>> Will counsel please come to
order and will the clerk please call the roll.
>> Anderson.
>> Present.
>> Bush.
>> Here.
>> Colliver.
>> Here.
>> Ford.
>> Here. >> Smith.
>> Here.
>> Mattingly.
>> Here.
>> Sutphin.
>> Here.
>> Will the Vice Mayor,
please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
>> Pledge of Allegiance.
[ Overlapping speakers ]
>> We're going to begin as all evenings
with the consent agenda and we're
going to break it into two pieces tonight.
Uh, so let's begin with the first items,
and that includes approval of
the town council minutes for April 18 and 25.
Ordinance 2018 to amend town code section
14-107 pertaining to civil penalties
for inoperable vehicle violations.
We are introducing it this evening.
The public hearing will be June 13th.
Ordinance 2024 to amend town code Section 12-606,
pertaining to residential parking permits.
We are introducing it this evening,
and we will have a public hearing for that,
also on June 13.
And finally, a resolution granting a special exception
related to parking at 1284 North Main Street.
We'll have a public hearing on June 13.
So stay tuned.
June 13, it's gonna be a big night.
Let's see what is, uh- what is council's pleasure
on the part A of the consent agenda.
>> I move approval of the consent.
Agenda Items A,
B, C and D.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion and two seconds.
Will the clerk please call the roll.
>> Bush.
>> Aye.
>> Colliver.
>> Aye.
>> Ford.
>> Aye.
>> Hager Smith.
>> Aye.
>> Mattingly.
>> Aye.
>> Sutphin.
>> Aye.
>> Anderson.
>> Aye.
>> Ready for the second part?
>> Do you need to do reading for?
>> Yeah. I have a statement to
read about, uh, the second part.
The Virginia State and Local Government
Conflict of Interests Act requires that I make
disclosure to be recorded in town records
in any case in which I'm forbidden to participate.
Therefore, I make the following disclosure.
The transaction involved is
the approval of the Housing and Urban Development,
or HUD 2023 Annual Action Plan,
with the vote scheduled for today.
My personal interest is my employment and
community housing partners which receives HUD funding.
The funding is part of the annual plan.
CHB headquarters is located at
448 Depot Street in Christiansburg, Virginia.
I affirmatively state that I will not vote or in
any manner action on behalf of
the Town Council regarding this approval.
It is my understanding that
this item will be removed from
the consent agenda on May 9 and voted on separately.
I will then abstain from voting on this item.
>> Thank you.Uh, so our final item on
the consent agenda is
Housing and Urban Development 2023 Annual Action Plan.
I move approval of Item E.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion and the second.
Will the clerk please call the roll.
>> Colliver.
>> Aye.
>> Ford.
>> Aye.
>> Hager Smith.
>> Aye.
>> Mattingly.
>> Aye.
>> Sutphin.
>> Aye.
>> Anderson.
>> Aye.
>> Bush.
>> Aye.
>> Okay. Moving on to public hearings.
Uh, the first is ordinance 2022 to amend
the zoning ordinance to update
the accessory apartment permit program
by amending 1270,1271,
3021, 3023,
3031, 3042,
3041, 3042,
3, 3111,
3113 and 4212 permit detached accessory apartments.
>> And [inaudible] has the staff report.
>> So I know council has talked
about this at several work sessions.
I do have a presentation, but I'll
go through it fairly quickly.
Um, the history of accessory apartments.
We do have the older accessory apartments
that date back to the '60s and '70s,
and those are legal nonconforming apartments.
We did in 2017 create
an accessory apartment program and
add that use back into the zoning ordinance.
Our goal being to add
more variety in housing options for our residents.
Um, we at that point only allowed
interior attached units, like a basement apartment.
That was a fairly conscious decision of let's
try it out in a more limited way and then expand it,
and that's what we're really doing this evening.
The districts that it's allowed in R4,
our most common single family district, RR1 and RR2.
We're not changing those zoning districts.
So we really haven't seen a lot of upticks since 2017.
There are probably a lot of reasons for that.
People may not be aware of the program.
There's cost in either
finishing or adding an accessory unit.
There could be people who are only
interested in a detached unit,
they could already have one.
They may be more interested in the homestead program,
our short term rental, and
those are two different programs.
Um, we have had
some problems, and we've talked about them,
of trying to use the accessory apartment program
to obtain a whole unit,
but really only homestay use.
We've worked with the town attorney to
kinda beef up that section of the ordinance.
So your amendment this evening
is to allow detached units.
Probably the most common is like a garage apartment.
We'll set standards for those units,
we're updating the standards for
the attached units and we're
updating the program requirements.
Our zoning amendment process.
This is an amendment to the text of the zoning ordinance.
It went to our zoning ordinance
review committee, to Planning Commission.
The ordinance before you this evening
reflects their input.
The Planning commission held
their public hearing in April
and recommended approval by a vote of 7-0.
We always have a public input meeting
on our zoning ordinance amendments.
We did have one attendee and
indicated he was interested in a detached unit.
We are retaining the key program components
from 2017 which
require owner occupancy approval
through the program prior to starting the use,
and annual renewal,
the recordation of a deed restriction,
and again that you can not use it for the homestay use.
The 1270 is kinda the process section.
We are making some changes to that,
clarifying that it is for
detached single family only one
accessory apartment per lot or parcel.
We are allowing them on non conforming lots.
We're clarifying the relationship to
the planned residential district and in that
your planned residential rezoning
had to have addressed the ability to
have accessory apartments rental
by the unit, not by the bedroom.
And again, that reinforcement
of the difference between the two programs,
accessory apartment and homestead.
>> The types of standards we needed to
look at to update were size,
proportionality of the lot,
location on the lot, height setbacks,
residential character.
Uh, we sorted them into three categories.
Standards that apply to both types
of unit attached and detached.
Those that apply only to attached
and those that apply only to detached.
We are kind of trying to
reinforce that overall character.
It is a full second dwelling unit.
We wanted to be in keeping with
the character of a single family neighborhood.
We wanted to feel accessory and there are
a lot of ways to kind of integrate an accessory unit.
Those can be with roof line, window patterning,
exterior colors, materials, things of that nature.
The current maximum size for
an accessory apartment is 800 sq ft.
There are communities that have smaller 500, 650.
There are communities that have larger up to 1,200,
we do wanna still have that accessory feel.
The new proposed maximum is 1,000 sq ft.
So that would be an axo- absolute maximum of 1,000 sq ft.
Uh, we're also looked at that
80% of the floor area of the primary structure.
If you kind of do the math, uh,
the 80% would kick in,
if your home is less than 1,250 sq ft.
Most of the homes in town are larger than that,
so they would default to that maximum 1,000
sq ft. We also have standards
in the districts for floor area ratio
that would apply to an attached unit,
because it is adding to
the mass and scale of your existing home,
it would not count towards the detached unit.
Um, and if we did count it,
it would make it unlikely that people would be
able to do the detached unit.
Your detached unit needs to be behind
the primary building line of your primary structure.
It can only take up a maximum of
30% of the land behind that,
which is a back and side yard,
and lot coverage still applies.
We don't think that's going to be an issue.
Uh, we kind of put together some of
the standards in this chart which was
included in your staff report.
And also, at your last work session,
we kind of walked through a couple of
examples just to say we had
applied all of these standards
together to see how they would work,
ah, and they worked well on both kind of
larger and smaller lots than the minimum lot size.
In terms of height, some of the other standards were
going with a maximum height of 28 ft,
there's a limitation of 20 ft at
the eaves of the- where the detached unit occurs.
We've also clarified we're using
the same method of measurement,
of measuring it at the grade
that we do for all other units.
Setbacks- set and rear setbacks are 7.5 ft.
Some communities have gone smaller.
We had some concerns about being that close,
but also potential conflicts
with public utility easements.
Uh, we also put in some wording
about where decks and patios could be,
that they need to not be on the kind of shortest,
tightest, closest sides, uh,
for- to the kin- minimize
the experience of a neighbor
of having those outdoor spaces.
Parking when we considered this in 2017,
we did not add a parking standard.
You are not prohibited from adding parking,
if you would like, but you are not required to.
We're not changing that standard,
we're also not changing the occupancy standard.
We're going to keep our existing standard
where the occupancy is cumulative.
It's not one for the house
and one for the accessory unit.
Um, we want to keep
the idea of including universal design standards.
I think those are good for everyone.
You may not need them now,
you may need them in the future.
So we are making that not a requirement,
but trying to encourage people as they think about
a detached or attached unit
to try to incorporate some of those standards.
In terms of implementation,
we'll probably do a lot more this time litl-
to kind of get the word out.
Uh, we've been working with,
um, housing and community connections.
They've been incredibly helpful,
and they have a guide from
Charlottesville that I think is really useful
to help someone who may be intimidated by the process.
It really is a nice explanation.
We anticipate having a similar guide
that we can have for Blacksburg.
Um, we also had some input from, um,
websites for City of Raleigh that did
a design competition to show
different types of units and their sizes.
So I think we have a lot more resources we
can tap into in terms of our implementation.
And that concludes my remarks,
but I'd be happy to answer any questions you might
have. You have questions?
>> Thank you. Uh, let's see.
Do we have public comment on this topic?
No public comment on standalone accessory apartments?
Okay. Seeing none, uh,
what is counsel's pleasure with ordinance 2022?
>> I move approval of ordinance 2022.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion on a second,
will the clerk please call the roll.
>> Ford.
>> Aye.
>> Smith.
>> Aye.
>> Hunningly.
>> Eye.
>> Santon.
>> Aye.
>> Anderson.
>> Aye.
>> Bush.
>> Aye.
>> Oliver.
>> Aye.
>> Moving on to Ordinance 2007,
an Ordinance rezoning 44.85 acres of land at
1006 Glade Road from rural
residential to planned residential zoning.
And, um,
since nobody wanted to speak at the last ordinance,
I'm assuming most people here are for- are here for 2007.
Ah, I want to welcome you to chambers.
Some of you have been here before and others have not.
Um, and it is not unusual for, um,
an action like this to, ah,
be an introduction to citizens about how things work.
Um, I want to ask before we get started,
that we listen to one another respectfully,
that we assume good intention,
and that we use the power of our words with care.
And that is to say,
I won't- I won't have any personal attacks here tonight.
Um, by large,
I think most of us in
council chambers tonight share common ground.
I've heard from many people who
clearly value the environment,
the history, and the quality of life in Blacksburg.
All of us can learn from those who have
gone before us here in the place that we love.
And so I wanted to make you all aware that
there are books outside
that anyone of you can take for free.
And this was written in memory of her father by, uh,
Arlene Hale Lambert,
who lives at the uh,
headwaters of Tom's Creek.
And she tells a little bit
about Blacksburg history and she
tells you why our community gardens
are named after her father.
And I think any of you,
uh, would be interested in the book.
They are in a big box outside of foyer.
So I hope you'll help yourself to one as you leave.
>> And I'll be stepping out during
this public hearing at our March 7th work session,
I read my disclosure statement.
In short, I won't read the
whole thing is very similar to what
I read for the consent agenda.
But in short, my employer, Community Housing Partners,
is administering the newer Home Trust
and this proposal involves several units.
I don't know how many units in the new home trust.
So thank you.
>> Thank you. Staff report.
>> Kasey Hodges has the staff report.
>> Thank you. Good evening.
This is a rezoning request
in the 1,000 block of Glade Road.
The property is approximately 45 acres
and is located off Glade Road
next to the farm development,
which was recently completed.
There were a number of Planning Commission work sessions
prior to the public hearing where
staff covered different concepts from
the application at each work session.
The application that was
reviewed by the Planning Commission
featured a vehicle connection to Village Way South.
Though the provision of this connection required
several variances to subdivision standards.
The applicant had presented an option
to eliminate the connection, though ultimately,
this did not make the change until
the April 28th revised application.
At the public hearing for Planning Commission,
the recomme- the request was recommended for
approval though the motion failed by a vote of 2-5.
The applicant presented an option to
eliminate the connectivity at the March 7,
2023 Town Council work session.
Based on the discussion following that work session,
the applicant indicated that
they would remove the connection.
The applicant did remove the connection and
incorporated several other application
changes that had been discussed at
other work sessions in the April
28, 2023 application revision.
The application under consideration today is dated
May 5th, 2023.
>> This aerial photo shows
the development out- development area outlined in blue.
The properties that abut on
the south and west along Glade Road and
Shadow Lake Road are zoned RR1 and
developed generally as single family residences.
The village at Tom's Creek PR and
the Farm PR are also
neighbors to the north and the south.
The application entails the construction
of 176 single family,
two family, and townhome residential units.
There will be a mix of community land,
trust, affordable homes,
mixed income market rate homes,
and higher end market rate single family homes.
The applicant will also construct
public streets, sidewalks, and trails,
as well as public utilities,
including a new sanitary sewer pump station.
There is a related request to remove the parcel
from the Tom's Creek Basin Seward area
to serve the development with
traditional gravity sewer instead of
steps stag or septic tanks.
The applicant is requesting town commitment on
several items including affordable housing
with the town's Arpa funding,
financial contribution to Stormwater management to
construct a regional quality and quantity wet pond,
cost share for necessary sanitary sewer upgrades
based on the proposed route for the sanitary utility.
These related requests have been reviewed as
part of the overall rezoning request.
On the screen is the development plan to orient you,
the graphic in the middle is
turned 90 degrees clockwise from
the aerial image with
the corresponding roads shown in color.
The development is divided into two sections,
the south area to the left
containing smaller market rate homes,
as well as the proffered affordable homes.
And the north area to the right,
which will contain all single family market rate homes.
There's one access point to
the development from Glade Road.
A pedestrian trail is provided to Village Way South,
as well as to the existing trail
at the village at Tom's Creek.
The criteria for evaluation of
rezoning requests is found in your staff report,
but generally requires conformity
to the comprehensive plan,
evaluating the relationship of
the proposed change to
the general planning vision of the town,
and whether or not the development
furthers the purposes of the zoning ordinance.
The need and the justification for the change,
which is the applicant's burden to
prove and the effect of
the proposal on any public infrastructure
and the surrounding area.
The future land use map is seen on the screen and you
can see it is within the low density residential,
future land use designation,
which allows up to and
including four dwelling units per acre.
This property did undergo
a comprehensive plan map amendment in 2021,
which changed from very low density residential
to low density residential.
It is now located in an urban development area,
and it is split between the
suburban residential and rural,
undeveloped neighborhood
employment service area categories.
These characteristics regarding these designations were
provided in the staff report and the staff appendix.
Nearly half of respondents
in the Comprehensive Plan Survey
desired more affordable housing options in town.
The town has focused on providing
assistance to low income households,
and the establishment of the Community
Land Trust allows the town
to address shortages across other income brackets.
In response to the growing need for affordable housing,
the applicant is proffering
affordable units in the mix of homes.
A total of 24 homes will be proffered with
permanent affordability and income restrictions
that I will later discussed in the presentation.
The applicant is proposing to divide
the development based on the housing type.
The south area will contain
the proffered dev- proffered affordable units,
as well as smaller homes on
smaller lots to be sold at market rate.
The north area of the development will contain
market rate detached single family homes,
similar in size and scale to those
adjacent in the village of Tom's Creek.
Beginning in 2023, town will conduct 2020- 22,
32 reviews on all rezoning requests
to ensure that public infrastructure,
especially arterial and collector roads,
are accommodated in the proposed development
in conformance with the comprehensive plan.
The roadway connection at Glade Road is in
keeping with the intent of land use connectivity.
In the evaluation of
the application against the zoning ordinance,
staff reviews the request for
its conformity to the purpose of the zoning district.
The purpose of the PR district is to encourage
communities that offer a variety of housing options.
The intent of the district is to give
greater flexibility than
the conventional zoning districts
allow in order for the applicant to develop
a project that is of improved design quality,
that may provide new approaches to homeownership,
or that provides an efficient use of
land to decrease development costs.
It is the applicant's burden to prove that
the application meets the intent of the district.
In exchange for flexibility in
the PR district, the plan,
application and proffers are binding,
any significant deviation would require the applicant
to amend the district through the public hearing process.
The current zoning is here on the screen,
it is in the green RR1 zoning district.
As we begin to evaluate the land use request,
the overall development standards
are taken into consideration.
Overall standards apply, such as open space,
canopy coverage, and gross density.
Individual lot standards regulate
the development on individual residential parcels,
whether north or south.
The overall standards for
the development are seen on the screen.
The green areas indicate the open space that
is being provided in the- in the development.
Diving further into the proposed standards,
the applicant has provided two sets of standards for
the development based on the
two parts of the development.
This chart is very busy.
It's found on page 12 of the January 13 staff report,
and illustrates the proposed district standards
in the first two columns,
in green and red.
Compared with the overall village
at Tom's Creek development,
the neighboring homes on Village Way South,
the overall RR1 standards,
and the neighboring homes in
the RR1 district on Shadow Lake Road and Glade Road,
as well as the standards at the farm PRD.
I'm not going to discuss each of
these individual standards for the development areas.
The standard charts for each of
the development different areas is-
in the north and south are found on page
14 and 15 of the staff report.
As you can see on the screen,
the south proposed standards are significantly
more intense than the surrounding area
except for the farm.
Including the proposed standards
in the north part of the development.
The north area standards are more
comparable to the surrounding neighborhood.
I'll touch on several of the standards that
contribute to the overall feel of the development.
Setbacks provide space on
parcels where structures cannot be built.
Setbacks will vary based on the unit type.
Attached units will have zero setback for interior walls,
while detached units will have setback all around.
The applicant has further added
a restriction for minimum building separation.
This will help to accommodate
driveway location restrictions that they have
proposed in order to reduce front yard pavement.
Florida area ratio is a regulation that
provides proportionality for homes to the lot.
They have added a proffer of
maximum square footage to help ensure that
homes as constructed in the development
are relatively similar in size and scale.
The proposed square footage is less than
what the Florida area ratio would allow,
which means that homeowners in the future may be able to
add square footage to their homes by
finishing basements or adding on.
The applicant has provided a pattern book that provides
information on architectural styles and
materials for the different housing types provided.
The applicant does request a modification to
the use and design standards for town homes to
not require front facade variability and instead provide
differentiation between adjacent units
using other architectural features.
This slide shows a number of the different types of
physical architectural variation possible for
single and attached units in addition to color,
which is not apparent in these elevations.
On the screen are the- are examples of
the north area market rate homes as well.
>> The applicant has proposed
a restriction on themselves that has- that will
reduce the number of
double width driveways that
can be adjacent to one another,
addressing a concern that
large blocks of front yard may be paved for parking.
Due to the small lot nature
of the south area of development,
the applicant does request
several other modifications with regard to parking.
This slide shows the modifications needed for
the parking layout proposed
based on the proposed layout from the applicant.
In the items seen on the screen,
the applicant is requesting to
eliminate the standards except the last
where they have proposed a modification that
I'll go over in the next slides.
This graphic provided by
the applicant illustrates the application of
the restriction for no two double width driveways
adjacent to one another.
What you see in purple,
highlights the permitted locations
of the double width driveways.
You can see in the blocks of four town homes,
each end unit has a side driveway as shown in blue.
The light purple also indicates the area that
the applicant specifies will be
a minimum of 20 feet wide.
This slide also illustrates
the concepts regarding vehicles backing into the street,
and parking in front of the building line.
The subdivision ordinance specifies
a minimum distance from the edge of
a driveway to an intersection.
The graphic provided by the applicant ind-
indicates that due to the narrow lot frontage and depth,
some lots will simply not
meet the minimum distance requirements.
They are requesting a variance to min-
reduce the minimum from 50 feet to 20 feet.
The planned residential zoning district
allows applicants to propose
an alternate parking ratio based on
a number of factors including unit type,
target market, proximity to services,
and access to trails and transits.
The applicant is proposing a minimum of
two off street parking spaces per unit,
which is consistent with single family uses.
The applicant is proposing a non-traditional method of
achieving overall canopy coverage
over the lifespan of the development.
Typically, development canopy coverage is usually
satisfied at the beginning of
a development with planting new trees.
Over time, the trees reach
maturity based on the species and will
ultimately cover some percentage
of the overall development.
The applicant is proposing
a different approach that includes
planting some new trees,
but allowing nati- natural species progression,
to provide canopy over time as the open space progresses
from post agricultural fields to shru- shrub thickets,
to mixed hardwood forests.
The method of planting some trees now,
and allowing others to grow
over the lifespan of the development is
a reasonable approach to allow for
natural biodiversity to develop,
and to limit the upfront costs of planting.
However, this method of planting
and achieving canopy coverage and
landscape vision over time is
untested in the town as a standard.
There are places that have in town that have
naturally grown up over time to provide canopy.
However, it's unknown what the true
outcome for development of the size,
in managing both manicured and more naturalized spaces
together through the HOA.
The town does not have a metric
to follow this sort of approach
to ensure the development is on
target to achieve the required canopy.
The applicant has proffered several timing mechanisms and
implementation strategies that are
in response to these concerns.
One is that the Homeowners Association will be
responsible for implementing the recommendations,
from their hired expert.
And that there will be target
metrics at specified times,
after their development con-
commences to require minimum canopy coverage.
This graphic from the application shows
all of the different types of landscape areas.
The purple and green areas
indicate areas of successful management.
Orange is managed turf, red is recreation.
Specific vegetation for embankments is also called out.
This graphic from the application shows
the theoretical progression of canopy coverage over time.
While we often think of only trees
as providing canopy coverage, shrubs,
and ground cover do provide some canopy coverage as well,
and may be more effective in managing
erosion due to their ground covering nature.
The applicant is proposing a street tree ratio of one for
every 80 feet in the north area and
one for every 100 feet in the south.
In addition, each yard in
the south area will have one tree,
and at least two shrubs or another tree.
Yards in the north area will
each have one tree in the front yard,
and each yard will also be required to have
at least four trees and or shrubs.
The subdivision ordinance requires sidewalks to be
constructed on at least one side
of all new streets within a subdivision,
and on existing streets adjacent to the subdivision.
The applicant is requesting several different variances
to different requirements for sidewalks and trails.
They are requesting to construct trail
in lieu of sidewalk for some segments.
They are requesting to reduce the buffer strip
between the curve and the sidewalk from 4 ft,
3 ft. And they are requesting to eliminate
sidewalk on street E in
the north area of the development.
Lastly, they are requesting to
provide grass trails instead of
paved or gravel trails to
the interior of the development,
to the internal open space areas.
This graphic illustrates the different variances
needed with respect to the street.
The ora- the blue
indicates buffer reduction between the,
uh, sidewalk and the curb.
The orange is trail in lieu of sidewalk,
the red is the elimination of sidewalk,
and the green are the locations of the grass trails.
Public utility easements are
required around the perimeter of
all new developments and around
the pro- property lines within the development.
The applicant is requesting a modification to reduce
public utility wid- width easement- easement widths,
where they are adjacent to existing easements.
This graphic illustrates the locations in yellow,
where a seven-and-half public utility easement
will be provided in the development where the
adj- adjacent to existing PUEs offsite.
Standard curve and gutter CG6 is
required on all new streets and typical subdivisions,
but the planned residential district allows applicants to
request variances to these subdivision standards as well.
The applicant is proposing an alternate curve
and stormwater conveyance method,
which they say will reduce overall development costs.
The graphic illustrates the typical street sections for
the south area on top and the north area on the bottom.
The top section shows that
the development will have sidewalk,
grass strip on one side of the street,
roll top curb on both sides,
and two travel lanes.
The North area has roadside ditch with no curbing,
sidewalk would be provided in an easement.
In evaluation of the rezoning request includes
an analysis of the projected transportation impacts,
with a turn lane warrant and a level of service analysis.
A turn lane is warranted for
the development and the additional
right of way required for
its construction has already been
dedicated to the town during the farm development.
The applicant's proposed sanitary sewer route identified
several areas that would be negatively
impacted by the proposed development.
The applicant is- is working with the town for
a cost share solution that provides
the necessary infrastructure to support the development,
as well as addressing existing infrastructure needs.
Stormwater management is required for
all new development to address quality and quantity.
The areas downstream of this development have
faced ongoing stormwater issues in recent years.
The applicant is proposing a regional stormwater facility
that will address quality
and quantity for the development,
as well as improving
the quality of the downstream channels.
They are requesting town
financial assistance in order to provide this benefit.
This graphic shows the location of
the proposed wet pond in the center and pink,
as well as the other dry
stormwater management areas below it,
near the bypass and near
Shadow Lake Road to the top of the screen.
The graphic also shows the location of
the revised Creek Valley overlay as
provided by the applicant
based on the criteria in the ordinance,
rather than relying on the older data.
>> As we wrap up, the applicant
has submitted a proffer statement.
The most recent revision was submitted May 5th.
I will go over these proffers generally.
The first is that the applicant-that
the development will be in
substantial conformance with the application.
The second will be that the Homeowners Association
will be created to
establish-will be established to
enforce the proffers and the application requirements.
The third proffer pertains to the open space,
including the minimum that will be provided,
the trails that will be provided,
the ownership and maintenance of
the open space areas except the public trails,
as well as the language and
information regarding their hiring
an expert to follow
through the managed successional areas.
The fourth proffer regards all of
the landscaping commitments that the applicant is making,
including the minimum canopy coverage,
street tree ratio, and minimum requirements.
The managed successional landscaping generally.
The pond edge shade trees and their requirements.
The yard land-the additional
yard landscaping for each lot,
as well as the timing mechanisms for
those canopy targets and
compliance with zoning ordinance species.
The fifth proffer, uh, regards
the recreation amenities and includes their commitment
to active and passive recreation amenities in
Phase II and Phase I of the project.
The sixth proffer regards their trails to be
constructed per the exhibit in the application.
The seventh proffer prohibits
construction vehicles on Village Way South provides for
a barrier and written notification except when
connection of the trail is necessary.
The fifth proffer contains
the information regarding the Affordable Housing Units.
Ten of these units will be proffered for households up to
80%- earning up to 80% AMI,
10 units for households, from 80-100% AMI.
Four units for households, 100-120% of AMI.
These will all be put into the Land Trust.
All of these units will be single-family detached.
They will all meet, half energy efficiency or
sustainability standards for the 24 affordable units,
they will either be earth craft
certified or have a HERS rating of 55 or better.
There will be sold to eligible buyers and the transfers
to-the property will be transferred to the Land Trust.
That the sales price will be determined by
HUD formulas at the time of readiness.
And that the 10 units up to 80% AMI will
be to be completed by the town
ARPA deadline and furthering
the rate of completion of
the remainder of the affordable units.
The ninth proffer talks
about the mix of housing types for
the south area between
the single-family units- two-family units, and townhomes.
Talks about the maximum square footage at
the initial certificate of occupancy and proffers
a HERS rating of 65 or better for
the remainder of the market rate homes in the south area.
The 10th Proffer commits
to single-family homes only in the north area,
as well as solar readiness as
well and minimum HVAC requirements.
The 11th proffer determines the phasing talks
about Phase 1 with those ARPA deadline homes.
The 12th proffer regards rental restrictions and
the allowance for accessory dwelling units or homestay.
The 13th proffer includes the recalculation of
100-year floodplain and the commitment to
develop within- in conformance with the regulations of
the floodplain with regard to
the location of the pump station and the trail.
The last proffer is that the applicant will provide
speed limit signs for
15 miles per hour in the development.
There are many variances and
modifications for this request.
These have been provided to you in
prior staff reports, but in general,
they're listed on the next three slides in
the order in which they appear in the ordinances.
The first four pertain to parking.
Next is the modification for
an alternate street tree ratio,
a variance request to not provide a right of way or
road connection to the property to
the Northwest of the development.
A variance to allow street A to exceed
the maximum length for a cul-de-sac, which is 900 feet.
Street A is approximately 2,600 feet or half a mile.
A variance to allow roll-top curb,
and roadside ditch instead of standard CG6.
A variance request to reduce
the minimum block length from 500 feet to 200 feet.
On this screen, the first two variances
deal with driveway separation
from the property line and
driveway separation from intersections.
The next four variances pertain to
the various sidewalk and trail
variance requests as previously discussed.
And lastly, the request to
reduce the public utility easement widths
for certain lots where there are
existing PUEs on adjacent parcels.
That concludes my presentation I'll be
happy to answer any questions that you have.
>> I have one question for now.
In your slide on HOA and all of
the different things that have to happen with the HOA,
can you talk at all about
the enforcement mechanism that
the town has especially in the beginning?
>> Yes. As with any-
as with any planned residential development
or really any development within town,
the regulations that govern
it are part of the zoning ordinance.
And so if there
are- if there are violations to the standards,
they become pursued as
violations of the zoning ordinance.
And so we would pursue them as zoning violations through
our typical research and
investigation process with the town attorney
and the zoning administrator.
Does that answer your question?
>> Good start.
>> How else can I help?
>> Well, I'm just curious about some of
the items that the HOA is responsible for,
and I don't need you to go back to that slide.
But there were several items
and I'm just trying to- I've never been
a part of an HOA I haven't had that pleasure.
Um, so,
I'm just curious about how a new neighborhood first,
you've got to form one,
and you've got to get the people,
and then you've got to get your bylaws,
I'm sure and I'm sure there's a whole,
but I'm just wondering how that
enforcement works within that group.
We've had some emails from people in
the village- village of Thomas Creek that are in HOAs.
Some of them have been positive experiences
and some of them may be less so.
So I'm just curious about the two things,
about how the proffers that
are- that the developer is proposing,
there seems to me to be a disconnect between that and
how- perhaps how they actually work get formed,
get implemented, and then when
those issues don't happen, who's responsible?
>> Sure, I
think the applicant can probably speak a little bit more
to where they intend to go
with kind of the vibe of the HOA,
but in general, we can talk a little bit about kind of
that transitional phase between
the development control period and that HOA period.
So this development is going to be
constructed over a number of years,
and during some of that phase,
the developer is still going to be in
control of the land and what goes
on on that property and so
the way that their application has been set up,
especially with regard to
the landscaping and things like that,
those items are going to be
started at the very beginning.
And so the developer actually is going to have to
hire the person that
the HOA will then have to keep on, carry on.
So the same kind
of regulations and restrictions that they're
providing for the HOA are also
going to be applied to the developer based on
their language and based on how we would
also govern that through
the site plan and construction process as well.
But I think the applicant can probably
talk a little bit more- more about
what they want kind of the homeowners association to be.
But in general, the town does
not- does not have any jurisdictional authority over
private HOA covenants unless there's
some other way that they are in violation of other codes.
>> Thank you.
>> Other questions.
>> Thank you, Kenzie. Moving on
to the applicant's statement for Ordinance 2007.
>> I think I know all of them.
So, um, you know about the survey
to ask the town residents
what their most pressing concerns were,
and the main point was the lack of affordable housing.
Well, we have heard that and we're providing
24 houses in perpetuity for 99 years.
In my case, I'm hoping for a good 20.
Um, also council members have expressed a desire or
hope that a developer would provide workforce housing.
So we have heard that and we are
providing 109 units for people.
Say, for example, Marla, son-in-law,
who is the only teacher in
a school who can afford to live in this town.
And the people who teach your kids,
the people who provide your healthcare,
the people who provide your safety,
the people who work for town
should be able to afford to live in town.
It's a justice issue.
I want to thank you all for all the effort that you
all provided and your concern and consideration,
and staff and all their help.
I hope you'll consider it.
And if not, this project- this
property where if not now when. Thanks.
>> Meredith Jones with Eden & Associates.
Good evening, council.
I'm going to start and talk, um, really big picture to
you tonight because I think we've had
lots of time for details in the work sessions and things.
Happy to answer questions if you have them, obviously.
Um, so- so I'd like to
start with your evaluation criteria.
Kenzie mentioned this. Um,
this is our burden to prove.
We feel like we've done that in your application.
I am going to talk very,
um, you know,
sort of high level about some of these,
um, tonight just to give you, again,
an indication that we feel like
this development meets what
the ordinance would say for
a re-zoning meets the master,
meets the goals of the comp plan, etc.
So these are the questions you all are
probably pretty familiar with them at this time.
The need in the justification for the change.
So again, we know this project looks different,
um, and functions a little different.
That's on purpose because our objective is different
from any other development
up to this point in Blacksburg.
And that's to provide for the affordability,
diversity, and mixed-income housing.
Um, this requires as we've discussed
density beyond that of one unit per acre,
which is the underlying zoning.
Um, and as we know, density affords, uh,
that affordability and mixed-income housing
that we- we so very much need in this town.
Um, it also,
lot size flexibility that
other zoning districts do not offer, um,
as we know FAR's balloon the lot sizes,
and so doing smaller,
more affordable lots is not
necessarily in the existing districts,
hence the need for our rezoning.
And then product type flexibility that
other zonings also don't offer.
Um, you know, we're- we are asking
for a number of variances that deal with townhomes.
Townhomes are written in this town for student housing,
parking in the rear,
um, or um,
parking lots and that's not what's desired here.
We want a seamless feel across our neighborhood.
So for that reason we are- we
are asking for variances and we
do need this- this rezoning district
to provide that for us.
Environmental flexibility such as
the canopy coverage that we've all covered, um,
and talked about that Kenzie touched
on at regional stormwater opportunities that may or may
not be able to happen without
a rezoning due to the- the density and being
able to afford those additional regional facilities
that we're providing additional
space in those regional facilities.
And then finally, I want to talk about variances.
Um, these are allowed in the PRD.
Um, as of late staff has, um,
pointed those out to you in the process,
but even some of our neighboring developments
have those variances as well.
They were not pointed out through the rezoning so
that's a little bit of a difference
as we're going through this time.
Um, and we feel like we're not
sacrificing quality in these variances.
We feel like we're making
a better neighborhood for Blacksburg.
We feel like we are substituting
good equals for the things that
we are asking for variances for,
and so in terms of the curve and gutter.
As an example, we are
providing that in places where we don't need that,
we're not providing it.
Um, why- why pay for that if not needed?
Um, so what is the relationship of
the proposed change to the comprehensive plan goals?
These are goals directly from
the comprehensive plan and I
believe that we meet all of them.
Um, we are consistent with the future land use plan at-
at less than or equal to
four units- dwelling units per acre.
It's a well-designed pedestrian
friendly with sidewalks and trails,
walkable, bikeable, and encourages
use of alterna- alternative transportation modes.
We're providing much needed,
affordable, and mixed income housing as you know.
We're providing owner-occupied housing and have put
the controls in to make sure that that is the case here,
um, to eliminate those student lifestyle conflicts
that often happen in town.
We're providing equity and inclusion by
providing housing to different income ranges for people.
Creating private parks, recreation amenities,
preserving open space.
Respecting the headwaters of
Tom's Creek with the
additional measures that we've taken,
and I'll talk about that a little bit more.
And creating reliable infrastructure.
So what is the anticipated effect of
the development on public services and facilities?
We have evaluated all of these through this process.
As you know, we are improving
stormwater beyond the current requirements.
We are providing a reliable new water system
and sewer system that will provide for
future capacity for the town and relieve
existing capacity issues on University City Boulevard.
Um, we are increasing
the town's trail network in connectivity,
um, through four different connections
outside of our property.
Um, the development is causing
new significant traffic issues
as evidenced by our traffic study.
Um, we altered our road connection to
Village Way South when
negative effect had resulted for people,
and we're adding
privately maintained Stormwater open
space and recreation facilities
that is managed by Homeowners Association.
So, that has no burden on the town.
How does this re-zoning further
the purposes of the zoning ordinance?
This is directly quoted
from the comprehensive, I mean, I'm sorry,
from the zoning ordinance in
the purposes create and preserve affordable housing.
That's what we're trying to do.
Uh, these other purposes
are what I call our housing goals,
but they directly align with
the purposes that are in the zoning ordinance.
Provide attractive,
well-built homes for diversity of income ranges,
seamlessly integrated through architecture and driveways.
And parking to bring
people together throughout the community.
Enlarge the real estate tax base,
as well as place these residents near
retail opportunities fueling the economy.
Again, this location being
close to University City Boulevard,
provide housing on an infill parcel with
existing infrastructure which we have and surrounding us,
thus preventing urban sprawl.
All things purposes within the zoning ordinance.
Providing convenient access to surrounding
properties with public trail connections,
We're providing for over 4,000 feet of bikeways and over
3,500 feet of sidewalk in this development.
There's only one road that we're
asking for a variance for sidewalk
or any means of- of traversing it off-road.
Environmental goals to provide
protection to the headwaters of Tom's Creek.
We believe we are doing that and
going beyond what would be required, um,
by reducing flooding for downstream property protection,
by improving water quality
beyond the requirements for added stream health.
Preserving the springs on our site,
and protecting the creek valley
overlay and floodplain areas
by staying out of them.
We're providing for a healthy environment.
And again, these in bold come directly
from the purposes in the zoning ordinance.
Provide for a healthy environment through the use of
purposeful natural open space in
excess of the requirements.
Our open space is 35% which is in excess of
the 20% requirement for PRD.
We're encouraging wildlife and habitat evolution
through the managed successional areas,
which will eventually produce forested areas,
which traditional landscaping requirements
as the canopy coverages are written,
does not- does not typically
create forested areas after 20 years.
That is something that is in the- in
the zoning ordinance and the comprehensive plan.
Um, net increase of wetland areas across our site.
So yes, we are removing some,
but we are also replacing that with more than we have
today, providing energy-efficient buildings.
We've got house ratings for the South area,
solar amenities,
and heating and cooling standards for the North area.
Um, and then reducing carbon emissions
with our sustainable location.
All things that are purposes.
Um, this is a list of
the changes that have happened during
the council process and you all are aware most of those.
I'm not going to touch on them individually,
but reading through them,
um, I do want to point
out the managed successional areas.
We will begin the transformation as
soon as the development construction begins,
that's been written into our proffer.
The developer will- will take over
that responsibility and then transfer it to the HOA.
We have tightened the management regulations for
the developer HOA team and the town's oversight.
Um, we believe these changes will provide
a more sustainable diverse community
for future residents of Blacksburg,
and one in which the town can point to as
a role model for private-public partnerships.
Finally, I want to say that we- we
have shown you that this development contains
anything but substandard infrastructure and conditions.
In fact, it contains or exceeds
the same ingredients as
every other neighborhood in Blacksburg,
including those surrounding the site with one exception.
It also contains affordable and mixed-income housing
that will all be owner-occupied.
We've put those controls in to ensure this development
has the quality- will succeed. I'm sorry.
We- we put controls in to
ensure that this quality development will succeed,
and by a developer that has
already proven he can succeed.
Please, we request that you approve
this development so that we can move
forward with this good work to provide
Blacksburg with the housing it needs.
>> Thank you. Do you have any questions?
>> Does anybody have questions?
>> I have one Meredith,
I was hoping you could talk a little bit
about what you're proffering
in terms of rental restrictions,
just so that everybody can
understand that especially myself.
>> Sure. Um,
let me grab that to make sure. Let me see that right.
>> So our restrictions will be, um,
if- if you are an owner of a piece of
property or an owner of a house in our development,
that you cannot- cannot rent it, um,
less than 12 months or more than 24 months,
um, at one time.
Which means that, um,
within a- sorry,
that's within a six-year period.
So if somebody goes on sabbatical,
as often happens in our town,
they would be able to allow a rental to go into
that property between a year or two,
um, in duration,
but after that they would have to occupy it themselves.
Um, we are also saying that short-term leases of
one week or less are limited to
only four per calendar year,
um, and it's
subject to the Town of Blacksburg Homestead Program,
so we would follow all the regulations
in the town homestay program for that.
It gives our association,
and this goes back to the question that you were asking,
um, that that the right to remove that privilege,
if the association decides it's being abused,
they can remove any of
those privileges if they get, uh,
complaints, um,
or take measures to enforce those provisions.
>> That's very helpful. Thank you.
>> Okay.
>> You have other questions?
>> I have a- I have a question,
and I think you've tried to answer it at a work session,
but I've gotten several emails from
folks who really are concerned about parking.
And so I know there's,
uh space, uh, for each house to park.
I think the concern is more- what if somebody comes over?
You know, where are the guests going to park?
Um, will there be parking on both sides of
the street or on all streets or one street?
And I know that, um,
this typically happens at the site plan phase.
And so you may not be prepared
to be super specific but, um,
but a little- little specificity would- I think would
help neighbors to try to
understand better the parking situation.
>> Sure- okay- yeah.
I mean, typically that is something that we would
look at in the site development stage, um,
but I do think our roads are 26 feet wide on road,
uh, Street A and Street B or 26 feet wide.
Um, and- and that allows for parking
on one side, which side?
I couldn't really tell you tonight,
but as we get into design,
we- we should be able to identify
which side of the road has more space,
and again that- how we'll look at
that is what kind of units,
what types of units are we putting on the lots,
where exactly are those driveways,
and where can we, you know,
we have lots of rules about
the driveways now in this development,
but where can we find that space in between driveways?
Because we don't have mailboxes,
we have a gang- a ganged mailbox,
so that's not going to be a conflict,
which is pretty typical in a lot of our neighborhood.
So parking in between,
driveways will be identified,
and if we can make more space there, we certainly will.
Um, but it's one of those things where,
um, you can put parking on one side of the road,
you can sign that there's
no guest parking on the other side of the road,
but what it comes down to really our- our neighbors,
um, being courteous to each other.
If you see someone- there's
plenty of sight distance in our neighborhood,
you can see someone coming,
you know, you tend to slow down,
let that person pass if it's tighter,
but with a 26-foot wide road,
that still leaves you 18 feet to pass vehicles.
And so, yeah, you
may be in a situation where you might be
yielding to someone coming on- going a little bit slower,
which is a good thing.
Um, I wanted to also mention to you that,
um, that area between, um,
the north area and the south area where
we- we don't have frontage for lots there,
uh, that's about 750 feet,
and so there will be able to be,
and we can certainly provide, uh, uh,
you know a sha- a substantial shoulder there,
but there will be able to be parking along that,
and that equates to about 30-35 spaces in that area.
So you'd have to walk a little ways,
but that's pretty common in- in dense neighborhoods.
Um, so I- I think- had I answered your question?
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> Other questions? Thank you.
Okay. We are moving on now
to public comment on Ordinance 2007,
and I want to remind people to please, um,
state your name and your address as you come forward,
but also, since I think quite a few of
the people here tonight are speaking to this,
if not all, to this ordinance,
you might wish to queue up at
the back of the room so that there's not
a lot of time spent shuffling and
trying to get through bouncy chairs.
Um, and I think that that will,
uh, that will help us all out.
When you're finished speaking,
we have a signage sheet here,
and that will also make things more
elegant because we won't, uh,
flub the spelling of your name or your address,
so, um, anyway.
Time to begin, and Robyn,
I think you know how those- the stoplight works?
>> Yes, thank you. And I hopefully
you won't take the whole time tonight.
So Robyn Jones,1224 Village Way South.
>> Uh, good evening.
Tonight, you will hear from members
of the Tom's Creek Sustainability Coalition.
Most of us are addressed in green,
and perhaps others who have concerns about the request to
rezone 1006 Glade Spring
for Glade Spring Crossing Development.
As a member of the coalition, as an individual,
I have been engaging with the town directly on
this project since our first letter on January 9th.
Many of our concerns and questions have
remained consistent throughout these four months.
As I have reflected on this,
I have wondered why.
Perhaps it's the questions we ask
or maybe even how we've asked them,
but perhaps it's also that we weren't able to engage in
real dialogue or learning throughout the process.
As you know, the process allows- itself
allows for the applicant and the town to have
meetings and conversations in
real-time to ask questions and get and give feedback.
For the citizens it doesn't really work the same way,
we're able to send messages and ask for meetings with
the town to give input and ask questions,
but it's not really the same,
sort of, give and take.
We are able to use public comment,
but it's also one-sided.
So while these ideas, thoughts,
and messages and input may have been
received and aside from the,
um, removal of the vehicular road,
we don't really know how it's been heard.
For us, this project was,
and always it has been more than the road.
So as a result of this process,
we have become frustrated with the other.
And citizens such as myself
keep sending emails as you know,
and recipients like yourselves
probably get overwhelmed and more than irritated.
Over the last few months,
I've had the pleasure of meeting
with Jerry Ford and Susan Mattingly,
uh, Lauren Carragher and
Susan Anderson and Kenzie Austrey.
It was in those meetings that I felt heard.
I hope that these folks would also say that I listened,
as I myself have
much better in person than I am on email.
I wanted information about the process,
the application, the impacts, and the benefits.
and when Randy Formica thoroughly answered
the coalition's long list of sewer questions recently,
I was so appreciative to learn more about the specifics,
but more importantly, it
reit- it reiterated confidence that the town
was very much doing their due diligence
and thinking about the same things that we were.
Tonight, my neighbors will share their thoughts,
some of them will tell you how they think
the development will be experienced by future residents,
some will have questions,
some will have more input.
If you are able in your comments and deliberations,
let us know that you've heard and what you've-
what you've heard and what you've
considered to help make your decision.
I'm convinced that the residents and
the town are striving towards the same goals,
development that is equitable and affordable,
respectful of the environment,
safe and compliant, innovative, and sustainable.
So I hope you hear those goals and
intentions and the messages that you have
been- that you've already received
and that's what you will hear tonight. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. I'm Rob Solomon from
1507 Trillium Lane in the Village Tom's Creek.
I have some questions regarding, um,
the- I don't feel were addressed by
the developer regarding trees and landscaping.
Since open space trees don't compensate for
a lack of ordinance required by street trees,
how will the reduction of
required street trees keep temperatures down?
And will Blacksburg maintain their tree city status?
Number 1, how can develop-
the developer claim environmental justice and
cut down five acres of existing trees?
Request to plant 226- fewer street trees
and intensify soil erosion with excessive grading.
Also hosting a- a nature expert
once a year to mitigate invasive plants.
>> Thank you.
>> Hi, my name is Kasey Hodges.
I live at 1223 Village Way South.
I wanted to speak to you about transportation.
The application notes that the Glade Spring Crossing
offers convenient access to local grocers,
shops, and restaurants.
And states that the community will be able to
access public transit and be in
walking and biking distance of
University City Boulevard in
minutes from downtown Blacksburg in Virginia Tech.
This is a very idealistic painting of
a picture that does not work very well in reality.
It is true that the top corner of
the property is a half a mile from a transit stop.
But if you don't live in the first lot,
the additional walking to get to
the bus stop is required.
And some houses in the development
are more than a mile from the transit stop.
And then the transit system in Blacksburg is
designed to move students to and from campus.
While there are some routes like the two-town trolley,
the stop on UCB goes to squires.
The Glade Spring application
states that the transit is- is
a half a mile walk and this will
encourage residents to use mass transit.
I believe this is an exaggeration.
The words sound good, but they're not reality.
The applicant notes that they feel the application
promotes Number 13 of the comprehensive plan,
encouraging designs that move
people rather than vehicles.
But have they asked regular users how they feel
about the half-mile walk or more in each direction?
How long it takes them to get to
places on the bus and where they
actually want to go and
what shopping they need available to them?
Along UCB, they're probably not headed to
Chantilly Lace or Bonomo's Plaza or Volume II Bookstore.
I have several friends with
lower incomes that live in the affordable apartments,
um, on the north side of town.
They do not own vehicles.
They frequently take the bus to and from work.
The drive from their apartment to
Virginia Tech or Kroger is 10 minutes.
The bus ride is 45 minutes.
When they go to work, they have to plan over
an extra hour in each direction for commuting.
Most of them are wage workers,
and due to the commutes and the bus schedules,
they can only work six hours
in the same amount of time as
someone who has a car can work eight hours.
If they missed the bus and need to
wait, they're late for work.
If they missed the bus on the way home,
they may not be home when
their children come home from school.
On the bus route, they can get to VT using one bus.
But if they need to go further,
like to the doctor or to the international food store,
or if they do not work at VTA,
second transfer is necessary.
This increases travel time and the transfer is
just another opportunity to miss a bus or a connection.
Another problem with the BT is since
its job is to move VT students,
it works on the VT schedule.
During summer breaks and other VT breaks,
the bus schedule changes
and it makes it much more difficult for
full-time residents working to stay on
a consistent schedule to take a bus to and from work.
The proposal makes a lot of assumptions that sound good,
but they're poorly supported and
this is just one example. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anybody up next?
>> Hello. My name is Becky Fritz,
and I live at 1507 Trillium Lane
in the village of Tom's Creek.
Um, so I was not initially intending to speak tonight.
I came with my husband, Rob,
who has the concerns about
the landscaping and trees, um,
but I watched the recent WDBJ newscast
with an interview with Mr. Hopper,
and I felt like I needed to address some of
the statements that he made.
To quote Mr. Hopper,
he described this development as a classic example.
As a win-win for public-private partnership.
And that's what we hope this will be.
And this will certainly be a win
for the builders and the developers financials.
It may be a win
limited for 10 families seeking affordable housing.
Casey's already mentioned some-
some concerns and doubts associated with that,
but that's where the winning stops.
That doesn't benefit the other 152 housing units
in the plan who have to deal with
roads with no sidewalks,
drainage ditches instead of curbs.
A lack of landscaping,
as my husband Rob mentioned,
and no or little parking.
And many of those units built on 15%-20% slopes.
It certainly doesn't benefit the other neighbors
downstream on Glade or in my neighborhood,
the village at Tom's Creek.
This was followed by his statement in the interview.
The way there's such a dearth of
housing product in this town,
they'll sell like crazy and then we'll have
42 for rich people on the other end.
They'll be expensive, but that will actually
fund the rest of this being subsidized.
That doesn't sound like a equitable housing seamlessly
dispersed and integrated by
architecture that was described earlier.
It sounds like two very different distinct developments
separated by a moat in the form of
a storm water management pond.
It sounds like this plan
is gonna perpetuate divisiveness.
Mr. Hopper additionally stated,
it means a lot to me and
gratitude is the most strained of human emotions.
But I'll know that I did something that's
good for this town and there'll be
people living here who can't afford
to, and that's profound.
Um, as one who live next
to this overly dense development.
My purpose- personal sense
is that he's not driven by generosity,
rather this is driven by greed,
excess, and perhaps self-affirmation.
We've sent the town requests for
details around the financials of this project,
only to be told that the town really doesn't have any.
And to be repeatedly told in this very venue by
the developer that the numbers are
so tight that we can't lose a unit,
and we must have all of the variances approved
to get the density up and the unit calls down.
So it would be nice if we could actually see some
of the information that we've
requested so we can all review it.
You know, it's we all
understand that developers, you know,
want to make money and that's what they do.
But I think to mask this in some sort of motive-
mask his motives in a cloak of unappreciated gratitude,
or that he's just doing this out of- out of
the bottom of his heart for the town of Blacksburg.
>> Thank you. Your time is up.
>> Ah, thank you.
>> That's the kind of personal attack,
I hope I don't hear again. Who's next?
>> Hello, my name is Chris Bondrend and I live
at 1219 Village Way South.
I've tried to visualize this glaze crossing
development and try to imagine if
I was living in that development,
since those future residents
aren't here to speak for themselves.
That person, you know,
has worked hard all day,
indoors, all week possibly,
and they want to spend some time outdoors
in their yard in their neighborhood,
they live on the south side with one of the center units,
so their entire front yard is just the slope driveway.
There's no trees, so their front porch is very
hot and so they proceed to the backyard for some relief,
there is a proposed tree back there but
the yard is pretty small and so there's
a limited space to stretch their legs or for
their children to play so they venture down the street.
There are not many stre- trees or
yard trees due to the allowed variance.
So the sidewalk is hot and
the street- and the asphalt is even hotter.
They have to transverse the multiple parked cars along
the way and they pass endless rows, driveways,
and townhouses with limited green space,
with only a few single units having that space.
They look for the neighborhood open space,
but the closest they can get to it
is to access through other people's property,
which they don't want to do and
much of that space is deg- designated for
just a few trees as part of
the managed succession planning and weeds
and tall grasses have taken over most of that.
They finally find a backyard transitional strip
at the end of the street where they can try to
navigate to the south side,
open space and the managed turf areas.
But it's really not accessible for bikes or
strollers since it's not paved.
And like the entire neighborhood,
the turf is not really flat but a
very slope- steep slope.
The one true recreation area on
the south side is located
right next to the farm development,
which is congested and loud.
They could travel up to Glade rolled entrance,
but traffic is even worse up there,
it's not really safe for their children.
They could travel down the very
steep slope to North side,
which is at least a quarter mile
where they have more accessible open space.
There's still limited shade
due to the managed succession planning,
and majority of that area is really
the giant to dry ponds,
the wet pond and what is called vegetated embankments.
By this time they're tired, the children are hot,
so they just work their way back up
the long incline up to their house.
They admit they've had
some exercise and stretch their legs,
but it wasn't much of a relaxed or enjoyment.
I'd like the council to consider
these images when they make their decision of
this overly dense and congested development
and vote no tonight.
The town and developer can do
better and should be able to create a neighborhood
that doesn't go beyond the future land use
and where town residents would like to call home.
Thank you for your consideration.
>> Thank you. If you'll go to that signing,
Chris, thank you. Who's next?
>> Good evening.
My name is Rebecca Weaver High Tower,
and I live at 1207 Village Way South.
But for the next three minutes,
I'm a future resident of Glade Springs Crossing.
I divorced three years ago and I wanted to stay in
Blacksburg so my boys could
keep the same school and friends.
So I bought a small house in Glade Springs Crossing,
but I'm wishing now I just moved to Pulaski,
where I could have gotten three times the house
for the same price,
and it wasn't cheap,
$300,000 which was the market rate
for a town home or comparable small house
in Blacksburg back then.
I'm a teacher, so I didn't
qualify for low income housing.
You see the problem with Glade Springs
is there's just not enough room.
The houses are on top of one another.
My back yard is too steep for even a picnic table,
and my front yard is my parking place
for mine and my eldest son's car.
There's no place for the kids to play.
My eldest plays basketball and he'd love
a basketball hoop but again, no place.
My youngest swims and there's a pool right over there,
but you have to pay a lot of money to join,
which I couldn't afford even if there
wasn't a three year waiting list.
But still, this son loves water on a dare,
he went waiting in that pond over there the other
day and came back with algae up to his knee.
I told him he was not under
any circumstances to go back in that pond because I know
what's washing into it with every
rainstorm and I know what's
washing into it because I see it on the streets.
There are cars everywhere parked in front of every house,
of course, but also all along the streets
and on the grass, leaving oil slicks,
trash, some McDonald's cups,
I even saw some cigarette butts
and I know that all that's washing into
the pond along with pee and poop from
the Canadian geese and also from dogs.
You know, I heard when I
bought the house that there weren't
supposed to be Reynolds in Glade Springs,
but there are students living here anyway.
I guess the HOA doesn't care or
maybe the students- maybe one of
the students parents bought a house,
got on the HOA,
and changed the rules,
um, I'm not sure.
Most of the students are nice enough,
but some of them are loud,
and they love to have outdoor parties
especially on that little bit of grass over by the pond,
I wish there were some trees over there too.
Speaking of the pond,
my youngest just did a school project about
Tom's Creek and how messed up it's
become like stroubles creek.
He's a real nature lover and likes
to walk down to the creek and look at the fish,
but he's been learning about how
the fish are dying because of
the heat from all the houses
and all the cars and the streets.
They say they wish that people who
built the neighborhood and all the others up and down
Tom's Creek had thought
about that and thought about the environment when
making choices about how to build and how much,
he did a poster on it for school.
I have to say I kind of agree with him.
This could have been a real nice
neighborhood if someone had taken
just a little more care like they did
with the big houses on the other side of the pond,
which is by the way,
where all the playground equipment and trees are,
which doesn't seem at all fair,
that's my view across the pond,
and it makes me pretty mad that the neighborhood is
divided into the haves and the have nots that way.
I'm sure the people who built all
the- all this made a pretty penny,
especially with all the ways they could cost.
I mean, they're business people, right?
This place is only three years old
and things are breaking
but I know they had to throw up this side
of the neighborhood real fast.
Well I have to go laundry to fold,
and papers to grade.
If only someone could have talked
some sense into the people who built this neighborhood.
>> Thank you.
>> My name is Vicky Fix,
and I live at 1301 Village Way South.
I'm speaking to you today imagining I'm
a member of the HOA board for Glade Springs Crossing.
I'm one of the few persons in
our new neighborhood who is retired or
otherwise has time beyond job and family to volunteer.
Here's a list of what the board deals with.
One, manage the vegetative embankments,
entrance areas, manage turf,
existing wood lands, grassy trails,
playground areas, snow removal.
I'm sure I've forgotten something,
but you get the idea.
Two, hire someone to bush hog
the dry ponds up to four times a year.
Three, enforce rules about rentals and other covenants.
Four, manage town home landscaping
and save up money for replacing roofs, etc.
Five, determine how to
complete the list an expert has provided
about what we need to do to manage the
undisturbed, managed succession areas.
We've tried to get neighbors to
volunteer to do some of this,
but we've not been successful.
There often is not enough money in
the budget to complete everything,
so we have to raise dues,
which is not a popular idea with our homeowners.
Six, deal with homeowner complaints
about safety, parking, etc.
I'm tired and can't sleep.
The stress of it is causing my angina to flare up.
Today was the last straw, apparently,
there was a proffer stating that
areas of land disturbance that are to become
managed successional area shall
be accepted and maintained by
the association within one year after
acceptance of the Phase 2 infrastructure by the town.
We just received notice that we are now
responsible for those disturbed
managed succession lands that
the developer did not promise
to do anything about except
plant two trees per quarter acre.
Where do we find the money for making
the worst part of managed succession areas attractive?
I'm ready to resign.
>> Thank you.
>> My name is Jesse Genuac.
I live at 1407 Glade Wood Drive.
I believe that makes me the first person
not from Tom's Creek neighborhood.
Uh, my interest in
the proposed Glade Spring Crossing Development
started with concerns about traffic on Glade Road,
uh, those concerns aren't gone,
but when I attended
the public hearing by the planning commission,
I was really surprised to learn
how many concessions were being asked
for mostly at the expense of the people who
are going to live in the planned community.
Uh, other people can definitely tell you more about
the specific problems you don't have- I
don't have any information that you don't have.
Uh, I'm sure you've heard many of the things
that people are saying tonight
that people said at the planning commission.
Uh, what I want to address is how those problems
add up to a proposal that mainly benefits
the developer's bottom line at the expense of
the very people that the affordable
housing is meant to help.
Uh, I support the goals of this development.
We need more affordable housing, uh,
but we don't need affordable housing that is going to,
um, make life worse for the people who live there.
Uh, keep in mind that
the developer wants to build here, uh,
they can come up with
a plan that conforms to town codes and
safeguards our people and our waterways and,
uh, our ecosystem.
Uh, why would they want to
if we are going to let them do it the way they want to?
So, um,
I'm asking for pushback.
Uh, I don't expect
the developer to be habitat for humanity.
It's okay that they know how to make
money- that they need to make money to exist.
But what's not okay is cutting
their own costs by segregating
their low-cost housing into
a substandard neighborhood where they've cut corners
and circumvented the laws meant to
protect the people who live there.
In particular, the safety
measures about driveways from streets,
uh, cul-de-sac- lack of cul-de-sacs,
then dead ends with no turnarounds, uh,
no proper drainage, uh,
as dictated by the codes, um,
and passing on the costs of the canopy, uh,
development to the low-income residents
who will be taking on the affordable housing.
Uh, in Blacksburg we believe that there are
some things that all of our people should
have no matter how much money they make.
Things like safe streets,
reliable access to town services,
and adequate- adequate stormwater drainage and you can
tell we believe this
because we passed laws and sort- and,
uh, created codes and regulations to back that up.
Today you're being asked to walk back
Blacksburg's commitment to endorse the notion that
it's okay if some neighborhoods
don't have safe streets or
adequate drainage as long
as a house is there are affordable.
Please don't do that.
Uh, show the whole town that you will uphold
our shared commitment to protecting everyone
that lives here now and in the future. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> I prepared statement, sorry.
Uh, I'm Jared Leland.
I live at 1802 Shadow Lake Road
which is the property right
up against it where the little cutout
goes out to Shadow Lake Road,
so I might be the most impacted person here,
I should probably- bad statement.
Um, so I've lived there for 16 years.
My, uh,
youngest son turns 18 tonight,
so we've been there since he was two.
I bike on Glade Road every day in bike commuter.
My dog drinks out of Tom's Creek which is
probably not a good idea going through
Brown's Farm every day.
Um, so I'm just trying to get
an impression of this place,
you know, I- I- I spent
a lot of time- I know the property well,
we used to sled ride it all- all the time, you know,
um, and I guess
my overall impression is a bike commuter, yeah.
Things get really busy, you know.
That's probably one of
the more dangerous stretches that I bike
on coming up through there and, um,
just having spent a lot of time on the property,
it seems like a remarkably steep area to have
a lot of pavement going directly
into the headwaters of Tom's Creek.
I know there's discussions of
waste- of- of floodwater management
and such and I- I, you know,
I guess maybe the more impacted
people would be the people flooded
downstream but- but try to keep an open mind of this,
um, but the impression I
have is it seems like a steep piece of
property going right into the headwaters of
Tom's Creek to have a lot of pavement on.
I wonder if that density could be elsewhere.
That's- that's my takeaway. Thanks.
>> Thank you.
>> Deans Fader, 1301 Village Choice South.
I have been a master gardener for
16 years and a master naturalist for five years.
I grew up on a farm in
South Dakota and farmed all through high school.
For 25 years on a small acreage,
I did succession management
of several small plots and I helped
a good friend turn pastures into
a beautiful lush prairie using succession management.
With this background, I favor
managed succession in principle.
We all know that the devils in
the details and this proposal and proffers are
full of general words that give
unfettered discretion and how they are interpreted,
thus I have many reservations.
One is that without a lot of work, knowledge, and money,
I think this will become a managed mess especially given
the large area of
the managed succession and the many invasive species.
Second and very importantly it
will succeed only if the HOA
starts with soil that is not compacted and not disturbed.
Therefore, I have one recommendation,
amend the proffer to provide clear mandates
that none of the many succession areas are disturbed
at any time and in any way
except perhaps to install utility rights away.
As written, nothing prevents
the developer from disturbing the man's succession area.
In fact, the cunningly worded document
incentivizes disturbance because
the developer has a duty only to manage
undisturbed areas before conveying them to the HOA.
Thus, the more areas that they- that are disturbed,
the less management the developer
has and the disturbed land
requires only two acres per
quarter or two trees per quarter acre.
Section 4F of the proffer should be amended to one,
require that no part of
the man's succession areas be disturbed at any time by
any means whether by
inadvertent heavy equipment or removal of topsoil.
Two, require that
many su- succession areas
be roped off from the very beginning,
not six months later,
with signs to stay off and
substantial penalties for any violations.
These requirements are absolutely necessary because
young construction workers love to drive
their heavy equipment across land without obstacles.
I know because I was one.
They like- they like most people see soil as dirt,
and see no harm in driving
on grassland or any other land.
Modern science shows the massive harm done by
such ignorance and compacted soil take years,
and in my experience decades to recover.
Since the HOA will be responsible for
these many succession areas for decades,
the town must assure that every many succession area
remains undisturbed during the entire development period.
Amend the proffer to close
this massive loop- loophole and avoid
imposing a huge financial burden on
future homeowners. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you. Will- will you please sign in also?
We'd like to get your name, yeah. Thank you.
>> Good evening. My name is Mike Stein.
I live at 1225 Village Way South.
Recreation in Blacksburg is very important.
The town and the people of this town have made it
clear that being outside it's very important.
You see it in the bike paths, outdoor events,
open spaces,
and walkable family neighborhoods
that fill our amazing town.
GSE does not fit the pattern set by this town.
Kids playing, dogs walking, riding bikes,
all things that happen regularly in
Blacksburg neighborhoods and all over the US really.
For me, it's about a safe way to get there.
The sheer number of driveways with
parked cars, it's a lot.
Kids, runners, walkers,
dogs all have to navigate
too many driveways and park cars.
As a parent, I'd be very
concerned about my kids walking to the bus,
going to the playground.
There's a lot of driveways, um,
I counted up from one cul-de-sac in Street B,
all the way to the end of the street
is over 35 driveways.
It's a lot of driveways for your kid to
walk on their own to get to the park.
Why is the playground on
the North side located on the very edge?
Why not central to the bulk of the houses?
Why do they have to walk so far
to get to- why can't we put it in the middle?
Why is usable open space
so far from the bulk of the homes?
It seems it's pretty far away.
Where do homeowners store bikes,
sports equipment, and lawn equipment?
Um, where do homeowners store trash and recycling bins?
Will these be stored in driveways?
Certainly not the best option,
everybody having their's right in
the driveway right up front to see.
I would love to see
easier and safer access to the recreational areas.
From my perspective, this neighborhood could do
a better job of creating
recreational opportunities, ease of access.
This is not the right design for a town that puts
a premium on recreation. Thank you.
>> Thank you- thank you.
>> Hello.
>> Uh, my name is Chris Caldwell.
I live at 2105 Meadowbrook Drive.
Uh, first of all,
thank you all for your service to the community.
I wasn't sure I was going to get here.
Uh, I just came from the Blacksburg High
School baseball and softball game,
so beat Patrick Henry,
yeah both of them.
So uh, I'm dressed appropriately.
I don't have something
prepared but I would like to say I'm
a lifelong resident since 1968 when I was born,
with exception of a few years.
Um, I grew up in the Meadowbrook area.
Uh, I know well the drainage and floodage,
uh, flooding issues.
So coming home Friday,
7:30 PM, March 3rd,
after about two hours of
hard rain at 2801 Shadow Lake Road,
the area was underwater,
which frequently, um,
signs are set out high water,
obviously, um,
turnaround don't drown type of scenario.
Um, so in those areas,
um, water comes up fast.
Some people know that as Shadow Lake.
Uh, I know it growing up as Kelly's pond.
Kelly's owned that property,
um, at the time, and uh,
this subdivision with this extreme high density
is going to shove
a lot of water down through that valley.
It's going to worsen
the problems of the springtime floods
Tom's Creek currently gets.
Um, and uh,
I just think that this is- I'm not anti-development,
I'm not anti-affordable housing,
I just think this is the wrong location for the idea.
And it- it does not fit the existing area.
It doesn't match Westover Hills,
it doesn't match Gladewood.
It doesn't match the village at Tom's Creek.
It doesn't fit. It doesn't belong.
So that's my passionate speech.
Thank you for listening to me and I would
like for us to adhere to the comprehensive plan.
That- that side of 460 remains open and rule.
Low density. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
I emailed
this to you as well but I just wanted to,
uh, you to have the open space management
just kinda for reference.
My name is Oslin Bushy.
I live at 1222 Village Way South.
Also, recently I've
sent you a couple of emails about weapons.
I also talked about weapons safety on April 25.
And regarding stormwater in the most recent application,
I feel like nothing has really changed.
During the last work session,
the only thing discussed relevant to safety was a fence,
which wasn't liked as an idea.
So please imagine this scenario.
My name is Mary.
I live at the bottom end of
Street C in Glade Spring Crossing.
I look out of my kitchen window and see
the wet pond backing up to my yard, it's pretty close.
I have three children under 10,
they love playing outside.
The nearest wreck area,
as one of the other people has said,
is on the other side of the pond,
actually, right next to the pond.
On the handout, it reads as
B and C, those two wreck areas.
I don't have time to take the kids out right now,
but there is no way I'm letting them play in
the small backyard by themselves.
Last week, two neighbor kids from
the other side were playing
on the pond and fell through the ice.
It's been hard living right next to the pond.
I wish we had better safe options
for children's play areas.
And it's not just about the kids either.
Last year our dog contracted
heartworm disease from a mosquito bite.
We had loads of them last fall.
At least this snowy cold snap will help with that.
I'm worried though, about
the kids wanting to slide down the hill.
One of them is going to slide
right into the pond one day.
I'll just turn on the TV instead.
Do you think this is a far-fetched story?
Right now on the town website,
Glade Spring Crossing rezoning request has
at least 78 document links, just since December.
That's a lot of back and forth and issues for a project,
approximately two years in the planning.
I feel that in that time,
the town and developer could have
come up with something better,
safer, and more equitable.
Your planning commission voted against this rezoning 5-2.
I realize that this is a town-partnered project,
and the town council has the last word on
whether it moves forward but please,
I ask you to vote with common sense and
integrity when making your decision
tonight. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
>> Good evening. My name is Rosea Bushy.
I live at 1222 Village Way South.
Earlier this year, I had
the opportunity to speak with the Planning Commission,
and I left them with this message.
With the number of variances the GSC development had,
they were setting themselves
and Blacksburg up for failure.
Each variance is an opportunity for catastrophe.
Monetarily, ecologically,
safety or through loss of life.
There are more variances now than when I spoke then.
Now, perhaps I'm cynical,
perhaps I'm pessimistic, I
hope by the end of tonight I'm not realist.
But it is my opinion,
having watched and listened to the input
from the Town Planning Commission in their vote
to deny the GSC and the well-reasoned, well-informed,
and scientifically objective voices of
pertinent professionals who reside in the town,
that there is sufficient dubiousness to delay if not deny
the further- furtherance of
this development as currently proposed.
What's been more enlightening for me, however,
is the seeming willingness of
the town to continue to press
forward with this development while
adding even more variances.
I can't help but feel that
this- sorry that my own sense is that the town has
made up its collective mind
to refute its own planning commission
and not listen to the folks here tonight who have,
for months offered be- to
be the voices of your better angels.
To approve the GSC, as it stands,
is to trod upon the work of all who came before you,
who studied and let the data show
what was needed to maintain a resilient,
prosperous, and vital Blacksburg.
They chose zoning carefully and purposefully to prevent
the very miscarriage of rampant overbuild proposed here.
Do those plans of those people mean nothing?
Our zoning doesn't matter.
And to use the words of the applicant,
if you are not going to hold to
the standards set by your predecessors now then when?
I'm not a scientist or environmentalist,
expert like some of my neighbors but I
don't need to be to see that if you approve GSC,
you will have been shown to have weighed and valued
money and expediency over the environment,
the safety of your employers,
which is us and
the children who will live in a subdivision
burdened with variances,
none of which were designed
for their safety or prosperity.
If this comes to pass,
the fallout will not be expunged with a simple expedient.
You now have before you a vote.
You can choose to vote no,
to preemptively save the natural beauty and ecosystem
of Tom's Creek and other more permanent damage.
The Planning Commission understood this.
The scientific community understands this.
We, the citizens, understand it.
The GSC shortfalls, failures,
and risks far outweigh its opportunities. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Hi, everyone. My name is Gloria Schoen Holt,
and I live at 1201 Glen Cove Lane.
I'm here tonight to ask you to
vote no on this application,
because I believe that the GSC property itself
is unsuitable for all that is being asked of it.
I realize that a yes vote will allow you to check
the box on two important issues facing Blacksburg,
the need for affordable housing and the
need for a regional stormwater facility.
I understand those motivating factors
and I want to address both of them.
With regard to stormwater, as you know,
I'm a citizen who will directly
benefit from the proposed stormwater ponds.
Because my home is downstream of
town and from the GSC property,
I've experienced the impact of
stormwater flooding for years.
I do hope for a real solution,
but I'm wary in the- if
the proposed ponds being built will build along with
the- if the-if the proposed ponds were
being built along with a smaller development,
I'd have more confidence in the size
and number of ponds that are being proposed.
But it seems to me that the ponds will not be enough to
contain both the existing storm water flows and
the new flows that will come from
176 new houses and new streets.
On this issue, my neighbors and I are left worried and
vulnerable to the impacts of this new development.
Reducing the density and the number of new houses at
GSC would give us
some reassurance that we are being heard.
In terms of the proposed affordable housing,
the GSC property is
unsuitable for the impact of this high density,
low cost housing project.
Although there are technically 44 acres on the site,
only a portion of that is buildable.
And even at that, the site will
require heavy grading and infill.
The upfront infrastructure costs on a site
like this will be very expensive and
that is leading to the developer's demand to
maximize the density in order to cover his investment.
If getting 24 affordable homes and
stormwater ponds is your only concern,
then I can see that the density issue
is a-is probably mute.
But for the neighbors of
this property and for its future residents,
the density issue is the issue.
It means more cars associated with more houses.
It will mean more traffic on Glade Road,
it will mean more concrete and asphalt instead of lawns,
which will generate more stormwater
and cause more pollution.
It will mean that the residents who use so
generously propose to help with
their mortgages will be living in
attached homes in essentially a concrete jungle without
garages for their vehicles and bicycles and without
natural places for their kids
to play in their own backyards.
The demand for maximum density at
GSC is shortsighted and disturbing.
It will lower the quality of life for future residents.
Please respect their dignity by
building comfortable homes that
they will be proud to own.
Please reduce the density on this site. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. My name is Joseph Baker and I live at
1515 Poplar Ridge Circle in the village at Tom's Creek.
In 2008 when my wife
Priscilla and I moved our family to Blacksburg,
we fully understood from
discussions with our realtor that
something was eventually going to be
developed on the parcel next to our neighborhood.
And we accepted that, it's progress,
towns grow and empty spaces get filled.
Fast forward to 2015,
and some of you will remember a proposal
to build student housing on that property.
It was called the retreat.
There was a bit of a hubbub,
but thankfully sanity prevailed.
Developer withdrew their proposal
and the retreat was eventually
built at a more appropriate location on Prices Fork Road.
Fast forward again to last fall,
when I first became aware of
the Glad Springs Crossing proposal,
my first reaction was,
yeah, I always knew it was coming.
A bunch of family homes will be built
back there, could be worse.
However, over the past few weeks,
I've gradually come to and- and it literally is weeks.
I've gradually come to realize that this proposal is
an extreme deviation from
the town's long term vision of
how the site would most likely be developed.
And so here I'm before you today to
voice my profound concern
for the fatal flaws in this proposal,
but also the manner in which
the approvo-approval process has
been playing out and some people
have alluded to this already.
Back in 2015 I wrote several emails
to town council members and some of you are still
here explaining my concerns about
the retreat proposal and
asking for answers to very specific questions.
In all cases I received
thoughtful and courteous responses that reassured me that
my elected representatives on town council were
open minded and measured
in their consideration of the proposal.
I was therefore extremely disappointed
to learn recently from my neighbors
that similar efforts in over
a period of months to get answers to
extremely important questions about
the numerous flaws in
this proposal are simply being ignored.
That doesn't seem like healthy democracy to me.
It really makes me wonder what's changed,
and so I have a few questions on my own now.
Why is this proposal even being considered by
town council when it was previously
voted down by the planning commission?
Shouldn't it be sent back? What's the rush?
How appealing would this proposal be if it
didn't have an affordable housing component?
And you separate that objectively.
How much of the affordability in it is for the developer?
i.e profit versus affordability for future buyers.
Should long held codified standards pertaining to
important issues such as public safety,
quality of life, and environmental stewardship be simply
ignored to facilitate a relatively modest increase
in the affordable housing.
And finally, what is the threshold number of
requested variances that should
trigger automatic rejection of a proposal?
Because clearly it's inherently
flawed and simply bad for the town.
Before you vote, please
consider the long lasting consequences of
approving this dangerously flawed proposal. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Who we got next.
>> All my husband. I'm Priscilla Baker at
1515 Poplar Ridge Circle.
I just had a few questions,
ah, not a long statement.
I just had a few questions about
street safety as someone who's out on
the streets a lot- a lot
with young kids when I have them and now my dog.
Um, these are of concern to me.
On the South side where will emergency vehicles,
service vans, or delivery trucks park?
Will semi moving trucks block
numerous driveways when loading in and out of homes?
How will town garbage
trucks maneuver car lined streets with
no clear location to place 260 garbage cans?
Will the town be able to
plow all of these snow covered roads?
How will town police enforce
the proffered 15 mile per hour speed limit?
Is it safe for kids to ride
bikes down car lines, streets,
or play on "sidewalks" that are
simply an extension of modified driveways?
How will bikes traverse the development with
limited sidewalks and no paved trails?
And on Gla-Glade Road,
how will cyclists navigate
the street A intersection given
that the dedicated bike lane will be removed?
Those are my questions about safety. Thanks.
>> Thank you.
>> Fine. I'm at 1208 Village Way South,
I just had questions related
to parking on the South side.
Uh, when it comes to
houses that maybe have more cars than two,
you know when- when it's only allotted two parking spots,
where will the overflow parking be?
I think there's questions related
to when family comes into town,
when friends come into town,
if people want to invite people to their home,
where are they going to be parked?
Is it in front of other houses?
How far down the road will they potentially park?
So there's a lot of questions related to
what does that overflow parking
really look like. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Good evening. My name is John Dickinson and I live at
1503 Popular Ridge Circle in the village at Tom's Creek.
And I have several questions that relate to the wet pond.
Why does applicant insist the wet pond is recreational?
Why isn't pond safety a priority
within a family friendly neighborhood?
Is wet pond DEQ compliant per November 2022 design guide?
How can applicant claim
a six foot deep pond will lower water temperatures?,
but town engineers says there is no proof?
Why isn't GSC following science clearly demonstrating
a substantial tree canopy
mitigates pond and runoff temperatures?
Why are DEQ stressors not taken more seriously and yet
the bare minimum is considered good enough for
a new town Stormwater management facility?
If rezoning passes, will the town of
Blacksburg maintain their tree city status?
Thank you so much for your time.
>> Thank you.
>> Good evening. Uh, my name is Lucy Touchtone.
I live at 1213 Village Way South,
right adjacent to the new development.
And I want to start out,
um, with something positive.
I wanted to thank you for listening
to our concerns about the safety,
regarding the connection to our neighborhood,
and we really do appreciate that you listen to
our concerns and- and remove that part of the proposal.
Um, with that being said,
I think we all still have a lot of concerns and
I want to continue the list of questions.
Um, what protection is in place guaranteeing
the 24 affordable home lots are not the least desirable?
How is the saving from the removed connector at
Village Way South being reinvested back into the project?
How does the town justify approving cost saving
variances financially benefiting the developer?
How does expediting the town's review process to
15 days impact other town projects
and will town staff be able to handle
the lofty timelines and
continue to service other town projects?
As a town council member, ask yourself,
would you approve this rezoning
without the affordable housing part? Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Aicy, uh, 1221 Village Way South.
Um, the Glade Springs application states
equity inclu- inclusion are
important values in the community.
This development will provide
opportunities for all income levels
within Blacksburg to obtain
home ownership within the same development.
Furthermore, the project plans to intermingle
income qualifying homes with
market rate homes with seamless architecture,
eliminating visual barriers to equity.
Social interactions and community engagement
of diverse incomes and backgrounds will be
encouraged in development open spaces
centered between the south and
north areas of the property,
the development will increase
the affordability of living in town.
Once again, eliminating
community wide barriers to equity.
My questions are the following.
If the north and south sections are so different,
how does that qualify as intermingling?
How are social interactions and
community engagement of diverse incomes encouraged
when the bulk of the open spaces are filled
with multiple stormwater structures,
a pump station, and access road?
There are two small recreational areas shown.
They appear to be in the floodplain.
They are also both on
the larger house side of the development.
How is this equitable?
Besides the 10 affordable homes
meeting the true definition
and the 14 additional units
taken in by the community housing partners,
the remaining 152 units will all be sold at market value.
Based on similar sized homes in Blacksburg,
the smaller units will sell for over $300,000.
For comparison, 608 Rose Drive
and 1820 square foot
home with three bedrooms and two baths,
built in 1960 and for sale currently for 355,000.
How is- how is, sorry,
how is a $300,000 town home with no yard,
no guest parking, and few amenities,
going to fill a void in the housing market?
Yes, it will be the only option,
but by definition a substandard one at best.
Many of the less expensive housing
in Blacksburg is snatched up by
outer town buyers to be used as second homes or
homes for their children
while they are students in Blacksburg.
There is nothing in the proffers
that can stop this from happening.
This will become a student housing development.
Nothing in the proffers prevents
the rental of a bedroom to a roommate.
Nothing prevents the HOA from changing the rules.
The words in the application do not match reality.
Please vote no. Thank you.
>> Anybody else?
>> Good evening. My name is Mike Clapp Roth,
and I live at 1210 Village Way South.
Uh, my comments will be a little bit different,
uh, based on basically,
uh my- our experience living in
a neighborhood that may be similar to what,
uh, this development may look like when it's completed.
Uh, before we moved into the village of Tom's Creek,
uh, we lived, you know, basically,
almost a brand new, uh,
a townhouse development in Christiansburg,
um, that shares some of
the same features as- as the proposed development.
Including small lots, town homes with,
uh, interior units,
uh, limited, uh,
on street parking, and also parking on a steep slope.
I'd like to highlight how-
how some of those issues- how we dealt with
some of those issues when we lived there,
uh, and some of the impact they had on the community.
No surprise. One key issue is parking.
Particularly on street parking,
many of the units had two allowed parking spots,
uh, similar to what's being
proposed for the development.
However, more often than not,
our residents preferred to park
one car in the Rowan vehicle in the street.
Uh, so they could avoid the, uh, uh,
having to shuffle vehicles in and
out of a long linear driveway,
uh, when one of them needed to leave.
Uh, or they would prefer to park their larger vehicles,
trucks, SUVs, on the street instead of in the driveway.
And even though there was more on
street parking in that development than
there is being proposed for- for Clade, um,
parking was still an issue,
especially on nights and weekends or when,
uh, the residents had gas.
As a result, it was a challenge sometimes for
us just even back out of our driveway,
because we had large vehicles
parked on the street on either side of the driveway,
and it was, you know, a very difficult.
We had limited vision,
um, of backing out.
Add to that all the trucks,
delivery trucks, and so on and on,
on the street, and
occasionally could get quite congested.
As a result, guests sometimes had
difficulty finding a parking area nearby.
And, uh, some residents became, shall I say,
rather protective of the, uh,
street parking that was near their unit,
even though they didn't own that- the land.
Also, some of the parking
was on fairly steep slopes, uh,
as will be the case, uh,
in Glade Springs, particularly, um,
the accessory, if you will,
on street parking,
uh, because of the slope of the parking,
particularly parallel parking on
that section of road was very
difficult, particularly in bad weather.
And also, it made it difficult for
young parents to unload their kids and
strollers or for seniors to unload
groceries and- and take them up at their house.
Actually, another issue maybe a little more surprising,
was trash and recycling bins.
Uh, the HOA required the bins to be out of
sight except on pick up days.
And so then- often involved in bringing them out
from behind the units and putting them out on the street.
But when street parking was limited,
that often meant that- that
the bins had to go up at the end of the driveway,
which meant anyone entering or leaving that driveway had
to move those bins in order to get out.
[ Overlapping speakers ] So I see my time is up.
I appreciate your consideration.
>> All right. Thank you- thank you.
What is that neighborhood? I'm curious.
>> I'm sorry. >> What is that neighborhood in Christiansburg?
>> It's Clifton.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. I'm Alan Raffle.
I live at 1751 Ginger Lane, Blacksburg.
For 23 years, I have been
a member of an HOA much of that time,
much of my effort has been spent in trying
to restore our disturbed lands
to some kind of natural succession
with the environmental services
that we'd like to see from that.
So from that experience,
I can say that asking
HOA volunteers to manage
that kind of process over time would be,
to put it mildly, a big lift.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Jim Whitener, 1513 Poplar Ridge Circle.
In deference to the Mayor,
I've exercised quite a bit of my statement tonight.
If my email was abusive,
this would have been down right, incendiary.
We all know you're going to pass this.
You're quadrupling the density,
subsidizing the proposal with $2.8 million.
Disregarding federal and state guidelines
on affordable housing.
Expediting the prices to the benefit of no one but
the applicant, ignoring environmental concerns.
The list is too long
and the way that you've handled
development in the last few years,
it's, kind of, like, you've handled
the Center Street debarcle, poorly.
But I digress.
After 28 years of conducting
criminal and counter intelligence operations,
one of the first things I learned
was after a big project,
do an after action.
Lessons learned.
So in as much as you're going to pass this anyway,
let's just go to that.
And following in the footsteps of the legacy,
the Midtown project, the Farm of Blacksburg,
and the huge density increases for
all the numerous student housing projects
in the last few years,
there are lessons to be learned.
First of all, you
really need to get the Planning Commission in line.
They asked way too many questions.
They listened too well.
They asked questions of the applicant.
They granted variances, but
then they had the unmitigated gall to recommend denial.
But then it went on to
the power uh- to the uh Town council.
They need to be reindoctrinated
, the Planning Commission.
And some members of staff really
need some remedial math skills.
One of my questions was,
why aren't you- why aren't you including
utilities in the calculations?
I was told it was too difficult.
I Googled average monthly electrical bill
in Blacksburg and the first thing
that came up was $169 a month of math.
You are adding 15,000-29,000
for affordable homes by not including it.
You want to make these affordable homes,
you just don't want to make them too affordable.
And now you're turning around and essentially giving them
a hidden 400,000-$700,000,
additional subsidy by not including the utilities.
All the federal and state guidelines,
and I've sent every one of you the links to
where they are include utilities but you don't.
And it started with the RFP,
so this was the town's idea.
>> Thank you.
>> Anybody else?
>> Good evening.
I'm Amy Burton, 1005 Glade Road.
I'm going to try not to repeat
what most folks have said this evening,
um, to have the V, okay.
And the reason that this site is good for
the industrial facility that the town
needs to process Stormwater is because of the slope,
and literally the stormwater facility
doesn't belong with family housing.
And so putting the two slopes together,
that drops down into the pond to- basically
it's oil and water or electricity and gas with sparks.
It looks good, but literally it's
down to a pit that is there to process stormwater.
They don't go together in anyone's
look other than making it work for
the sake of it fits and checks the boxes.
It's very much a case of the haves and have
nots with South side, North side.
The zoning amendment to make it PRD,
which is comparable to
the RR4 density is using road design standards from R1.
I don't know how that's legal, but apparently it is.
So the standards of road development is set
for less density. It's just not.
It's not comparable with something that can be done.
So that I don't understand
the length of streets to family parking.
That's where they're supposed to have on street parking.
The construction disparity where
it's mentioned over and
over won't go through Village Way South.
All the kids live on Glade Road, up in that area.
Six years of construction trucks,
they're going to move over eight feet to where?
Barreling down the hill.
It's just- if you look at the actuality
and there's no- it's- yeah.
So it's not fair to the people who are on
fixed income to put them in a scenario which is
basically a Stormwater processing facility to go down.
And finally, with the little stories of I live here,
I'm actually a divorce teacher,
2.5 years ago, not three.
Part of my agreement was to get my house on Glade Road.
And I said, all right, I'm going to go back then to
Blacksburg, it's Tree Street.
I did graduate here in '93,
so just to literally move
in and then the
folks that are on fixed income, they're being helped.
I'm going to have to get a mortgage,
whatever loan to try to get my house not to be impacted.
It's just fairness and
equity is the best product for everyone.
Urban sprawl would be using
existing housing to help folks.
It doesn't have to be the V in the middle where
the kids can't play because the water is being processed.
But thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. It's nice to see you guys.
I'm sure y'all are
anxious for this night to
come to an end as much as we are.
So thank you for
your patience and listening and engaging.
It's very much appreciated.
If you would- my name is Tracy Sterling,
1211 Village Way South.
And if you guys would humor me for just a minute,
we're going to take a stroll down memory line.
Um, specifically, May 12,
2020 town council meeting
was considering the rezoning for the farm.
Several of you guys had
reservations and I would like to just remind you,
starting with Miss Anderson, um,
I quote, "The problem for me is location.
If the farm was developed and the land
next to it stayed zoned as is,
I might feel differently,
we should not review the farm in isolation,
but instead of look at the entire undeveloped area,
including the adjacent property."
Mr. Bush, and I quote,
"My fear is once we start the snowball rolling,
by allowing this kind of density on this side
of 460 it will be easier and
easier for us and future council to
permit more and more of that kind of development.
There are some pastoral qualities
about Tom's Creek Basin that should remain as is."
Mr. Ford, "I've never
believed that RR4 is appropriate there,
and the comp plan needs to be
updated and I was hoping that density would come down.
I agree with Michael, Susan,
and John about Tom's Creek Basin.
I don't feel that voting for this in any way lends
itself towards future projects of
higher density on that site.
I'm committed, as counsels of the past have been
committed to protecting
the housing stock in that part of town."
And I only bring this up because
I believe the farm is relevant,
and I believe that's why we're all here now,
is because of the density increase.
If we could go forward to April 6, 2021,
the Planning Commission meeting was
looking to amend the comp plan.
Town staff recommended denial and
the applicant rebuttal statement
said that they didn't want to feel
limited in only developing
this pa- this parcel by right because they would
be limited to $700,000
houses and they wanted
to be creative and have mixed income.
And that was approved.
April 13, 2021, Town Council. Same thing.
This parcel became infill
with the development of the farm,
and the applicant asked for a density increase to four.
And I quote, "We're asking for a density of four.
Not saying we will do four,
not saying we will do one,
but somewhere in that range."
Again, it was approved.
Then here we are considering
the rezoning for Glade Springs Crossing.
February 2023, Planning Commission recommended denial.
Then you lovely people have the opportunity
to make the decision based on the rezoning.
Where we are is that
this proposal does include mixed income housing,
which we all agree is needed and desired
in this- in our neighborhood and in our community.
And that's positive. The irony is,
It also includes the 44 $700,000,
bigger houses that they could have developed by right.
That's a win.
What it doesn't include is the density range of 1-4.
I'm bringing this up because
Glade Springs Crossing is driven by density,
intense density and I'm hoping that you guys will
consider at one time density
gave you guys reason to pause.
So please vote No to deny and thank you all.
>> Thank you.
>> Last but not least.
>> I don't know about that.
>> [inaudible]
>> The next way. Mayor, uh,
council members, uh,
my name's John Stemen.
I live at 2112 Reagan Road since 1998.
I'm one of the few that don't surround live here,
that have spoken, that don't
surround- surround the area directly.
I don't have that same feeling.
I would like to say since this is
an ordinance rezoning, um,
from rural residential to planned residential zoning,
it- it makes sense to me.
I- I had sent you all a letter and I really
appreciate y'all responding to me,
but, um, how else are you going to get
affordable housing than- than work on density?
To be quite honest with you and with the value of land,
and I think this land trust is a win-win situation
for the town and- and for the people
that will be moving into some of these houses.
And I know it- it rubs against the green,
I probably need to look behind me a little closer,
but, uh, I- I do- I do, uh,
appreciate the work that you all are
doing and the thought you're putting into
this and I wouldn't
want to be in your position right now,
but, uh, I really support this
myself for those reasons and thank you again.
>> I ho- I hope you, in particular,
will get one of those books because,
uh, Arlene is your neighbor.
>> Hello- hello. Here we are again.
Get the phone up here.
All set. Um,
Honorable Mayor and town council, I am Gais,
I live at 1221 Village Way South and so here we are,
at long last, after
a final evening of impassioned speeches,
it comes down to this.
We understand that you're tired of hearing the drone of
somewhat repetitious three-minute commentaries
and reading hundreds,
if not thousands of pages of citizens comments.
We appreciate the town staff, the planning commission,
and the town council's time and effort in
responding and consuming this material.
And if it makes anyone feel remotely better,
we're equally exhausted from
planning and writing these messages.
But before we collectively pat ourselves on the back,
please consider why we've made
this much effort around a simple rezoning, proposal.
Everyone here has jobs, families,
etc and while it may be surprising to some,
very few in the audience are
fundamentally interested in zoning processes.
It's because we're citizens of Blacksburg and we do
care about what happens in our town, our community,
and our neighborhoods and we're
trying to make a clear statement of what
can be done to enable
the positive development of this land.
As we said from the start,
we expect the land to be developed,
and Mr. Hopper clearly has
the ability to develop under existing by-right zoning.
We welcome affordable housing
in the town of Blacksburg and on this parcel,
we just don't believe this density fits on this site,
or there are far too many compromises required,
given the top- topography and existing watersheds.
The number of variances required,
the need to think differently about affordable zoning,
and the requirements of $2 million of
public funds for 10 affordable units.
This should clarify the obvious in
an eight unsuitability of this proposal.
If you permit this PRD,
there's no turning back.
There- there is no redo
based on some improved future plan.
The town will be stuck with the various issues,
so eloquently described by
my compatriots for several decades.
We aren't adversaries,
we're citizens and neighbors and
we want to see a development that's safe,
environmentally sensitive, and provides
needed low-cost housing above 10 units,
just like the developers.
We can reasonably disagree about what
is the best course of action for the parcel and
it seems like the town has a singular plan for
10 affordable housing units on
a clock with a $2million windfall,
and all other logic and reason about what could be
done is simply ignored and or overwritten.
Please- please don't waste
this opportunity on an ill-advised plan.
But now it's time to vote and make a decision.
We urge you to deny the application or at least return
it back to the planning commission
for further revision and review.
The transient lore of a limited number of
affordable units shouldn't modify the obvious concerns
about the proposal and make
a permanent mistake that will be
a blight on the community for decades.
I'll leave you with a quote from Alan Leopold,
"We abuse land because we regard it
as a commodity belonging to someone.
When we see land as a community to which we all belong,
we may begin to use it with love and respect."
Good luck with your deliberations
and thanks for your time and considerations.
>> Thank you.
>> Good evening. I'm Charles Shade and I
live at 401 Clairmont Drive in Blacksburg.
I am very sympathetic
with the neighbors of Glade Spring Crossing,
who are concerned about this project.
I'm facing similar changes in
my neighborhood with a large apartment complex
going up across the street.
I don't like it much and I hope that
mitigation of adverse consequences is successful.
Worried and vulnerable characterizes me
too but I also recognize that
building out within town borders is inevitable if we
want to maintain the town's growth without sprawl.
And that we really do need housing,
especially affordable housing, which this project offers.
If this project goes forward,
you who oppose it,
and I will be in the same boat hoping- hoping that
promised benefits town-wide exceed
the harm that we may perceive in front of our eyes.
I've reviewed the project's documentation and I am
persuaded there's ben- those benefits
do outweigh its downsides.
In written testimony,
I've expressed concerns about two issues,
which I only have time to mention here.
First is the natural landscaping.
The town must have
ironclad assurance, preferably an ordinance,
but the yet-to-be-created
homeowners association will meet
its obligations with a ready avenue
to compel compliance if needed.
Second, is the exception from
the 900-foot limit on cul-de-sacs.
That limit is in the code for a reason and I've not seen
a compelling argument for providing an exception.
For safety and connectedness Street Day
should have an outlet to the adjacent neighborhood.
I know that's going to get
me arrows and I'm sorry to have- have to offend you all,
but I really think that's the case.
Um, but I understand
the difficulty you're having as a council believe me,
I understand where you all are coming from.
I would feel the same way.
Thank you for hearing my testimony.
>> Thank you.
>> I think I'll get to be the last one, perhaps.
Um, much like John before me,
um, my friend, I do not live in the neighborhood.
I'm at 115 Kinloch Drive.
Um, one thing I do know is when we were talking
about as we heard issues of motivation, uh,
having been aware of the idea
and the genesis of the project,
I can assure you that the motivation is not bottom line,
the motivation has been,
continues to be something that makes the town
better- better for our- community
better for our residents.
I appreciate everything that everyone has said because
every neighborhood I've lived in
Blacksburg over three decades,
um, has ended up with the same issues.
We weren't supposed to have street parking,
people park on the street.
We weren't supposed to have people renting houses,
they rent houses, there are parties.
There are lots of things we have to deal with.
There is no perfect,
but somebody has to take a first step
and there have been other steps but
this is a good step and I
think that- that working
together and some amazing research
the- these folks have done
helps bring a lot of things to light,
but the developers are
willing as yffou are- as you have been,
to consider all that and come together
so we do something that makes the town better.
The people have been working for me for three decades.
I'm a business person here in town.
I want to live here.
I want to be able to live here,
we want the town to be inclusive, and,
uh, anything we can do to take a step forward,
uh, had- gets us in that direction.
And- and well, I said- as I said before,
there is no perfect, we'd like to wait on that.
I don't think we can wait long enough for that so I-
I believe in the developers,
I believe in the idea and the genesis of this,
and, uh,
for those reasons, I support the idea and thank
you for all of your work
and for all of your help. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello. I'm Kimberly Homer.
I live at 222 Price Street and first, let me say, uh,
I tried to get my daughter Guene
to run for town council because I think
she would be a great council person and she said,
how long would my sentence be?
So I just want to say it must be dreadful and,
um, I do appreciate your service.
Um, this particular project seems like
the only good thing about it is that it might
provide upwards of 40 affordable housing.
It's already zoned rural residential.
You could put 40 manufactured homes in there,
not cut any of the trees down,
and there would be your affordable housing.
So I'm sorry, I'm not
really buying the argument that we have to
do this because that's the only way
to create affordable housing.
I live near the old high school,
we begged them to put some kind of affordable housing,
it's a much more appropriate location,
we are on a bus line, they're recreation fields.
It's a great neighborhood.
I would love to have more people living there,
I don't object to that.
These houses are going to be
over half a million dollars a
piece and they're going to be townhouses
and it's because it needs to be affordable
for the developer and
that's what affordable seems to mean and
that makes me sad because
I think this is a wonderful town,
and I can see why people want to live here.
Again, thank you for your service.
>> Thank you. Is there anyone
else who would like to speak during
the public portion of this ordinance?
Okay. We will move on to the applicant rebuttal.
>> I think Karen needs a break,
so you get me now.
Um, I want to thank you again for
giving us this opportunity,
um, to create a quality, not substandard neighborhood.
Um, the houses on both sides are going to be the same.
The exteriors are going to be the same,
all the materials are going to be the same,
the difference is going to be size.
Um, we thought that
the neighboring community would
like that to have like by like.
And we thought we were doing a good thing by trying to
accommodate the affordable part and the workforce part
and market rate houses and- and keep
a seamless community in the physical appearance,
but the size certainly will be difference will- will
be- allow us for the affordable part.
Um, I really,
really want to thank staff.
All you guys have been super
amazing for your guidance and expertise.
It's been invaluable and it's
a better project because of everything that they've done.
So, thank them.
So you've got great people working at staff.
Um, just keep- I
can't comment on all the things
that everybody has commented on here.
That would be impossible.
But I just want to ask you to
keep the big picture in mind.
Um, we can't answer all the questions before reasoning.
We've worked for two years on this, um,
I know that- I hope you know that
we have this very deep commitment to
provide workforce housing and
allow our workforce to live in our town.
Um, density is needed because we can't, um,
we can put 42 houses and
all the infrastructure and all of that
on- on this size land and keep the houses affordable.
It's not possible.
So the density allows the affordability.
The developer is donating
all of the lots for the 42 affordable houses,
um, the 109 other market, um,
mixed-income houses would be sold below market value.
There is lots and lots going back into the development.
It isn't about profit,
some people want to understand that, but it's not.
It is very much about
trying to do something for Blacksburg,
that the town wants,
that you guys want, that we really want.
I think it'll be a benefit,
the Grey Spring community will be
a benefit to Blacksburg for many decades.
Um, if we get it passed it'll be a legacy
that all of us can be really proud
of tonight. So thank you.
>> Thank you. That is
the entirety of the- Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Um, so now we've come to action.
And if we get a motion,
then we can entertain discussion.
When does- does Michael ever come back?
>> No, Mike's at home.
>> Taken off.
>> Like that.
>> Okay.
>> I'll be home having pizza by now.
>> Yeah. Okay. I guess I need a- a motion.
What is Counsel's pleasure to do with Ordinance 2007?
>> I move approval of Ordinance 2007.
>> Second.
>> We have a motion and a second, and,
um, now we can have a discussion.
So who would like
to- who would like to debut their comments.
>> Do we have to line up at the back of the room?
>> I'll let you just stay seated.
>> Thank you. I'll go first.
I guess since I'm not seeing anybody else jumping in.
Uh, if you'll indulge me for just a minute.
I've lived in this town now for 39 years,
and two years prior to 1984 when I moved here,
I moved my mother here in 1982.
So I've had a relationship with the town for
over 40 years, um,
and a good friend of the family moved here in
the mid-'70s to become
the Dean of the Liberal Arts and Sciences,
who my mom ended up marrying in the mid of '80s.
Um, development is difficult.
It's difficult for everybody.
We like things to remain the same.
This is complex, and it's complex for
people to- to think about,
including myself, um,
and to talk about as a community.
There are a couple of things I want to respond to.
In all the email con- conversation that has been sent,
I didn't reply to every single one,
but I read every single one and I applied to quite a few.
Um, some people think that
the town has a specific agenda,
that we're in cahoots with Virginia Tech,
or that we do certain things,
you know, not open and transparent.
Um, and I- I think I know why some people think that,
but I can assure you that that is not what happens.
Let's just take Virginia Tech for one second.
Um, they're huge employer.
The president, Sands, announced he was going to
grow 5,000 students a few years ago.
He did not consult with us,
he didn't consult with our planners,
he didn't consult with the town manager,
he didn't consult with the mayor.
We just learned, just like you did,
that the Tech was going to grow 5,000 students to-
to basically a 30,000 undergraduate campus.
Also include 7,000 graduates.
And they're now growing at a 1-2% every year.
They're going to be a 40,000-person campus shortly.
Um, we're in a reactive mode to that.
We have to be because we're not part of how
Virginia Tech plans and the board of visitors
makes decisions in the top administration.
Um, we responded to that at
the time by going to the apartment complexes in town,
the big ones, and ask them to consider
redevelopment on their site to higher densities.
A lot of- a lot of the buildings, if you recall,
and I'm sure you do, were one-and-a-half,
two-story, two-and-a-half story buildings.
And um, some of them took us up on that.
Sturbridge did, for example,
at what used to be Terrace Viewed.
And I'm sure there are
others that I can't think of right now,
but the whole reason for that was
we knew students were coming,
the infrastructure was already there,
the bus lines were there,
the people were there, the shopping centers were there,
the road development and all of that was already
there as opposed to going out and redevelopment,
you know, new green area.
So I thought that was pretty forward
thinking of the town to try to do that,
especially the Town Manager's office and-
and- and the staff that- that does that.
So we've responded to
Tech's growth and all sorts
of ways that we've had to respond to that.
Um, people are here, okay.
They're already here in this town in one form or another,
they're either commuting in
or they're already living here.
I work as a licensed architect in the Commonwealth,
so I'm very aware of design, construction, development,
ah, planning,
and these are- these are- these are
vocational and aspirational interest of mine.
So I've been following these issues for some time.
For the past 20 years,
at least Virginia Tech
in the town of Blacksburg has been growing.
The region has been growing,
the county has been growing.
And my guess is that will happen,
for at least at this rate that we're going
right now for another 20 years.
So we have to respond to that.
We- it would be derelict of us to
just- to pretend like we couldn't really do that.
So some of the ways that we have
responded to the fact that not just affordable housing,
but housing in general is the number 1 issue in our town.
It wasn't always this way,
10 years ago, I don't think
most people would have said that.
A couple- couple of things happened.
Right? I live just about a half mile from
here in what's called the Old 16 Squares,
we have very modest homes and very modest yards.
It's not floor by any means and most of you know it,
there's no housing for sale.
A- a- a lady came up the last time,
we talked about this in a public- public meeting.
And she spoke and I can't remember her name,
but she put- she put
the right words together for what the phenomena is.
All the starter homes that people would
buy to be their first home, as a young couple,
like Elizabeth and I did in 1988 when I was 25 years old,
and getting ready to start architecture school at Cargo.
Um-
>> There's no opportunities there.
You can't buy a house in
this town for a small amount of money,
which we were able to do at that time.
That time is long gone and I- I feel badly about that.
I feel fortunate in some ways.
But I also have to recognize that
these issues don't stop just
because maybe you think you've
reached the way you think it should be.
The balance between the university and
the town has changed over the years.
It's changed dramatically in some ways.
I think in the last 10 to 20 years,
there's more construction going on right now in
this town and on the campus of
Virginia Tech than I've ever seen in
my 40 plus years living in town.
So what does that mean?
That means there's more money coming in.
There's more people that want to come
in for staff or for faculty.
They want to have their kids in Blacksburg Schools.
They want to live here.
Some of those folks have modest incomes.
So affordable housing has
to be something that we talk and think about.
Um, I love neighborhoods.
One of my hometowns is Louisville, Kentucky,
and it's basically a city of
really nice neighborhoods and
they're of all kinds, right?
You've got really nice big houses and big yards,
and extremely fine houses.
And you've got some houses closer to the downtown that
are on small lots - smaller houses,
one and half-two storey houses.
What we might think of as workforce housing of that time.
People learn to live with
these different types of housing types.
They raise families. They have kids.
Kids go to school, they start
businesses or whatever they do.
But you have to have the housing to
accommodate whatever the vision
is for the folks that are living there.
I serve on the Housing Advisory Board,
and so I know that that feels like to some of you perhaps
as a conflict of interest or the fact that
, who is the town.
The town is made of people,
it's made of public employees,
is made up of public servants
like I served with on this council
and those are the folks that are trying
to talk about and think about what these issues are.
That Housing Advisory Board for
the past three or four years we've been
charged with and the staff,
particularly the staff that- that mans
them is the personnel in that office.
They've been charged with helping us develop
what's known as a Housing Trust Fund and
a Land Trust and we've been able
to do that just in the last couple of years.
And this is really significant for
the town because I sit on that board.
I have to think about the issues we
had a prior project six months ago,
whenever that was, another one talked about by
Community Housing Partners and folks are going to help
us administer the Housing Trust and Land Trusts.
I voted against that project.
For me, that was a land use issue.
If you- if you follow my record,
I've been as tough probably as
anyone on housing and development issues.
I try to think about this very carefully.
I don't believe this is a substandard.
I believe that you have to have
partnerships in order to provide affordable housing.
It doesn't just happen.
Developers aren't going to do that,
particularly on their own, you know.
Who's going to do that? You have to subsidize it.
We're fortunate enough to get some of those ARPA funds,
and we're taking some of those ARPA funds and we're
investing them in the Housing Trust and the Land Trust.
Is it a drop in the bucket?
Maybe that's one way to look at it, but it's something.
And we have other drops in
the buckets that we're pursuing.
Homeownership is really important.
It's important to me still,
I may be one of the last few people that think
that that's a really important thing in a way to
build capital and to- to be in a community.
I'm thrilled that this development
is about home ownership.
I don't see any differential between larger developments,
say up on the village of Tom's Creek side,
or the smaller size houses and lots on the other side.
We took the connector out because
that's what people said they wanted.
Is that the right thing to do?
I'm not so sure anymore.
I'm not sure about that.
Because if you do something
that is maybe going to help people out,
I thought maybe they'd bring more people on board to say,
"Okay, we're in favor of this,
we can work with you on this.
We can be in favor of that."
I got maybe three or four different people telling me,
but most people have been against the project.
What is the town doing in terms of
the fact that we have to have more density?
That's the only way you solve the problems.
Jim Whitener and other folks
are complaining about the fact that
there's density in this project.
But that's the only way you're going to
be able to solve and begin to
actually make a difference in homeownership,
in affordable housing, and in building
a Land Trust and a Housing Trust.
It isn't going to happen any other way.
R 4 basically is
anachronistic type of zoning
in a town that's growing by leaps
and bounds and is going to continue to grow by leaps and
bounds for at least another 20 years.
So one thing that we've done as a town,
is we've expanded our parks.
We have parks up on Brush Mountain,
we have a heritage park.
We have a Huckleberry Trail.
We have all these different things that we're trying
to do to get people basically,
we know they're going to be denser environment,
in denser community, whether it's
downtown or in other neighborhoods.
So the park systems are things that we've
invested money in and we planned for that.
These are good things that the town is doing.
And um, with regards to perfection, it's not perfect.
These are complex issues. I understand that.
I wanted to assure you, Robyn
and everybody else that comes here,
that I have listened to, every single person.
I've read every single email
and I identify with some of these issues.
I've pledged as a council member
to support real people living in
real neighborhoods in this town
because they're the folks that make up the town.
A lot of folks I think will take
advantage of this new project
and development if it passes.
I think that both people that are already here and future
residents and neighbors that will move to
the town or could utilize the housing.
And so you know, it perfect?
It's probably not perfect.
But I agree with Dr. Harold,
we can't wait on perfection.
Uh, we can't let,
as the old saying goes,
perfect, be the enemy of the good.
I think this is a good thing.
I will be supporting it.
>> I don't think anybody wants
to follow you John right now.
>> Does that mean I can go home and watch Celtics?
>> If you must. Um, who wants to go next?
>> I'll just add, it's not only
the housing costs for buying homes.
The rental market is through the roof.
I was researching this morning that
a three bedroom apartment in Blacksburg,
the average cost is $1,800.
To have- that'd be 30% of your income.
That means you have to have a net take
home pay of $5,400 a month.
That equates to a $92,000 salary.
I don't- that blows my mind.
How many people that - blocks
out of our community that can't even
rent an apartment in our town.
So the idea that we have an opportunity to support
affordable housing and workforce
housing is- is huge for me.
I want to thank all of you all for the emails and
the meetings and coming to all of
these work sessions and public hearings and all of this,
is- it's a lot of time and you've spent
a lot of effort learning the process.
This is a much more extended process and we typically do.
I know you feel like it's rushed,
but this is honestly one of
the two longest processes that I've been involved in.
The other one being Midtown.
This is my second term since I was on in 2018.
One of the first things that we talked about was, um,
that the PRD, the Planned Residential Zone,
is a catch all.
That we really need to have a, um,
a much better, more defined
zoning ordinances so that we can
accommodate for these things.
And so I'm excited to hear
how we develop the small lot development zoning.
So many of these variances for this project would
not be an issue if we had a small lot development zone.
This is basically R 4 development,
3.9 houses per acre,
um, which is low density.
And if you look at, the- there was a map that had
yellow and that was low density in that area.
Which to me R 4 is low density.
I think that's how it's defined.
Beyond the affordable housing,
I see multiple positive.
I see major investments
in our sewer system and a new pump station,
the Stormwater Management, that will
remediate issues that go back decades.
The equitable and mixed income affordable housing.
Because of all those things and because of
everything that John went into so eloquently,
I'm supporting this project.
>> I'll just jump in.
Doing some research on affordable housing.
It's not just a Blacksburg problem,
it's a nation problem, it's a world problem.
When you do some research on it,
you find that they say clearly,
if it were easy to build better,
more equitable, low income housing,
it would have been done already.
Um, there's a lot of strategies they recommend,
and here are some of the ones that are in place here.
Building more housing, and building denser and
close proximity to existing infrastructure.
Incentivizing developers to build
more moderately priced homes.
Providing a mechanism for
financing and removing regulatory barriers.
John mentioned that R 4 Housing is an anachronism.
Minneapolis, Arlington County have
abolished all R 4 Housing.
We're not the only people who are struggling with ways to
house our people in a way that is reasonably affordable.
This is a complex development.
It's really different, and I can understand
why the neighbors are concerned about it.
Um, the only comparable
neighborhood I can think about it
is the Tom's Creek Village.
When that was developed over 20 years ago,
it was unlike any housing form,
the cluster housing form didn't
exist and it was controversial.
The town even had to develop
a novel sewer system
to accommodate its development. And you know what?
I think it was a really successful
neighborhood and I'm really
glad that previous town councils voted in favor of it,
and I'm hoping that we have the same kind success here.
So I'm also planning on voting yes tonight.
>> We're down to three. I'll- I'll go ahead.
Um, as people up here have said,
and as the audience has said tonight,
we are all knowing that we're in
desperate need of affordable housing.
We're in desperate need of senior housing,
workforce housing, non-student housing.
We all know that and- and again,
John did a- a great job of talking about that.
And so that's what we're working on here tonight.
I have to say, I appreciate,
I know somebody kind of poked fun at
all the emails and all the time reading or whatever,
but I really appreciate everybody's input.
It shows our community
cares and it shows that whether or not,
uh, people agree with how this vote turns out
tonight that we care about our community.
And I hope everybody keeps
actively involved in the community.
This is a hard decision.
There are a lot of moving parts to it.
We've worked as a town with, um, non-profits.
We've worked with community housing partners
to field a- to build affordable housing,
we've worked with Habitat for
Humanity to build affordable housing.
And I think people have a tendency to
trust non-profits a little more, right?
They're not out to make money.
Um, this is the first time we've worked with
a for-profit group and so it's messier,
you know, it's new to us.
Our staff has spent a long time working, um,
their staff has spent a long time working on this,
trying to find common ground,
what can work, what can't,
what's affordable, what's not.
Where do- where can you cut corners?
Does this need a variance?
Are things still safe?
I mean there are all those kinds of things.
And again, it's messy because this
is the first time I think we've done it.
In the future, it might feel a
little easier but right now,
I think for all of us,
it's been complex and it's been confusing.
Um, what we're gonna do about this,
well, smaller lots is helpful.
People have been talking about smaller lots,
means smaller homes,
means more affordable homes.
And affordability in our town
is something that- that we are desperate for.
We want people who want to
live here to be able to live here.
I think this concept of
mixed housing is incredibly wonderful.
We have people who are gonna, uh,
be able to have bigger homes,
we're gonna have workforce homes.
If we all vote for this tonight,
we're going to have affordable homes.
Some people have said only 10 affordable homes and I
hope people realize that-
that that's just not true at all.
We've got 10 at a certain LMI level, right?
Up to 80%, 10 more,
up to 100%,
four more, 120 LMI.
And that's just what we're calling affordable.
The other homes in that side,
the South side,
um, of the tracks you might say, right?
The South side of the wet pond, um,
are also gonna be more
affordable than most homes in Blacksburg,
and that says a lot for people to be
able to- to live here, you know.
Somebody mentioned $300,000,
that's incredible to me for starting out.
My home cost $93,500
when we bought it in 1990 on Preston Avenue.
You know, that- that's a thing of the past,
we want people like me, young- young couples,
to be able to live here and right now,
they can't they- like you were saying,
they can't even afford to rent here, many of them.
So this is an important project and-
and it comes with some risk, right?
And it comes with
a little bit of hope and a whole lot of planning.
But I think the planning's good.
And, um,
I think I agree with something
somebody said over that way.
Is it the best proposal that
could possibly happen on that property?
I certainly think not.
But is it a proposal that people
could have a positive living experience there,
look out on their patio,
or- or sit on their picnic table?
Maybe it'll have a little bit of
lean because the slope's steep,
but you can prop that table up
but sit on your- at your picnic table
and sip your Shirley Temple and enjoy the sunset,
and be happy that you're a homeowner and you're
close to Kroger, the post office.
Um, I think that it is walkable.
I walk a lot around town and I'm 65 years old.
Um, I think it is
a walkable community and
I think it's walkable to services,
and retail, and restaurants.
I think people who choose to buy there,
will know that and will know the slopes are steep,
and know where the playgrounds are and if
it's affordable for them and if they like that situation,
I think they could be really,
really happy there and so I'm gonna vote for it.
>>Thank you.
>> It's me? >> Well, you- you can go or I can go, either one.
>> As most of you know, I serve
on the Planning Commission.
So this has been a long extended process at both levels.
Um, and um, as most of the citizens out here know, um,
we've walked the walk together since we
went through it with the Planning Commission and now.
And um, I do want to thank everyone for
their positive and respectful engagement in the process.
And dare I say, your grit and your stick-to-itiveness,
that you've- you've been involved this
entire time, it's- it's admirable.
The proposal has many pros and
cons as my colleagues have stated,
and um, and that makes
these decisions difficult, you know.
Uh, as I stated at the Planning Commission, um,
some of the- one of the primary positives to me is
the fact that- that
the applicant went through the comprehensive plan,
future land use amendment process several years ago,
um, to- to talk
about the future density of this- this lot.
Um, and that's- that's important to me
because that- that creates an initial community,
uh, conversation about the future of the parcel.
Um, we rarely get that, um,
time is of the essence for
most development proposals and
they don't have the time to do that.
And so for me, it's really important
because that allows the community
to have- have an initial engagement and involvement.
And then of course, now we're going
through this rezoning part,
um, and that- that you know that continues
that process, uh, together.
My colleagues, the affordable housing is nice for me.
Also, I believe these, um,
just work for smaller homes and smaller lots,
everything we've talked about is- is
a great step towards the future.
Um, some of you know,
I recently concluded a 31-plus-year career
in environmental protection and enforcement.
Um, I don't normally call that out in public,
but, um,
I do pay extra attention to
the environmental impacts of
development and- and the conversations around that.
Um, this is- this is
the first proposal in my memory that-
that will actually treat
the stormwater generated by- by the,
uh, construction 100% onsite.
Um, and what that means is it'll deal with
the volume and velocity of
what's created as- because of the development,
but it'll also deal with the quality or
the pollutants that are generated from the development.
Um, we don't see that, um,
this is a rule and a law
that- that's really a state law,
that- that the locality,
the town of Blacksburg, gets to, uh, implement.
Um, and the state law allows people to, you know,
obviously do it at 100% but
it also allows them to buy credits, um,
where they will, um,
more or less not be able to do quite- quite the best
possible in one place
but they'll conserve something somewhere else.
And my colleagues in- in multiple other re-zonings have
talked about how we would really prefer to
see 100% treatment here.
Um and- so I think that's- that's huge.
But actually, it's not 100% treatment,
it's more than 100% because we
have a legacy stormwater issue,
um, that's occurring, um, downstream.
The volume, uh,
of the water when we have these storms and
with- with what appears to be climate change,
uh, we're gonna have more of that.
And so it's important to me
that- that- that not just- not
just that it deals with what
would be generated from this new development,
but it's gonna really help us deal with
these legacy issues from development that occurred 30,
40, 50 years ago when we really didn't
have any regulations to
deal with stormwater of substance.
The initial number of variances and
modifications concern me,
um, but I do think the revised proposal um,
you know, is- is
a better proposal and I think it's a better proposal,
not just because of the input that- that we have pushed.
I think it's better proposal because of
everything we've received from the, uh, public.
Um, I always think it's my job
to try to voice your concerns,
um, and I think all of us do.
And I think we have pushed hard,
um, to try to get answers and improvements where we can.
Um, at the end of the day,
I don't think these variances and modifications will
impact the character of
this neighborhood or the livability of this neighborhood.
Um, and finally,
I- the primary reason I did not support this at-
at- at Planning Commission was the connectivity road.
Um, on a flat piece of paper, it made sense,
um, real-world application, not so much.
Um, the impact it would have to the neighborhood,
uh, I believe is substantial.
And I'm glad that we
do not have that full vehicular connection,
but we still have a connection to honor
the comprehensive plan as far as walkability,
biking, and emergency access.
With that being removed,
I'm comfortable supporting this rezoning.
>> Okay. Well, I don't have
the eloquence of any one of my colleagues.
So I have some comments and I will go through
them and then I'll move to action.
Um, it is the human condition to resist change.
All of us have a tendency towards it,
what researchers call status quo bias.
And so when presented with change,
we experience it as loss,
whether the circumstances weren't that or not.
The Glade Spring Crossing proposal, for example,
looks like it will improve flooding and add
stormwater facilities and increase sewer capacity.
It would also add three kinds of
much needed housing within walking distance of campus.
Town Council members are not
immune to the feelings of sadness,
excitement, agitation,
and anger that our neighbors
and friends are experiencing.
At the same time, it is our obligation to evaluate
each development proposal that comes before
us with respect and curiosity.
Many people have noted that traffic is getting worse.
They want to know why we keep
letting people move into town,
and they're not wrong about traffic,
but keeping others out is not an option legally,
nor would it improve traffic.
The county approved 600 homes in
two large subdivisions on Prices Fork Road,
and those residents are not walking to work.
Seventy percent of the people who work in Blacksburg live
outside of town and they commute in to,
uh, work at Virginia Tech,
the region's largest employer.
That's 17,000 trips a day.
So making room for them within
town borders is not only the enlightened thing to do,
but it's the self-interest in remedy.
When taxpaying citizens live within town limits,
we can contemplate more investment in public transit,
bike and pedestrian facilities, roads, and recreation.
>> Here's another change taking place.
University and community college enrollment
is waning across the country.
Nearly every trend is working
against higher education in this moment.
The day may come when Virginia Tech
doesn't exercise the influence that it does now.
Climate change, however, will almost certainly
drive many more people to southwest Virginia,
where we have plentiful clean water
at the top of a watershed,
mild seasons, and- and we are safe from sea level rise.
There are solar farms in our future too.
Virginia is a top ranking state
for solar energy generation
and there's been a solar farm proposal in
the eastern part of our own county.
Many of our businesses are also enjoying notable success,
including Torque, Modia,
The 1901 Group, Inorganic Ventures,
Qualtrax, Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc, and Wing.
We will not prosper if we do not
aspire to being more than
overflow parking and faculty housing.
We must actively prepare for
families of all descriptions,
young professionals, mid career workers,
and we will benefit as well
by making room for senior housing.
Here's my broader point.
We can't hold growth by just saying no.
Most of the Tom's Creek basin is privately owned
and ownership confers certain by right land uses.
What we can do is to make
strategic choices about where we can
accommodate growth and how to preserve
the things we value most about Blacksburg.
Accommodating growth in this location will
partially address our town's need for housing,
which was well documented in the housing chapter of
the town's recently updated comprehensive plan
and town staff's January 13,
2023 report that reviewed
Glade Spring Crossing affordable housing plan.
The comprehensive plan states that as an area of
opportunity and an employment center for the region,
Blacksburg has a responsibility to
provide its share of affordable housing.
The comprehensive plan also recognizes that
the town cannot meet this housing need alone.
Coordination with other entities in
the manner Glade Spring Crossing proposes here,
and with the help of the new River Land Trust is
necessary to realize these aspirations.
Developments like this help persons who
work in the town to live in the town,
and housing that is not oriented to
students is a much needed use in the town.
Glade Spring Crossing has proffered
meaningful rental restrictions to
keep the development owner occupied.
There are bicycle and pedestrian connectivity features
as well as structures and
infrastructure that honor the rural character
of the Thomas Creek Basin in this location.
If approved, the proposed
Glade Spring Crossing development through
the regional stormwater facility
will be a vehicle to address
long running flooding problems in the Thomas Creek Basin,
as you call them legacy, storm water problems.
It will maintain a significant amount of open space.
It is consistent with the recent
comprehensive plan amendment for this property,
and the site is adjacent to existing utilities.
In contrast, by right development
could realistically cover the entire basin with
single family homes without
interruption that spoil the water,
the soil, and the views.
One way or another, Blacksburg
will not stay the way it is now.
Glade Spring Crossing as proposed,
is an example of what the alternative could look like.
A friend of mine, someone who grew
up in town, once equipped,
Blacksburg is not like it used to be, it never was.
So in summary, council has heard
much about the number of variances in this proposal.
It is the council's responsibility to
assess the project through a much broader lens.
The point of a planned
residential proposal like this one,
is that we are being invited to contemplate a new set of
standards to build a neighborhood
of a particular character.
This proposal is not like any others we have reviewed.
It is a vision for something we haven't seen since
the 1970s when Heath Wood was proposed.
At that time, a quarter of the town's land mass was
developed into mixed income housing
with recreational facilities,
and amenities like retail and office space.
It was bleeding edge progressive for the time,
and it's still an asset to this community 50 years later.
Similarly, the Spring Valley Proposal
was approved in 1995.
Not without controversy as
a planned residential development just like this one.
And that was at the same time that
town staff were contemplating
changes to our zoning ordinance.
A new RR-1 zoning type was not
adopted until a year after that subdivision was approved.
And Spring Valley was ultimately built out as
the village that Tom's Creek on a former golf course.
And if residents now find it a desirable neighborhood,
it was because town council
was willing to consider new ideas,
multi use zoning, higher density,
and a mix of housing types with accessible public spaces.
For all of these reasons,
I find that this proposed re zoning is supported by
the comprehensive plan and that
the rezoning will benefit the entire community,
which is why I will also vote for Ordinance 2007.
So we have a motion in a second.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
>> Smith?
>> Aye.
>> Mattingly?
>> Aye.
>> Anderson?
>> Aye.
>> Bush?
>> Aye.
>> Colliver.
>> Aye.
>> Ford.
>> Aye.
>> There's more but wait, there's more.
Um, now in related actions,
the Glade Spring Crossing development agreement.
>> Attorney Larry Spencer has
a staff report on that item.
>> Please take books as you wish.
Uh, there's a box of them on a table
outside and you are very welcome to have them.
>> Already in the way.
>> Well I'll have some brief uh,
remarks or- or really just a summary of this.
Um, so the proposed development
agreement between the town and
Glade Spring Crossing LLC will provide $2 million in
American Recovery Act funds to fund- to partially fund
24 affordable homes in
the Glade Spring Development-Crossing Development.
The fundamentals of this agreement have been discussed in
previous work sessions and
counsel walked through this- the details of
the text of the agreement on May 2nd.
Key point, the first 10 homes must be built by
December 31st, 2026.
In the agreement, the town has agreed to expedite
its development review process
to help meet that deadline.
Um, it also has provisions that determine what
the maximum selling price of
the affordable homes will be through a formula.
The development involves the New River Home Trust,
which will own the lots in which
the affordable house- homes will be built.
The Home Trust will also have a role in
marketing the affordable units,
so it's an important partner.
And finally the development agreement
has protections in case
the deadline cannot be met
or other contractual issues that arise.
And that's all I have. So your motion would be
is- if you would be is there a motion to
approve the development agreement and
authorize the town manager
to sign the development agreement?
>> Is there?
>> I move that we, um,
approve the development agreement and
authorize the town manager to sign the agreement.
>> Second.
>> Okay. We have a motion and a second.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
>> Smith.
>> Aye.
>> Anderson.
>> Aye.
>> Bush. >> Aye.
>> Colliver.
>> Aye.
>> Sutphin.
>> Aye.
>> Moving on to citizen comments.
Are there any remaining?
Seeing none, we have an appointment to make,
two appointments to make.
We will reappoint
Deputy Town Manager Christopher Lawrence
to the onward new River Valley Executive Committee.
And also reappoint town manager Mark Neil to
the New River Valley Regional Water Authority.
What is counsel's pleasure
to do with these two appointments?
>> I move that reappoint deputy Town manager
Christopher Lawrence to
the onward New River Valley Executive Committee.
And also that we reappoint
Town Manager Mark Neil to
the New River Valley Regional Water Authority.
>> Second.
>> And we have a motion in a second.
Will the clerk please call the roll.
>> Anderson?
>> Aye.
>> Bush?
>> Aye.
>> Collliver?
>> Aye.
>> Ford.
>> Aye.
>> Anderson.
>> Aye. >> Mattingly.
>> Aye.
>> Unfinished business? We have none.
New business? None. Um, council announcements.
And then we have two or three things here.
>> No, not you.
>> I have counsel announcements,
and I have a slide in theory. Yes, here we go.
Um, I have a resolution,
and I kind of hate to read it since
we are three hour long meeting, um,
whereas the Blacksburg community members have
expressed strong support for expansion of bicycle
and pedestrian infrastructure and amenities, etc.
>> Is that what it says?
>> No, it doesn't, but you'll thank me in a few minutes.
For the past 67 years,
the month of May has been declared and recognized,
this national bike month.
And this year, Blacksburg is doing
a expanded bike week
for the 19th to the 26th called Bikes Burg.
And there's all kind of fun things going on
including a bike parade down Main Street at 10.
Bike bus you can see,
you can get more information at the town webpage.
So take the bike to work challenge.
Do some bike yoga,
and by all means, come on downtown and enjoy the fun.
>> And I'll just add to that,
we are this evening
also not reading two other proclamations,
and one of them is to name, um,
May 21-27 the emergency medical services week.
And also to recognize
the Blacksburg Rotary Club, that actually,
it's the Christiansburg Blacksburg Rotary Club,
which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
So that's great.
>> That's pretty impressive. And if
we have nothing else, we are adjourned.