Newport News council approves zoning, property conveyances and $660,000 for signals; multiple ordinances pass unanimously

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Newport News City Council on Sept. 23 adopted ordinances and resolutions covering zoning, property conveyances, utility easements and a streets-and-bridges appropriation, voting unanimously on items considered during the meeting.

Council approved a conditional use permit to allow a small motor-vehicle repair facility on a 2.51-acre property at 15412 Wark Boulevard; an additional-use permit for Emmanuel Baptist Church to operate a community facility on a 9.7-acre parcel at 69 Saunders Road; two zoning-text amendments to define and regulate vape shops (including adding vape shops as a permitted use in the C-2 General Commercial district); updates to platting and site-review timelines to comply with recent changes from the Virginia General Assembly; multiple conveyances of city-owned real property to private developers; a utility-easement deed with Dominion Energy; and a second amendment to a Verizon lease for 200 square feet on Richneck Road in York County. The council also approved a $660,000 appropriation from FY2026 bond authorization for signal and pedestrian upgrades at Brierfield Road and Marshall Avenue.

Why it matters: The measures change zoning rules, authorize property transfers and clear funding for a transportation project near Heritage High School. The vape-shop regulations add new local operating limits and definitions; the timeline changes align city review procedures with state law; and the property conveyances and easement clear the way for private development and utility work on city-owned parcels.

Most significant votes

- Conditional use permit CU-2025-0006 (Martinez/Orlando Bolanos), 15412 Wark Boulevard — adopted (vote recorded: 6–0).

- Additional-use permit CU-2025-0007 (Emmanuel Baptist Church), 69 Saunders Road — adopted (6–0).

- Zoning text amendment ZT-2025-0004, definition and general regulations for "vape shops" (revised per planning commission recommendations) — adopted (6–0). The revision reduced a numeric threshold from 50% to 20% where it appears in the draft and added an hours-of-operation limit of 9 a.m.–9 p.m.

- Zoning text amendment ZT-2025-0005, adding "vape shop" to the summary of uses by district and allowing the use in the C-2 General Commercial district by right — adopted (6–0).

- City Code Appendix B amendments to platting procedures (timelines updated to match General Assembly changes) — adopted (6–0).

- Site regulations Chapter 33 amendments (failure-to-act timelines updated) — adopted (6–0).

- Conveyance authorizations: city-owned parcels at multiple Nineteenth Street addresses to Toby Holmes LLC; property at 711 Sixteenth Street to Innovative Development LLC; acceptance of 3303 Jefferson Avenue from the Economic Development Authority to the city — all adopted (each 6–0).

- Deed of utility easement with Dominion Energy for parcels at 3629 George Washington Memorial Highway and 100 Darby Road (York County) — adopted (6–0).

- Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a second amendment to a Verizon lease (200 sq. ft., Richneck Road, York County) — approved (6–0).

- Consent agenda: minutes (Sept. 9 work session; Sept. regular meeting) and a resolution accepting donated services to develop a climate action plan — approved (6–0).

- Appropriation: $660,000 from FY2026 bond authorization (streets and bridges) for a project to upgrade a span-wire traffic signal to a mast-arm system and add pedestrian improvements at Brierfield Road and Marshall Avenue — approved (6–0).

Council procedure and turnout

All roll-call votes announced during the meeting showed unanimous support where recorded on the transcript. For most items the meeting record notes only the standard roll-call procedure (members answering with an oral "yes"), and the clerk announced "motion carries" or "motion carried" with the numeric tally printed as part of the record.

Key documents and identifiers referenced in the meeting record include conditional-use and zoning-text amendment case identifiers listed on the agenda (as read into the record), and multiple city-code sections amended to conform to changes by the General Assembly of Virginia.

Votes at a glance (full list)

- E1: CU (charlie Uniform-2025-0006) — adopt ordinance to allow motor-vehicle repair on 2.51-acre property at 15412 Wark Boulevard — adopted, 6–0. - E2: CU (charlie Uniform-2025-0007) — Emmanuel Baptist Church, community facility on 9.7-acre parcel at 69 Saunders Road — adopted, 6–0. - E3: Zoning text amendment (Zulu Tango-2025-0004) — define/regulate vape shops (revised: 20% threshold; 9 a.m.–9 p.m. hours) — adopted, 6–0. - E4: Zoning text amendment (Zulu Tango-2025-0005) — add vape shops as permitted use in C-2 — adopted, 6–0. - E5: City Code Appendix B (plats) — timelines updated to match the Code of Virginia — adopted, 6–0. - E6: Chapter 33 (site regs) — failure-to-act timelines updated — adopted, 6–0. - E7: Conveyance authorizations (multiple Nineteenth Street parcels to Toby Holmes LLC) — adopted, 6–0. - E8: Conveyance (711 Sixteenth Street to Innovative Development LLC) — adopted, 6–0. - E9: Utility easement deed with Dominion Energy (3629 G.W. Memorial Hwy and 100 Darby Road) — adopted, 6–0. - E10: Resolution authorizing second amendment to Verizon lease (200 sq. ft., Richneck Road) — adopted, 6–0. - Consent F1–F3: Minutes and climate action-plan donation resolution — adopted, 6–0. - G1: Accept conveyance of 3303 Jefferson Ave from the Economic Development Authority — adopted, 6–0. - G2: Resolution authorizing city manager to execute documents for purchase (transcript truncates details) — adopted, 6–0 (details not specified in the meeting transcript). - H1: Appropriation of $660,000 from FY2026 bond authorization for signal/pedestrian improvements at Brierfield Rd & Marshall Ave — adopted, 6–0.

What the record does not show

The transcript indicates unanimous roll-call votes but does not record detailed recorded votes by individual councilmember for every item beyond the standard "yes" responses. Several ordinance and conveyance items include agenda codes read into the record; the transcript does not include formal ordinance numbers beyond the case-style identifiers used in the agenda text. Where agenda text was truncated in the transcript (for example G2), the record in the meeting transcript did not include full descriptive language; the council vote on that item was recorded as carried.

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