DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210251

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   78 lines

CITIES AT ODDS OVER ROAD PLAN CHESAPEAKE LIKELY TO OPPOSE EXPRESSWAY NEEDED BY BEACH

The Chesapeake City Council is to consider a formal resolution to oppose the Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt tonight, and officials in Virginia Beach are miffed.

It is the third time Chesapeake has formally opposed the road, one of Virginia Beach's top priorities. Without Chesapeake's OK, the road could be dead in the water.

The main sticking point is Stillwater Farms, a subdivision the road is mapped to run through near the Chesapeake terminus.

Virginia Beach officials note that the Chesapeake council approved the 29-lot subdivision well after it had been told of the road's alignment.

Already there is subtle talk of political retaliation by the Beach - perhaps on a sewer line that has to pass through Virginia Beach to service southern Chesapeake.

``I feel sure that some sort of another regional effort of some kind will arise which calls for cooperation,'' said Beach Councilman John M. Baum, ``but you don't feel any great incentive if you know next week they (Chesapeake City Council members) are liable to do something else.''

When a Virginia Beach city staff member last week cited the need for cooperation over the sewer line, Baum said his response was: ``Well, what's our rush?''

``That's kind of a natural reaction,'' he said. ``I think everybody agrees in theory that we need more regional cooperation. Well, when is it going to start? You can't have one city working against the other like that and expect another project like that to work.''

Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward and Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf could not be reached Monday for comment.

The $380 million Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt is mapped to run from the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway around the east side of Oceana Naval Air Station. It will end at Chesapeake's Oak Grove Connector, which is under construction, and the southern end of Interstate 464.

Virginia Beach sees the road as serving the region's future transportation needs, including the expected personnel boost at Oceana Naval Air Station. At the city's last council retreat, the road was ranked as one of the Beach's top five priorities.

Chesapeake sees the road as a Virginia Beach project that will affect Chesapeake property without any real economic benefit to the city.

The road could open up vast areas of Chesapeake to development, the kind Chesapeake wants to avoid as it copes with the burden of borrowing to cover the cost of the city's past record-setting growth.

Until the latest alignment was revealed in the newspaper, most Stillwater Farms residents were unaware of the road bearing down on them. Many then called members of the Chesapeake City Council.

Last week, Chesapeake Councilman W. Joe Newman made a motion to formally oppose the road as it currently exists. The vote was 9-0. A formal written resolution expressing the same sentiment is set for approval tonight.

The vote came as a surprise to Virginia Beach officials, who believed the road had come close to receiving Chesapeake's approval.

``The Southeastern Parkway is an important project for the whole region,'' said Virginia Beach City Manager James K. Spore. ``Over the last year, we've been meeting with them, asking them to reconsider their opposition, and they've indicated they thought this would be possible, but it hasn't happened. And just this last week was the latest concern.''

``I'd hate to see this regional project defeated for a 29-lot subdivision that was approved after knowing the alignment of this proposed regional highway,'' Spore said. ``I think we have to take a long view on some of these regional projects or they're not going to happen.''

Brent R. Nielson, Chesapeake's director of planning, said Monday that a number of factors led to Stillwater Farms' approval after the road's alignment was given to the city.

The subdivision was zoned for development in 1969, and the Planning Commission had approved the preliminary subdivision plan in January 1994.

At the time of the review, Nielson said, staff and the Planning Commission were aware of the road's general alignment, not a specific route.

The exact alignment of the road, he said, wasn't made available to Chesapeake officials until January of this year. ILLUSTRATION: Map

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