THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502150163
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: JOHN PRUITT
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Some months back, when we were preparing to move to our new digs here in the former Leggett's building, I came across a document from Suffolk Tomorrow.
The organization consisted largely of unofficial representatives from various areas of the city, and the aim was to gaze into the crystal ball to identify Suffolk's needs and potential and ways to meet both.
For a number of reasons, the organization faltered. It preceded the now-widespread emphasis on citizen empowerment, so participants may well have gotten the feeling that the whole thing was a futile exercise that would influence nothing.
Or perhaps it fell apart because the team concept of leadership was unfamiliar to some participants, so that when the man in charge left that position, there was no one to take over.
Whatever the causes, it's a pity that such an organization didn't continue, for heaven only knows what wonderful ideas could have come from such a diverse group. With so many day-to-day needs claiming so much attention, Suffolk's future is uncharted.
The good news is that the new city manager, Myles E. Standish, is acutely aware of it. And the better news is that he intends to do something about it.
And, perhaps best of all, he intends to depart from the traditional approach of city management - simply gathering City Hall administrators, City Council members and other governmentites and asking them what they think their city should look like 10, 15 years from now.
Mr. Standish realizes that it is our city, and that citizens often know better than administrators what they want of their communities. He recognizes that the wishes of Somerton residents, for instance, are likely to be far different from those of the people in Holland or the fast-growing northern end of Suffolk.
Those are very important distinctions as Mr. Standish advances the idea of a comprehensive plan, which would be, in essence, the guidebook to Suffolk's short-term future. With updates, it could become long-term.
What he has in mind is more than a blueprint that says which areas should remain agricultural and which should be residential or industrial.
The plan would be, as its title says, comprehensive. It does little good, for instance, to declare this year that an area is to remain predominantly agriculture and then approve development-fostering municipal water and sewerage in the area next year.
Without a utilities policy that goes hand in glove with the comprehensive plan, the future of an area is no more certain than the whim of the City Council or, in the case of zoning challenges, the court.
Without a redevelopment and housing authority that puts as much emphasis on its first role - redevelopment - as it does on housing, historic neighborhoods are little more secure than areas that already have been transformed into neglected rental property by absentee landlords.
Without zoning laws that make sense for now and tomorrow, there is little hope of remedying hodgepodge development. Zoning categories so broad that they allow a gas station opposite a 19th century courthouse are outdated and clearly provide no protection for the future.
As many needs as there are demanding immediate solution, it's not enough for city government to concentrate on today. That's why it's so important that Mr. Standish's idea of a comprehensive plan goes forward.
It would not be Mr. Standish's plan but ours, developed after a series of sessions with citizens - on our own turf.
It's precisely the type of empowerment citizens deserve as they create their own version of Suffolk Tomorrow. by CNB