Planning commission backs rezoning for 350 Yorktown Road development, 7-0

The Newport News Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that City Council approve a change of zoning for about 282 acres at 350 Yorktown Road that would allow a D.R. Horton-led development of up to 620 residential units and a village commercial center.

Planner Saul Garcia told the commission the site, currently owned by the Newport News Economic Development Authority, is mostly forested and includes a 25-acre parcel containing the historic Endview Plantation and outbuildings. Garcia said the application would rezone the property from a mix of R-9 (mixed-use) and P-1 (park) designations to R-9 with proffers and the New Traditional Overlay District, and that the applicant had proffered a memorandum of understanding to coordinate historic-preservation work with the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office and other agencies. "A rezoning is necessary because the applicant is proposing a substantially different master plan and guidelines from those that currently govern the development of the property," Garcia said.

Why it matters: The change reduces the density previously allowed on the site under a 2006 approval, from roughly 1,124 units to a proffered cap of 620 units, and would permit a large mixed residential project adjacent to Newport News Park and the Endview historic site. The plan includes significant open-space preservation, traffic improvements and a…