Planning Commission backs D.R. Horton’s Cardinal Ridge rezoning, approves proffers amid traffic and stormwater debate

The James City County Planning Commission voted 4–2 on Dec. 3 to recommend approval of a rezoning request that would allow D.R. Horton to redevelop roughly 365.6 acres of the Eastern State site as the Cardinal Ridge mixed-use neighborhood.

The application, introduced by attorney Tim Trant, would rezone the property from Public Lands to Mixed Use and allow up to 1,006 residential units (including detached homes, townhomes and apartments), approximately 162,000 square feet of commercial space and roughly 40.6 acres conveyed to the county for public use. Trant told the commission the applicant proffers 20% of the units (about 202) as affordable to households at or below 80% of the area median income; the applicant also proffered a $1,250,000 contribution toward stream restoration and offered to donate a commercial parcel the team values “conservatively in excess of $7,000,000.”

Why it matters: the plan is large for the county and fronts several infrastructure and environmental tradeoffs. Supporters told the…