Staff previews proposed Harborview Station rezoning for 344 units; planning commission hearing set for March 18

City planning staff on Wednesday presented an overview of a significant pending rezoning in the Harborview area that would remove a 19-acre parcel from the Harborview Station mixed-use designation and rezone it to RU-24 for residential development.

Planning Director Kevin Wine told council the proposal would allow up to 344 residential units — 288 multi-family units and 56 single-family attached townhomes — on the parcel. The applicant has proffered that 155 of the multi-family units will be one-bedroom units and that the development would include a cash proffer of $2.9 million to advance school capacity in Suffolk. Wine said the site currently sits within the Harborview Station master-planned community and the project history stretches back to the master plan adoption in 2007 and subsequent modifications.

Staff displayed conceptual layouts and elevations submitted by the applicant and said the next step is a Planning Commission public hearing scheduled for March 18. If the commission issues a recommendation, the application would be scheduled for a public hearing before council on April 16. Wine directed the public to the city planning web pages for application materials and submittals.

Why it matters: The proposal would add a sizable multi-family development near the Bon Secours hospital under construction and would change the land-use designation for a master-planned parcel. The proffered mix of one-bedroom and larger units was highlighted by staff as a factor reducing projected school impacts relative to a different bedroom mix.

No formal action was taken at Wednesday's meeting; staff brought the overview to inform council before formal public hearings.