One member of Smithfield’s Planning Commission says he isn’t in favor of granting a special use permit that would allow a phase of the proposed “Promontory” development to exceed the maximum units per acre in the requested mixed-use zoning.

Two others say allowing higher density is beneficial to the town by increasing its tax base. But without a clear consensus, the commissioners postponed voting May 13 on Charlottesville-based Greenwood Homes’ rezoning application and three related special use permits.

Greenwood, in 2023, initially proposed 262 homes and five commercial parcels at the site of a sand mining operation, or “borrow pit.” 

Kent Henry, president of Greenwood’s Hampton Roads and Richmond divisions, returned to the Planning Commission on April 8 with a revised plan that calls for 239 homes, an 8.7% reduction.

Of those, 131 would be detached houses, 68 would be “villa” duplex units and 40 would be townhouses.

Illustrations of the five commercial parcels, which would range from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet of floor area, show a fast food restaurant with a drive-thru window, two “high turnover” sit-down restaurants, an automated car wash and a bank with drive-thru teller service. The revised plan also shows 26.7 acres of open space, up from 23.

The first special use permit would allow drive-thru access on all five commercial parcels, though only two are presently proposed. The second would waive yard requirements to allow reduced setbacks in the residential phases. The third would allow the attached units to exceed the eight-unit-per-acre maximum, at a density of 10.36 units per acre. It reflects a nearly 28% reduction from the 14.36-unit-per-acre density initially proposed for the attached residential phase.

“You’re not far from our limits. … We’d certainly like to work with you to get there,” said Commissioner Darren Cutler, who serves as the Town Council’s liaison to the advisory body.

Commissioner Charles Bryan, however, noted the town’s 2022 Comprehensive Plan, calls to “increase density for greater efficiency of services, particularly in new developments.”

If “we keep restricting these things, how do we handle our economic, our financial requirements?” Bryan asked fellow commissioners.

It’s a question the body’s counterparts on Isle of Wight County’s Planning Commission are also pondering. For now, the influx of tax revenue from new commercial and residential developments outweighs the cost of increased demands on the county’s schools and other public services, but that could change in just over a decade if Isle of Wight’s population grows 2% per year, according to data Bethesda, Maryland-based consultant TischlerBise recently presented to Isle of Wight’s Planning Commission.

Commissioner James Yoko contended density restrictions can translate to higher price points per unit because the developer can’t build as many units per acre.

“What do we want to do in the community? Cut these people out and only let people who can afford $600,000 or $800,000 houses? … You may get all single-family homes, decrease the density, but you’ve got one type of person and one type of community that you’re going to develop and that’s what I don’t like to see is us restricting who’s going to be able to come into town,” Yoko said.

Henry said the attached homes would sell in the $400,000s while the detached homes would be in the $600,000s. Cutler said a $400,000 home is already unaffordable to many.

“It takes about a $108,000 a year to purchase a home like that … with the 20% down payment, so I think we have a lot of variety of homes being offered throughout the town but none of our new homes are coming in, townhomes or anything, under around $400,000, so to think that building a little bit more density at 10 homes per acre versus eight homes per acre is going to change the price of these homes to make them affordable for say a schoolteacher or a police officer I don’t think is realistic,” Cutler said.

The detached homes would have a density of 3.03 units per acre, down 35% from 4.68. The entire development, including its commercial phase, would have a density of 4.42 units per acre, down 17% from 5.36.

Greenwood has also requested a Planning Commission waiver to reduce a 50-foot buffer requirement between the residential and commercial phases to 30 feet.

Henry, at the April 8 meeting, said the estimated number of students who would be added to Isle of Wight County’s school system has dropped from 89 under the original plan to 73, 12 of whom would attend Smithfield Middle School. Based on Isle of Wight County Schools’ assertion that the development would cause a capacity deficit of 12 classroom seats at SMS, Greenwood has proffered to pay up to $750,228, or $62,519 per seat.

The proffers also pledge a $1 million contribution toward the estimated $7.6 million cost of a roundabout and related turn lanes to be built at Turner Drive by 2029. 

The town of Smithfield pledged its own $900,000, or 11.8%, commitment in December under a cost-sharing agreement to fund the $4.5 million remainder not covered by just over $3 million in funding the Virginia Department of Transportation awarded the county for the project last year. Roughly $600,000, or 60%, of The Promontory’s share would come from Greenwood, while the remaining $400,000 would be paid by the owners of the commercial parcels based on their proportionate traffic impacts. The county agreed to its own $1 million share of the cost last year.

The latest conceptual plan shows roughly the same layout as what was proposed in 2023 with access to the development’s residential phase to be located on a planned extension of Cypress Run Drive, which now provides access to the Kroger and Cypress Run Plaza shopping centers off Benns Church Boulevard. The existing entrance to Tractor Supply would be extended to facilitate access to the five commercial parcels, which would have secondary access via a connection to the proposed single-lane roundabout.

Henry said on April 8 that The Promontory is projected to generate $1.8 million in additional revenue for the town over the project’s first 10 years and $8.3 million over the same period for Isle of Wight County. Henry said he has proffered that no more than 60 zoning permits are to be issued by the town per year across the five residential phases.

The commercial phase would be built first. Full buildout is expected to take roughly six years after construction begins.