RSS Feed
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Supervisors to vote on Roseland rezoning
It's likely that Roseland might have received a positive recommendation later if the developer had accepted a request for a 60-day deferral requested by Bass. All of the commissioners like Roseland's concept, but several objected to last-minute changes in the proffers. Just 10 hours before the case was to be heard, the planning staff was recommending denial of the request with 24 reasons cited. But when the commission took up the case shortly after 10 p.m., enough changes had been made for the staff to recommend approval with just two concerns. The flurry of changes caused Gulley to quip, "Do we have any cases that don't have extra pieces of paper?" Gulley later said he had 18 pages of changes. Chairman Gecker talked about process, saying the commission didn't have enough time to weigh the significance of the changes. "I believe in your vision," he said to developer/engineer Dave Anderson of GBS Holding LTD, "…[but] is what we're getting what we would pass? We can't go forward in a case that we don't have time to study." "If not this case, what would be better for this property?" replied Anderson. The 1,395-acre rezoning seeks 1.5 million square feet in commercial and office development mixed in with 5,140 homes to be built over 20-25 years. The neo-traditional planning concept emphasizes the idea of residents living, working and playing in the same community. Abut 40 percent of the housing would be multifamily with a mixture of apartments, condos and townhouses - some situated above first-floor shops and offices. The higher densities encourage residents to walk to nearby shops, restaurants and offices. The case could not be deferred again without Roseland's approval because the commission had run out of time. The board will have up to a year to decide the case, but a majority of the commission expects most of the board members will approve Roseland this week. "I expect you'll be receiving a more favorable reception at the board level," said Gecker. "If I was in your position, I'd be doing what you're doing [refusing the deferral]." From the planning staff's view, full cash proffers should be made for carriage houses - homes no larger than 600 square feet that could be attached or detached from the main house, and may have someone living there unrelated to the property owner. Roseland did not want to pay the proffers on those 400 homes because it was already paying $80 million in cash proffers or public facilities as determined by the county. Chesterfield's utilities department questioned whether the county could handle such a large development without a water tank to hold two million gallons as requested by the health and fire departments. The utilities department wanted the tank to be built on a two-acre site acceptable to the department and up to 160 feet above ground. Seventeen residents of Charter Colony spoke in opposition to the rezoning, saying their property values would be harmed by the proximity of the nearby office development. The rezoning would allow Roseland's office complex to be 500 feet from one Charter Colony neighborhood with 12-story buildings possibly sitting on an 80-foot hill. Residents wanted more buffer area and a transition between the adjacent developments. Last weekend, Roseland representatives met with Charter Colony residents and proposed a maximum of three stories within 500 feet of their community, six stories within 1,000 feet and an eight-story maximum elsewhere. Several speakers during the public hearing accused the developer and the county of not communicating about Roseland's plans. Roseland began meetings with citizen groups in the spring of 2006, and several speakers praised the developer for "meeting with everybody." "I know of no other developer that has held more public meetings than Roseland," said Amy Satterfield, executive director of the Village of Midlothian Volunteer Coalition. The board considers the Roseland case on Wed., Oct. 24, sometime after 7 p.m. in the board meeting room. More homes near Hallsley In a separate rezoning case, GBS received an approval recommendation from the commission for 45 lots on Old Hundred Road between the Hallsley and North Hundred neighborhoods. The 39-acre site would include five acres of open space, and GBS will pay $704,000 in proffers. Cloverleaf Mall The commission deferred the rezoning of the 83-acre Cloverleaf Mall site until Nov. 20 to straighten out some of the language issues. "The text of the case doesn't match up to the pictures," said Gecker. The county has already invested $10 million in the revitalization project with partner Crosland from North Carolina. The project calls for at least 200,000 square feet of retail and office space with Kroger as an anchor store and up to 750 mostly multifamily homes. Crosland attorney John Easter wasn't happy with the delay, saying "Crosland expresses its extreme dismay." Jefferson Davis deferral A proposed 191-acre mixed-use development was also deferred to Nov. 20 by Broad Street Partners. The developer wants to redevelop the site a mile south of Route 288 on Jefferson Davis Highway that includes the Americana Trailer Park where 275 mobile home trailers would be displaced. The developer has offered to pay each tenant up to $4,000 to relocate under certain conditions. Cheatham property The 63-acre Cheatham property in the northwest quadrant of routes 360/288 was deferred to Nov. 20 to resolve a second access problem for fire and EMS vehicles. Last August, the commission deadlocked on a 2-2 vote with one abstention over the issue. The Cheatham family seeks rezoning from agriculture to commercial for 600 homes - mostly multifamily - including a 3-4 story high-rise building. The project will include about 110 townhouses, independent senior housing, assisted living and a nursing home. The development would pay $9.3 million in proffers for road improvements, additional students and other county services. |
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
