Company wants to build massive warehouse complex in Suffolk. Residents are planning a protest.
A group of Suffolk residents concerned about road safety from a proposed development project will rally tonight before a City Council vote.
Council is voting to rezone about 540 acres of farmland for the Port 460 project which would allow Maryland-based Matan Inc. to construct about 10 warehouses comprising a 4.7-million-square-foot complex.
The Port 460 logistics center would be built on Pruden Boulevard near U.S. 58, about five miles from downtown Suffolk. The area is a key freight corridor to the Port of Virginia in Norfolk. According to a Matan report, Port 460 could easily move goods to other parts of the state and beyond. Supporters believe the plan will boost the economy and create thousands of jobs, including construction jobs to improve the roadways for the project’s truck traffic.
Residents are mostly concerned about traffic congestion, though, because several residential subdivisions are near the property.
“There are old people living over here and children learning to drive,” said Denise Murden, one of the organizers of the protest.
On July 19, the Suffolk Planning Commission endorsed the rezoning request on a 5-3 vote. The vote to approve or reject the application was tabled at an August City Council meeting and rescheduled for tonight.
Residents in opposition have started petitions and now have a Facebook page called Just Say No to Warehouses in Our Neighborhoods with about 1,200 members.
“We aren’t against progress, and we want the port to succeed,” Murden said. “We just don’t think this is the right place for it.”
Murden said residents do not believe enough research has been done to decide if the project is a good fit for the area. They also don’t want taxpayers to have to pay for any infrastructure improvements for the project.
Everett Eaton, 262-902-7896, everett.eaton@virginiamedia.com
