CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Nearly a year after News 3 first reported on concerns from Deep Creek neighbors about plans to redevelop the former White’s Nursery and Garden Center property, a revised proposal for the roughly 75-acre site is moving forward.
Kotarides Developers is seeking to rezone the property along Old Mill Road and Weiss Lane for Stockton Meadows, a residential development that would include up to 296 homes.
The latest plan calls for 100 detached single-family condominiums, 140 attached townhouse-style condominiums and 56 units in four-plex buildings. According to a Chesapeake Planning Department staff report, the developer’s initial formal submission called for 359 units, but city staff asked for that number to be reduced to bring the project in line with the city’s comprehensive plan. The revised proposal has a density of 3.9 units per acre.
When News 3 first reported on plans for the property last year, an early preliminary plan showed 259 homes. At the time, neighbors raised concerns about what hundreds of additional homes could mean for already busy roads, crowded schools and other infrastructure in Deep Creek. City officials stressed then that the plan was preliminary and was being significantly reworked.
Watch previous coverage: Deep Creek neighbors concerned about potential rezoning of former White's Nursery into residential development
Those concerns have not disappeared.
“It’s gonna be too crowded. The schools are gonna be crowded. The roads are gonna be crowded. They don’t have the infrastructure for that,” Deep Creek neighbor Jamie Pizzaglia said.
Pizzaglia lives in Deep Creek off Mill Creek Parkway, not far from the proposed development. She said her daughter is preparing to start kindergarten, making school capacity one of her biggest concerns.
“I’m worried about the time it’s going to take us to get to school and work, as well as my daughter starting kindergarten,” Pizzaglia said. “She’s not going to thrive like she should.”
The city’s review of the project acknowledges that school capacity and traffic are concerns under current conditions.
According to the staff report, Deep Creek Central Elementary is currently at 137.2% capacity, above the city’s level-of-service standard of no more than 120%. A new elementary school is under construction in Culpepper Landing, and the city expects the Stockton Meadows property to be zoned for that school once it opens. The report says Deep Creek Central is expected to fall below the 120% threshold after the new school opens.
Traffic is being addressed through a similar timing condition.
The city says the intersection of George Washington Highway and Moses Grandy Trail near the Deep Creek Bridge currently operates at a failing Level of Service F during both the morning and afternoon peak periods. The city's analysis anticipates that intersection reaching Level of Service C after the ongoing Deep Creek Bridge replacement and expansion project is complete, including with traffic generated by Stockton Meadows.
The developer has proposed that no building permit will be requested or issued until the Culpepper Landing elementary school opens and the new Deep Creek Bridge project is complete, or Jan. 1, 2029, whichever comes first.
A traffic impact analysis estimates the proposed development would generate approximately 2,428 vehicle trips per day.
The proposal also includes several infrastructure and community improvements. Kotarides would dedicate approximately six acres to Chesapeake for a future public park and construct a 10-foot-wide multi-use trail along the property’s frontage on Old Mill Road and Weiss Lane.
Plans also include land for future road widening, improvements around Old Mill Road and Weiss Lane, and property that could eventually help the city straighten the curve along Old Mill Road. The development itself would include sidewalks, trails and private amenities.
Renderings submitted with the application show the proposed detached homes, townhouses and four-plex buildings. The developer also agreed to architectural standards covering building materials, porches, windows, landscaping and variety among home designs.
The property has been in the White family for nearly a century. A member of the White family told News 3 Chesapeake reporter Erin Holly that the family grew its last crop at the nursery in Spring 2024. He said the family is sad it could no longer continue farming and selling flowers, pointing to economic challenges facing the business, but said the family believes the community needs more housing.
City planning staff ultimately concluded that Stockton Meadows is “untimely at present” because of the existing traffic and school capacity conditions. However, staff determined that the proposed timing restrictions and other commitments address those issues enough to recommend approval of the rezoning with the proffers.
The Chesapeake Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the Stockton Meadows rezoning application on Nov. 12. The Planning Commission will make a recommendation on the rezoning before it moves to Chesapeake City Council.
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