THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050355
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 71 lines
Today, Suffolk becomes a consultant's canvass.
LDR International, a Columbia, Md., company that will help Suffolk develop its next Comprehensive Plan, will get a sense of the city during a morning bus tour.
It's the first step in what will develop into a citywide series of community meetings this summer to develop a vision of how Suffolk should look in coming years.
Uri Avin, one of the partners with LDR, met with the Planning Commission on Tuesday to discuss how the process will work. He called the session and today's tour a ``fact-finding'' mission.
``We'll be collecting data, analyzing it, getting a citywide zoning map,'' said Avin. ``We'll help develop ideas from the communities for a blueprint.''
The commission outlined for Avin what they thought were some of Suffolk's strengths and weaknesses. The pluses include a good quality of life and lack of traffic congestion. Problems included a dearth of employment and inadequate tools, such as zoning ordinances, to keep pace with growth.
Commissioner William Goodman, who represents the Cypress borough, said that although he hasn't witnessed much growth in his area, he knows it is coming.
``We need to take a new look at our Comprehensive Plan,'' said Goodman. ``We need to control growth.''
Commission Vice Chairman E. Dana Dickens said the issue is management.
``The city of Suffolk has a great deal of land that's developable,'' Dickens said. ``We just need a better handle on managing it.''
Today's tour will take LDR representatives through a large swath of the city's 436 square miles.
What will they see?
West Washington Street out past the Lake Kilby Water Treatment Plant.
Farmlands in Holland.
The Suffolk Municipal Airport
Hall Place just south of downtown
The East Washington Street corridor near downtown; North Main and Godwin streets.
King's Fork Road, north of downtown.
Lake Prince near the Isle of Wight County border.
Everett's Road to Chuckatuck and Harbour View, where development is booming.
The tour ends at Shoulder's Hill Road and Nansemond Parkway.
The Great Dismal Swamp, one of Suffolk's most prominent features, won't be on the tour. Neither will be a host of communities.
So what method went into the choices?
Planning Director Paul E. Fisher said he chose to visit Holland because it's a large agricultural area. The downtown, East Washington corridor was selected because of ``its uniqueness of the problems and opportunities.''
And, Fisher said, the consultants must see the water supply reservoirs at Lake Prince and Western Branch for environmental reasons.
``The water supply reservoirs provide all the drinking water until Lake Gaston,'' Fisher said.
``Storm water runoff can have an adverse impact on water quality. . . . You have to look at your density of development around those areas.''
Assistant City Manager William E. Harrell said the objective is to have the consultants assess some of the city's prime real estate.
``We're looking at areas that can be developed as well as corridors that we may want to preserve, such as rural areas,'' Harrell said.
What makes this year's Comprehensive Plan different from the one done six years ago, Harrell said, is that it will involve more community input at the front end.
Suffolk Mayor S. Chris Jones said he welcomes the community input.
``It's timely, considering what's getting ready to happen here,'' said Jones. The mayor said the process, with early community involvement, will give residents a sense of ownership.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK PLANNING COMMISSION by CNB