A bill that would have allowed the state to overturn local rezoning denials for new housing subdivisions passed the House of Delegates but died in a Senate committee on Feb. 12 during crossover, when each chamber gets to vote on the bills passed by the other.

It’s an issue that hits home for Smithfield and Isle of Wight County, which each have seen opposition in recent years to an influx of proposed housing developments.

Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, sponsored House Bill 2641, which had proposed requiring localities to increase their housing stock by at least 7.5% within five years, starting in 2027. It would have created a “Housing Approval Board” under the Department of Housing and Community Development and, starting in 2032, would have authorized the board to overturn rezoning denials upon the appeal of a developer in cases where the body finds a locality to have rejected more than 25% of new housing development proposals over the previous five years.

HB 2641 narrowly passed the House 50-48 on Feb. 4 along party lines with only Democrats supporting it, including Del. Nadarius Clark, D-Suffolk, who represents part of Isle of Wight County. Del. Daniel Marshall, R-Danvile, is the only Republican whom the record indicates intended to vote “yea,” though he was listed as not voting. Dels. Otto Wachsmann, R-Sussex, who represents another portion of Isle of Wight, and Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, who represents Surry County, each voted in opposition.

On Feb. 10, it advanced by a 7-6 vote out of the Senate Committee on Local Government, only to die Feb. 12 in a unanimous vote by the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations to pass it by indefinitely, which means it won’t reach the full Senate. State Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, who represents Surry, was among the Feb. 10 “no” votes.

Ahead of the Feb. 12 vote, Smithfield Town Manager Michael Stallings said he and his staff were monitoring the bill with interest.

“We are always concerned when proposed legislation would remove local land use authority from the town,” Stallings said.

Smithfield and Isle of Wight County have each seen split votes over recent applications for new subdivisions.

Smithfield Mayor Mike Smith campaigned for reelection last year on a platform of reining in growth and development alongside three Town Council newcomers – Mary Ellen Bebermeyer, Darren Cutler and Bill Harris – who’d each spoken against recent rezoning approvals for new developments that ended in split votes. Smith was among the dissenting votes on the council’s 2021 approval of the 812-home Mallory Pointe development off Battery Park Road and in 2023 on the council’s approval of the Grange at 10Main mixed-use development at the western edge of the town’s historic district. 

Grange developer Joseph Luter IV has since returned with a revised conceptual plan that would reduce the Grange from 267 homes to 93. Meanwhile, Smithfield’s Planning Commission has pending applications by Charlottesville-based Greenwood Homes for The Promontory, which would add 262 homes and five commercial parcels along Benns Church Boulevard, and Suffolk-based Quality Homes’ proposed “Cottages at Battery,” which would swap a 2020-approved 150-unit condominium plan for 130 detached homes on 14 acres behind Royal Farms gas station on South Church Street.

Isle of Wight County supervisors split 3-2 last year to overturn a recommendation by the county’s Planning Commission and approve the 615-home Sweetgrass mixed-use development on the opposite side of Benns Church Boulevard from where The Promontory would be built.

“Staff has reviewed this legislation and expressed concerns with key legislators,” said Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson. “It appears that the legislation has been passed by indefinitely in Senate Finance, so we do not anticipate this to be a concern anymore. There were a multitude of problems with the legislation.”

Isle of Wight County Schools released data last fall showing four of its five northern-end schools are on track to exceed program capacity if and when five under-construction developments, six approved but unbuilt subdivisions and four proposed northern-end developments are completed.

At least one supervisor in Surry County was also opposed to the now-defeated bill, though Surry isn’t seeing the same influx of growth as Isle of Wight.

“I am a big fan of looking for unique and creative initiatives to develop affordable housing,” said Dendron District Supervisor Amy Drewry. “I am supportive of incentives to entice local governments to look for citizen-based development, but not so much of strict criteria that if not met, authorizes the Housing Approval Board to overturn local decisions and approve applications under certain circumstances. Taking the power away from localities to develop and change according to their unique cultural and historical proclivities feels like a power grab, putting control of a region’s growth in the hands of people who do not live in the area and have no skin in the game. I have no confidence they would make wise or thoughtful decisions that respect the citizens whose lives are lived daily within the communities.”