Okay.

Okay.

I would call to order the February 11, 2026 meeting Harrisonburg Planning Commission.

We have a quorum.

Five of the members are present.

Vice Chair Porter and Commissioner Alcindia are not with us tonight, but with five of us here, we do have a quorum.

So the next item is review and approval of minutes from our January 14th meeting.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Moved by Commissioner Kettler, seconded by Commissioner Jezior.

Any discussion?

All in favor say aye.

Hi.

Opposed, no.

All right.

Minutes stand approved.

All right.

One on other new business item 4A, request from the Edge Realty Partners LLC for variances from subdivision ordinance undeveloped portion of Franklin Street between 625 and 630 Franklin Street.

All right.

Good evening.

I'm Meg Repke.

I am a planner for community development.

Tonight the applicant is asking to deviate from street standards for portions of portions of Franklin Street circled on blue on the screen.

Here is a zoning map of the area.

Properties surrounding Franklin Street are zoned R5C and B2 primarily.

And soon before getting into the details of the request, I'll give a quick background on how these parcels on either side of Franklin Street have been developed so far.

Here is a future land use guide of the area.

And then here is an aerial of the site.

So this is first photo is us standing on the street.

This photo shows the existing developed portions of Franklin Street looking towards Reservoir Street to help you all hopefully get a little bit of your bearings.

And then this image is looking at the undeveloped portion of the future Franklin Street towards East Market Street.

In March 2022, City Council had approved a rezoning for 23 parcels from V2 to R5C, as well as they approved a special use permit to allow for multifamily buildings with more than 12 units per building.

For reference during that rezoning, there had been a maximum of 156 units proffered as part of that request.

And then in July 2023, the applicant had completed a minor subdivision to vacate the internal property lines and to create two large parcels on either side of Franklin Street as it was shown on the previous maps and dedicating the undeveloped portion of the Franklin Street right away.

During the rezoning process, the applicant was told that if they wanted to build Franklin Street as they had shown on their concept plans, they would likely need to be requested, they would likely need to request variances to our subdivision ordinance and our DCSM to deviate, which was why we are here today.

Sorry, from section three, six two four regarding the K value used for calculating the minimum length of a SAG value curve on Franklin Street.

The SAG value curve is a curve that connects two vertical curves are curves that connect two points in a road.

Proper designs of these SAG curves make design the design to make the drive smoother.

They help avoid the roller coaster effect while driving and improve headlight visibility at night.

Typically larger K-values are preferred because it results in a more gradual change in slope, whereas the lower K value causes a sharper change in the slope.

One way to understand K-value is to think of it as the value itself is feet per percent, meaning, for example, a K value of 20, which is what our DCSM requires.

A K-value of 20 means that a vertical curve needs 20 feet of length for every 1% in slope change.

Meaning that if they have a 10% slope and 10% change in slope, the K value is required is 20.

The minimum curve length that they would need is 200 feet, which would be the 20 feet times the 10%.

The applicant is proposing a minimum K-value of 15 and explained in their letter that Franklin Street has an existing slope of 9.82%.

And in order to provide accessible slope for the property, they need to flat they would like to flatten the slope as quickly as possible.

The applicant had submitted materials that they indicated a val a K-value of 15.35 as their design that they had been working with.

Exhibit two provided by the applicant illustrates the existing and proposed street profiles in grade slopes.

And due to the existing conditions, in this case, fine staff finds that their request for the K-value is reasonable.

Just to help you understand this understand where we are looking more.

This photo shows a view of Franklin Street standing near the beginning of where the applicant is requesting the beginning of the required variance to the required K-value.

The photo looking downhill towards East Market Street shows the slopes of this direction in the roadway.

So where that yellow line is would be the bottom of where they the furthest point of where this general area of the slope variance is being requested.

And then similarly similarly, this photo looking up Franklin Street shows where the applicant is requesting the beginning of that K-value variance.

And then the next section that they're requesting a variance from is from DCSM section 3.6.4.1.

And which is the appendix F of our DCSM, which requires that you follow the appendix F of the DCSM.

Specifically for local streets, appendix F requires that pa a pavement width is 30 feet wide, with the measurement from curve to curb, face of curb to face of curve being 34 feet.

The applicant is requesting for frankly for sections of Franklin Street where there is not parking allowed.

The applicant is proposing 20 feet of pavement, which would measure from 24 feet to 24 feet of face of curve, and where there is parking on one side, 25 feet of pavement width measured at 29 feet from face to curve, face to curve.

And public works is comfortable with these widths.