THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310255
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL AND SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
THEY CAME IN buses, trucks and cars Wednesday to debate the merits and demerits of the proposed Northgate Industrial Park and ajacent race track.
In the end, the Planning Commission and the City Council approved the projects - nearly three months after the council had approved them the first time.
And despite promises that the rights of citizens would be protected by a host of restrictions, opponents left feeling the only solution lies in a lawsuit filed against the city.
Both sides left more entrenched in their positions. For some, the hearing was a victory. Others viewed it as a sham.
Opponents from Suffolk and Chesapeake had forced the issue back on the table. The track site lies about a mile from the Chesapeake border.
Much of the overflow crowd of about 275 opposed the track, saying the city was not listening to the pleas of nearby residents whose homes and lives would be severely disrupted by noise and traffic . They wore yellow paper buttons showing a large black stripe slashing through a race car.
Others came to support the council, saying Suffolk should approve the tax-generating track and industrial park before a neighboring city cashed-in on it. They wore buttons that said ``F.O.R.'' - Friends of Racing.
Opponents gave a methodical presentation, detailing how the track could affect the hearing-impaired, lower nearby property values, hurt the local environment and fill the region with the noise of revving engines.
They brought a compact disc player to play the sound of such engines but Mayor S. Chris Jones would not let it be played. They brought charts detailing the findings of their own sound study. They brought petitions signed by 713 opponents. Supporters offered 591 signatures.
Gordon Tayloe, the attorney who filed the lawsuit against Suffolk in the name of CAR - Citizens Against the Racetrack in Our Backyards - said opponents are not trying to deny Suffolk a tax base.
``Nor are we against a race track,'' Tayloe added. ``It is the location that is a problem.''
Martha George, a track opponent, said the rezoning of 684 acres for the industrial park and 67 acres for the race track would go against the city's agricultural land use standards. ``Please,'' George said, ``don't let us down with a decision that will surely compromise our neighborhoods for money.''
Supporters took less time than opponents. Margaret Hall pleaded with the council for the race track.
``We need the tax base,'' she said. ``We need the race track. . . . You can only go to the well so many times for tax money.''
Other supporters said they were tired of driving to Norfolk for recreation.
``Prove to the city of Suffolk that you did do your job,'' said Brink Nelms, ``and that you stand by it.''
Developers Upton & Arnette Associates announced plans for the 684-acre complex in July. The park, at the intersection of Shoulders Hill Road and Nansemond Parkway, is planned to surround the half-mile oval race track, tentatively known as the Suffolk International Raceway. Promoters hope to start their first racing season next year at the $5 million facility, which is expected to generate $25,000 annually in taxes.
The site, close to Interstate 664 and rail service, is considered a prime location by Suffolk officials. The track and industrial park are located about 1.3 miles from homes in both cities.
But the project has gotten off to a rocky start. The Chesapeake City Council recently approved a ``resolution of concern,'' protesting the ``negative'' impact on nearby residents of Jolliff Woods in Western Branch.
The council said safeguards were in place to protect nearby neighborhoods.
Councilman Richard R. Harris, while supporting the project, voiced some empathy with opponents.
``I think what we lose sight of sometimes is that the actions of this body don't only affect Nansemond and Holy Neck and the other boroughs,'' he said.
Vice Mayor Curtis R. Milteer said the opponents ``had become fearful of the unknown.'' Milteer, who once lived next to a drag strip near the Suffolk Municipal Airport, said residents would soon become immune to the noise of the track.
Gene Waters, president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations, said Suffolk officials, like those in other communities, were willing to sacrifice their quality of life for economic development.
``There's no reason why they can't have an adequate facility and a race track in a location that won't offend and doesn't cause problems,'' he said.
Waters and another Chesapeake resident, Jo Ann Clarke, had come as ``cheerleaders'' for the track opponents.
``In a nut shell: It's a good project, the wrong location,'' Clarke said.
During a recess, Clarke said she was heartened that the second public hearing had been held.
Judith Konicki of Chesapeake said, ``They tried to dot their I's and cross their T's,'' she said. ``But we'll see them in court. It's a shame the citizens of Suffolk will have to pay their legal expenses.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP
Russell Dixon is one of the Suffolk residents opposed to the race
track. Opponents from Suffolk and Chesapeake had forced the issue
back on the table.
Friends of Racing, wearing yellow ``F.O.R.'' buttons, stick together
during the council meeting Wednesday.
by CNB