Residents of two Staunton neighborhoods are raising issues with the city over a proposed development that would put three four-story, 35-foot-tall apartment buildings on property currently zoned industrial.
“I don’t mind the idea of apartments being built. I just want the local officials to take into consideration the neighborhood next door. Large, tall buildings might not be the right fit for this location,” one resident of the surrounding Fox Hill and Oxford Circle neighborhoods told us of the proposal, which involves 2.3 acres of property in the 2300 block of Morris Mill Road.
A rezoning request is on file with the city for a small portion of a larger parcel of approximately 50 acres that was part of a textile production operation originally known as FiberSpun and then later as Unifi Manufacturing.
Its owners ceased manufacturing operations at the site in 2008.
Residents in the surrounding neighborhoods came out in force for a Sept. 17 meeting of the Staunton Planning Commission, during which a rezoning needed to make the project viable was heard.
Background
- Details of the original proposal: click here.
The Planning Commission ended up deciding to table its consideration of the rezoning, as the developer, 2300 MM Project, has moved to make slight changes to its request.
At this writing, we don’t have an agenda for the next meeting of the Planning Commission, which is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, but it is expected that a fresh request related to the 2300 MM Project will be on that agenda.
A key thing working against the neighborhood is that the city’s Comprehensive Plan, in the update approved by Staunton City Council last month, designates the area as Multi-family Residential, which a staff report on the rezoning tells us is “characterized as small to mid-scale apartment buildings with a suggested density of 10 to 30 units per acre.”
“The proposed conditional zoning is consistent with these designations,” the staff report, attributed to Planning Manager Tim Hartless, tells us.
Future development at the 2330 Morris Mill Road location is a point of concern in the the surrounding Fox Hill and Oxford Circle neighborhoods.
Neighbors seek support
- Change.org petition requesting that the city fully address local concerns: click here.
Relative to the rezoning request that was on the agenda for last month’s Planning Commission meeting, the bulk of the property currently zoned industrial – more than 46 acres at the site – would, for now, at least, retain the industrial zoning designation.
The Comprehensive Plan designation suggests that additional development would be possible, if not likely, down the road from here.
“Our neighborhood coalition is not opposed to responsible growth or the need for additional housing,” a second resident of the surrounding neighborhoods told me. “However, residents have raised concerns about the height and scale of the proposed buildings, traffic and road safety, school capacity, stormwater management, and the potential impacts on existing residents. We are also seeking greater clarity about potential future development on the property.”
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Chris Graham
