Conserve York County

10/13/2026

The Bluffs at Kiskiack application has been withdrawn!

The applicant pulled the rezoning request for 704 homes in rural Croaker hours before tonight's James City County hearing. That makes two large projects withdrawn before a hearing in a month, after Cardinal Ridge in September.

Congratulations to the residents of James City County. Your voice has been heard.

One caution: when an application is pulled, it can be brought back at any time. The developer withdrew this one, but the Board did not deny it, and the County says any new proposal for this property would have to start over from the beginning.

York County residents, the same kind of projects are coming our way. Stay vigilant.

The Bluffs at Kiskiack Applications Withdrawn - Z-24-0013/MP-24-005/SUP-24-0033

The rezoning and special use permit applications for the proposed development near the intersection of I-64 and Croaker Road, otherwise known as the “Bluffs at Kiskiack” has been withdrawn by the applicant. As such, the previously scheduled public hearing with the Board of Supervisors for this item on Oct. 13, 2026, will not take place. No further action or consideration by the Board of Supervisors will occur related to this application.

Should another legislative application for development be submitted for this property, the property owner would have to reapply, and the process would begin over from the beginning. This would include additional staff review and analysis and another public hearing with the Planning Commission before it could be heard again by the Board of Supervisors. At this time, no other legislative applications for development have been submitted for this property.

10/12/2026

Tomorrow night, our neighbors in James City County face a vote on 704 homes in rural Croaker.

The Bluffs at Kiskiack goes before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, October 13, and one point needs clearing up first. The Historic Virginia Land Conservancy holds a conservation easement next to the site, and its name has been attached to the project. It is not involved as a supporter. HVLC sent us the attached letter to make that clear, and in its own words: "HVLC is not advocating for, nor benefiting from, the proposed development in any way." We appreciate their work protecting land across the Historic Triangle and their care in setting this straight.

We strongly oppose The Bluffs at Kiskiack. 704 homes plus commercial space is the wrong scale for rural Croaker. The hotel and commercial are there to make the numbers work on paper, because commercial brings in tax revenue and homes cost a county more than they return. Once the homes are approved, the hotel and commercial never come. What residents are left with is the housing, and the bill always comes due in higher taxes, overcrowded schools, and worse traffic.

James City County residents, tomorrow is the night to show up and speak. Ask the supervisors and the developer for the contracts for the hotel and commercial properties. If they are rock solid, we should know who signed them. Hotels are failing all around us, so why would any hotel be interested in Croaker? York County, Virginia residents, share this so your neighbors see the letter before the vote.

09/30/2026

The 1% sales tax on York County's November 3 ballot would raise the rate residents pay by 14%.

The increase, from 7% to 8%, is intended to fund school construction, and the county points to aging buildings and the trailers students already occupy as the reason it is needed. Those needs did not appear overnight. School buildings require upkeep, maintenance, and expansion over time, and residents are right to ask why that planning did not happen over the last two decades, before the answer became a new tax.

Our experience has shown that when residential growth is approved faster than the plan to support it, residents eventually pay the difference through higher costs and strained services. A comprehensive plan only means something if the county follows it, and this referendum is a direct result of what happens when it does not.

Other communities have been asked to accept a new tax on the same kind of promise. Philadelphia's soda tax was sold as a way to fund pre-K and community schools. Watch John Stossel's look at the years that followed, and pay attention to how that promise held up.

York County, Virginia read the ballot question and understand what a 14% sales tax increase means for your household before November 3. Share this with your neighbors so they can do the same.

09/09/2026

1,066 homes, off the table in James City County.

Congratulations to the residents of James City County. Your voice has been heard.

On Tuesday, the developers behind Cardinal Ridge withdrew their rezoning application just before it was set to reach a public hearing before the James City County Board of Supervisors. D.R. Horton had sought rezoning for up to 1,066 homes and a commercial center on 365 acres off Ironbound Road, later offering to scale back to 770 homes with affordable housing set aside. Residents showed up anyway, in large numbers, with signs.

This is a game changer for James City, much like our Fenton Mill. The key now is for the leadership of the opposition to stay engaged, because many more developers are in line to put projects like this in James City County.

Next is an identical project called Kiskiac, which we've been following for a while now. The developers of Kiskiac need to withdraw their proposal, because there are too many high-density houses, and the promise of a hotel and commercial are only there to try and make the financials work. The hotel and commercial will never come.

James City County residents, stay engaged and show up when Kiskiac comes to hearing. York County, Virginia residents, pay attention. This is the same pattern that has already tested our county, and there is no reason to think it is done here either.

08/18/2026

22 acres across from the Marquis Shopping Center get decided tonight.

The York County Board of Supervisors meets at 6:00 p.m. at York Hall in Yorktown to vote on a proposal to rezone those 22 acres on Rt. 199. It is the first significant rezoning York County has seen since Fenton Mill.

What arrives before the Board tonight is a proposal for a Sheetz, a separate fast food restaurant and 125 townhomes.

York County, Virginia is recommending the Board deny the application, as the developer will not commit to building the Sheetz first. We have been repeatedly burned by unfulfilled promises of commercial investment if only high-density housing were allowed first, so our County Administrator's recommendation for denial is justified.

While many of our concerns have been addressed, several remain. Our District's elementary schools are overcrowded with students learning in trailers, and there is no financial commitment from the developer to offset the school costs. There is a lack of green space on this project, when the developer could easily offer land to be set aside for conservation. And the historical significance of the Whitaker House site is not sufficiently recognized.

Speak up before the vote. Be at York Hall tonight at 6:00 p.m.

08/02/2026

More than 100 residents showed up in James City County Thursday night to say the growth is too much.

We are glad to see it. Residents across our region are pushing back on the development abuses of recent years, and York County, James City County and New Kent are all prime targets of developers.

There are rezoning applications in James City County that would add well over 1,000 homes. Citizens do not want it. Are our leaders listening and acting to slow this explosive growth?

07/16/2026

Thank You for Your Service Michael King

After 10 years on the Planning Commission and 17 years of service to York County, one of our most experienced Planning Commissioners in York County is leaving the Commission.

Michael King was the Chairman of the Planning Commission during the Fenton Mill Rezoning application. He also led what ultimately became the current York County Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

In our five-plus years of working with Michael, we always found him to be open to our concerns and most importantly we always found Michael to be fair in ensuring York County residents and concerned citizens groups were heard.

We sincerely appreciate your service to the citizens of York County, Virginia, Michael, and wish you nothing but the best.

07/13/2026

This is the kind of rezoning our Comprehensive Plan was written to prevent.

Last week, the York County, Virginia Planning Commission voted 4-3 to recommend denial of the first residential rezoning proposal in Upper York County since Fenton Mill.

This proposal seeks to add 125 townhouses, (maybe) a gas station and (maybe) a restaurant on Rt. 199, directly across from the Marquis Shopping Center.

We agree with the majority of Commissioners, who expressed concerns with a flawed financial analysis submitted by the developer, negative impacts on our overcrowded elementary schools where many students learn in trailers, lack of respect for the historical significance of the property, and a lack of both open space and parking.

We also appreciate the York County Planning Department's recommendation that this application be denied because it does not align with our York County Comprehensive Development Plan.

Unfortunately, three Commissioners felt they knew better than County Staff and citizens. Our Comprehensive Plan takes years to develop and we were there at every meeting, ensuring citizens were represented. Yet some Commissioners chose to throw out the Plan guidance and vote to recommend approval of this rezoning.

Next, the rezoning proposal will move to the Board of Supervisors for approval or denial. With a recommendation for denial from the Planning Commission, we hope the Supervisors deny this application at least as currently proposed. If the concerns listed above are acknowleged and properly mitigated, maybe this proposal could gain more support.

We will be providing more as this final decision approaches, likely in August or September.

06/23/2026

The Greater Williamsburg Sports and Events Center will hold its grand opening and public open house on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 3:30pm at the Sports Complex on Bypass Road near the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center. You are invited.

This Sports Complex was somewhat unpopular with York County residents when it was approved in 2023 by a previous Board of Supervisors. York County’s share of the funding is $800,000 annually which was the primary source of taxpayer concern. This funding comes from our higher local sales-tax rate, specifically what is called the Tourist Fund. Our leaders were told higher hotel tax and restaurant meals tax revenue would likely cover and exceed the annual York County committment.

While we did not like this when it was approved, but now that its built, we want it to succeed.

We look forward to hearing more in person and hope you will attend.

The highly anticipated Greater Williamsburg Sports and Events Center will officially open its doors with a grand opening celebration on Wednesday, June 24, ushering in a new era of sports tourism, com

06/10/2026

1,865 homes were on the table in James City County last night. All three projects were deferred.

After nearly four hours of meeting, the James City County Board of Supervisors deferred decisions on Westwood Park (155 homes), Cardinal Ridge (1,006 homes), and The Bluffs at Kiskiack (704 homes plus a museum, offices, hotels, and retail). New hearing dates: July 14 for Westwood, September 8 for Cardinal Ridge, and October 13 for The Bluffs.

We strongly oppose all three projects.

Eight of ten public speakers opposed The Bluffs at Kiskiack, saying it would destroy the area's rural nature. We appreciate the supervisors who raised concerns about density and the developers' promises. Our experience has shown those promises rarely materialize. York County residents are still paying for similar approvals years after the developers moved on.

We were surprised that Stonehouse Supervisor Barbara Null supported The Bluffs at Kiskiack. She has previously been a strong voice for curbing high-density growth in the rural parts of James City County. The Croaker area is rural.

York County has learned the hard lessons of over-development. The bill always comes due in higher taxes, overcrowded schools, and worse traffic.

We are watching all three projects through to their next hearings.

Will James City County learn from York County’s mistakes?