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Record of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting – October 1, 2024

Planning Commission — Tuesday, October 1, 2024
BodyBlacksburg, Virginia
SessionPlanning Commission
DateTuesday, October 1, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 7:18

Transcript — Verbatim
1:00

Welcome to the Tuesday, October the first Planning Commission meeting.

1:05

Uh regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 30 p.m.

1:12

in the Roger Heath Path Hedge Path Chambers in the Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 South Main Street, Blacksburg, Virginia.

1:19

Tonight we only have a consent agenda and there are no uh public people present here.

1:26

Um so I will skip the um general directions regarding speaking at the podium, etc.

1:32

Um, and start with a roll call.

1:35

Uh Mr.

1:35

Britt.

1:36

Here, Mr.

1:36

Irman, here, Mr.

1:37

Ford, Eric Ms.

1:38

Jones here.

1:39

Gassoff not here, Mr.

1:40

Cassie.

1:41

Here, Ms.

1:41

Reinhardt, Miss Swalker.

1:43

Here.

1:44

I am here.

1:45

We have a quorum.

1:46

Awesome.

1:47

So the consent agenda includes um approval of the minutes from September third, as well as um eight oh one North Main Street PRD development eight zero one at eight zero one North Main Street and additional locations along Cabrick Street, Progress Street, and Winston Avenue.

2:08

We're scheduling a public hearing for November 5th, 2024.

2:13

Um do I have a motion on the consent agenda?

2:15

I move approval of the consent agenda.

2:18

All right, all those in favor?

2:21

All those opposed?

2:23

None.

2:24

All right.

2:25

Um we have no public hearings this um evening and no citizens to give comment.

2:31

So we'll move on to unfinished business.

2:33

Uh zoning ordinance review committee has not met, I don't think.

2:38

Okay, a historic design or review board.

2:41

There's some uh the um the property that was abandoned at mid-construction after the two it's it's kind of maybe come back to life.

2:50

The um not different owners, the the bank repossessed it and some blacksburg natives who live elsewhere now, at least one of them does.

2:58

The people who own the parking lot, the um Kent Square bought it.

3:02

Interesting.

3:03

Um they consulted with Hadarv and asked uh um for kind of I don't know, our opinion on you know what could be done there.

3:12

Um but it was all very preliminary.

3:15

It's always very difficult when you have a chicken and egg where they're kind of like, what do you want?

3:18

And we're like, well, what do you have?

3:21

Um but um I'll keep you posted.

3:24

Awesome.

3:24

Thank you.

3:25

Everybody is this.

3:26

This is where for the birds was that block.

3:31

It was approved search for some history.

3:33

It was approved the last time I was in our five years ago.

3:36

It was approved for um seven townhomes.

3:40

Uh they originally came to the group and asked for uh the whole block to put a boutique hotel.

3:46

Um there was a decision made uh it was a decision made to save the um I'd like to know the name of the building.

3:54

Andrew, do you know it?

3:55

The the building they saved the the for the birds building.

3:58

It's the something else.

4:00

Anyhow.

4:00

Um Kessler House is a good idea.

4:03

No, it wasn't Kessler.

4:04

Okay.

4:05

But anyhow, they they um uh um uh the Hadarb said you can keep that house and you can do it, you can tear down the other two contributing structures.

4:16

They tore down the other two contributing structures and then they declared declared bankruptcy.

4:21

So now we have a construction site, two structures down, probably the one that was torn down might have been better than the one we saved.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
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Historic Preservation█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Summary of Proceedings

Blacksburg Planning Commission Regular Meeting – October 1, 2024

The Blacksburg Planning Commission held a regular meeting on October 1, 2024 at 6:30 pm in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building. Vice Chair Mel Jones presided. The meeting featured a consent agenda with no public hearings or citizen comments. The Commission approved the consent agenda unanimously and received informational updates on property development and upcoming work.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (September 3, 2024): The minutes from the previous meeting were approved without discussion.
  • 801 North Main Street PRD Development: The Commission scheduled a public hearing for November 5, 2024, for a rezoning request (from GC General Commercial and R-5 Transitional Residential to PR Planned Residential), a companion request to vacate a town-owned alley right-of-way (approx. 2,000 square feet), and a conditional use permit to allow alley access for 22 townhomes. All three items (RZN-24-2, ROW-24-2, CUP-24-3) were advanced together.

Discussion Items

  • Historic or Design Review Board Update: Commissioner Michael Ermann reported that the Board held informal discussions with the new owners of the Main and Lee property at 201 S. Main Street. The property, which had been abandoned mid-construction after a previous approval, was repossessed and purchased by the owners of the Kent Square parking lot. Preliminary conversations explored possible uses for the site, including the potential relocation of the existing "For the Birds" building. Ermann noted the discussions were very preliminary.
  • Planning Director's Report: Andrew Warren, Planning and Building Director, reminded the Commission that the Toms Creek Basin survey closes on Friday, October 4, 2024, and encouraged all to participate. He previewed the upcoming Planning Commission Work Session on October 15, 2024, which will include review of the 801 North Main Street rezoning, right-of-way vacation, and conditional use permit, as well as information on the downtown northwest zoning ordinance amendment.
  • Montgomery County Planning Commission Update: Commissioner Tim Colley reported that the Montgomery County Planning Commission did not discuss anything relevant to Blacksburg.

Key Outcomes

  • The consent agenda was approved by a vote of 7-0 (all present: B. Britt, T. Colley, M. Ermann, J. Ford Jr., M. Jones, B. Keesee, L. Walker; absent: A. Kassoff, S. Rinehart).
  • A public hearing for the 801 North Main Street PRD development was scheduled for November 5, 2024.
  • The meeting adjourned at 6:38 pm.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome to the Tuesday, October the first Planning Commission meeting. Uh regular meetings of the Blacksburg Planning Commission are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 30 p.m. in the Roger Heath Path Hedge Path Chambers in the Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 South Main Street, Blacksburg, Virginia. Tonight we only have a consent agenda and there are no uh public people present here. Um so I will skip the um general directions regarding speaking at the podium, etc. Um, and start with a roll call. Uh Mr. Britt. Here, Mr. Irman, here, Mr. Ford, Eric Ms. Jones here. Gassoff not here, Mr. Cassie. Here, Ms. Reinhardt, Miss Swalker. Here. I am here. We have a quorum. Awesome. So the consent agenda includes um approval of the minutes from September third, as well as um eight oh one North Main Street PRD development eight zero one at eight zero one North Main Street and additional locations along Cabrick Street, Progress Street, and Winston Avenue. We're scheduling a public hearing for November 5th, 2024. Um do I have a motion on the consent agenda? I move approval of the consent agenda. All right, all those in favor? All those opposed? None. All right. Um we have no public hearings this um evening and no citizens to give comment. So we'll move on to unfinished business. Uh zoning ordinance review committee has not met, I don't think. Okay, a historic design or review board. There's some uh the um the property that was abandoned at mid-construction after the two it's it's kind of maybe come back to life. The um not different owners, the the bank repossessed it and some blacksburg natives who live elsewhere now, at least one of them does. The people who own the parking lot, the um Kent Square bought it. Interesting. Um they consulted with Hadarv and asked uh um for kind of I don't know, our opinion on you know what could be done there. Um but it was all very preliminary. It's always very difficult when you have a chicken and egg where they're kind of like, what do you want? And we're like, well, what do you have? Um but um I'll keep you posted. Awesome. Thank you. Everybody is this. This is where for the birds was that block. It was approved search for some history. It was approved the last time I was in our five years ago. It was approved for um seven townhomes. Uh they originally came to the group and asked for uh the whole block to put a boutique hotel. Um there was a decision made uh it was a decision made to save the um I'd like to know the name of the building.

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