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Eleven months after recommending rejection of the Tidewater Logistics Center multi-warehouse complex proposed for the outskirts of Windsor, Isle of Wight County’s Planning Commission will take its first look at a revised concept that calls for one less warehouse.

Isle of Wight’s Economic Development Authority remains under contract with Meridian Property Purchaser LLC, a subsidiary of The Meridian Group, to sell an EDA-owned 83-acre parcel fronting the four-lane Route 460 despite county supervisors voting 4-1 in June to uphold the Planning Commission’s recommendation and deny Meridian’s application to rezone 154 acres of farmland and forestry for industrial use. The acreage includes the EDA-owned land and two non-EDA parcels owned by Hollowell Holdings LLC.

Twenty-seven days after the supervisors’ vote, Meridian submitted revised conceptual plans dated July 10 showing four warehouses instead of the five originally proposed. Isle of Wight Community Development Director Amy Ring, whose department handles rezoning and permit requests, said Meridian formally submitted a new rezoning application the first week of December. According to a public notice set for publication in the Jan. 1 and Jan. 8 print editions of The Smithfield Times, that revised application will go before the Planning Commission for a public hearing on Jan. 28 during the commission’s 6 p.m. meeting.

Under state law, if a rezoning application is denied, the project developer would ordinarily be required to wait at least one year before submitting another application seeking the same rezoning for the same land. The county has the option of granting a waiver if it deems the application sufficiently different from what was previously proposed.

“I’ve made the determination that they can submit a new application based on the substantial changes to their layout and square footage reduction,” Ring said.

The Planning Commission’s Feb. 27 hearing on Meridian’s original concept drew more opponents than supporters.

While proponents had argued the project would bring millions in tax dollars and over 1,000 new jobs, opponents argued it would also bring constant noise and traffic to the Lovers Lane and Keaton Avenue neighborhoods located adjacent to the project site. The Planning Commission cited the opposition from Windsor Mayor George Stubbs and town residents among its reasons for recommending against Meridian’s original concept.

Meridian’s revised plan shows four warehouses totaling just under 726,000 square feet, a 39.5% reduction from the 1.2 million square feet originally proposed. The revised plans also call for a 42-foot-wide, 6-foot-tall berm and 415-foot-long sound wall located within a 280-foot buffer between the neighborhood and the closest warehouse.