community – Care4Suffolk

LOTSA PASTA Food Drive

Care4Suffolk — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 03:10:00 +0000

CARE4Suffolk is organizing a food drive to support the local Salvation Army. Please bring pasta or pasta sauce to Liberty Lane Farm on Sunday, March 12th from 12:00-3:00pm and stay for coffee and doughnuts if you can!

Donations can also be dropped off on the barn porch anytime from March 8th-March 11th.

Liberty Lane Farm, 2455 Lake Cohoon Road, Suffolk, VA 23434.

Please consider downloading the flyer to share with others.

Sparks Flew at the End of Tonight’s Community Engagement Session

Care4Suffolk — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 02:37:54 +0000

The city staff, including Jennifer Moore, Keith Cannady, and Erin Dears have done a great job organizing these series of community engagement sessions. They have demonstrated that they are there to listen to the community.

The evening saw a good deal of communication regarding ideas the community has for Suffolk; what people would like to see in Suffolk, what type of growth they are looking for, and areas of concern. Agricultural concerns, traffic concerns, amenities for citizens, like parks and venues, as well as issues with the schools and roads were all discussed.

Some of the comments made included:

More restaurants and mom & pop shops
More activities and opportunities for the youth
Beautify and make downtown and tangential areas safer
Develop areas like Holland and Whaleyville to have more activities and venues that can be a focal point
Do not let Suffolk be a port-centric city
“We don’t need to get bigger, we need to get better.”
Agricultural venue with restaurants, garden shop, venue, mostly outdoors
Protect our drinking water by not allowing more development on the reservoirs
Don’t put high density housing on country roads
Farms should not be converted to warehouses and solar farms when there are better areas that could currently be used to accommodate that
There are 7,500 houses in the pipeline (houses that have been approved, but not yet built) and Suffolk is isn’t expected to see that kind of growth for 20 years, so we shouldn’t be building houses on our farm land
We don’t have the money for the schools and students we have now, we shouldn’t build until we have this fixed

These are samples of some the friendly, productive talks throughout the majority of the meeting. However, at the very end of the meeting, Council Member Roger Fawcett, of the Sleepy Hole Borough, got up to make some closing statements. He started out by saying that they are trying to do what is best for the city as a whole. He went on to say that if citizens say something, but it isn’t reflected in the comprehensive plan, don’t get upset. He further stated that the city has no control if a farmer wants to sell his land and make money, at which point, one of the community members stated, “the City doesn’t have to rezone it from agricultural to residential.”

Fawcett responded that he doesn’t want to talk about rezoning and he went on to reiterate his previous point about a person being able to sell their land. Several community members spoke out in response and stated in various ways that the farmer can sell and it can be developed as agricultural land like it is zoned for and not rezoned. Fawcett then made the statement, “If you get the attitude that you are going to stop something, get a life!” This set off a firestorm of responses from the crowd as a whole. His statement was not viewed favorably by the vast majority of attendees.

To summarize, Roger Fawcett, a City Council Member, who is also head of the steering committee for the comprehensive plan, the very group that determines future development in Suffolk, has told the citizens of Suffolk that they can’t stop things and they need to get a life. This tone deaf response is insulting.

If you are content to let a man like this choose the future of Suffolk, then you need do nothing. However, if you believe in the power of community, if you have pride in your hometown, or if you refuse to be told to sit down and shut up about what matters most to you, your family, your home, and your neighbors, then you need to pick one of the remaining community engagement sessions and you need to bring you neighbors, family and friends, and we need to show Council Member Fawcett that we are empowered and we can change those things that are no longer working for us as citizens.

Please come to as many of these sessions that you can:

Oakland Elementary School
February 9th, 6pm – 8pm; 5505 Godwin Blvd, Suffolk, VA 23434

John Yeates Middle School
February 14th, 6pm – 8pm; 4901 Bennetts Pasture Rd, Suffolk, VA 23435

Nansemond River High School
February 16th, 6pm – 8pm; 3301 Nansemond Pkwy, Suffolk, VA 23434

Col. Fred Cherry Middle School
February 23rd, 6pm -8pm; 7401 Burbage Dr, Suffolk, VA 23435

Curtis R. Milteer, Sr. Recreation Center
February 28th, 6pm – 8pm; 132 Robertson St, Suffolk, VA 23438

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments to share with city council, please use this email: council@suffolkva.us.

Community Engagement Session

Care4Suffolk — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 19:29:26 +0000

On Tuesday, the City of Suffolk held the first of a series of winter Community Engagement Sessions. It was held from 6-8 pm in City Council Chambers at City Hall, with about 50 members of the community in attendance.

Keith Cannady gave a slide-show presentation explaining the Comprehensive Plan and outlining where in the process they are with the creation of this important document. He also had slides which listed both feedback they have received from the public and specific follow-up questions the city has for the public that can help meet the needs of its residents.

Below are the topics and questions from the city.

1. We heard from you that… it is important that Suffolk maintain a small-town feel. How can we create inviting places in Suffolk where people feel comfortable and want to spend time?

2. We heard from you that… you want Downtown and North Suffolk to be great places. What would you like to be able to do in Downtown or North Suffolk in the future that you are not able to do today?

3. We heard from you that… you want good jobs and thriving businesses in the city, but you don’t want large developments to diminish your quality of life, such as by generating too much traffic congestion. How can the city promote business growth while not negatively impacting day-to-day activities for residents?

4. We heard from you that… it’s important to preserve rural areas in Suffolk. How can we accommodate new housing and other development that is desired but still protect nature and agriculture?

5. We heard from you that… new development along Suffolk’s corridors such as route 58 and 460 should contribute positively to the city. What do you want the look and feel of the city’s corridors to be?

6. We heard from you that… we should be thinking about different values of housing. What kind of housing (size, style, price point, etc.) is most needed?

These were the questions prompted by the city to open a dialogue with the community. We need the community to show up and share their concerns, ideas and suggestions with the city. These sessions are the single biggest impact the community will have in the process of development the next comprehensive plan.

Below are the remaining community engagement sessions. Please make time to attend at least one!

Southwestern Elementary School
February 2nd, 6pm – 8pm; 150 Pioneer Road, Suffolk, VA 23437

Oakland Elementary School
February 9th, 6pm – 8pm; 5505 Godwin Blvd, Suffolk, VA 23434

John Yeates Middle School
February 14th, 6pm – 8pm; 4901 Bennetts Pasture Rd, Suffolk, VA 23435

Nansemond River High School
February 16th, 6pm – 8pm; 3301 Nansemond Pkwy, Suffolk, VA 23434

Col. Fred Cherry Middle School
February 23rd, 6pm -8pm; 7401 Burbage Dr, Suffolk, VA 23435

Curtis R. Milteer, Sr. Recreation Center
February 28th, 6pm – 8pm; 132 Robertson St, Suffolk, VA 23438

This is YOUR chance to weigh in on the next comprehensive plan; a document that will impact where future development will happen, as well as influence policy and improvements in infrastructure such as schools, roads, public utilities, conservation and the protection of our quality of life as citizens of Suffolk. Don’t miss your opportunity to have your voice heard and have an impact on the future of Suffolk. Please plan to attend at least one of the following sessions. The next one is tonight.

Banners

Care4Suffolk — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 17:38:14 +0000

We have successfully put up all of our banners on and around Manning Road. Thank you to all of those who have volunteered to place a sign in your yard! Also, a big thank you to those delivering and installing signs.

We are hoping these banners will help bring awareness to CARE4Suffolk and the rezoning issues. We have an amazing outreach team that had been delivering flyers up and down Manning Road. It is a dangerous job to be working right off the road, so we are excited to have our signs in place to advertise for us.