DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997                TAG: 9703280548

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   35 lines

OFFICIALS HOPE TO DRAW LINE ON CITIES' BORDER

City officials who hired surveyors to determine where the Chesapeake and Suffolk border actually lies say they hope to hold a public hearing in May on their findings.

There is no official border. Until recently, when developers north of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge questioned where to apply for permits, there was no real urgency to find out.

May Ann Saunders, Chesapeake's assistant to the city manager, said she expects no dramatic changes from the surveying process, which began in January.

``From the public information meetings, we found out that people really wanted to keep their residency; they wanted to keep living in the city where they pay taxes,'' she said.

From the meetings held in Suffolk and Chesapeake, the cities were able to collect old land records and other information from residents. But Saunders said much of the information conflicted. Surveyors have been tramping through back yards and the swamp to take their own look at the properties, she said.

The boundary line runs from Portsmouth south to the North Carolina line, straight through the wildlife refuge. The surveying likely will impact builders of undeveloped land north of the refuge and the payment the federal government makes to the cities in lieu of property taxes that could have been collected if the wildlife enclave was not there.

Last year, Chesapeake earned $90,046 for its 46,564 acres included in the swamp, while Suffolk got $69,816 for its 35,632 acres, according to refuge records. The money varies from year to year based on the earnings of wildlife refuges and appropriations from the U.S. Congress. Both Chesapeake and Suffolk city councils will sign off on any boundary changes after the public hearings.

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