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SUFFOLK, Va. — After a lengthy, years-long process, the Suffolk City Council approved its 2045 Comprehensive Plan on Dec. 18 by a 6-1 vote. 

Council member Leroy Bennett voted against, and Timothy Johnson abstained. 

Suffolk’s comprehensive planning manager Keith Cannady said several changes were made to the plan following November’s decision to table the vote for another month. Among the changes were the following:

• Expansion of the central growth area boundary along the Route 58 corridor
• Revisions to definitions of future land use types to allow for more mixed-use development
• Adding residential as a secondary use to the employment center land use type
• Transportation numbers related to traffic volume, congestion and safety were updated
• Reduction in the northern growth area, excluding the village center zoning district

“Going through this document, there’s been times that I said in no way can this work, this is not what we want, and I’ve criticized it,” Johnson said. “But I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to criticize it anymore. It’s not perfect, but it is a plan.”

Johnson said growth is necessary if the city wants state funding to improve its roads. He noted Route 58 as an area that needs improvement.

“The growth can’t be stopped. It can be carefully controlled,” Johnson said. “We can’t put our heads in the sand to deny reasonable growth. [It would be] not only wrong but irresponsible.”

In making the motion, Councilman John Rector described the plan as “malleable,” noting that it could be shaped as the city’s needs change. He said in his two years on the council, voting on the plan was “the most difficult decision I’ve had to make.”

“If we don’t like something that’s in this plan next meeting, we can change it,” Rector said. “If we don’t like something that’s in this plan six months from now, we can change it.”

Council member Shelley Butler Barlow said she was disappointed in the amount of the growth area, wanting it to be smaller in the final plan, but she was willing to make that concession to move forward.

“I also realize that we have to move forward, and we have to have a way to figure out what we’re going to do and controlling the growth and managing the growth as best as we can,” Butler Barlow said.

Mayor Michael Duman said he was unhappy with how long it had taken to get to this point, saying that the 460 Project wasn’t initially included because it was still at the beginning stages when the council first considered the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. He said the plan reviewed on Wednesday was the fifth iteration the mayor and council had considered. 

“It is absolutely indisputable that the civic engagement undertaken during this process was indeed unprecedented,” Duman said. “Also, as I’ve stated before, I believe the process implemented was appropriate and thoughtful, but I have not personally been pleased with the amount of time that is taken to get to this point, nor I have been satisfied with some of the conclusions along the way.”