Mayor Jimmy Gray presided over the meeting, which was called to order at 6:30 p.m. and adjourned at 9:49 p.m. All seven council members were present. The meeting included consent agenda approvals, proclamations, presentations on utility rate increases, three public hearings, a public comment period, and consideration of a camping ordinance that was deferred to April 8, 2026.
On the proposed camping ordinance (25-0170):
On other topics:
City Manager Bunting responded to several comments: clarified that Christmas decorations were coded as special events equipment (account 570); noted that code violations are enforced through a process that includes warnings and summonses (200 active summonses citywide); said she would look into the CPS allegations; and noted that Briarfield Park lights are on the CIP for public ranking and that she would investigate the court conditions.
Public Hearings:
Rezoning 26-0037 and Use Permit 26-0038 (Woda Cooper Companies) – Proposed rezoning of 1.69 acres at 2601 Cunningham Drive from General Commercial (C-3) to Multifamily Residential (MD-4) for a 44-unit affordable housing development named after Katherine Johnson. The project includes 57 parking spaces, elevators, and ADA units. Planning Commission and staff recommended approval with 20 proffered conditions and 9 use permit conditions. Councilmember Campbell expressed concern about placing housing in a commercial corridor. The public hearing had no speakers. Approved 6-1 (Campbell dissenting).
Use Permit 26-0039 (Southern Comfort Restaurant & Lounge) – Request to amend hours of operation to 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. daily and reduce security staffing when the event space is not in use. Staff and Planning Commission recommended denial of the hours amendment but offered an option to modify security conditions. The applicant, Eddie Gomez, presented petitions with 250+ signatures. Four public speakers (Mirav Patel, Rashonn Bracey, Trey Carter, Arnell Davis) spoke in support. Council approved in part: security conditions amended (bifurcation of security staffing based on occupancy), but hours of operation remained unchanged (Sunday–Thursday 11 a.m.–12 a.m., Friday–Saturday 11 a.m.–2 a.m.). Unanimous 7-0.
Resolution 26-0072 (Land Acquisition for Little Back River Road Bike/Pedestrian Path) – Authorizes acquisition by negotiation or condemnation of portions of five properties for a path from North King Street to Valerie Drive. The public hearing had no speakers. Approved 7-0.
Camping Ordinance 25-0170:
Appointments:
Good evening and welcome to the Hampton City Council legislative session. Um Madam Clerk, you call a roll, please. Councilman Bowman. Present. Vice Mayor Brown. Present. Councilwoman Campbell. Present. Councilwoman Faraby. Present. Councilwoman Harper. Present. Councilwoman Muggler. Present. Mayor Gray. Present. And the invocation this evening will be given by Councilwoman Martha Muggler, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. So we please stand and join us for both. Sorry. Loving and gracious God, you are indeed the giver of all good gifts. Thank you. I'll start one more time. Let us pray. Loving and gracious God, you are indeed the giver of all good gifts, and we come together this day to seek your wisdom, guidance, courage, and strength. Be with us in our deliberations and help us to be wise in the decisions we make for our city and for the good of all those who have placed their trust and confidence in our leadership. Give us insight to lead with integrity, that our decisions may reflect what is right and good. Keep us from short-sightedness. Help us to make decisions that strive to be for the good of all while guarding us from blind self-interest. Finally, dear Lord, grant us the humility to always seek your will in all we do and say. All glory be to you, loving God, now and forever. Amen. And to the Republic for which it stands. Okay, so as you know that uh, you know, this month, March 1st through the 15th has been restaurant week in Hampton, and myself and uh along with uh members of council, we've been visiting uh a list of I think 19 different restaurants uh in the city to uh one support them uh with uh with the meal and uh and then with a number of social media posts. Hopefully some of you have seen those and you've gone out. I I met so many people in in the four different restaurants that I made it to thus far this week, and uh many of those people were there. They were there because they got the message about restaurant week. So it's important during this week that we get out and show uh some appreciation for all of the business people in our community who have invested in restaurants and you know really make Hampton a great place to come uh you know and and get a great meal, a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. We have some family-owned, uh locally owned restaurants that have been around our community for many many years, and that's something that makes uh our city very unique. You know, we do have some of the chain restaurants, which are great too, but we have these uh local restaurants that uh have really been in our community for many years. So I hope you will take a look at the list. Uh go out and visit those restaurants, have a great meal, take your family members with you, uh post on social media, uh you know, copy or or a picture of your plate and what you had, and hopefully you will uh inspire somebody else to go out and do the same thing and support our many great restaurants this week. We're gonna we're gonna turn up the the heat on this next year and double the number of restaurants that are on that list and uh really make that great, but uh this year we want you to go out and support them too. So thanks to all my council members. I think we still have a few uh visits to make uh before uh this coming Saturday or Sunday, actually, and uh so we'll we'll still be out there and hopefully I'll see you out at some of those restaurants too. But thanks to all of you who've gone out so far and uh supported the great restaurants in our community. So with that, I'm gonna ask the clerk next to read the uh protocol for the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of routine non-controversial items requiring council approval. These items are typically adopted with one motion and without discussion. Tonight, your consent agenda approves the fiscal year 2026, second quarter budget adjustments, and the minutes of the February 11, 2026 work session. All right, we need a motion in a second.