DATE: Wednesday, October 8, 1997            TAG: 9710080495

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B12  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   51 lines

INCLUDE CHESAPEAKE IN REGIONAL PLANS, RESIDENTS ASK CONSULTANT

Gene Leis is tired of no one talking about his city in the plans for Hampton Roads.

Whenever a sports arena is mentioned, the Great Bridge resident says, it's always Norfolk or Virginia Beach that's the desired locale.

Light rail? No one ever talks about it stretching to Chesapeake, he says.

``I haven't seen anything for Chesapeake,'' Leis said. ``My question is: What's in it for me?''

At least Leis was asking the right person.

Rick Horrow, a consultant hired by the Hampton Roads Partnership to examine a regional projects package, took his regional forum to Chesapeake Tuesday night.

Although he wasn't prepared to talk specifics about what Chesapeake - or any other city - might receive under a potential referendum, Horrow said, Chesapeake - like all the municipalities involved - wouldn't be left out in the cold.

``Chesapeake will see some tangible benefits from this package,'' Horrow said.

Only seven residents showed up at Oscar Smith High School for the forum, which has been drawing similarly small crowds in other cities, said Syble Stone, president of the Hampton Roads Coalition of Civic Organizations.

But those who were there expressed an array of concerns relating to Chesapeake and Hampton Roads.

Gary Szymanski, president of the Western Branch Council of Civic Leagues, worried that a regional projects package might take away funds for infrastructure needs.

Horrow said that it shouldn't be an either-or choice, and that funding for roads could come from federal or state sources.

``I'm not prepared to fold the tent because we have a series of transportation problems that need funding,'' Horrow said.

Joyce Leis, the wife of Gene Leis, asked Horrow - who is working separately with International Speedway Corporation, the entity responsible for developing NASCAR tracks - whether a NASCAR track might be in Chesapeake's future.

Noting again that nothing specific has been considered, Horrow said that although such speedways are expensive, most fans attending a NASCAR event tend not to come from that city and therefore spend a lot of outside dollars.

The timetable for putting together a regional package is still flexible, Horrow said. He plans to meet with local municipal government leaders by the first quarter of next year, with a possible referendum by 1999.

``There is not a rush. . . . We need to do it right,'' he said.

For Denise Waters, president of the Clearfield-Triangle Civic League, that meant making sure Chesapeake gets in the mix.

``We're concerned Chesapeake isn't going to get recognized,'' she said.

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