DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150559

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   58 lines

SUFFOLK RENEGOTIATING LAND DEAL FOR NORTHGATE INDUSTRIAL PARK CITY OFFICIALS WOULDN'T COMMENT ON A SOIL SURVEY, CITING A NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT.

After a $90,000 deposit and talk of millions of dollars in return, city officials are renegotiating with developers on plans to construct Northgate Industrial Park.

City officials said Friday they have delayed finalizing a contract to purchase the property near the Chesapeake-Suffolk border.

Although the city has recovered its deposit on the land, officials are still talking with its owners about a deal.

Steve Herbert, Suffolk's assistant city manager for development, said the city may still acquire the property, which is owned by L.J. ``Buzz'' Upton III and another developer. Suffolk might also financially help with infrastructure, he said. ``This property is still an important piece of property and has a future as an industrial park site,'' Herbert said.

Herbert would not give reasons for the city's backing out of the deal.

Suffolk officials had agreed in March to purchase portions of the 685-acre site for business, light industrial and light manufacturing companies, based on the results of a soil survey.

In addition to the $90,000 deposit, the city also set aside $126,000 to purchase seven acres and $600,000 to build a road into the site.

Herbert declined to comment on the survey, saying the terms of the contract preclude the city from discussing its results.

Upton could not be reached, but he had originally told city officials that the land - once crop wetlands - had been altered for industrial use within the law.

The other terms of the contract were:

The city would buy the 460 acres closest to Nansemond Parkway, as needed, within 15 years.

A minimum land purchase was to be made yearly; at least 5 1/2 acres the first year, with each subsequent year's minimum purchase increasing by an acre.

The city would pay $18,000 an acre for the first seven acres, but the price would increase by 6 percent annually.

The Northgate Industrial Park property has long been surrounded by controversy. Upton and another developer proposed plans three years ago for an industrial park with a racetrack. The city agreed to help by installing utilities and finding tenants. But a group of Suffolk and Chesapeake residents who live near the site formed a group to protest the racetrack. They took their fight to the state Supreme Court, which ruled that the council acted properly in approving a permit for the racetrack.

The decision to delay acquiring the land comes at a time when Suffolk is struggling to expand its services. More than 700 houses are built in Suffolk each year, and city officials are scrambling to meet the demands of growth: new schools, roads and fire and police services.

Officials say the only way to pay for Suffolk's needs is by increasing economic development dollars. With Northgate Industrial Park, Suffolk could develop three new commerce centers at one time.

The city is developing the Suffolk Industrial Park near downtown and is trying to acquire land near Tidewater Community College for another one.

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