
DATE: Thursday, May 22, 1997                TAG: 9705220459

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

SURPRISING FRANKLIN? CITY IS FASTEST-GROWING IN STATE; CHESAPEAKE NO. 4

Chesapeake is no longer Virginia's fastest-growing city.

According to preliminary estimates, that title now goes to tiny Franklin, which, with 300 new residents in 1996, experienced a population increase of 3.57 percent.

But the most rapid growth of any area in the commonwealth occurred in Lunenburg County, according to estimates by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The largely rural area of 443 square miles north of South Hill grew an amazing 7.9 percent in one year, going from 11,400 to 12,300 people.

You might not want to pack your bags to get on that bandwagon, though.

Most of Lunenburg's new residents didn't arrive in moving vans. They came in shackles. The county's growth spurt can be explained by one Big House, not a collection of cul-de-sacs. The new Lunenburg Correctional Center is home to 1,123 of the county's residents, most of whom arrived last year.

Although Chesapeake fell to Virginia's fourth-fastest growing city during 1996 - with an estimated population increase of 2.23 percent - it was still one of the most attractive destinations in the state. The report estimated that 4,100 new residents called the city home last year. Only Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties had more newcomers.

Suffolk also experienced a boom. According to preliminary population estimates, it was the state's second fastest-growing city at 2.86 percent after an influx of 1,600 new residents.

City officials say Chesapeake deliberately slowed its growth trend.

Years of record-setting residential building in the early 1990s burdened the city with debt that, if unchecked, would threaten Chesapeake's bond rating.

Losing the title of Virginia's fastest-growing city doesn't bother the city's head planner, Brent R. Nielson, who said Chesapeake is more concerned with tracking growth within the city.

There has always been some question about Chesapeake's qualifying as the fastest-growing city in the state. Statistically, demographically and even geographically, Chesapeake is developing more as a county than a city, according to Donna Tolson, research analyst with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. ``Chesapeake has as much in common with other suburban counties outside of big cities as it does with the cities themselves,'' said Tolson.

In addition, like the booming counties of Henrico and Amelia near Richmond and Petersburg, Chesapeake has experienced the ``first ring'' of growth from its surrounding cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Now, says Toland, growth is moving on to ``second ring'' communities such as Suffolk and Franklin.

As a whole, cities in Virginia lost population by 0.1 percent while counties overall grew by 1.5.

All these population figures are based on provisional numbers, which are expected to change in the coming weeks when more solid statistics arrive from the Weldon Cooper Center. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Fastest-growing cities in Virginia

1. Franklin, up 3.57 percent from 8,400 to 8,700

2. Suffolk, up 2.86 percent from 56,000 to 57,600

3. Manassas Park, up 2.67 percent from 7,500 to 7,700

4. Chesapeake, up 2.23 percent

from 184,300 to 188,400

5. Manassas, up 1.88 percent

from 32,000 to 32,600

Other area cities (unranked)

Virginia Beach: up 0.19 percent from 418,400 to 419,200

Portsmouth: down 0.99 percent from 101,000 to 100,000

Norfolk: down 1.07 percent from 234,400 to 231,900