OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Meeting - March 2, 2021

Planning CommissionTuesday, March 2, 2021
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionPlanning Commission
DateTuesday, March 2, 2021
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
1:56

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission.

2:00

Regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held here on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 30 in the Roger Hoods Path Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building, 300 South Main Street.

2:13

Due to COVID 19 health concerns, seating in the council chambers will be limited.

2:20

Citizens are encouraged, but not required to submit comments to the Planning Commission by email and view the hearing online or local television, WTOB Channel 2.

2:33

The meeting will be live streamed from WWW Blacksburg.gov and recorded.

2:41

Citizens may address the Planning Commission during specified times on the agenda and are requested to adhere to the following.

2:49

Please speak at the podium.

3:05

A wireless microphone is available to anyone requesting assistance.

3:10

Please silence all cell phones, show respect for all speakers, and allow all opinions to be expressed in a tolerant atmosphere.

3:20

And with that, we'll call the meeting to order.

3:22

Could we have a roll call, please?

3:24

Uh Mr.

3:24

Davis.

3:55

Do we have a motion?

3:57

I move with approval of the consent agenda.

4:00

All those in favor?

4:01

Aye.

4:04

Moving on, we'll move on to public hearings.

4:07

Our first public hearing tonight is rezoning twenty zero zero five ordinance nineteen forty-one, which is a request to rezone forty point three four acres from R one rural residential zoning district to a planned residential zoning district at 1900 Tom's Creek Road.

4:29

And we have a staff presentation by Kinsey O'Shea.

4:35

This is a rezoning request for just about 40 acres at the 1900 block of Tom's Creek Road.

4:47

It is currently zoned.

4:57

The parcel is outlined in blue.

5:00

It borders Tom's Creek Road to the southwest.

5:02

The southeast is the Brookfield Village Planned Residential District.

5:06

And you can see 460 bypass in the bottom right of the screen.

5:11

This project has quite a bit of history since its application in July 2020.

5:16

It had a planning commission public hearing in December 2020 where you recommended denial at a vote of seven to zero.

5:22

The applicant had indicated that they were willing to make several changes and went to a town council work session in December 20, uh 2020 and January 2021.

5:32

At the town council meeting on January 12th, 2021, the town council referred the project back to planning commission for its review as significant changes had been made at that time.

5:43

That application was submitted on January 25th, 2021.

5:47

We had a planning commission work session on February 16th, and a revised application was submitted following that work session on February the 19th.

5:54

We are here at the Planning Commission public hearing on March the 2nd.

5:57

If you all following your recommendation, it will move forward to town council.

6:03

The development proposal that you have before you this evening is based on the February 19th, 2021 application as submitted by the applicant.

6:12

The application entails the construction and the development of 76 single-family lots, which equates to approximately 1.88 units per acre and does not include any accessory dwelling units which may be developed at a later date by homeowners.

6:27

There will be one road connection to Tom's Creek Road through the center of the development, and no access to Red Bud Road from this development.

6:35

The applicant is proposing 43% open space, which would be held by the homeowners association.

6:41

Within that open space would be a picnic shelter in the development to be dedicated to the town adjacent to the town Tom's Creek Park.

6:48

The applicant is also proposing to meet the required sidewalk or trail along Toms Creek Road with public trail, as well as internal public sidewalks and trails throughout the development.

7:00

This is the concept plan as submitted most recently by the applicant.

7:05

I'll call your attention to Tom's Creek Road on the left-hand side of the screen.

7:11

This is Brookfield Village down at the bottom part of the screen and Red Bud Road.

7:16

There's the single road that enters the development and circles around to service the 76 lots.

7:22

Most of the open spaces found in this front area that you can see also contains the creek and the Creek Valley overlay.

7:30

There is additional open space towards the rear of the property on the north, and some in the middle of this circle of homes in the center.

7:39

The applicant is proposing that there be two future road connections should neighboring properties decide to develop, and they would be located at the end of cul-de-sac of road B and off of Road B as well.

7:54

The key elements for this proposal, as you should, as you consider it, are the consistency with the future land use designation based on the proposed density and the density envisioned in that future land use designation.

8:05

You should all consider also consider the proposed density and the relationship to the surrounding neighborhood and area.

8:12

This development application does not provide interconnectivity with other roads or neighborhoods as part of the comprehensive plan.

8:19

There are also a number of variance requests associated with this application.

8:24

You are asked to consider the adequacy of the HERS energy efficiency certification to meet sustainable building goals in the comprehensive plan.

8:31

And a housing proffer that the applicant has offered does not provide long-term affordability.

8:39

Previously, Planning Commission had asked kind of what the development scenario by right might be under the RR1 for this piece of property.

8:50

This chart was provided in your staff report and was also explained in detail in the staff report.

8:55

But to go over briefly, in the center column here are the RR1 standards as applied to this parcel and the proposed development standards in the left-hand column.

9:05

So you can see there is floodplain acres of four acres.

9:09

This could not be included in the acreage calculation for density.

9:14

And I'll go into that a little bit more.

9:16

There are several different uh types of allowed uses.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Urban Planning█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Zoning Ordinance███████████████15%
Housing████████8%
Affordable Housing████████8%
Environmental Protection█████5%
Community Engagement█████5%
Procedural███3%
Transportation Safety███3%
Stormwater Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting - March 2, 2021

The Blacksburg Planning Commission held a regular meeting on March 2, 2021, at 6:30 PM in the Municipal Building Council Chambers. The meeting included a consent agenda, two public hearings (a rezoning request for 1900 Toms Creek Road and the 2021 Comprehensive Plan update), committee reports, and a town council update. All votes were recorded.

Consent Calendar

  • Unanimously approved the Planning Commission minutes from February 2, 2021 (7-0).

Public Hearing: Rezoning Request (RZN 20-0005/ORD 1941) – 1900 Toms Creek Road

Staff Presentation: Current Development Planner Kinsey O’Shea presented the request to rezone 40.34 acres from RR-1 (Rural Residential-1) to PR (Planned Residential). The proposed development includes 76 single-family lots (1.88 units/acre), 43% open space, and a trail along Toms Creek Road. Staff noted inconsistencies with the future land use designation (Very Low Density Residential) and expressed concerns about density, open space, and connectivity.

Applicant Presentation: Meredith Jones (Eden and Associates) represented Lucas TCR, LLC. She highlighted revisions including removal of lots on Red Bud Road, commitment to 50% open space (via off-site dedication if legally possible), HERS energy efficiency (10% above code), three lots designated for households at or below 120% Area Median Income (AMI), and allowance for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The builder (Travis Holden of Stateson Homes) also spoke.

Public Comment:

  • Bob Freyman (2501 Toms Creek Road) expressed support for the project if 50% open space is achieved and requested clear guidelines for the Toms Creek Basin.
  • Ed Lawhorn (1125 Brook Circle) expressed support, noting the desirability of the adjacent Brookfield Village and the applicant’s responsiveness to neighborhood concerns.

Commission Discussion and Motion: Commissioners debated the adequacy of 43% open space, the affordability proffer, the stream crossing (arch vs. box culverts), and the precedent for future developments. A motion to recommend approval was made (Herbein) and seconded (Kassoff). The motion passed 4-3 (Kassoff, Herbein, Colley, Davis in favor; Rinehart, Jones, Ford opposed). Several commissioners indicated their support was contingent on achieving 50% open space, though staff noted the application as presented contained 43% open space. The matter will proceed to Town Council.

Public Hearing: 2021 Update of the Town of Blacksburg Comprehensive Plan

Staff Presentation: Assistant Planning Director Kali Casper and Comprehensive Planner Maeve Gould presented the five-year update. Changes include incorporating equity and community well-being themes, a new chapter on equity, splitting the jobs and housing chapter, updating data and maps, and proposing 18 staff-initiated future land use map amendments and 4 private amendment requests.

Public Comment:

  • Meredith Jones (on behalf of Glade Heights LLC) spoke in support of Private Request A (1000 block of Glade Road), seeking a change from Vacant/Agriculture to Low Density Residential to allow mixed-use and workforce housing.
  • Jim Lucas (owner of Memorial Gardens Cemetery) requested that the entire cemetery parcel (2551 North Main Street) be designated as Civic, rather than splitting it between Civic and Low Density Residential.
  • Cyrus Lee (107 Horseshoe Lane) voiced concern about invasive plant species in new developments and asked what the town plans to do to support native wildlife.

Commission Motions and Discussion:

  • Approved Private Request A (Glade Road) 7-0.
  • Denied Private Requests B, C, and D (Hidden Valley Drive and Farmingdale Lane) 7-0 each.
  • Approved a modification to staff-initiated change for 2551 North Main Street to designate the entire cemetery parcel as Civic (7-0).
  • Approved all remaining staff-initiated future land use map changes and the full 2021 Comprehensive Plan update (7-0).
  • Commissioners discussed the need for native landscaping and noted ongoing staff work on a model landscaping ordinance.

Committee Reports and Other Business

  • The Zoning Ordinance Review Committee has not met.
  • The Historic or Design Review Board reviewed signage on East Roanoke Street (reported by Commissioner Davis).
  • Montgomery County Planning Commission in-person attendance suspended due to COVID-19.
  • The Chair reported no additional items; the Planning Director noted a future work session on applicant communications with commissioners.
  • Town Council Liaison Ford reported that Town Council discussed the Comprehensive Plan, the upcoming budget, and affordable housing initiatives, including a timeline for developing a community land trust, housing trust fund, and density bonus programs in 2021.

Key Outcomes

  • Rezoning (1900 Toms Creek Road): Recommended approval (4-3) with desire for 50% open space; proceeds to Town Council.
  • Comprehensive Plan Update: Approved all staff-initiated and private future land use map amendments as voted; full 2021 Comprehensive Plan update approved 7-0.
  • Cemetery Designation: Modified staff proposal to designate entire Memorial Gardens Cemetery as Civic (7-0).
  • Denial of Three Private Requests: Denied for 700 and 600 blocks of Hidden Valley Drive and 500 block of Farmingdale Lane (all 7-0).
  • Consent Agenda: Approved February 2, 2021 minutes (7-0).

The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission. Regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held here on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 30 in the Roger Hoods Path Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building, 300 South Main Street. Due to COVID 19 health concerns, seating in the council chambers will be limited. Citizens are encouraged, but not required to submit comments to the Planning Commission by email and view the hearing online or local television, WTOB Channel 2. The meeting will be live streamed from WWW Blacksburg.gov and recorded. Citizens may address the Planning Commission during specified times on the agenda and are requested to adhere to the following. Please speak at the podium. A 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, we'll call the meeting to order. Could we have a roll call, please? Uh Mr. Davis. Do we have a motion? I move with approval of the consent agenda. All those in favor? Aye. Moving on, we'll move on to public hearings. Our first public hearing tonight is rezoning twenty zero zero five ordinance nineteen forty-one, which is a request to rezone forty point three four acres from R one rural residential zoning district to a planned residential zoning district at 1900 Tom's Creek Road. And we have a staff presentation by Kinsey O'Shea. This is a rezoning request for just about 40 acres at the 1900 block of Tom's Creek Road. It is currently zoned. The parcel is outlined in blue. It borders Tom's Creek Road to the southwest. The southeast is the Brookfield Village Planned Residential District. And you can see 460 bypass in the bottom right of the screen. This project has quite a bit of history since its application in July 2020. It had a planning commission public hearing in December 2020 where you recommended denial at a vote of seven to zero. The applicant had indicated that they were willing to make several changes and went to a town council work session in December 20, uh 2020 and January 2021. At the town council meeting on January 12th, 2021, the town council referred the project back to planning commission for its review as significant changes had been made at that time. That application was submitted on January 25th, 2021. We had a planning commission work session on February 16th, and a revised application was submitted following that work session on February the 19th. We are here at the Planning Commission public hearing on March the 2nd. If you all following your recommendation, it will move forward to town council. The development proposal that you have before you this evening is based on the February 19th, 2021 application as submitted by the applicant. The application entails the construction and the development of 76 single-family lots, which equates to approximately 1.88 units per acre and does not include any accessory dwelling units which may be developed at a later date by homeowners. There will be one road connection to Tom's Creek Road through the center of the development, and no access to Red Bud Road from this development. The applicant is proposing 43% open space, which would be held by the homeowners association. Within that open space would be a picnic shelter in the development to be dedicated to the town adjacent to the town Tom's Creek Park. The applicant is also proposing to meet the required sidewalk or trail along Toms Creek Road with public trail, as well as internal public sidewalks and trails throughout the development. This is the concept plan as submitted most recently by the applicant. I'll call your attention to Tom's Creek Road on the left-hand side of the screen. This is Brookfield Village down at the bottom part of the screen and Red Bud Road. There's the single road that enters the development and circles around to service the 76 lots. Most of the open spaces found in this front area that you can see also contains the creek and the Creek Valley overlay. There is additional open space towards the rear of the property on the north, and some in the middle of this circle of homes in the center. The applicant is proposing that there be two future road connections should neighboring properties decide to develop, and they would be located at the end of cul-de-sac of road B and off of Road B as well. The key elements for this proposal, as you should, as you consider it, are the consistency with the future land use designation based on the proposed density and the density envisioned in that future land use designation. You should all consider also consider the proposed density and the relationship to the surrounding neighborhood and area. This development application does not provide interconnectivity with other roads or neighborhoods as part of the comprehensive plan.

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