Developer hopes for delay on Chesapeake vote

CHESAPEAKE

At least 1,275 people hope that Tuesday will be the end of a three-month-long fight against a massive project in Western Branch.

That's how many signatures organizers say they have collected on petitions to persuade the City Council to halt plans for Breckinridge, a mixed-use development proposed for the last parcel of open space on Portsmouth Boulevard.

But the developer, Bonaventure Realty Group of Arlington, is counting on at least another month to get the community on its side, or just not vehemently opposed.

An application to rezone the property for the development is on Tuesday's council agenda. Before that, there is a vote scheduled for Bonaventure's request to push the hearing back to March 20.

"Our expectation is that this will be continued because we feel that the project can be substantially improved before a full hearing on the matter," said Dwight Dunton, president of Bonaventure, adding that if the continuance isn't granted, the company is not prepared for a full hearing that night.

In December, the council appointed a committee to review the city's proffer policies for a more standard approach with no set deadline. Dunton said his team has been operating under the assumption that the mayor and council were going to hold off on development applications until the proffer policy was approved. Proffers are what developers offer in exchange for zoning approvals.

Councilwoman Debbie Ritter said that's not so. "Everything we do is on a case-by-case basis."

Mayor Alan Krasnoff also disputed that claim.

"So far as I'm concerned, I'm only one vote on council and I will not support a continuance," he said. "I told them that."

Dunton said the continuance would help the company address school, traffic and density issues.

Breckinridge drawings show about 1,500 residential units - from single-family homes to apartments - over 10 years and 320,000 square feet of retail or office space, according to documents. School Board projections show Chittum Elementary School overcrowding at 171 percent.

Western Branch residents against the proposal met Wednesday night and aired more outrage. Among the topics discussed was the "type" of individual who rents an apartment and the quality of upbringing from students living in apartments versus houses. The lowest rental rate would be $1,150 a month for a one-bedroom unit, according to Bonaventure's plans. A prospective resident would need an annual income of at least $40,000 to be approved for that unit.

"Apartment dwellers are not viable members of communities," said Mary Kiddy, who lives near the proposed development.

Brenda Scott, who lives on Jolliff Road, said people who rent aren't invested in the community.

"You're here specifically for our schools, but you don't contribute to the local economy except for your rent, which is all going to Bonaventure," she said. "You're not the norm for this area at this time."

Marjon Rostami, 757-222-5207, marjon.rostami@pilotonline.com