Power line plans prompt backyard battle

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A Dominion Virginia Power project is causing a stir in one Norfolk neighborhood.

"We are people who don't have much," that from Dorothy Holmes who lives in the Camellia Shores neighborhood of Norfolk where surveyors are marking off what belongs to Dominion Virginia Power.

Letter to residents

This week, Dominion started going door to door, telling residents to get property out of the power line easements as part of the Oakwoood to Burton 115kV Rebuild Project. The project is a massive undertaking replacing power lines.

Project map

Project schedule

"This was a line that was built back in the 1960s and you can imagine the demand for electricity has increased quite a bit," Bonita Harris with Dominion said.

The transmission line affects 150 residents in the Camillia Shores neighborhood. Surveyors have been marking off land that belongs to Dominion Virginia Power and not the residents.

The residents in Camellia Shores have enjoyed the tree buffers, decks, trees and pools but life is changing and some think not for the better.

"They're going to come in and cut down the trees and the birds that greet me every year," Dorothy Holmes said.

Dorothy and her son Gilbert have lived in the same home for 30 years and say they have serious medical issues, impairing them from moving an above-ground pool Dominion needs moved to install the new line.

"I can't tear this pool down," Gilbert Holmes said. "I don't have the wind. I will be lucky to still be alive when they get done."

All the trees must come down because Dominion is putting up the new power line. The pool's got to go too. 

"I understand progress but if they want me to move this pool and shed they need to send someone out here to help me move it," Gilbert Holmes said.

Harris said Dominion will be paying residents with serious ailments like Dorothy and Gilbert $500 to assist with relocating yard items.

The pink ribbons on dominion easement sticks are everywhere in the neighborhood.

The Calvin Preschool lost half of its playground because half of it is in the easement area under the lines. After much negotiation, the preschool agreed to move the playground and Dominion agreed to build them a new fence.

At another property, the end of a deck is in the easement, but it may not need to come down unless it is determined the pool that it surrounds is in the easement. WAVY.com checked with Norfolk Permits, and the pool has a permit, but the owner was told the pool must stay off the easement.  

"If a pool has just the concrete in the easement and not any of the water, then we might be able to work with them and they might be able to leave it there," Harris said.

Another pool at another property is a different story. The water in the pool is in the easement and according to city records no permit was issued for the pool. 

"The water part of the pool in the easement then would become a safety concern," Harris said. "In the easement sheds are gone, shrubs and trees are gone, if the water is on the right of way, yes, all that must be gone for the safe construction of our line."

Dominion will be responsible for taking down the fences and putting them back up. After the construction is complete, grass will be replanted. There will also be a list of approved landscaping that can be put back up.