Port 460 – Care4Suffolk https://care4suffolk.org Tue, 29 Oct 2024 17:35:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://care4suffolk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/cropped-Care4Suffolk-32x32.png Port 460 – Care4Suffolk https://care4suffolk.org 32 32 Port 460 Project – Tip of the Iceberg? https://care4suffolk.org/2024/10/29/port-460-project-tip-of-the-iceberg/ https://care4suffolk.org/2024/10/29/port-460-project-tip-of-the-iceberg/#comments Tue, 29 Oct 2024 17:31:17 +0000 https://care4suffolk.org/?p=5767 Read More »Port 460 Project – Tip of the Iceberg?]]>

It has been two years since the controversial Port 460 development project was rezoned at City Council, but the frustration from the public with a city that isn’t listening still lingers. 

 

But is the Port 460 project just the tip of the iceberg? I was recently listening to a podcast of a mayoral forum hosted by the CE&H Heritage Civic League in collaboration with the Suffolk Peninsula Community Partnership and moderated by WHRO. Mayor Duman, Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Bosselman had an opportunity to weigh in on a variety of topics. 

 

At one point, near the end, Mr. Bosselman, while discussing development in the City, made an interesting revelation:

 

“I think the city is actually being run by the developers more than the city is running the city. In my opinion. So I think we need to have some more vision and foresight here. I do know that there are outside forces bearing down on the city so far as development here. I‘ve actually been in a meeting with this Matan group that’s in charge of Port 460 development. I had to go in there to get…, I still farm some land there. I needed the key to get in through the gate. As I was looking around the room, I see a big map. And there’s a map of fields and areas that I know, including my neighbor’s land, my land, and some more land that I farm. So their plan is going to go beyond what they’re trying to do here in the City of Suffolk. It’s all about development. It’s some kind of long-term plan here that nobody knows, nobody is telling us, but it’s in the works.” (around mark 1:14:45)

 

Back in May, Care4Suffolk posted an article about the City advertising 562 acres of agricultural land off Rt. 460 that is NOT currently in the growth area. The advertisement stated:

 

“This site is currently identified in the 2045 Comprehensive Plan as a designated growth area for Industrial Development encompassing a variety of uses including logistics, manufacturing, warehousing distribution, and research development.”

This was particularly concerning because back in May, City Council was still giving City staff feedback about new growth areas in the 2045 Comprehensive Plan, while the City was selling it like it was a done deal. Rt. 460 was part of that discussion. Below is the original map proposed by City staff for the expansion of the growth areas:

There is an extended growth area of yellow to the north of Rt 460 and purple to the south of Rt. 460, and these extend all the way to the Suffolk city line. The yellow represents residential land use and purple is where warehouses can be built. 

 

The growth areas have since been reduced and that advertisement has been removed from the city’s website, but the question is still hanging there: what is being planned down Rt. 460? 

Mayor Duman spoke after Mr. Bosselman, and denied knowing anything about Matan’s future plans. I will take Mayor Duman at his word, but I find it hard to believe that there is no one in the city aware of Matan’s future plans down Rt. 460. Considering that the City’s own website was advertising the land for sale, there MUST be someone aware of these future plans. So where is the transparency? Why is our government working towards a future plan with no oversight from the public? The citizens spoke out against the Port 460 Project and the extensive growth area additions to the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. The City of Suffolk knows this is not what the citizens want.  Maybe Mr Bosselman is right – maybe “the city is actually being run by the developers more than the city is running the city.”

]]> https://care4suffolk.org/2024/10/29/port-460-project-tip-of-the-iceberg/feed/ 3 Will Taxpayers Be Footing the Bill for 460 Development? https://care4suffolk.org/2024/07/24/will-taxpayers-be-footing-the-bill-for-460-development/ https://care4suffolk.org/2024/07/24/will-taxpayers-be-footing-the-bill-for-460-development/#respond Wed, 24 Jul 2024 15:28:52 +0000 https://care4suffolk.org/?p=4916 Read More »Will Taxpayers Be Footing the Bill for 460 Development?]]>

“Forty percent of the justification of any transportation project in our region today is driven by congestion. So if you don’t have congestion, you’re probably not gonna get money.”

-Robert Lewis, City of Suffolk Director of Public Works, Planning Commission 2045 Comprehensive Plan public hearing, July 16, 2024 (YouTube time stamp 2:20:50)

It isn’t Mr. Lewis’ fault that Hampton Roads’ traffic is an absolute mess. He was just stating things the way they are, but does that mean we have to just accept it?

 

He and our other city leadership seem resigned to it as the status quo instead of using the leverage our city has to demand better support of our infrastructure. Suffolk has the land that the Hampton Roads region and leaders in Richmond want to develop in support of the Port of Virginia—the port especially really wants and needs our land for warehouse space.

Our city leadership needs to hold people’s feet to the fire and not be so willing to bow down to the demands of other entities. We have what they want and they should support our city as an equal partner in this scheme they call “Responsible Regionalism.” This “responsibility” should work two ways and Suffolk should not be left scrounging to pay for the infrastructure the region needs.

 

An example is happening right now, as some people celebrate the $30 million that was just granted for Route 460 improvements to support the Port 460 project. Did you know that this three-mile project is going to actually cost a total of $86 million?  

While watching the March 20, 2024 City Council Work Session about this project, I learned the following:

  • There is no requirement for these road improvements to be in place for Port 460 to be built out (per Deputy City Manager Kevin Hughes, Time Stamp 36:10)

  • The Port of Virginia only kicked in $1 million 

  • The developer only kicked in $6.6 million

  • City officials have spent the past two years just trying to get the $30 million funding (take a look at the extensive packet that was put together to ask for this money—it looks like a lot of work hours must have been put in!)

  • City officials have decided that we are a “Port-Centric Partner” in order to “sell” our need for the funding

  • The $30 million is just for “right of way acquisition” and utility relocation

  • In order to secure the $30 million, the City had to prove that it can fund the remaining $48 million for the actual construction costs

  • As of now there is no outside funding for the $48 million, so it is budgeted into the Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

  • City financial advisors were consulted to determine the city’s ability to fund “its portion” of the project and determined that Suffolk does have “the ability to issue an additional $48,049,520 in general obligation bonds between FY 27 and FY 29” 

  • By FY 2027, Suffolk will have to find additional revenues to repay debt service; additional required revenue will increase each year

This is the point where we’ll probably accept the low-hanging fruits of development options as our sources of additional revenue. And the cycle will begin again.

And they wonder why we are concerned about a Fiscal Impact Analysis!

No doubt Route 460 must be improved to accommodate all the new traffic projected for Port 460 and the miles of even more warehouses and residential development envisioned by city staff in the new 2045 Comprehensive Plan, if it gets approved.  According to the Suffolk News Herald article about the $30 million funding, Governor Youngkin said this is all happening “through the power of partnership.” However, it feels like our “partners” are making us jump through a lot of hoops to do their bidding.

Documentation:

Please sign our petition to urge City Council to vote ‘NO’ to the new 2045 Comprehensive Plan. 

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