DATE: Thursday, October 16, 1997            TAG: 9710160523

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   72 lines

CITY, RESIDENTS AT ODDS OVER FUTURE USE OF TRACT

Calling it an opportunity that doesn't occur often, city officials are moving to develop a commerce park on a 35-acre tract that until recently was the site of a rundown apartment complex.

But the attempt to expand the city's tax base would go against the wishes of many residents who live in neighborhoods surrounding the property, which once housed the Chesapeake Manor apartments off Sewells Point Road.

``There's not a soul out here who wants the city to have a business park out here,'' Wilma Suiter, president of the Oakwood Civic League, said Wednesday.

Most of the residents in the surrounding middle- and working-class neighborhoods, Suiter said, favor redeveloping the site with affordable, single-family homes.

``We need single-family homes for low-income people,'' said Willet Moore, president of the Chesapeake Gardens/Mamie Homes Civic League.

The issue illustrates the tough balance Norfolk officials say they must strike between neighborhood desires and economic growth in a city that must redevelop property to grow. The neighborhoods surrounding the property are mostly black, which heightens the sensitivity, officials say, because of past claims that progress in the city often comes at the expense of African Americans.

City officials say it's a rarity to have such a large piece of property available in Norfolk, which is almost fully developed, and that using it for commercial expansion would bring the biggest benefit to everyone. It would create jobs, generate tax revenue to hold down taxes and create money for additional city services, they say.

``One of Norfolk's unique challenges is to have good tax-producing property for the benefit of the rest of the city but also to create more synergy to attract good, clean businesses into the city,'' said W. Sheppard Miller III, chairman of the city's Industrial Development Authority.

``The market is screaming for this kind of space in the city. It's probably not economically sensible to develop it into single-family homes simply because of the cost versus the return.''

The City Council, after discussing the concept in private, voted 6-1 Tuesday to authorize city staffers to negotiate a $4.3-million purchase agreement with the city's Industrial Development Authority and the property owner, Virginia Beach businessman Bob Copeland and his son, Todd Copeland.

City Councilman Paul R. Riddick voted against the measure, saying he favored housing. The recent demolition of the apartment complex displaced hundreds of residents. Huge mounds of rubble now litter the site.

Vice Mayor Herbert M. Collins Sr., who voted for the measure Tuesday, said Wednesday that he had changed his mind. He said he favors the city buying the land but that he will not support commercial development. The neighborhoods are located in Collins' Ward 3.

``It seems that all the growth patterns always come at the expense of the black community,'' Collins said. ``We've got to have businesses in this town, but I'm afraid to let it go at the expense of this community. They represent the strongest pocket of my ward, and I've got to listen to them.''

As proposed, the Industrial Development Authority would finance the $4.3 million purchase through bank loans or bonds and would develop the property, officials said. Mayor Paul D. Fraim said a purchase deal with the owner was imminent.

The Copelands in previous interviews have said they planned to develop the property with a mix of apartments and single-family housing. They could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Miller, of the Industrial Development Authority, said creating a business park, with appropriate buffers, would not be a dramatic shift in use of the site. It now borders a heavily commercial area on Sewells Point Road and near East Little Creek Road and is close to major traffic arteries, ideal for businesses, he said.

Officials say they envision a project similar to Norfolk Commerce Park off Robin Hood Road, with a mix of office space and warehouses for small manufacturing companies and wholesale distributors. It would not include heavy industry, Miller said.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu