VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Talks of a mystery redevelopment proposal in southern Virginia Beach took over a town hall meeting Thursday night.
On Tuesday afternoon, Deputy City Manager Taylor Adams told city council a company is interested in manufacturing medical products on what is currently city-owned farmland.
“This is certainly one of those projects where we are not able to talk about the company name or the people that we are working with,” Adams said Tuesday.
The code name for the proposal is Project Wayne. One of the few things people do know is that it would require council approval for rezoning.
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Medical manufacturers are proposing a $175 million capital investment and 400 jobs. They want to build on 250 acres of city-owned farmland next to Virginia Beach National Golf Club.
"We have a lot of environmental concern of rezoning an agricultural-- an area below the green line to industrial," said Jared Brandwein, a resident and executive director of Back Bay Restoration Foundation.
The green line serves as a longstanding symbol of separation in Virginia Beach, with development to the north and agricultural land to the south.
District 2 Councilwoman Barbara Henley admits Project Wayne sounds promising, but only "in the right place." She believes redeveloping the lot in question would go against a longtime plan of recreation and agriculture for the area.
"Those things are compatible with the soils and the terrain in this area," said Henley.
At Henley's town hall on current city issues and projects on Thursday, a few residents shared other concerns about possible truck traffic and potentially setting a precedent. One mentioned she couldn't form an opinion because of the little details publicly known about Project Wayne.
Brandwein brought up that same point.
"We have no idea of what the proposal is. Not only that, evidently, the company is looking at other sites," he said.
Henley told 13News Now she did know not which states or cities Virginia Beach is competing against for the project.
To be clear, council as a group has not yet decided on whether to move forward with Project Wayne. Before taking any next steps, council members are scheduled to hear public input during the May 16 meeting.
Phases 2 and 3 of Project Wayne could also potentially build on more land, bring in even more jobs and rake in a total $500 million capital investment, Adams said during his presentation Tuesday. However, Phase 1 is the focus of talks right now.
