THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100047
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 102 lines
It is an unlikely battleground: 685 placid acres in northern Suffolk, near the Chesapeake city line.
But Suffolk and Chesapeake citizens who have been fighting Suffolk International Raceway through bureaucracy and courts wonder what army they will face next.
Will it be Upton and Arnette Associates, the developers who proposed the track as a cornerstone for a mammoth industrial park? Or will the city of Suffolk charge onto the front lines?
``We are watching and waiting,'' Martha George, a Suffolk resident and co-chairman of the opponents said recently. ``Our concern. . . hasn't gone away.''
While the conditional use permit for the track expires March 29, the city is negotiating to buy the farmland.
The racetrack promoter says the facility will be built, but others have doubts. Members of Citizens Against the Racetrack vow to continue opposing the track, which they say will disrupt their quiet communities with crowds and roaring engines.
Notice of intent to renew the permit must be filed with the city clerk 45 days before the expiration date. Planning Director Paul Fisher said late last week that the planning department had heard from the land owners about the renewalprocedure.
Things have changed since the Suffolk City Council approved the raceway permit in March 1995.
Originally, the developers were to pay for infrastructure for the industrial park with profits from the racetrack. Now, the city is negotiating to buy the 685-acre site, near the intersection of Shoulders Hill Road and Nansemond Parkway.
What would that mean for the racetrack?
``We have an interest in the property,'' City Manager Myles E. Standish said. ``Beyond that, I can't say anything specific.''
Mayor Thomas G. Underwood said Suffolk is still interested in developing the speedway. The renewal ``will be coming up before City Council shortly,'' Underwood said.
John D. Padgett, a Norfolk lawyer representing the developers said, ``We are considering a lot of options at this point. The racetrack is definitely one of the strongest options.''
Promoter Joe Baldacci Jr. has said the speedway is likely to attract weekend crowds of more than 7,000 to the quiet community near Chesapeake Square Mall. City officials estimate that the track could generate $25,000 annually in taxes.
Baldacci, who once ran Langley Speedway in Hampton and several years ago proposed a speedway in Isle of Wight County, runs concessions now at a Richmond racetrack. He said, ``Everything depends on the city.''
From his standpoint, Baldacci said last week, the green light is on for racing in the rural farmlands near Driver by March 1998.
``We've been working daily with the city,'' Baldacci said. ``We're hoping to get started as soon as possible. We've reached an agreement with NASCAR.''
NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall said the organization is acquainted with Baldacci. But NASCAR sanction, he said, isn't that easy to come by.
``All of our agreements are made on a year-to-year basis,'' he said. ``We'll have to wait until it's built and then take a look at it.''
First announced in July 1994, the $5 million, half-mile oval track was to have been built as part of Northgate Industrial Park. The developers and Baldacci predicted auto racing by March 1996.
``The racetrack is (to the industrial park) like a Food Lion would be to a shopping center,'' Baldacci said.
But nobody planned for the outcry of residents and objections from CAR. About 60 acres of land, owned by Upton Farms Inc., was zoned ``business'' for the track. And that's when the trouble started.
First, Chesapeake complained that Suffolk didn't give sufficient notice when a public hearing was held on the rezoning. The City Council initially approved the conditional use permit by a 6-1 vote. The council then held another public hearing and approved it again.
The citizens took their objections to the state Supreme Court, arguing that the rezoning was improper because the facility wouldn't qualify for commercial-recreational use under Suffolk's zoning ordinance. The court ruled that it was within the council's legislative power to approve the permit.
Since then, the conditional use permit has been renewed once - last year. It can be renewed for one additional year.
Council member Marian B. ``Bea'' Rogers, the only member of council who twice voted no to the track, hasn't changed her mind.
She said, ``I think it's inappropriate to put a racetrack in the middle of an industrial park. I hope it never happens.''
David Walkup, CAR co-chairman and a Chesapeake resident, said recently that the organization is inactive but financially sound, and members are ready and willing to keep fighting what they say will disrupt the quiet of their community.
Things have changed, too, in the area's racing climate since the track was first proposed.
William Gwynn, of Gwynn Automotive Machine Shop, a track supporter in the beginning, said that since Baldacci left Langley in 1994 and new owners took over, that track has been repaved and improved.
And Southampton Speedway, last year a Southampton County dirt track, is in the process of being paved for the upcoming season. Gwynn said he's uncertain now if the area would support three racetracks - four if you include Richmond - within a 100-mile area.
Nobody denies that Suffolk, with its ever-expanding population and related demands for schools and utilities, is in need of industrial growth. Even Rogers thinks the industrial park is a good idea.
The questions now: Who builds the industrial park? And is the racetrack included?
KEYWORDS: RACETRACK