Planning Commission recommends small-contractor office at 12618 Warwick Boulevard to City Council

The Newport News Planning Commission on Jan. 15 voted 7-0 to recommend City Council approve Conditional Use Permit CU20240012 for construction and operation of a small contractor—s office at 12618 Warwick Boulevard.

Staff planner Saul Garcia told the commission the 1.21-acre property lies in a C-1 (Retail Commercial) district and is designated for neighborhood commercial uses in the city—s 1 City, 1 Future 2040 plan. The applicant, WM Smith Contracting LLC, proposes a new 2,500-square-foot building with adjacent parking and a screened storage area. Garcia said the operation would employ seven to 10 people overall, with three to four employees working at the office at any given time and office hours of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Garcia said the proposal includes two transitional buffer widths where commercial abuts residential: a 20-foot buffer adjacent to multifamily property to the east and a 30-foot buffer where the site abuts single-family homes to the north. A 16-foot landscape strip along Warwick Boulevard is shown on the conceptual plan. The applicant proposed a storage area behind the building limited to the portion of the site that does not abut residences, screened with a 6-foot privacy fence. The business plan indicates three company vehicles, five enclosed trailers and a skid steer will be stored there, and that no self-propelled or towed vehicle with a gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 pounds will be stored on the property.

Staff recommended approval with 15 conditions to be included in the ordinance if council adopts the permit. Conditions listed in the staff report and reiterated at the hearing include submission and approval of a Class 1 site plan and a landscape plan, review and approval of building elevations and exterior materials by the director of planning prior to a building permit, a limit to one freestanding sign, prohibition on outside storage of materials and supplies (storage to be restricted to the screened yard), and the vehicle-weight restriction noted above.

The only speaker during the public-comment period was Raymond Suttle Jr., an attorney with Kaufman & Canoles representing the contract purchaser, WM Smith Contracting. Suttle said the applicant accepted the conditions and asked the commission to recommend approval. Mark Smith, identified in the record as the principal, was present.

Commissioners asked staff questions about a leftover strip of right-of-way adjacent to Warwick Boulevard, the precise extent of the fence and storage area, and whether neighboring homeowners had been notified. Staff said the leftover piece remained part of the city right-of-way, that the fence would enclose the storage yard on three sides (not the front), and that the existing vegetation along the rear property line would be retained to provide a buffer; staff reported one phone inquiry after the initial notice mailing.

Chair Michael Taylor moved to recommend approval to council; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote, 7 to 0. Taylor said the matter is scheduled for City Council on Feb. 11, 2025.

The commission—s recommendation is advisory; final approval and any ordinance language adjustments will be decided by City Council at the public hearing scheduled in February.