development

Virginia Beach's Strategic Growth Area Office opened last year with one manager and an assistant. Soon, if the proposed budget is approved, the office will boast a staff of 15 and a budget of $8.5 million as it ramps up to manage some of the city's biggest development projects, including the potential light-rail line.

Virginia Beach officials say that most of the department's budget and staff have been moved from other areas, and that little additional money is actually being spent.

Homeowners can benefit from an office dedicated to overseeing the city's orderly growth. Well-planned development that keeps pace with improvements to infrastructure can help raise property values.

Read more in The Virginian-Pilot....

Officials in Isle of Wight are concerned about a lack of business and residential growth, and the  the county is taking another look at its proffer system.

Proffers are agreements between developers and local governments meant to lower the burden of new developments on government resources, such as the need to build a new school or roads. Under the county's voluntary proffer system implemented in 2003, developers looking to have land rezoned for a project could offer cash, land, or other incentives to the county as part of their application. The encouraged cash proffer amount is about $11,000 per single-family housing unit.

The cost may be inhibiting development, thus stifling growth and causing the local real estate market to stagnate.

Read more at the Daily Press....

According to the Free Lance Star, Fredericksburg City Council has resumed discussion of an ordinance to limit the size of "out of scale" new homes.  Originally considered in 2008, the Council placed it on hold, only to be shuffled between the Council and the Planning Commission.  As the housing market slowed and new construction sales tumbled, the urgency passed and the issue was placed on the back burner - until now.  The Council will hold a public hearing to seek input on a proposed ordinance that would limit the height of new homes, as well as the amount of space the "footprint" of the house would occupy in relation to the lot size.

Read the full story...

New Kent, a partly suburban but mainly rural county thus far, is slowly changing shape. Within the last two years, the County has seen increasing residential and commercial development. Next on the list is a project that will include both businesses and homes in the style of an English village.  The new project is expected to bring $500,000 in real estate, personal, business, sales and meals taxes in five years. Residential units -- with prices ranging from the low $200,000s to the mid-$300,000s -- reflect the architecture of the English countryside. They include carriage houses, cottages, flats and town homes.

Read the full Richmond Times-Dispatch story...

Newport News is taking its future of retail very seriously, and will commission a study on the direction of retail and preventing sprawl. Thanks to an explosion of retail stores in Williamsburg and Hampton, Newport News find itself in competition with them - often to its detriment.  As a result, City Council is seeking ways to redevelop vacant commerical properties and plan to commission a study to focusing on  redevelopment and preventing sprawl. To the extent that they can utilize vacant properties, they can hopefully minimize the need for new development that is likely to increase traffic congestion in surrounding areas. The study is expected to cost between $50,000 to $100,000.

Read the full Daily Press story...