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

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