The Town of Smithfield has returned $6 million to former Smithfield Foods Chairman and philanthropist Joseph Luter III at his son’s request.

Joseph Luter IV, in a Nov. 26 letter to town officials, said support from a newly elected Town Council is essential to the Grange at 10Main, a mixed-use development on the historic district’s western edge anchored by a permanent Farmers Market, “moving forward.” 

Read LSMP Letter to Smithfield Town Council

Luter III gifted the $6 million to the town last spring conditioned on the town’s Farmers Market moving to the Grange and taxpayers matching the gift dollar for dollar to beautify the adjacent western entrance to downtown with a brick sign and sidewalks. Any money left over could be used by the town for other projects, he said.

The $6 million donation, facilitated by Mayor Steve Bowman during a May visit with Luter III at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, was never formally accepted by the Town Council, which will see major changes come January.

Incumbents Jim Collins and Raynard Gibbs were defeated in the Nov. 5 election, and veteran Councilman Randy Pack did not seek reelection. Newly elected council members Mary Ellen Bebermeyer, Darren Cutler and Bill Harris said at an October candidate forum that they opposed a prior council’s vote in 2022 to pledge $1.4 million to a new structure at the Grange that would house the Farmers Market, a restaurant and retail shops. 

Veteran Councilman Mike Smith, who was reelected last month, said he no longer supported moving the Farmers Market to the Grange. Smith and Councilman Jeff Brooks voted no when the Town Council voted 3-2 last December to rezone the former Pierceville property and issue a number of special use permits requested by Luter for the Grange, which would include single-family homes, apartments and a hotel.

The project drew intense opposition and helped inspire a new political action committee, Citizens for Responsible Leadership, which endorsed Smith, Bebermeyer, Cutler and Harris in the election on a shared platform of controlling residential growth. The Grange, with 267 residences, would more than double the current number of homes in the Historic District.

Luter IV’s letter asked that the $6 million be returned to his father by Dec. 2.

“As communicated to Mike Smith, LSMP has no interest in moving forward on this project without the support of Town Council,” Luter IV wrote, referencing the family’s limited liability company that proposes to develop the 57-acre Grange. “We will schedule a meeting with the new Town Council once they have been sworn in.”

Smith is widely expected to succeed Bowman as mayor when the new council is seated and selects officers in January. Bowman endorsed Collins and Gibbs, who finished far behind Bebermeyer, Cutler and Smith in a November election defined largely by citizen opposition to residential growth.

“When we started this project nearly four years ago, we never envisioned the controversy this project would generate,” Luter IV wrote.

He reiterated projected benefits of a “transformational plan,” including $17.3 million in tax revenue for the town over 25 years once the Grange was fully built. Isle of Wight County, which last month followed through with its own 2022 pledge of $1.4 million for the Farmers Market, would receive $11.9 million in tax revenue over 25 years, according to a Ted Figura Consulting study commissioned by LSMP.

“Should the new Town Council want to proceed with the Grange,” Luter IV wrote, the $6 million returned to Luter III would be used for Phase 1 of the Grange, including the Farmers Market, roadwork, streetscapes, 235 parking spaces, green space and four pickleball courts.

“This will be built and given to the Town and to the designated entity that owns the market with the County,” Luter IV added. “We will spend over $18 million to develop this initial phase and believe we are giving the Town an asset worth $4 million to $5 million.”

The Isle of Wight County Economic Development Authority voted recently to be the entity that would own the market facility. County supervisors voted unanimously last month to transfer $1.4 million to the EDA to follow through on the county’s 2022 pledge.

If the town provides its previously pledged $1.4 million, construction could begin next fall and the new Farmers Market could be operational by the spring of 2027, Luter IV wrote.

Smithfield Town Manager Michael Stallings said the Farmers Market is not on the Town Council’s Dec. 3 agenda. It is expected to be the last meeting before the new council is seated next month.