Preddy Creek rezoning request deferred

Faced with neighborhood opposition and concerns by Greene County’s Planning Commission, the Jefferson Area Board of Aging (JABA) deferred a request to rezone 16 acres of land on Preddy Creek Road in Ruckersville. Rezoning would make way for up to 225 housing units for low-to-moderate-income seniors. 
“There is a need for (this),“ Chris Murray, JABA’s director of business development, told planning commission members. “The need exists now, and it will get even worse as the baby boom generation begins to retire.“
But both nearby residents and commission members questioned whether Preddy Creek Road was the right spot for such an undertaking.  They cited concerns over traffic and safety.
“The need is not a debate,“ said Preddy Creek resident David Mercer. “What is of debate is the location.“
Mercer, along with several of his neighbors, spoke during a public hearing at the November 19 Planning Commission meeting.  They said the proposed project would bring additional traffic on what most described as an already dangerous road.
Planning commission member Bill Martin shared doubts about the location as well.
“This concept of 225 units of senior housing seems like it’s being shoehorned into the community,“ said Martin. “The concept is great, the location is poor, and the plan is far from fully evolved.“
  Planning commission member Jim Frydl, after remarking that he had visited the proposed site, called for an impact study.
“In my mind, we need more critical details in order to make a decision,“ he said.  “We are looking at a very large increase in density.“
  Murray acknowledged the need for more information and the potential impact to the community. “Our goal tonight was to get a sense of the commission,“ he said. The planners will take up the matter at its next meeting, December 17 where an impact analysis and a list of proffers will be submitted by the applicant.
If approved, the request would rezone land belonging to Mark and Christian Seale of Preddy Creek Road (the Old Harlow Farm) from “R1, Residential” to “SR, Senior Residential.“ 
The current zoning allows for 4.4 units per acre. The proposed SR zoning would bump that to 25 units per acre. JABA’s original request was revised from a density of 125 units to 225 units. JABA’s request for 225 units averages roughly 14.1 units per acre.
  “We could go for 400 units, but are going to proffer about half that, or 225 units,“ Murray commented, pointing out that this could make JABA’s senior housing plan a better option than a project of maximum allowable density.
  “The by-right alternatives for the property would be at least 39 houses,“ said Murray at the meeting. “And those homes would bring in less tax revenue and cost more for the county, due to a greater impact on schools.“ (Seniors are less likely to have school-aged children.)
  Zoning Administrator Bart Svoboda said that the proposed site is within the county’s growth area.
JABA’s plan would bring a mix of income-qualified housing (Phase I), market-rate housing (Phase II); and independent-living apartments (Phase III), said Murray. It also would be open to people with disabilities, regardless of age.
The project would include community gardens and bus stops, plus walking trails along Harlowedge Lane, said Murray. 
Murray is hoping to obtain the necessary nod from the county’s Board of Supervisors at its meeting January 13.  If not, approval of tax credits to help finance the project could be jeopardized, he says.
Applying and receiving low-income housing tax credits is a “very complex process, Murray told county planners. “"We face a February application deadline, and it is very competitive,“ he adds.
  Created in 1986, the tax-credit program has been a significant force in the development of affordable housing in the US, helping to finance the construction of a number of below-market rate apartments for income-restricted residents. Nonprofit developers like JABA are able to sell the credits to syndicates who in turn sell the credits to investors.
The aim is to “leverage JABA’s non-profit status to attract tax credit equity that will help fund housing for moderate income seniors,“ JABA stated in its rezoning application.
And at Wednesday’s meeting, Murray said his vision is “workforce housing for seniors” and to “put housing within walking distance of jobs” that would help supplement modest retirement incomes, “thereby creating de-facto affordability.“
  “The intention is to negotiate with businesses in Ruckersville like Lowes and Wal-Mart to provide transportation to these jobs,“ added Murray.
Locally, the Preddy Creek plan is not the only housing project JABA hopes to develop.
  JABA has approached the town of Stanardsville about a “community -redevelopment” project that would bring senior housing there. 
  As for the Ruckersville plan, JABA met with neighbors back on October 29.
Traffic nightmares and other issues were still on the minds of many who spoke at Wednesday’s public hearing.
  Diane Boland, who lives directly across from the proposed entrance, said: “We’ve had numerous accidents (on Preddy Creek),“ she said.  “You can hardly go to your mailbox… people just don’t slow down… Preddy Creek Road cannot sustain anymore traffic.“
Greene County Sheriff’s Major Randy Snead was asked in an interview this week whether Preddy Creek Road experiences a significantly larger number of accidents compared to other roads in the county. Snead said Preddy Creek Road is “no more abnormal than any other road way.“
“You’re obviously going to have vehicles in access of the speed limit,“ Snead said. “We do our best to patrol and be proactive in that area under question. We do extra enforcement there as well as other areas (routinely), but it still occurs.“
  John Kidd, who lives about 150 feet away from the proposed entrance to the development, expressed worries over the plan’s effect on his neighborhood. 
“I’m concerned about what this could turn into, versus what is proposed to us,“ he told planning commission members. 
Vice-chair Norm Slezak—filling in for planning commission Chairman Davis Lamb, who was absent due to sickness - voiced a similar concern at one point: “Rezoning is a critical thing, and we have to say to ourselves, ‘what do we have in writing?‘“
Public sewer and water is one of the requirements to rezone the area. Murray said developers hoped to, if possible, tap into sewer at the proposed Rapidan Center development nearby.
But several Preddy Creek residents expressed skepticism over that notion. 
“A lot of this seems to be hinged on the Rapidan Center,“ said Autumn Oaks resident Terry Lilly, commenting on JABA’s plan. “I wouldn’t be hitching my wagon to that. I’ve been looking at that empty field for years now.“
Reached this week, Steve Jones of Fried Companies admitted that the Rapidan Center developers don’t know when folks can expect any visible signs of change there.
“We’ve got a lot of lookers, but we are not involved in any active negotiations at this time,“ said Jones in a phone interview.  “We’re talking to a lot of people, but with the economy the way it is, retailers are putting things off until they see what’s going to happen.“
As for JABA’s vision, no traffic study is required for this project since the senior housing development would generate an estimated 835 trips per day, which is 16.5 percent fewer than the 1,000 trips required to generate a traffic study. Also the number of trips estimated is 85.5 percent fewer trips than required for a study.
But planning commission member Anthony Herring said the issue should be addressed.
“Although (seniors living there) might not be driving out, there’ll be visitors or delivery persons coming in,“ he said. 
Some also criticized a plan to build an access road at the owner’s lot on Preddy Creek.
John and Kelly Kidd fear an “increased potential for accidents to occur as a result of the new road.“
Neighbor Marnie Deaton agreed.
  “To think you’re going to tear down a house… and have seniors walking there is insane,“ said Deaton. “Preddy Creek Road is already pretty dangerous.“
But in an interview this week, Snead said that most of the major accidents that have occurred on Preddy Creek Road have occurred “beyond where they are planning their senior living location…beyond or near Country Meadows Subdivision and to where the creek is in the bottom.“
  He added: “As long as the vision and obscured entryways are tackled appropriately by VDOT in the construction plan phase, there’s nothing that would indicate to us that this would cause any more undue problems, other than increased volume of traffic, which could ultimately lead to future issues.“