By Allison T. Williams

Special to the News-Herald

The Chesapeake City Council has given the green light for Jolliff Woods, a proposed 361-home mixed-use development in the city’s Western Branch community, just across the Suffolk border.

The council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to rezone 168 acres located near the northwestern intersection of Jolliff Road and Portsmouth Boulevard from agricultural/general business to a planned-use designation that will allow for a mixture of homes, offices and retail shops. Councilwoman Debbie Ritter cast the lone dissenting vote.

Kotarides Developers plans to build approximately 60 single-family homes on the site annually for seven or eight years, according to Kotarides’ attorney, Grady Palmer. The homes will sell for around $350,000 each, he said.

The Virginia Beach-based builder also owns two adjacent projects — Townhomes at Jolliff Landing and Clairmont at Jolliff, an apartment complex.

With Jolliff Woods, Kotarides will be making a $150 million investment in Western Branch, Palmer said.

The developer will donate a six-acre site on the property to the city and has offered a proffer of $902,000 — $2,500 per residence— to the city to offset the expense of providing city services to the development. Both the property and the proffers would be given to the city before the first certificate of occupancy is issued, according to Palmer.

Pete Burkhimer of American Engineering said he had been working with property owner Jim Boyd for nearly eight years, when the farmland was initially eyed as a potential site for port-related industries.

Although the property’s soil and wetlands issues make a port-related use a problem, he said, it is ideal for a residential and retail site.

“These homes are designed to appeal to younger buyers,” he added.