The temptation on Wednesday was strong for City Council to postpone a decision on the controversial Four Farms development. After the Suffolk Planning Commission recommended that the huge new development not be allowed in an area currently zoned for agricultural uses, the investors working behind the scenes to secure approval for the project quickly asked that council postpone a decision while they worked to address some of the issues that had been in contention.

Initial discussion during the City Council meeting seemed to indicate that council members were going to side with developers, ignoring the fact that they had been given a petition signed by 600 residents of the Cypress Borough, where the huge residential and commercial development would be built. For those 600 residents, at least, there was little debate between tabling the developer’s request for a rezoning or turning it down outright.

The people had spoken in the clearest, most unmistakable tones: They did not want to deal with the traffic problems they were certain would accompany the new development, they were worried about property values in the areas surrounding the project and they were mistrustful of the developers’ promises.

On Wednesday, Suffolk City Council members heard the public’s calls over the developers’ and did something nobody really expected, following the recommendation by the Planning Commission and turning down the proposal outright.

Under Virginia law, the developers can still bring their proposal back in a year. But the council’s decision will force them to go through the entire process again — including paying the application fees once more. Theoretically, the extra year will give the developers more time to get to know and understand the weaknesses of their application, as well as the objections of its opponents. During that period, Suffolk also would have time to do a bit of self-assessment, confirming or denying a desire to have residential property located in the agricultural area targeted by the developers.

Perhaps in the meantime Councilman Charles Brown, who represents the Cypress Borough, will have awakened to the reality of what the folks in his district want. Brown on Wednesday was the only council member to oppose a vote to deny the permit necessary to start work.

Faced with the signatures of 600 constituents pleading with him to deny the rezoning, Brown sided with the developers. It seems safe to expect that those constituents will be watching him carefully in future decisions to see whether he again gives in to his temptations.