THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Two months after the City Council approved a controversial industrial park and adjoining auto race track, opponents have persuaded Suffolk to put the matter back on the table.
Monday, in a special early morning session, the council voted to hold another public hearing on March 29 and to vote again on the projects.
Suffolk officials refused to comment, saying they could not discuss the announcement because the projects are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by opponents of the half-mile track and 684-acre industrial park that abuts the Chesapeake city line.
But the announcement comes less than a week after opponents of the track filed a motion in their lawsuit alleging that Suffolk city officials violated a state law by not giving Chesapeake city officials proper notice about a public hearing last year on the project.
In an affidavit filed March 1, Chesapeake City Manager James W. Rein said that his office received a form letter from Suffolk's planning department on Dec. 19, notifying Chesapeake of a public hearing on the track and industrial park to be held the next day. Rein said the notice was dated Dec. 15.
State law requires at least 10 days' notice to an adjacent city when a proposed zoning change involves land located within a half-mile of its border.
The Northgate Industrial Park and the race track both will sit on land located at Nansemond Parkway and Shoulders Hill Road, about a half mile from the Chesapeake border.
``The lateness of the notice,'' wrote Rein in the affidavit, ``did not permit opportunity for timely analysis of the content of this matter.''
Suffolk officials refused to acknowledge that the affidavits led to the new public hearing. Council members and city officials also denied that the hearing is a capitulation to their opponents.
Mayor S. Chris Jones read from a prepared statement that neither admitted nor denied the allegations made in the lawsuit. He said that ``in the spirit of open government, City Council will make every reasonable effort to meet the expectations of the plaintiffs.''
The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 29 before a joint meeting of the council and the city Planning Commission.
A vote on whether to ratify the rezoning ordinances needed for the industrial park and racetrack will be taken after the public hearing, which is being held to receive ``new and additional evidence,'' according to the motion made by Councilman Richard R. Harris.
Members of the City Council privately said they did not expect their earlier decision to be reversed.
The projects faced heavy opposition from local residents over a two-month period. After they were approved, Chesapeake residents said that the Suffolk City Council had not given them enough notice about a project that might have a negative impact on their nearby communities.
``The fact that City Council is going to reconsider and reopen it up is great,'' said David Walkup, an opponent of the track who lives in Chesapeake. ``I think it's better to address things politically than go through a lawyer.
``Here we have people from Chesapeake and people from Suffolk working together, but we can't have the governments working together,'' he added. ``The vote may go the same way, but it appears council is a little more open to it.'' by CNB