VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Community members in Virginia Beach packed a city planning commission meeting Wednesday to discuss a proposal for more than 150 apartments.
In a 7-4 vote, Virginia Beach Planning Commission members recommended the apartment plan for approval which means the decision is now up to Virginia Beach City Council members.
For hours, speakers stepped up to the podium urging commission members to deny or defer a plan to build 176 apartment units near the Municipal Center on Princess Anne Road.
“I wonder how the other applicants in this room feel about the number of exceptions granted to this one application,” one speaker said.
The Franklin Johnston Group is behind the proposal that project leaders said will include 53 units of workforce housing, which some speakers supported.
“I love where I live now and I want others to have that same opportunity,” a speaker said.
The private property the group wants to buy sits behind Virginia Beach’s “green line": a longstanding symbol of separation between development to the north and agriculture in the south.
Virginia Beach Agriculture Advisory Commission members said that’s a red flag for them.
“There is still a green line, which was created to promote agriculture uses according to the city policy and to limit development that would strain stormwater management,” said Virginia Beach Agriculture Advisory Commission member William Vaughn.
Some speakers expressed concern about the property falling into the Interfacility Traffic Zone, creating conflict with Naval Air Station Oceana. But Oceana Public Affairs officer Jackie Parashar said the apartments fall outside of the noise zone and meet their agreed upon regulations with the city.
“We modified the site to pull all the residential buildings outside the property that is located outside the ITA,” said an attorney for the Franklin Johnston Group.
Some speakers also worried about traffic congestion. Franklin Johnston Project leaders said they can move access points off Princess Anne Road.
Virginia Beach City Council members could vote on the apartment proposal next Tuesday.