zones. Dubbed the Air Installation Compatible Use zone (AICUZ) program, it addresses land development surrounding military air installations.

Due to its proximity to NAS Oceana’s airbase operations, the Owls Creek Lane land is subject to above normal noise levels. The Navy paid the previous land owner $399,999 for the easement on the property, which limits what can be built there.

If Sifen pursues construction of a restaurant, the Navy could take legal action to stop it, the commanding officer’s letter implies.

“The U.S. Navy reserves the right to pursue all available actions to enforce the property rights owned by the United States Government,” the letter said.

NAS Oceana officials reviewed the restaurant plan in 2015. The restrictions of the easement do not specifically name restaurants as a prohibited use, however, the 2015 review determined that a restaurant would be considered a retail use which would violate the terms of the easement.

Sifen could use the land for another purpose if the city and the Navy approve, but the options may be limited. The previous owner of the land, Rudee Inlet Yacht Basin Inc., abandoned plans for a marina years ago even though it’s a permissible use in regards to the easement.

Other permitted uses within the terms of the easement include parking garages, laboratories, veterinary establishments and manufacturing facilities, among others. However, city zoning rules could prohibit some of them.

Rudee Inlet Yacht Basin bought the property with plans to eventually build a marina with a restaurant in 1970. That same year, the land was rezoned from residential to commercial. The designation was later renamed B-4, a mixed-use business district, according to the city.

The marina plans ramped up decades later in 2003. Residents of Shadowlawn and Seatack opposed the project, according to previous reporting by The Virginian-Pilot. Neighbors were concerned about environmental impacts and traffic.

In 2005, Sifen bought the land from Rudee Inlet Yacht Basin Inc. for $2.8 million, according to city records.

Seatack Civic League President Donnie Gregory owns property adjacent to Sifen’s land. He was unaware of plans for an oyster bar until the site clearing work began recently.

In September, Gregory told the City Council that the concept would “denigrate” Seatack’s family community and that residents are concerned about traffic through their neighborhood.

City Attorney Mark Stiles said the issue is out of the city’s hands.

“The Navy both interprets the scope of and the definition of the terms of the easement, and it’s the Navy who would seek to enforce the easement if they believe that the use being proposed was inconsistent,” Stiles said.

On Wednesday, NAS Oceana spokesperson Katie Hewett said the developer has not yet provided a formal response to the commanding officer’s August letter. The developer has not yet obtained a building permit, and construction was not underway during a recent visit to the property.

Keep Virginia Beach Above Water, a grassroots public advocacy group, recently launched a change.org petition opposing the project. It had 148 signatures as of Wednesday.

Stacy Parker stacy.parker@pilotonline.com

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