Smithfield’s Planning Commission could, by early next year, get its first look at “The Promontory,” a mixed-use development that would add 262 homes and five commercial parcels off Benns Church Boulevard.

Around the same time, Isle of Wight County’s Planning Commission could get its first look at revised plans for St. Luke’s Village, a 2005-approved but stalled 179-home subdivision now owned by the same developer as The Promontory near St. Luke’s namesake Historic St. Luke’s Church & Museum.

Charlottesville-based Greenwood Homes submitted The Promontory’s plans in August 2023 to the town and county for 133 acres behind and adjacent to the Smithfield Tractor Supply store at the current site of a sand mining operation. 

In May of this year, Greenwood purchased the 55.5-acre former Smithfield Downs golf course on which St. Luke’s Village is to be built. The company, in 2022, applied to the county for a zoning amendment to expand the St. Luke’s footprint to allow up to 99,221 square feet of commercial space and 315 residential units consisting of 83 townhouses, 42 single-family homes, 140 condominiums and a future residential phase with another 50 homes.

“For both projects, we are still in the process of addressing comments on our rezoning submissions,” said Kent Henry, president of Greenwood’s Richmond and Hampton Roads divisions. “Our goal is to be at PC early next year, but that depends on what additional comments we receive as we work to resubmit and complete our packages.”

 

Has anything changed?

Preliminary plans for a single-lane roundabout on Turner Drive show an additional 306 homes adjacent to the 2023-submitted layout for The Promontory, though county and town staff, and Henry, all say nothing has changed with The Promontory’s proposed density.

“The applicant has not submitted a new site plan,” said Smithfield Community Development and Planning Director Tammie Clary.

Isle of Wight County Community Development Director Amy Ring said she too had, as of Oct. 2, only seen the original site plan Greenwood submitted in 2023 for The Promontory.

“The package that has been submitted to the town for The Promontory project is the extent of what is currently contemplated,” Henry said.

Aside from a roughly two-acre access to Turner Drive shown on Greenwood’s latest submittal to the town, “we don’t have anything else under contract at this point,” Henry said.

“We will have phases within The Promontory itself,” he said. “We are proffering to develop the commercial frontage first, and then the residential will be broken out and delivered in phases as well.”

Smithfield’s Town Council voted in March to annex 216 acres adjacent to the 133-acre Promontory site. Isle of Wight approved the uncontested boundary change in February.

The 216 acres on which the 306 hypothetical homes are shown on the roundabout plan are currently owned by the Mollie Turner Trust, while the 133 acres slated for The Promontory are deeded to L&L Land Development LLC.

County Attorney Bobby Jones said in February during the county supervisors’ vote on the annexation that he’d spoken to representatives of the Mollie Turner Trust unopposed to the annexation who were interested in their land at some point in the future becoming part of The Promontory.