THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601200106
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 251 lines
WITH A NEW Suffolk on the horizon, the city's Planning Department is bracing for unparalleled growth.
But this time, citizens will have a say in how their city grows.
Beginning in February or March, Suffolk will embark on a series of ``community visioning'' meetings across the city - in Whaleyville, Holland, the core city, Chuckatuck and North Suffolk. Citizens - not city officials alone - will visualize how they want Suffolk to look in the future, and their input will help shape a revised Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
The plan is the blueprint of the future Suffolk, said Paul E. Fisher, the Planning Department's executive director.
The document will guide Planning Commission recommendations and City Council actions on rezoning requests, which change land uses from one category to another. Fisher said he can't predict if the zones will change, but he said citizens may want to change lot sizes.
The city now has 12 land-use categories, ranging from agricultural - to preserve the city's heritage by protecting land with the greatest food production potential - to heavy industrial.
Suffolk has its 2005 General Plan, but citizen input didn't figure to the degree city officials said the next plan will.
``The old plan didn't solicit community input until the last stage,'' said Robert Baldwin, who recently became Suffolk's long-range planner. ``The public hasn't been satisfied with that. If you want community consensus, you need to give them ownership.''
With the challenges accompanying growth, Baldwin said, citizen input is crucial. Long-time residents will gain many new neighbors, and a population boom bring demand on city services such as water, sewerage, public safety and schools.
Mayor S. Chris Jones said growth is good for Suffolk.
``It's certainly going to change in the way of people,'' said Jones. ``You're going to see an influx in the northern end. There will be substantial single family residential growth. There will be private sector growth downtown due to the Courts Complex.''
Last year, Suffolk issued 2,472 building permits, according to the Bureau of Inspections. In the previous year, 2,048.
The 1995 total is ``comparable to (those of) the big cities like Virginia Beach,'' Fisher said. ``Suffolk is experiencing tremendous growth pressures .
What are some of the pressures?
The population, now about 51,000, is expected to nearly double by the year 2010.
Many longtime residents do not have basic municipal services such as water and sewerage.
There is increasing conflict between those residents, who say they don't want to foot the bill for services for new ones; and new ones, who say they don't want to finance improvements for people who preceded them to Suffolk.
Schools are on a catch-up course, and enrollment is rising.
A new elementary school will open next fall in the Harbourview area, and three new elementary schools, along with a fourth middle school and a third high school are planned by 2003.
``There is no doubt we have many more needs than money available,'' Mayor S. Chris Jones assessed in November 1995.
And what's the attraction to Suffolk?
Among other factors:
Residents of quickly developing cities like Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are seeking escape to a city of vast land area, about 430 square miles.
Transportation improvements make Suffolk, a city of largely rural characteristics, easily accessible to more urbanized areas of Hampton Roads.
Land prices are such that people can get more for their money than in some other areas.
``The developers are coming to Suffolk because there is a demand for new houses there. Suffolk is now more accessible due to (Interstate) 664,'' said Bob Widener, executive chairman of the Suffolk Legislative Regulatory Affairs Commission of the Tidewater Builders Association.
Suffolk's rural landscape and expanding infrastructure also are driving demand, city officials said.
A leisurely drive through most parts of northwest Suffolk, the growth is evident. Harbourview - a planned city within a city - has attracted an upper middle class clientele. Near Chuckatuck, the Kings Landing development is nearly complete.
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District's Windsor force main, running along Kings Fork Road in Suffolk and U.S. 460 to Windsor, is expected to spark development in that area. A United Church Retirement Home and a large subdivision on a former horse farm are already planned on Kings Fork Road.
Another sewer line, from North Suffolk to Smithfield, is expected to boost development along U.S. Route 17.
However, with growth, comes pain and angst.
For example, when the Nathaniel Gray family sought to rezone their farmland for the Indian Point subdivision, nearby Kings Fork residents protested the subdivision lot sizes. Residents wanted the lots to be similar to theirs. The City Council approved rezoning, but stipulated lots comparable to those in Kings Fork.
Community concerns and lot-size regulations are issues that developers will continue to confront, said Widener.
``Each person should be able to have the flexibility to develop his land the way he wants,'' he said.
The type of policy review anticipated after the ``visioning'' will thrust the Planning Department into a more influential role, said Assistant City Manager William E. Harrell.
``The Planning Department is the first layer of policy review for a particular development,'' he said. ``We'll need stronger coordination with the Planning Commission and City Council.''
City officials also must identify ways to pay for development.
Residents in northwest Suffolk rejected plans for a taxing district that would have given them sewerage but also would have supported infrastructure to nearby industry and other development. Let the developers pay, some residents said.
Additionally, ``Suffolk needs to be much more sensitive to long-range funding revenues for road improvements,'' said Fisher.
City officials are looking at financing tools that would possibly put more burden on developers, but they're mum about details.
Harrell would only say: ``Council has established a policy that growth will pay for itself. We're going to be costing out options.''
The options are varied. In Chesapeake, for instance, the city conducts level-of-service checks to make sure developments won't adversely affect local schools, roads, etc.
There are no impact fees in Virginia, and Suffolk - unlike Chesapeake - doesn't charge developers cash proffers.
Widener speculated that the city would raise utility charges, real estate taxes or impose or increase upfront construction fees.
``As long as it's a fair, equitable, across-the-board fee, it's OK,'' said Widener. ``But I think we have to find ways where the entire population bears the cost - not just the new homeowner.''
Mayor Jones said he expects resistance with the possibility of higher utility rates. But that's all a part of the challenges the boom will bring, he said.
``With this growth upon us, we can't worry about it until after it gets here,'' said Jones. ``We have to ponder those far-reaching issues now.'' ILLUSTRATION: ON THE COVER
James Phillips puts up a house wall for J.M. Carlton Contruction
Company at Burbage Lake Circle and Repass Beach Road. Staff photo by
John H. Sheally II.
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Robert Baldwin, Suffolk's long-range planner, wants community
involvement.
Robin Wade holds her son while she goes over a city map with
Planning Department staffer Celeste Phill. Wade plans to open a
cleaning business.
Raymond Williams works at a construction site on Burbage Lake Circle
in Suffolk.
Graphic
[Side Bar]
HOW REZONING WORKS
So, how does a property now zoned for one use get rezoned for
another?
An application is filed with the city, and both the Planning
Commission and City Council consider it.
The Planning Commission makes a recommendation on a rezoning
request after a public hearing.
The recommendations go to the City Council, which may approve or
disapprove. If applicants wish to make changes rather than face
rejection, the council may send requests back to the Planning
Commission.
Planning Commission meetings, open to the public, are held at 2
p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at City Hall.
City Council meetings, at 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesdays
of each month, also are open to the public. Planning items
typically are heard at the second meeting.
A legal notice, published in a newspaper, notices posted on
affected property and letters to adjoining property owners inform of
rezoning applications.
Here is an example of a legal notice of a rezoning request:
REZONING REQUEST RR20-95 (CONDITIONAL), submitted by W. Jeffrey
Overton on behalf of Ganesh and Jasodera Nirmul, for rezoning from
R-1, Low-Medium Density Residential, to B-2, General Business
(Conditional) for the exclusive use of the property for a medical
office.
The premises affected is located at 104 Palmyra Drive and is
further identified as Tax Map 25(a), Block HA, Lot numbers 3,4 and
part of 5, Nansemond Voting Borough, Suffolk Urban Development
Area.
Even though it's a lot to read, the notice offers much
information:
1. Submitted by/on behalf of - who wants to change the property's
use.
2. From - the existing zoning.
3. To - the zoning sought.
4. Conditional - Limited to the stipulated usage; any change, and
it reverts to previous zoning.
5. For - the proposed use.
6. Located at - where it is.
7. Identified as - where you can find pertinent information at
the Circuit Court.
Sometimes, proposed uses are listed only in such terms as
``allowable uses.'' More information about what is allowable in
each of the classifications is available from the Planning
Department.
Now that you have this information, you can use the definitions
below to gain additional information about the existing zoning and
what a change might mean.
Conservation District: Protects and conserves land and water
resources deemed critical to the welfare of Suffolk citizens but are
particularly intolerant to use by man.
Agricultural District: Preserves land with the greatest food
production potential. The minimum lot area is one acre.
Rural Residential District: Encourages low-density rural use of
nonprime agricultural land, an interim classification of
agricultural land adjoining urbanizing areas. Rezoning would occur
as services and facilities become available. Minimum lot area is one
acre.
Residential Suburban District (RS-1 - RS-2): For low-density
residential development on lands which - by their soil, drainage and
other natural characteristics and proximity to and impact on
utilities, schools, parks and roadways and their relationship to
neighboring uses - are best suited to residential development. RS-1
districts require at least 30,000 square feet; RS-2, 20,000 square
feet.
Low-Medium Density Residential Districts (R-1 - R-3): Provide
low-density residential development within urban development areas.
Boundaries are intended to include development of same general
character and density of neighborhoods involved.
R-1 districts require at least 15,000 square feet; R-2, 10,000
square feet; R-3, 6,000 square feet.
Medium-High Density Residential Districts (R-6, R-10, R-16,
R-24): Provide for medium densities of residential development
within urban development areas. There is vehicular access without
creating through traffic. Minimum lot requirement for one-family and
two-family dwellings is 5,000 square feet; multi-family dwellings,
10,000 square feet.
Office-Institutional District (O-I): Compatible with neighborhood
required. Minimum lot, 10,000 square feet.
Neighborhood Business District (B-1): Preserve and establish area
for commercial facilities especially useful near neighborhoods. They
may be scaled to serve neighborhoods without attracting outside
traffic. Minimum lot is 5,000 square feet.
General Business District (B-2): To serve larger commercial
markets than B-1. Accessibility to arterial roadways and utilities
define the district. Minimum lot is 5,000 square feet.
Light Manufacturing District (M-1): Suited to accommodate
wholesale and warehouse activities through their proximity to city
utilities and roadways. The minimum lot is 10,000 square feet.
Heavy Manufacturing District (M-2): Fairly isolated area that is
not near neighborhoods. Minimum lot is 10,000 square feet.
Central Business District (CBD): Recognizes the unique
characteristics of the business core of the city, encourages
existing functions and stimulates revitalization. No minimum lot
requirement.
KEYWORDS: REZONING by CNB