THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180341
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: DECISION 96
PART 1: CITIZENS' AGENDA
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
Growth is no longer just waiting on the horizon here. It has spread from Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
And the nature of this once-sleepy rural community of 432 square miles is changing drastically.
Suburbs are sprouting in the North, feeding off new interstates and water mains, slowly tipping the traditional balance of power away from downtown.
Newcomers are demanding - and, in some cases - getting services that have long been unavailable in some Suffolk communities.
Although they welcome the new neighbors, jobs and tax revenues, many Suffolk residents wonder how they can succeed in handling development where neighboring cities have struggled.
Can residential growth be managed even as the city woos jobs?
Can older neighborhoods share in the boom?
Will Suffolk lose the quiet, rural charm that is attracting the newcomers in the first place?
Those broad themes emerged during a pair of conversations hosted by The Virginian-Pilot recently to learn what was on the minds of Suffolk residents as they prepare to elect three council representatives and consider six candidates for the School Board.
The 16 Suffolk residents who participated came from various neighborhoods and backgrounds. No current public officials were invited.
The concerns that emerged reflected those The Virginian-Pilot has heard in other round tables, public gatherings and interviews in Suffolk over the past year.
Residents said they hope Suffolk officials learn from the mistakes of nearby cities, especially since many of the newcomers are coming to escape development in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
``I moved out here where you had space. I moved out here to enjoy the farm across the street,'' Marcie Mitchell said. She, like others who turned out for the meetings, is concerned that such open spaces might be a casualty of the coming development.
The lesson to learn, said Lin Callis, is good planning is needed to manage growth.
``We keep saying in Suffolk that we don't want Suffolk to become another Chesapeake and we don't want it to become another Virginia Beach,'' said Callis, who works for NASA.
``But when you do a major subdivision in the city of Suffolk . . . to get your money back out of it, you've got to have small lots and high-density population,'' he said.
Many residents are concerned that sections of the city still lack basic services, and they worry those areas will be forgotten as newcomers arrive.
The Department of Health lists 29 subdivisions that do not have water connections and 59 that do not have sewer connections. City officials are busily ironing out a utility policy that would include $60 million to upgrade the water system and $40 million for sewer projects. But priorities have often been challenged.
Last year, several residents protested a City Council vote to give Westhaven Lakes - a middle-class neighborhood - sewer service while other, poorer neighborhoods still rely on outhouses.
``They (Westhaven Lakes) don't need water and sewer nearly as bad as some people who don't have running water and live in outhouses. . . . You need to take care of your own first,'' said Mitchell.
Talmadge Jones, a longtime Suffolk resident, was more to the point: ``We have to stop the building 'cause we can't supply what we have. We've gotten too far ahead of ourselves. You've got to have a moratorium.''
Many other residents grumbled about the city's lack of code enforcement, which they say causes other problems: dilapidated buildings breed crack houses and unsafe structures for kids. Others say the lack of city recreation for children fosters an environment where kids get into trouble and crime.
Mary R. Richardson, a floor designer from Pughsville, said she was pleased when developers built new houses in her neighborhood. But she was disappointed that a promised playground never materialized.
Mitchell agreed more recreation was needed. ``There's nothing,'' she said. ``I would like to see a nice area where you have a nice skating ring for the kids, a nice movie theater and bowling alley for the kids.''
Suffolk residents don't want all growth eliminated and are cautious about how the city tries to manage it. They say the city needs the jobs that will come from attracting industry and business.
Joshua ``Pret'' Pretlow Jr., a lawyer, said paying for development is necessary to spur jobs.
``We fail sometimes to look at the evils that we need to have in our communities in order to have luxuries,'' Pretlow said. ``We've got to have the evils of business.''
But it will take more than a bureaucratic policy to bring jobs to this bedroom community, said some residents.
It will involve leaders getting out and promoting what is available.
Suffolk has five industrial parks, two of which are publicly owned. One public park, Wilroy, and one private, Lakeview, have tenants.
City officials say they're pushing to attract more. In addition, officials are hoping the planned $14 million downtown courts complex will attract businesses.
Residents want to see city officials more active.
``It requires a serious marketing effort, and there's nobody doing it,'' said Wendy Hill, an engineer. ``We need a mayor out full-time who is marketing the city. Every time you look up, you see Virginia Beach Mayor (Meyera) Oberndorf at events. And where's Chris Jones? He's at the pharmacy.''
Growth creates the possibility for other problems, said Mitchell.
``Houses on top of each other, schools so overcrowded, new development on Wilroy Road,'' she said. ``When all these people are piled together, that's when you have problems. More crime.''
The challenge ultimately for Suffolk is unifying the needs, said Andrew B. Damiani, the city's former mayor.
``The problems with having a very large, spread-out, diverse community is that it's hard to focus on the community as a whole,'' said Damiani. ``One neighborhood might not have the same problem, it ought to be sympathetic to the other neighborhood. It's that give and take that we need - and understanding.'' MEMO: For the next three nights, beginning tonight, The Virginian-Pilot will
moderate public conversations for Virginia Beach school board
candidates. Details, A8.
ELECTION COVERAGE WHAT'S COMING UP
[Complete text of this schedule can be found on the microfilm for this
date.]
KEYWORDS: PUBLIC JOURNALISM COMMUNITY CONVERSATION by CNB