The Blacksburg Planning Commission held its regular meeting on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedgepeth Chambers of the Blacksburg Municipal Building. Chair Mel Jones called the meeting to order. Roll call was taken: present were Brian Britt, Jerry Ford Jr., Mel Jones, Blaine Keesee, Susanna Rinehart, and Latanya Walker. Andrew Warren (Planning and Building Director), Carolyn Howard (Engineering and GIS Director), Nicholas Baker (Zoning Administrator), and Kasey Thomsen (Planning Technician) were also present. Commissioner Michael Ermann was absent. The meeting adjourned at 7:39 p.m.
Staff presented that the 1.7-acre vacant lot (zoned Planned Commercial) already had a conditional use permit and rezoning approved in 2023, but the specific use and site layout were not defined. This request defines the use as a financial institution with a drive-through. Changes from the initial proposal included reducing parking from 13 to 11 spaces (meeting zoning), moving all parking behind the front building line, and providing 25% open space (exceeding the 21% minimum). The applicant requested a waiver of cross-access requirements (Section 3164) to allow the entrance on Plantation Road; staff supported the waiver. Staff expressed concern about an awkwardly placed parallel parking space near the southeastern boundary. Staff recommended two conditions: substantial conformance with the July 30, 2026 conceptual plan, and that the property be used only as a financial institution with drive-through. Town engineering also recommended restricting left-turn movements from the site due to insufficient stopping sight distance (22 feet less than required), to be addressed at site plan stage. Applicant John Neel (Foresight Design Services) presented revisions, noting the bank (Community Bank) worked to reduce parking demand and reconfigure the building. He stated that the parallel parking space is not ideal but could not commit to changes at this stage; efforts to improve it would be made during site plan. Regarding the left-turn restriction, Neel suggested that patrons wanting to go left could exit right and then re-enter via The Retreat housing complex a short distance away. No public comments were made. Motion: Brian Britt moved to approve CUP-26-1 with both staff recommended conditions; Susanna Rinehart seconded. Discussion included praise for the applicant's work and the creative parking reconfiguration. Commissioner Jerry Ford Jr. noted the use adds value without increasing noise or traffic. Chair Mel Jones requested that if left turns are restricted, the area be striped for utility use. The motion passed 6-0.
Before the hearing, Commissioner Brian Britt read a disqualification statement citing a potential conflict of interest (he owns property behind the subject properties) and left the dais. Staff (Nicholas Baker) presented that the 32,000-square-foot site currently contains three residential structures and two brick garages. The applicant (Bungalow on Main LLC, represented by Gary and Janet Buss) proposes to convert the existing houses to office/medical/fine arts studio use and add a one-story, 1,200-square-foot office building behind 706 S. Main. A new parking area with 21 spaces accessed from Eakin Street is proposed. A stormwater bioretention area is planned between 706 and 700 S. Main. The project requires a sidewalk along Eakin Street per Section 5120. Staff prepared Condition #6 requiring a minimum 4-foot sidewalk along the entire Eakin Street frontage, with a possible exception for the required 4-foot buffer, and allowing the Director of Engineering to determine feasibility based on existing utilities, pavement width, and other conditions. Other conditions included limits on hours (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.), an interior light on from dusk to 10 p.m., and adherence to all ordinances. The applicant had agreed to work with the town to reroute private sewer laterals that cross the property. One citizen comment expressed concern about tree preservation and screening. Applicant Gary Buss stated that the property (formerly a fraternity house) would be improved, buildings preserved, and the use would be similar to adjacent properties they already operate. He expressed concern about sidewalk construction potentially narrowing Eakin Street (which is 24–25 feet wide) and impacting on-street parking for neighboring businesses. He noted many utilities near the house and a large maple tree that could be affected. Buss stated they are not opposed to a sidewalk but worried about costs of moving utilities. He confirmed they would retain as many trees as possible. During discussion, commissioners clarified that the R-5 zoning allows residential use; approving the CUP does not preclude future reversion to residential (e.g., if the nonconforming fraternity use had been abandoned for two years, it could not revert to that nonconforming use). The site's previous fraternity was not recognized by Virginia Tech. Commissioners noted the applicant's good track record with similar properties nearby. Regarding the sidewalk, several commissioners noted that a sidewalk exists across the street, and if the Eakin Street sidewalk proves infeasible, that may be acceptable. Motion: Jerry Ford Jr. moved to approve CUP-26-2 with all staff recommended conditions; Blaine Keesee seconded. The motion passed 5-0 (Commissioner Britt did not vote).
Welcome to the regular meeting of the Blacksburg Planning Commission. These are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Roger E. Hedge Path Chambers at the Blacksburg Municipal Building, 300 South Main Street. The public may address the planning commission during specified times on the agenda and are requested to hear adhere to the following. Speak at the podium, state your name and address, direct comments only to the commission. Please limit your speaking time to a maximum of three minutes and speak only once during a specific public hearing or comment period. Please silence your cell phones, show respect for all speakers, and allow all opinions to be expressed in a tolerant atmosphere. So I'll call us to order and could we have a roll call. Cassie. Here. Jones. Here, Reinhardt. Here. Herman. Here. So our first item is the consent agenda approval of the planning commission minutes from July 7th, 2026. Do you have a motion? I move approval. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, none. We shall move on to public hearing. First, we have CUP 26-1, a financial institution with a drive-through window at 1800 Prices Fork Road. We'll begin with a staff presentation from Nicholas Baker. Good evening, everybody. Surrounding zoning districts include PC Planned Commercial, PR Plan Ridential, and Office. However, the specific use and site layout were not known at the time of approval in 2023. So as a condition of the original approval, the property owner was required to amend the conditional use permit prior to the development of the parcel to establish the proposed use and site layout. So this request tonight does satisfy that requirement. Just wanted to give you all a recap because we have been at this for uh most of the summer. Um couple things. So the parking space quantity, uh the applicants were originally requesting 13 spaces, which was more than the maximum allowed amount by the zoning ordinance. Um they have updated that to 11 spaces, which does meet uh zoning ordinance requirements, so a variance uh uh or a waiver is no longer required. Uh additionally, uh those spaces were also proposed to be in front of uh the building line, which would have also required a waiver. Uh, the applicants have also moved all parking behind the front building line so a waiver is no longer required. Um open space was was talked about quite a bit, just sort of the overall use of the site, um, getting a clearer idea of that. Um you'll see in the next slide. Um, the applicant has revised the open space and has clarified that it will be 25% in total, which does exceed the 21% minimum requirement, which was originally approved as part of that uh CUP and rezoning from 2023. And uh the open space will primarily be used for a variety of new tree plantings. Uh the main uh the big ticket item that we had talked about, the main thing was the cross access and vehicle uh entrance location. Um the applicant is still requesting a waiver uh to the cross access requirements found in section 3164 and proffered as a part of that CEP and rezoning. Um if approved, this exception request would be codified as part of the CEP resolution based on the revised information and updated variance request letter that was sent out to you all on Friday. Um town staff are now recommending approval of this VDAT uh access management variance request, um, again as presented and shown in the package that you received on Friday. Uh the variants would allow the financial institution's entrance to be placed on plantation road as shown on this concept plan, which is the latest submittal uh from the applicant, and here is the proposed entrance on plantation road. A few other items about the concept plan. Um the bank still does propose to use a one-story brick exterior, and um the financial institution itself is proposed to be 2,560 square feet. Uh total lock coverage of the project area will be of approximately 1900 square feet, which is an impervious surface percentage of 39%. Uh the drive-thru is proposed to be located on the uh side of the building, primarily facing the northern boundary, and the drive-thru is proposed to consist of one teller window lane, one outer lane, and a bypass lane with an ATM shown a little bit uh beyond the windows and where my cursor is here.