VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — City leaders in Virginia Beach are hearing more about a potential project that would change the southern part of the city, changing farmland to a manufacturing site.
On Tuesday afternoon, Deputy City Manager Taylor Adams briefed City Council. He explained that a prospective client is interested in developing 200-250 acres. Adams said he couldn’t reveal the name of the company but said it involves medical manufacturing.
“When you’re talking a change of this nature and also when you’re talking about land that’s owned by the public, the most important thing we can do is: one, be as transparent as we possibly can while respecting the discretion we owe to the prospect and to our colleagues at the state,” stated Adams.
It's being called Project Wayne, though Adams said there's no particular reason for the name. If this project would move forward, the land would need to be rezoned from agricultural to zoning for light industrial use.
The land is city-owned and currently used for farming, according to Adams. It’s located between Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress in Chesapeake. He described the northern part being near the Princess Anne Athletic Complex and the Virginia Beach National Golf Club.
“When you’re talking about this amount of capital investment in excess of 150, almost 200 million dollars and you’re talking about 400 new jobs that pay above the median average for the region, this is a project that any community in the country would be honored to have,” Adams said.
Longtime City Council member Barbara Henley has concerns, saying we cannot forget that agriculture is one of three industries that make Virginia Beach - in addition to tourism and the military.
Virginia Beach resident Pat Gadzinski attended the briefing. She is skeptical about the project.
“I think it will affect the value of our homes. I think it’s going to add traffic issues, and I’m not sure everybody really wants to be besides an industrial park. Whether our homes actually touch the park, that’s not part of the problem,” Gadzinski told News 3, adding, “Instead of having this green space that we’ve lived in for 29 years, which is supposed to be protected… they’re steamrolling us and telling us they can do whatever they want.”
Deputy City Manager Adams asked City Council how they would like to proceed. Members decided to hold a public hearing during the next meeting on Tuesday, May 16. Mayor Bobby Dyer said he wants public input before taking this to the next step.
