The Blacksburg Planning Commission met on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building. The meeting lasted until 8:56 PM and included a consent agenda, two public hearings, public comment, and committee reports. The main focus was a controversial rezoning request for a six-story mixed-use development at 702 University City Boulevard.
Staff Presentation (Kinsey O’Shea): The applicant proposes a 6‑story building with two floors of structured parking and four floors of residential (836 bedrooms, density 180 bedrooms/acre). The plan includes 12% affordable units (32 units at 50–80% AMI for 50 years), 30% open space, and 0.56 parking spaces per bedroom. The site is in a commercial future land use area and outside Map E high-density student housing zones. Staff noted that sanitary sewer upgrades are needed and that the applicant would bear costs. The current GC zoning allows up to 60 ft height and building to the property line.
Applicant Presentation (Josh Vasbinder, Ascent Properties; Alec Paddock; Jeff Solisco, architect): Vasbinder argued the project meets comprehensive plan goals for housing diversity, walkability, and neighborhood preservation. He noted the existing office space is 60% vacant and has been unsuccessfully marketed for years. Changes from earlier proposals included a 7.5% density reduction, increased parking ratio, improved building articulation, additional retail space (28% increase to 6,300 sq ft), and better setback from the McBryde Village neighborhood (35 ft from the podium to property line, with additional distance for upper floors). The applicant committed to green building standards (NGBS) and a professional management plan with 24/7 staff on site.
Public Comment:
Applicant Rebuttal and Commission Questions:
Motion and Discussion:
Vote: Passed 5‑4 (Colley, Ermann, Jones, Rinehart, Walker yes; Britt, Ford, Kassoff, Keesee no).
The meeting adjourned at 8:56 PM.
Welcome to the uh regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission. Regular meetings of the Boxburg Planning Commission are held here in the Roger Higgs Path Chambers on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 30 p.m. 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. Please state your name and address. Please limit your speaking time to a maximum of three minutes. And speak only once during a specific hearing or comment period. A wireless microphone is available to anyone requiring the assistance. Please silence cell phones, show respect for all speakers, and allow all opinions to be expressed in a tolerant atmosphere. With that, we'll call the meeting to order. May we have a roll call, please. Mr. Britt. Mr. Ehrman. Mr. Ford, Presidents Jones. Here, Mr. Cassal, Mr. Casey. Here, Ms. Reinhardt. Ms. Volger. Here. I'm here. We have a quorum. Wonderful. Thank you. Our first item on our agenda is our consent agenda. And we have a single item, which is the approval of the Planning Commission minutes from October 7th. And the proposed action is to approve those minutes. We have a motion. No moved. Second. All those in favor? Great. We'll move on to our public hearings for tonight. Our first public hearing is CUP 254, which is a conditional use permit request for multifamily duplex in Old Town Residential at 205 Washington Street. And we have a staff presentation by Kinsey O'Shea. Thank you. The following is a request for a duplex use in the OTR Old Town Residential Zoning District. This request follows a previously approved request for a duplex, which has since expired. The blue area indicates the parcel on Washington Street. It is adjacent to the town hall annex and the town's five chimneys building. Most recently, the building housed office uses. Each of the units is proposed to be two bedrooms with one bathroom. There are no significant site changes proposed. Conditional use permits are evaluated for their zoning ordinance, section 1181, which calls for the consideration of the comprehensive plan, the zoning ordinance, and the mitigation of potential adverse impacts. The parcel is within the old town residential zoning district seen in teal on the screen.