Give developers another month

Chesapeake's City Council should grant an extension tonight to developers hoping to build a large — and, so far, wildly unpopular — mixed-used project in Western Branch.

Bonaventure Realty Group, an Arlington-based company, has asked the council to push a public hearing on the proposed Breckinridge development to March 20. The developers say they want more time to address objections raised by people who live near the intersection of Portsmouth Boulevard and Jolliff Road.

That request won’t generate sympathy among opponents, and — to a degree — they’re right. The developers have known for months about the community’s concerns and have done too little to resolve them.

But the rezoning request may be fixable. Another month is reasonable; the land, near Interstate 664, isn’t likely to remain undeveloped for long.

It’s still possible this particular proposal could be reshaped to boost Western Branch and address some of the concerns. And it’s still possible that a revised plan could be more appealing than earlier proposals.

The concerns about the 439-acre project range from specious to serious.

No credence, for example, should be given to nebulous concerns about the “type” of people who might live in the development, which calls for 1,500 apartments and single-family homes as well as 320,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Apartment dwellers aren’t second-class citizens, and it’s a stretch to claim that places renting for a minimum of $1,150 would damage the quality of life in Western Branch. Despite the fact that it’s largely zoned for agricultural use, property so close to I-664 is a logical spot for high-density development.

But there are major problems with the proposal — including some large enough to cause the city planning staff to recommend denial in December.

The developers have offered about $5 million worth of land to expand Portsmouth Boulevard, but city officials need to examine whether that’s sufficient to deal with the congestion the residential, retail and office portions of this project would generate. Officials also need to weigh the planning staff’s argument that the greater need is commercial development.

More pressing is the effect the houses and apartments would have on Chittum Elementary School, which currently has 10 portable classrooms. At buildout, this project would push the school to 171 percent of capacity, according to School Board projections.

That alone makes the project a nonstarter, and the developers’ responses to date — that the residential portion would be built over 10 years and that the city could use projected tax revenue to address the crowding — are insufficient.

Breckinridge, as currently planned, falls short of the city’s needs. But, with a little more time, perhaps the developers could craft a project that enhances the economic vitality and quality of life in Western Branch. If they don’t, it’s time to move on to another one.