Last week a regional real estate association distributed a letter to its Suffolk members asking for their attendance at the March 21 Planning Commission meeting to support the approval of a rezoning request on the commission’s agenda. As there are currently only two rezoning requests on the agenda, only RZ2021-00018 (Lake Kilby Road) proposes the development of family homes and can be the subject of the letter.
RZ2021-00018 proposes rezoning 87 acres of land from Rural Estate (RE) to Rural Medium (RM) density and the development of 4.4 homes per acre. In previous proceedings, the application met with citizen opposition, citing level of service deficiencies for already overcrowded schools, inadequate road conditions, and concerns over stormwater runoff causing flooding.
This letter was sent out by a regional real estate association to its Suffolk members.
The letter raised the following points, which must be refuted:
The realtor stated Suffolk has limited housing inventory and without continued lots, we cannot sustain future growth, and the commission must approve RZ2021-00018 in order to have homes available in the community.
This cannot be further from the truth. According to Movoto.com, there are over 800 Suffolk home listings and compared to last year, the days on the market have increased 37% from 46 to 73 and 7% of listings have experienced price reductions. The 2035 Comprehensive Plan set growth for residential units to 522 per year. The current residential pipeline has 7,480 housing units approved but not yet built, which accounts for 19-years of projected population growth. Additional rezoning is unnecessary to maintain housing inventory and the Planning Commission must focus on the development of land already zoned for residential development. The cover e-mail for the letter showed some realtors are interested in continuing the rapid sales seen over the past couple years, citing 800 new construction homes were closed on last year, significantly higher than the growth set by the 2035 Comprehensive Plan.
According to the realtor, a limited inventory will drive up the cost of homes, making it unaffordable for young and average families.
According to Movoto.com, the median cost of a home in Suffolk is $412K. The city statistics show an average household income of $81K. Even with a good credit score and 20% down payment, young and average families cannot afford to purchase the proposed homes, which are forecasted to sell for an average of $500K. There are many factors making home buying unaffordable, such as inflation and interest rate increases, which reduce the purchasing power of a young or average family, and is not eliminated with zoning changes.
The realtor put forth that to build schools, roads, and other infrastructure, we need growth to collect real estate, personal property, and sales taxes.
Growth requires additional city services, which are currently stressed. The city is struggling to maintain an adequate level of service for schools, roads, stormwater runoff, and other infrastructure to support current communities, and cannot meet levels of services for additional development already in the pipeline. The city’s planned infrastructure improvements are years out. The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires the level of service to be concurrent with the impact of development. The city needs to take a pause on rezoning additional land until development in the pipeline is met with adequate levels of service. As we add more citizens, we will add additional stress to the already overstressed infrastructure.
This was the cover email sent out by a regional real estate association to its Suffolk members.
The realtor’s cover e-mail related that the association knows the importance of “Smart Growth”, supporting rezoning in Suffolk for new communities, and calls out that CARE4Suffolk is opposing rezoning because the organization does not want more communities built in Suffolk.
According to the EPA, “Smart Growth” approaches include conserving resources by reinvesting in existing infrastructure and involving residents in development decisions. It stresses the importance of balancing health, schools, taxes, traffic, the environment, economic growth, and fairness in development decisions. Similarly, the CARE4Suffolk mission supports responsible growth, where the citizens of Suffolk will receive the level of service expected to maintain our quality of life. We understand the importance of growth and change and want it to occur responsibly with the city ensuring the infrastructure is in place, including schools, roads, and public utilities, prior to rezoning and development. We also want to preserve our wetlands and the areas around our reservoirs, which serve as our drinking water, and a precious resource for all of Hampton Roads.
The letter showed some realtors value having additional homes to produce sales as a higher priority in Suffolk than having safe roads and adequate school capacity. The city must consider the needs of all citizens and not merely some developers and realtors who stand to profit from irresponsible development. CARE4Suffolk calls for the city to take a pause on rezoning until there is a reduction in the pipeline and the city’s infrastructure can provide adequate levels of services as laid out in the UDO and the Comprehensive Plan. To learn more about this rezoning request, click here.
Movoto? 842
Redfin 390 (includes for sale by owner)
Zillow 403 (includes fsbo)
REIN 364 (listed w realtors includes new construction)