Prepping for growth, New Kent leaders approve purchasing 86.8 acres of land adjacent to George Watkins Elementary

The continuous growth of New Kent’s population has not only prompted action for a new elementary school, but also resulted in a transaction that will benefit the county for years to come.

New Kent supervisors unanimously approved the purchasing of 86.8 acres of land adjacent to George Watkins Elementary School for $700,000 at Monday night’s meeting. The land, purchased from Karen J. Hemphill and Lynn C. Johnson, will be purposed for the use of the construction of a future school and/or public facilities.

District 1 representative Thomas Evelyn talked about the search for property to help relieve the rapid growth of New Kent, which is the second fastest growing locality in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“We’ve been looking for land for the last two years,” Evelyn said, mentioning the search for the right amount of property for a reasonable value. “We have been looking in the western part of the county because that’s the fastest growing area in New Kent.

“We also wanted to make sure that our investment didn’t waste taxpayers’ money,” the District 1 representative continue. “We want to be transparent because this will set us up for the future as New Kent continues to grow.”

Evelyn added that there are no plans to construct on that area at this time and that school officials stated that it will be at least eight to ten years before consideration of adding a new school to the county.

Last week, county leaders announced a location for the new elementary school to be built in Quinton. The county purchased 15.1 acres of land across from the Quinton Community Center for $375,000.

In addition to the 86.8 acres of land with the newest acquisition of land near George Watkins Elementary School, the county also owns an additional 20 acres in the area. The funds for the purchase will be appropriated from the school construction set-aside account.