THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9409080509
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
This city could soon get some relief for its growing pains.
The City Council is considering creating two new ``suburban'' residential zoning districts - the first time, city officials say, that the word ``suburban'' would appear in a Suffolk zoning ordinance.
Suffolk's current zoning ordinance contains eight residential districts. The two most frequently used are for 1-acre and for 15,000-square-foot lots. The rest are for smaller, more densely developed lots.
City officials hope that the two new suburban districts, which fall between the 1-acre and 15,000-square-foot limits, will offer developers more choice while controlling housing density.
The new districts - RS-1 Residential Suburban and RS-2 Residential Suburban - would allow single-family development on lots of less than one acre.
RS-1 districts would have a minimum lot size of 30,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 125 feet. RS-2 districts would have a minimum lot size of 20,000 feet and a minimum lot width of 125 feet.
Planners have not determined yet which parts of the city would be zoned Residential Suburban.
After hearing a staff report Wednesday on the new zoning districts, the City Council voted unanimously to send the proposal to the Planning Commission.
By increasing the number of zoning districts, city officials hope to free Suffolk from a future of snarled traffic and overburdened sewer and water lines.
James G. Vacalis, director of community development services, said Suffolk has yet to see dense development clogging the city's infrastructure.
``Not yet,'' he said. ``But you can almost see it coming. And with this, it will help.''
Suffolk broke all records last year for issuing building permits. Building experts say Suffolk is undergoing a mini-building boom as developers leave more restrictive and costlier Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
But the city is paying a price. Large areas of Suffolk are still without water and sewer service. And whatever service is available is built to serve a sparse and rural clientele.
But because builders want to create dense developments to make a profit, city officials fear normally quiet rural roads would begin to fill with commuters and utility services would become overtaxed.
The city's Planning Department recommends the changes be made in two phases.
The first phase would add the two new low-density residential districts to Suffolk's zoning ordinance.
The second phase would completely evaluate all of the city's residential districts for possible changes, such as creating separate districts for multifamily housing. by CNB