The Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended approving a proposed 143-unit subdivision on the former golf course at the Villages at West Neck in southern Virginia Beach.
The plan includes a 9-hole course, gardens and trails.
What to do about the Signature at West Neck course has been contentious since it closed in 2019. The West Neck subdivision was approved because of the golf course and open space it provided.
Residents of Indian River Plantation and West Neck have worried about the course’s fate, particularly after a 2023 brush fire that threatened nearby homes. West Neck sued because of the conditions at the former course. Some residents fought another plan to build housing there.
Harrison and Lear, based on the Peninsula, withdrew a housing proposal last year and is part of the new plan to rezone 86 acres of the course for the 143-unit community called the Preserve at West Neck.
Last year's plan had housing and open space but no course. The new proposal includes a course that involves Marc Leishman, a professional golfer who lives in Indian River Plantation.
The housing would be for people 55 and older, as in the Villages at West Neck.
Christopher Pocta, an attorney representing the developer, acknowledged divisions during remarks.
“This is the solution on the table,” he said.
Wednesday’s meeting included hours of comment from about 45 speakers, many from the two neighborhoods.
Some said the plan could end what Commissioner Katherine Schoonover referred to as a “land war.”
“From the standpoint of that, this sounds like the only option short of doing literally nothing,” Schoonover.
Commissioner Bryan Plumlee moved to recommend approving the plan. He hoped City Council would seek assurances, including that the property would be maintained should the 9-hole course eventually stop operating.
The developer has offered options to move the project forward. Pocta said the developer would work on issues raised during the commission meeting.
“Sometimes, you know, we have to look around at our opportunities about what we can want and what we can get,” Plumlee said of the situation.
Commissioner Walter Camp opposed approval. He said the issue was allowing more housing on property that was the “essential factor” in the Villages at West Neck being developed.
“What this comes down to is you can’t eat the same apple twice,” Camp said.
Allowing new housing “unwinds the deal that was made in the first place,” he said.
The final vote to recommend approval to City Council was 7-3 with one abstention.
The proposal is in what's called the Transition Area, where housing density is meant to be phased from the more-dense suburban northern city toward the rural south of Virginia Beach. The recommended density for the area is 1 unit per developable acre.
City staff, while recognizing “several positive aspects,” recommended in a report to deny the housing because it is 2.79 units per acre and not enough open space.
Earlier this month, an advisory committee for the area also recommended denying the project, saying it doesn’t meet the Transition Area standards and the city’s comprehensive land-use plan.
