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Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Meeting - November 7, 2017

Planning Commission — Tuesday, November 7, 2017
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionPlanning Commission
DateTuesday, November 7, 2017
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:45

And let's see, we'll start off call this meeting to order and start with a roll call, please.

0:49

All right, Mr.

0:50

Joes.

0:51

Mr.

0:51

Cassog.

0:52

Present.

0:52

Mr.

0:52

Lancaster.

0:53

Here.

0:54

Mr.

0:54

Langrier.

0:55

Present.

0:55

Ms.

0:56

Money Hun.

0:57

Here.

0:57

Ms.

0:57

Newcombe?

0:58

Here.

0:58

Mr.

0:59

Ford.

0:59

Present.

1:00

I'm Mel Jones.

1:01

I'm here.

1:01

We have total attendance.

1:04

Okay.

1:04

That's good.

1:05

All right, we'll start.

1:06

Um we have a consent agenda two items, approval of our planning commission minutes from October 3rd, 2017, and also a request for a reduction of a public utility easement at Jefferson Place 701 Lee Street, and we'll schedule that public hearing for this for December 5th, 2017.

1:26

Can I have a motion?

1:28

Move to approve.

1:29

Second.

1:30

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

1:32

All those in favor?

1:33

Aye.

1:35

Okay.

1:36

Opposed none.

1:37

Okay, we'll move on to public hearing.

1:39

First one request to reserve 1.289 acres from office zoning district to the general commercial zoning district at 11 South Park Drive.

1:50

This is rezoning number 17-0005.

1:54

It's for a hotel use by Virginia Blue Ridge on behalf of SDP South Park.

1:59

We'll start with the staff presentation.

2:01

Thank you.

2:03

This is a rezoning request to rezone approximately one and a quarter acre from the office zoning district to the general commercial zoning district at 11 South Park Drive for a Fairfield Inn.

2:15

The applicant is Blaine Shively, representing Virginia Blue Ridge LLC, and the owner is Matthew Prince representing SDP South Park LLC.

2:23

It is currently zoned office with conditions.

2:27

This parcel is a part of the uh South Park Planned Commercial Zoning District, which was established in 1986 and contains a number of parcels that span both sides of South Main Street, as well as up to Ramble Road, which is now Research Center Drive.

2:41

There have been various amendments over the years to rezone uh portions of this property and does include part of what is now Nullwood.

2:49

The neighboring courtyard Marriott was also rezoned within this area from general or to general commercial with conditions in 2005.

2:58

The aerial image shows the parcel highlighted in yellow.

3:01

As I mentioned, the whole South Park uh planned commercial area did run for research center drive and included properties on both sides of South Main Street.

3:10

This is South Main Street that runs through the center of the site, and Route 64 by Route 460 bypass rather is at the bottom edge of the screen.

3:20

This is the concept plan is submitted by the applicant that shows the relationship of the proposed Fairfield Inn to the existing Marriott on the right-hand side of the screen.

3:30

They will share an entrance and parking off of South Park Drive.

3:34

As we zoom in a little bit more to the concept plan, you can note that the parcel does have three frontages on South Park Drive to the rear on Professional Park Drive, which is considered the front, and South Main Street, which is also considered a side.

3:48

The proposed building will face South Main Street and will have parking on two sides of it.

3:53

There is an associated request for an exception for parking in front of the building line, which I will get to later in this report.

4:00

This is the elevation as submitted by the applicant most recently that shows the front facade, the operational front facade of the building, which would face Main Street.

4:09

The entrance is here underneath the portico share, and you can see it is a four-story building.

4:41

As we look at the future land use designation, it is designated as low impact commercial, and the request is generally more intense than this designation of low impact commercial would envision.

4:52

However, the property is highly visible on the descent into town from the industrial park overpass and the Route 465 pass exit ramp onto South Main Street.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Ordinance█████████████████████████████████████████████49%
Procedural████████████████████████████31%
Urban Planning████████████████17%
Traffic Management███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Meeting - November 7, 2017

The Blacksburg Planning Commission met on November 7, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Municipal Building. All eight commissioners were present. The meeting covered two public hearings: a rezoning request for a hotel development and a zoning ordinance amendment to define and permit event centers. Both items were recommended for approval to Town Council.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the October 3, 2017, Planning Commission minutes unanimously.
  • Scheduled a public hearing for December 5, 2017, regarding a request to reduce 15-foot public utility easements to 5-foot easements at Jefferson Place, 701 Lee Street (EXP17-0027).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were received for either public hearing or the citizen comment period.

Discussion Items

  • Rezoning RZN17-0005 (Ordinance #1844): A request by Virginia Blue Ridge, LLC on behalf of SDP Southpark, LLC to rezone 1.289 acres at 111 Southpark Drive from Office (O) to General Commercial (GC) for a Fairfield Inn hotel. Staff noted the property is part of the Southpark Planned Commercial District established in 1986. The proposed 4-story, 66-room hotel would share access and parking with the adjacent Courtyard Marriott. A use and design standard exception was required because 31 of 68 parking spaces would be located in front of the building line along Professional Park Drive (the frontage). Staff evaluated comprehensive plan conformance, infrastructure impacts, and proffers including substantial conformance with plans, retaining wall construction, limited food service, and signage compliance. The applicant, represented by civil engineer Paul Hinniger and attorney John Spicer, presented renderings. Commissioners discussed landscaping and the bus stop location. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the exception and the rezoning with the proffer statement.
  • Zoning Ordinance Amendment #37 (Ordinance #1845): A proposed amendment to create a definition of "Event Center" and add it as a permitted use in the Industrial (I) and Research and Development (R&D) zoning districts, with applicable use and design standards. Staff reported that the Zoning Review Committee had reviewed the amendment, and a public input meeting on October 11, 2017, had no public attendees. Standards include parking at one space per four seats or per maximum occupancy, outdoor dining criteria, allowances for more than three mobile food vendors during events, and compliance with existing noise, lighting, buffer, and alcohol regulations. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval to Town Council, which will hold a public hearing on December 12, 2017.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved unanimously.
  • Recommended approval of the parking exception for the hotel (motion by Lancaster, second by Kassoff; unanimous 8-0).
  • Recommended approval of RZN17-0005 rezoning with proffer statement (motion by Lancaster, second by Kassoff; unanimous 8-0).
  • Recommended approval of Zoning Ordinance Amendment #37 (Ordinance #1845) (motion by Jones, second by Moneyhun; unanimous 8-0).
  • Committee updates: The Historic or Design Review Board reviewed preliminary plans for the Old Blacksburg Middle School site; the Long Range Planning Committee approved the housing section of the Comprehensive Plan; Montgomery County Planning Commission discussed regional water authority expansion; New River Valley Regional Commission reported a routine meeting. No Town Council meeting occurred due to Election Day.

Meeting Transcript

And let's see, we'll start off call this meeting to order and start with a roll call, please. All right, Mr. Joes. Mr. Cassog. Present. Mr. Lancaster. Here. Mr. Langrier. Present. Ms. Money Hun. Here. Ms. Newcombe? Here. Mr. Ford. Present. I'm Mel Jones. I'm here. We have total attendance. Okay. That's good. All right, we'll start. Um we have a consent agenda two items, approval of our planning commission minutes from October 3rd, 2017, and also a request for a reduction of a public utility easement at Jefferson Place 701 Lee Street, and we'll schedule that public hearing for this for December 5th, 2017. Can I have a motion? Move to approve. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Okay. Opposed none. Okay, we'll move on to public hearing. First one request to reserve 1.289 acres from office zoning district to the general commercial zoning district at 11 South Park Drive. This is rezoning number 17-0005. It's for a hotel use by Virginia Blue Ridge on behalf of SDP South Park. We'll start with the staff presentation. Thank you. This is a rezoning request to rezone approximately one and a quarter acre from the office zoning district to the general commercial zoning district at 11 South Park Drive for a Fairfield Inn. The applicant is Blaine Shively, representing Virginia Blue Ridge LLC, and the owner is Matthew Prince representing SDP South Park LLC. It is currently zoned office with conditions. This parcel is a part of the uh South Park Planned Commercial Zoning District, which was established in 1986 and contains a number of parcels that span both sides of South Main Street, as well as up to Ramble Road, which is now Research Center Drive. There have been various amendments over the years to rezone uh portions of this property and does include part of what is now Nullwood. The neighboring courtyard Marriott was also rezoned within this area from general or to general commercial with conditions in 2005. The aerial image shows the parcel highlighted in yellow. As I mentioned, the whole South Park uh planned commercial area did run for research center drive and included properties on both sides of South Main Street.

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