Despite opposition from Kilby Shores residents, a nearby development that could add up to 140 homes on more than 21 acres of property off of Holland Road will go forward following Suffolk City Council’s approval of a rezoning request.

By a 7-1 vote, City Council on March 20 approved the rezoning request from Bob Arnette, president of Portsmouth-based Coastal Virginia Partners LLC, for a proposed development of 83 townhomes and 50 single-family homes, with the property near wetlands that divide the property from the Kilby Shores neighborhoods. Coastal Virginia Partners made the application on behalf of property owners Shirley and Maurice Robertson.

The rezoning changes the land’s designation from general commercial and residential low-medium density zoning to residential urban zoning. The city’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan identifies this area as a central growth area.

The Planning Commission voted 6-0 on Feb. 19 to approve the rezoning.

During a public hearing, three residents expressed opposition to the project, with the primary concerns being that the project would strain traffic and schools.

Whitney Saunders of Saunders & Ojeda, on behalf of Arnette, presented City Council with a petition with about 80 people from Suffolk — many from the Holland Road corridor — who have endorsed the project. He said the project is an imperative to have new housing stock that would help support downtown.

“We do believe this is a very reasonable request … that meets your comprehensive plan,” Saunders said.

He noted that HHHunt, a real estate developer in the Mid-Atlantic region, would be the builder of the project, and it has proposed price points of $185,000 to $220,000 for the townhomes and $220,000 to $300,000 for the single-family homes.

“This is an imperative element of pursuing your downtown initiatives,” Saunders told the council. “If we’re going to have the vibrant downtown that you are asking for and that you have placed as a priority, you have got to have new housing stock which comes into the infill neighborhoods and areas which are possible to build new housing stock.”

Several people spoke during the public hearing of the potential benefits of the project to downtown businesses, including Ed Beardsley, who said the proposed development would support downtown.

“As a business owner downtown, obviously, more people equal the likelihood of more business,” Beardsley said.

Others who supported the development said during the public hearing they wanted to see smart, reasonable growth, and wanted to see housing that would help bring residents to downtown.

Councilman Tim Johnson, the lone no vote on the rezoning request, said that he understands the concerns of Kilby Shores residents but also noted that the comprehensive plan calls for this development in this market and the property is a perfect residential site.

Still, he said that it doesn’t mean the development as presented during the council’s public hearing will be built as is, and he had concerns about the project’s density and its effect on schools. It still has to be approved by the city’s Planning and Community Development Department.

“It still has hoops to jump through,” Johnson said, adding, “but in fairness to the developer, this project, this piece of property can support this. In my humble opinion, I think it’s probably what should be there … but I still have real issues.”