The Villas at Lake Meade will now be able to sell homes without the previous age restriction on the property after Suffolk City Council unanimously approved altering its proffer last week.

The proffer originally placed restrictions that residential units could only be sold to those age 55 and older.

However, according to a staff analysis, 12 of the 40 townhomes at 200 Seasons Circle that have been built have not sold due to the age restriction of the development, and Lake Meade LLC, the property’s owner, has said the age limitation has reduced interest in the townhomes. The remaining 28 townhomes slated for the neighborhood have not yet been built, according to the staff report.

The 5.6-acre property is zoned residential urban and is near the north side of Murphys Mill Road. The Villas at Lake Meade is near commercial development and other single-family homes along the road and the west side of Route 460.

“The applicant’s narrative also states that a succession of real estate brokers and real estate development professionals has advised the owner that sales of age restricted homes at this location will continue to be an insurmountable impediment to creation of successful and salable community,” according to a staff analysis of the request.

The latest request adds a proffer that Lake Meade LLC contribute $439,333.28 to increase capacity at the high school and elementary school levels. According to the formula in the city’s municipal code, the 40 units would generate eight students for Elephant’s Fork Elementary School, five at King’s Fork Middle School and four at King’s Fork High School.

In the 2019-2028 Capital Improvements Program and Plan, there is a 600-capacity elementary school with a projected $25 million cost, with a cost per student of $41,666.66, the staff report states. It says the cost to increase capacity at the elementary school level, based on the number of proffered units, would cost $8,333.33 per townhome.

A new high school at a projected $53 million is also in that CIP, which puts the cost per student at $26,500 and a cost of $2,650 per townhome, the staff report states.

The 2035 Comprehensive Plan shows the property as being part of the Central Growth Area, Inner Ring Suburban use district, with the use and density of The Villas at Lake Meade for single family townhomes having already been approved and compatible with this part of the comprehensive plan, the staff analysis states.

In January 2007, City Council passed an ordinance reducing the age restriction in the community from 62 to 55.

There was also a proffer for the developer to put up a stoplight, which has already been done.