A developer is proposing to build 32 houses in Surry County just under a mile west of the county’s public schools.

The county Planning Commission reviewed a preliminary subdivision plat on May 19 for the “Spratley Mill” development, named for its location at the corner of Spratley Mill and New Design roads.

Chesterfield County-based Emerson Ventures LLC and landowners Ellen and Damien Mauger are looking to subdivide just over 97 acres of farmland and forestry fronting both sides of Spratley Mill Road into 32 lots, one of which would include an existing residence.

Community Development and Planning Director Horace Wade said the subdivision would be a “by-right” use, meaning what’s proposed wouldn’t require a rezoning or special use permit. The land is currently zoned agricultural-rural, which, according to a report by county staff to the Planning Commission, permits up to 15 lots less than 3 acres each. Only eight of the proposed lots would be less than 3 acres.

The Planning Commission expects to continue its discussion at its June 23 meeting.

Preliminary plat approvals are among the rare instances where the Planning Commission, rather than Surry County’s Board of Supervisors, has the final vote.

Emerson, according to its website, has developed more than 6,000 single-family lots, primarily in the Richmond metro area. Spratley Mill would equate to a density of just under 0.33 units per acre.

It’s the first residential subdivision to require Planning Commission approval in Surry’s recent history. 

Unlike neighboring Isle of Wight County, which over the past three years has seen an influx of housing development proposals and has seen its population grow 6% since the 2020 census to over 40,000 residents, Surry has remained sparsely populated at roughly 6,500 people with stagnant and even declining population trends over the past few decades. According to Surry’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan, the county saw 674 housing units built from 2000 to 2010 and issued around 23 building permits per year from 2010 through 2016.

The 2020 plan, which the Planning Commission will soon update per a required five-year review, calls for Surry to grow its population by an average of at least 1% per year and designates “residential investment areas” surrounding the town of Surry and Route 31 where the county hopes to attract residential developments of up to three units per acre. Spratley Mill would be located just outside the residential investment area along the Route 31 corridor shown on the county’s future land use map.

Isle of Wight County Schools data shows four of its five northern-end schools exceeding capacity if and when 15 active and proposed developments are completed, though Surry, which has just under 700 students across its three schools compared to Isle of Wight’s 5,300 across nine, isn’t likely to see the same problem.

The documentation provided to the Planning Commission for Spratley Mill doesn’t include an estimated impact on school enrollment. Surry’s current enrollment reflects a 39% drop from the 1,142 students enrolled at the start of the 2003-04 school year, according to Virginia Department of Education data.