Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting - January 2, 2018
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Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting - January 2, 2018
The Blacksburg Planning Commission held its regular meeting on January 2, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers. The meeting included a consent agenda, a public hearing for a rezoning request, committee updates, and scheduling of future hearings. All four present commissioners voted unanimously on all agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of December 5, 2017 Minutes: Approved unanimously (4-0).
- RZN17-0007 (Ord. #1853): Rezoning of 5.98 acres at 801 and 803 Airport Road from R-4 Low Density Residential to PR Planned Residential (applicant: Blaine Keesee of Draper Aden Associates for James O'Brien/The Lester Group). Public hearing scheduled for February 6, 2018.
- RZN17-0009 (Ord. #1858): Rezoning of approximately 0.69 acres at 712 Church Street SE from R-5 Transitional Residential to PR Planned Residential for 7 income-restricted townhomes (applicant: Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley for Blacksburg Presbyterian Church Trustees). Public hearing scheduled for February 6, 2018.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public hearing or the citizen comment period.
Discussion Items
- RZN17-0008 / Hearthstone Apartments (Ord. #1854): A public hearing was held for the request to rezone 3.729 acres at 116 and 120 Hearthstone Drive from RM-48 Medium Density Multi-unit Residential to PR Planned Residential. The applicant, Mike Beck on behalf of Hearthstone LLC, proposed phased redevelopment with 154 bedrooms (approximately 41 bedrooms per acre), a floor-to-area ratio (FAR) increase from 0.4 to 0.75, 45 structured parking spaces, rainwater harvesting for 75% of stormwater requirements, and a 0.77 parking spaces per bedroom ratio. Staff noted the existing development serves a non-undergraduate demographic. Commissioners expressed strong support, describing the project as a successful infill redevelopment with innovative rainwater harvesting and a positive example for the community. The motion to recommend approval with the submitted proffers passed 4-0.
Committee Updates
- Zoning Review Committee: Not met; Commissioner Moneyhun suggested the new Town Council consider reviewing the FAR in the RM-48 district.
- Historic or Design Review Board: Commissioner Jones reported on November 2017 approvals: artwork on the Armory building façade, a snow plow washing shed at the Public Works lot, and a low-income housing redevelopment on Montgomery Street (outside historic district, approved with minor parking change).
- Comprehensive Plan Working Group: Met twice in December; will address land use in January and transportation in February.
- Montgomery County Planning Commission: Discussed a proposed new fire station in Riner (on 45 acres, includes park space) and 2018 elections.
- New River Valley Regional Commission: No update available.
Key Outcomes
- Hearthstone Rezoning (RZN17-0008): Recommended approval to Town Council (4-0) with the proffers dated December 27, 2017.
- Public Hearings Scheduled: For RZN17-0007 and RZN17-0009 on February 6, 2018.
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome. Welcome to this regular meeting of the Broxburg Planning Commission. Meetings are held regularly here at the Roger Head Pass Chambers on the first Tuesday of each month at 7.30. Citizens may address the Planning Commission during specified times on the agenda and will request it to adhere to the following. Please speak at the podium. State your name and your address. Direct comments only to the commission. Please limit speaking time to a maximum of three minutes. Speak only once during a specific hearing or comment period. And the wireless microphone is available to anyone requesting assistance. Please silence all cell phones, show respect for all speakers, and allow all opinions to be expressed in a tolerant atmosphere. And with that, I'll call this meeting to order and could we have a roll call, please. Mr. Jones? Mr. Lane Grayer. Mrs. Jones. Ms. Munning. Here. Mr. Cassoff present. I'm Mr. Ford. We have a quorum. Thank you. Moving on, we'll address our consent agenda, and that would be the approval of the Planning Commission units from December 5th, 2017. And then also a request to resone 5.98 acres at 801, 803 airport road, which will be heard the action to be scheduled public hearing on February 6th, and then also rezoning RZM 17009, a request to rezone approximately 6.69 acres at 712 Church Street from R5 Transitional Residential Zoning District to a planned residential zoning district for seven income restricted townhomes by habitat for humanity. And the action there would be to schedule a public hearing for February 6, 2018. Do we have a motion? I move. All those in favor? Second. Aye. Aye. Passed unanimously. With that, we'll move on to our public hearing. Today we'll be listening to rezoning requests 17008 ordinance 1854 Hearthstone Apartments. Request to resone 3.729 acres at 116 and 120 Hearthstone Drive from RM48 medium density multi-unit residential to planned residential zoning by district. Do we have a staff presentation? Yes, thank you. Great. This is a request to rezone approximately 3.729 acres total in two parcels by Hearthstone LLC at 116 and 120 Hearthstone Drive. The current zoning is RM48, which is our medium density multi-unit residential zoning district. Some background on this particular piece of property. It is an existing apartment development. This parcel will be incorporated into the larger hearthstone development. The parcel or the entire project site is outlined in yellow, and you can see in green in the center of the picture here that single parcel that will be incorporated into the larger Hearthstone parcel. Zooming in a bit, we can see the phase one and phase two development in red with potential future redevelopment areas shown in blue.
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