DATE: Thursday, September 4, 1997           TAG: 9709040439

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   46 lines

REVITALIZATION PLAN GIVES SUFFOLK NEIGHBORS HOPE

For many of the 40 or so Orlando residents who filled half the Suffolk City Council chambers Wednesday night, receiving the council's approval on a plan to rehabilitate their neighborhood meant a lot.

The plan means that now those residents will have a decent, safe place for their kids to run and play.

It means that now, they will have a community they will be proud to call home.

To some, it symbolizes their first shot at home ownership.

And to the majority, the council's approval represents a dream come true.

``We're looking forward to the future,'' Iris Jones, an Orlando resident, said. ``We recognize it (Orlando) not as the slums, but our home.''

The City Council voted unanimously to support a plan that involves building new homes, adding a park and improving drainage in the community located on the edges of downtown.

Councilman Curtis R. Milteer said the plan is symbolic because it is the city's first attempt at community revitalization.

``This is the first and major step toward bringing our city into the 21st century,'' Milteer said. ``We need to go to other communities as well.''

Last November, the City Council selected Orlando - a nine-block neighborhood full of boarded-up structures and vacant and ramshackle homes - as Suffolk's first neighborhood rehabilitation project.

The housing authority, which is scheduled to vote on the plan at their next meeting, has already cleared several lots to build new homes. They have also set aside $600,000 for new construction.

The city has allocated $390,000 of federal community development funds to widen and connect streets and improve the drainage system in the community.

Housing officials say work will begin once the plan is approved by their agency.

In other business, the City Council approved a list of more than 20 residents to serve on a committee that will develop a plan to expand downtown.

Steve Herbert, Suffolk's assistant city manager for development, said the plan not only involves expanding the business district - which has typically only included parts of Main and Washington streets - but also adds surrounding neighborhoods.

The committee will meet monthly, and the plan will be brought to the City Council in early January. KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL

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