THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160216
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
They came with a clear mission:
No matter what, they would fight - to the end - the City of Suffolk over its rezoning of an industrial park and adjacent race track.
Some residents said they were continuing to protest because the race track would bring too much traffic to their neighborhoods.
Others said they weren't giving up the challenge because city officials had rezoned an area that was originally dedicated for low-density or agricultural use.
The residents were among about 25 Chesapeake and Suffolk residents who showed up last week at Russell Memorial Library to declare their intentions to go to the state Supreme Court with their fight over the rezoning. The site is at the intersection of Nansemond Parkway and Shoulders Hill Road.
The residents, part of an organization called Citizens Against the Racetrack, or C.A.R., have been trying to raise $5,000 since November, after a Suffolk judge ruled in favor of the city's plans for the 684-acre development.
They are still $1,500 short, but they said an appeal will be filed Feb. 23.
Group members said the lack of funding doesn't bother them because they haven't actively campaigned for money, but checks keep coming in.
Sue Richardson, one of the leaders of C.A.R., said they're also breathing easy because no work has been done on the site, even though the development was approved almost a year ago.
City officials say the race track hasn't been built because they're still negotiating with developers.
The council rezoned the land last March after residents argued that the development would increase traffic and noise in their neighborhood.
Shortly afterward, the group filed a lawsuit alleging that the council rezoned the site illegally and that opponents of the race track were given little say in the process.
Judge Rodham T. Delk Jr. ruled in favor of the City Council, saying it did nothing wrong in rezoning the land.
On Wednesday, the Suffolk City Council will consider a one-year extension for the Conditional use Permit it issued March 29, 1995, to Upton & Arnette Associates for the racetrack. Such extensions are routine when applications are made within the proper time, as this one was. ILLUSTRATION: Map
by CNB