Lake Kilby Road – Care4Suffolk

What is Smart Growth?

Care4Suffolk — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 16:05:24 +0000

If you have been following rezoning applications lately, like the one for Lake Kilby Road, then you have probably heard the term ‘Smart Growth’. At the City Council meeting on April 19, 2023, there were people there wearing Smart Growth stickers to support the developer. Many of them were real estate agents there with the Hampton Roads Realtor Association (HRRA). HRRA’s Chairman of the Board mentioned Smart Growth while speaking on behalf of the developer, but did not say anything specific about it. Additionally, a new community group, Smart Grow Suffolk, was recently started. Care4Suffolk has been talking and writing about Smart Growth for months now and believes it aligns with many of our goals and objectives when followed appropriately.

You might be wondering, what is Smart Growth? Why is everyone talking about it? Why is it important?

Smart Growth is a network of government agencies, civic organizations, citizens, and businesses that share a common goal and theory that development should happen in a controlled, intentional manner that protects the health, safety, and economic well-being of the community. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was actually one of the founding members of this network and you can learn more about it on their website.

Smart Growth promotes the following ideas:

Invest tax payer money wisely in communities and conserve resources by reinvesting in existing infrastructure and rehabilitating historic buildings.
Design neighborhoods that have homes near shops, offices, schools, houses of worship, parks, and other amenities; giving residents the option of walking, bicycling, taking public transportation, or driving as they go about their business.
Incorporate a range of different housing types to make it possible for individuals and families at all stages of life to find a safe, attractive home they can afford.
Enhance neighborhoods and involve residents in development decisions, creating vibrant places to live, work, and play.
Creating a high quality of life that makes these communities economically competitive, creates business opportunities, and strengthens the local tax base.
Use local food sources to revitalize downtowns and neighborhoods, create economic opportunities, and improve human health and the environment.
Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas.

These are principles of Smart Growth and why Care4Suffolk supports it. It is also a huge part of why we oppose the Lake Kilby rezoning application. The Lake Kilby Road rezoning application wants to turn farmland zoned Rural Estate into high-density suburban sprawl. The proposed houses, by the developer’s own estimate, will cost $500,000 each (hardly affordable), and they will be densely packed homes in a community that the developer is intentionally not adjoining to the abutting neighborhood. These homes will require driving to and from every activity because they are not being built near any amenities and there is no bus stop nearby. The proposed development would be on a busy, narrow, ditch-lined country road, not suitable for walking or biking. It is not a smart investment for the city because the developer is proposing road improvements that do not even meet the state’s minimum for safety standards. It will add family homes in an area with already over-crowded schools. Additionally, this proposed development looks to build on land that contains wetlands, and will drastically alter an area that feeds our reservoirs and provides drinking water to so many in Suffolk and Hampton Roads. The Lake Kilby Road rezoning application fulfills NONE of the bulleted points that comprise Smart Growth, and in fact, it is incompatible with most of them.

Smart Growth is NOT about lining the pockets of a few developers and real estate organizations. It is NOT about encroaching on farmland with suburban sprawl. It is NOT about creating insular housing developments with no connection to the broader community. It is NOT about reducing the quality of life for communities by adding traffic, crowding schools, or destroying natural resources.

Care4Suffolk understands that development will happen and that development can be a positive change in a community and city. To make that happen, those making the decisions need to follow these Smart Growth principles and ensure that the development is positive for the community and will enhance the lives of those already living there. This Lake Kilby Road project is the antithesis of everything that Smart Growth stands for, and that is why Care4Suffolk opposes this rezoning application. A development that benefits only the developer and a few real estate agents is not a project that City Council Members or anyone who supports Smart Growth should ever consider supporting.

Download a pdf copy of "This is Smart Growth."

Update Lake Kilby Road Rezoning Request

Care4Suffolk — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:43:10 +0000

The blue rezoning signs should be popping up any day now on Lake Kilby Road. The Planning Commission public hearing for the Lake Kilby/Lake Cohoon Road rezoning effort (RZN2021-0018) is only a few weeks away (March 21st, 2pm at City Hall). We need as many people as possible to attend this meeting (wear a blue shirt!). They will vote to recommend approval or denial and City Council will take this into consideration when they make the final vote on it in April.

We still have an online petition that will get printed out and shared with the city. Please check out the link, sign it and pass it along! We appreciate comments on the petition, too!

A developer is requesting to rezone 87 acres on Lake Kilby and Lake Cohoon Roads from Rural Estate to Residential Medium Density to allow for 204 cluster style homes. Rural Estate allows for 1 house for every 3 acres. Residential Medium zoning allows for 4 houses per acre.

Local residents oppose this rezoning because our narrow, rural roads are already crowded and dangerous. According to VDOT, our impacted roads see about 1,200 vehicle trips per day. This proposed development would bring more than 2,000 additional daily vehicle trips. That number does not include delivery trucks and other service-related vehicles.

The public schools for this area are overcrowded. Elephant’s Fork Elementary is already at 110% capacity. It is listed as a school with most needs and has a poor facility condition per the Joint School Board Presentation. Kings Fork High School is at 104% capacity.

City Council has already approved more than 7,400 housing units across Suffolk that have not yet been built. We don’t need anymore new residential units in Suffolk.

This rezoning effort will go before Planning Commission for consideration 21 March 2023 at 2 PM.

Please help stop this rezoning by attending on March 21^st and by signing this petition!

Thank you!

Important Contact Information

City Hall is at 442 W. Washington St

Email the City Planning Department direct – planningemail@suffolkva.us

Email City Council direct – council@suffolkva.us

Call City Planning – 757-514-4060

To receive email updates, please complete this form.

Inadequate Roads

Care4Suffolk — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 20:47:29 +0000

These photos were taken by a neighbor in the Lake Kilby Road area. This narrow country road is a hazard to trucks and the cars on the roads with them. It is too narrow for tractor trailers and it has deep ditches right up along the road which causes a hazard when a truck or other car tries to move over and make room.

This is where the developer for the rezoning request (RZN2021-00018) for Lake Kilby wans to add 204 single-family houses, clustered onto roughly 35 acres. This will generate over 2,000 additional vehicle trips per day, just about tripling the amount of traffic.

It makes absolutely no sense to develop in areas where the infrastructure is not in place. Lake Kilby Road can not support the traffic it is currently experiencing. It would be dangerous to intentionally increase the traffic on this narrow country road.

Update of Lake Kilby Rezoning

Care4Suffolk — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 18:16:00 +0000

It sounds like things for the Lake Kilby Road rezoning are about to start back up. The developer has re-submitted a modified application to Planning. Hopefully we will know more details before the end of the week. In the event Planning accepts the changes, the earliest the application would go back to the Planning Commission would be Tuesday, December 20th at 2pm. We know this is the holiday season and the afternoon meeting time is tough, but PLEASE pencil this in on your calendars and plan to be there. We will send out more updates once we know for sure if it is happening on the 20th.

What can you do until then:
– Please sign our petition. If you already have, share it with others.: https://tinyurl.com/stop-lake-kilby-rezoning

– Contact the city Planning Division and let them know your concerns: PlanningEmail@suffolkva.us or 757-514-4150.

– Attend the City Council meeting on 7 Dec, 6pm. Let’s make our concern as visible as possible before the planning commission meeting. If you would like to speak, but aren’t sure what to talk about, please let us know and we will help you draft some talking points and get signed up to speak. Even the shortest statements are helpful.

Please help keep the conversation and information flowing!