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Topic
Description:
CPAM06-LE-005: Tharpe/Marsh Road Commercial – Applicant
Wishes to Obtain a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to Add
Approximately 12.9 Acres to the Bealeton Service District
with the Planned Designation of Commercial Office. The
Planning Commission Recommended a Designation of Commercial
Office/Mixed Use and a Text Amendment to the Comprehensive
Plan Requiring a Visual Hard Edge Between the Bealeton
Service District and Village of Liberty.
The
applicant is seeking to add approximately 13 acres to the
Bealeton Service District of the Fauquier County
Comprehensive Plan. The applicant is also requesting the
Commercial Office designation for the 13 acres in
conjunction with a companion rezoning of the property for
mixed use (REZN08-LE-005). In light of the Board of
Supervisors’ recently adopted amendment to the Comprehensive
Plan, Bealeton Service District, there is no longer an
Office Commercial designation; therefore, a designation of
Commercial Office/Mixed Use would be more appropriate.
At this
time, the applicant’s companion rezoning application,
Colonial Crossing, (REZN08-LE-005) is being revised to
comply with the new Mixed Use – Bealeton District.
Location,
Zoning and Current Land Use:
The
properties are located adjacent to the Bealeton Service
District, east of Route 17 (Marsh Road), at its intersection
with Route 837 (Old Marsh Road), north of Liberty High
School. The parcels are currently zoned Rural Agricultural
and Residential (R-4) and appear to be used for residential
purposes.
Surrounding Zoning and Current Land Use:
The
neighboring properties to the north are located in the
Village of Liberty and zoned as such (Village). Property to
the south is zoned Rural Agricultural (RA) and property to
the east was recently rezoned from Rural Agricultural (RA)
to Residential (R-4). Property to the west was rezoned
Planned Residential Development (PRD) with the Freedom Place
rezoning. Mixtures of residential and agricultural uses are
located in the vicinity of the parcels, with Liberty High
School to the south.
Site
History:
Two of the
three parcels (6899-19-6609-000 and a portion of
6899-29-1470-000) that are the subject of this Comprehensive
Plan Amendment were once included in the Bealeton Service
District; however, they were removed by the Board of
Supervisors on November 18, 2002. On June 21, 2004, the
Board passed a resolution to add Mr. Tharpe’s large
adjoining parcel back into the Bealeton Service District,
but the two previously mentioned parcels were not included.
Now the applicant would like all three parcels that are
currently located outside of the Service District to be
included in the Bealeton Service District, as they are part
of the applicant’s mixed-use proposal. (Please note that
parcel identification numbers have changed over time due to
boundary line adjustments.)
This
Comprehensive Plan Amendment was originally filed in 2006
and was associated with a commercial rezoning. That
commercial rezoning (REZN07-LE-009) is no longer being
pursued. The applicant is now pursuing the mixed use
rezoning submitted on December 20, 2007 (REZN08-LE-005).
This rezoning application has changed considerably since it
was first submitted and is being finalized to conform to the
recently adopted Mixed Use - Bealeton District.
Comprehensive Plan/Land Use:
As
previously stated, these three parcels containing
approximately 13 acres are not currently included in the
Bealeton Service District. The burgundy area shown on the
map below, which is adjacent to the site, is designated for
Commercial Office/Mixed Use (1). The yellow area (6)
represents low density residential, lime green area (7) is
designated as medium density residential, and the blue area
(12) represents the school.
On November
13, 2008, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors adopted
an amendment to the Fauquier County Comprehensive Plan -
Chapter 6, Service Districts, to the Bealeton portion of the
Bealeton, Opal and Remington Service District. This County
sponsored amendment re-designates the adjoining area to the
south and east from Commercial Office to Commercial
Office/Mixed Use, and, calls for a traditional form of
development in this area (Area #1). The wider application
of mixed-use urban planning concepts is encouraged in Area
#1, which is specifically targeted for mixed-use
development. Any proposal for mixed-use development in Area
#1 will need to maintain a strong commercial presence. This
land use category should emerge as a traditional development
with a dominant presence of commercial uses, both office and
retail. Residential uses within Area #1 should include a
combination of residential units over commercial uses,
live-work units, townhouses or multi-family units, with
small lot single homes at the outer edges.
For
commercially based mixed-use areas, design principles are
critical and are outlined in the newly revised Bealeton
Comprehensive Plan. These design principles include but are
not limited to the following: pedestrian orientation,
predominantly multi-story buildings, parking behind the
principle structures, buildings and building entrances
placed directly behind the sidewalks, mix of uses within
buildings, approximately scaled window and door openings on
the first floor, street furniture, etc. These design
principles will apply to the approximately 13 acres if added
to the Service District and designated Commercial
Office/Mixed Use.
The Bealeton
Plan has long called for a Town Center, surrounded by a
“well-defined edge of parks and natural area.” The subject
properties of this Plan Amendment are bounded by the Service
District to the south, east, and west. The Bealeton Plan
calls for a collector road north of the subject properties.
If approved, this Comprehensive Plan Amendment would make
the collector road the new boundary to the Service District
in this area.
In order to
further a hard edge boundary between the Bealeton Service
District and the Village of Liberty, the Planning Commission
recommended that the 50-foot wide strip of the property
identified by PIN #6899-29-5691, extending from the main
portion of the subject property to old Marsh Road (and
totaling approximately 0.6 acres) be removed from the
Bealeton Service District, and that language be added as the
last paragraph to the text of the Bealeton Service District
Plan, under #3 Land Use Plan, a. Overall Layout, as follows:
“With the location of any development on the east side of
Route 17, north of Liberty High School, a visual hard edge
between the Bealeton Service District and the Village of
Liberty is required. The 50-foot side strip located one
parcel north of the Service District boundary should be
designated (and zoned) as Village and used only for local
road, open space or other use consistent with the Village
designation. The existing stand of mature evergreens along
the Route 17 frontage near the Service District Boundary
should be retained to the extent possible or, if removed
similar landscaping should be planted to retain a green
buffer between the edge of the Service District and the
Village of Liberty.”
The County
has a long-standing policy of retaining service district
hard edges for the purpose of growth management and
maintaining a definite boundary between urban and rural
areas. (See zoning map for the location of the Village of
Liberty.) If approved, the Comprehensive Plan text
amendment recommended above would lead to the rezoning of
the 50-foot strip referenced above as part of the Tharpe
Mixed Use rezoning application. In addition, it would
require a green buffer between the edge of the Service
District and the Village of Liberty as part of any rezoning.
Planning Commission Recommendation
Public Utilities:
The Bealeton, Opal and Remington Service Districts are all
served by the Remington Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
Bealeton is planned for 2 million square feet of business,
retail, office and industry plus residential units. Opal is
primarily zoned and planned for business, while Remington is
planned for mixed use and residential. If fully built-out,
the land already planned for these utilities in the three
service districts would consume approximately 2,276,000
gallons per day (gpd) of sewer and over 2.0 million gallons
per day (mgpd) for water. The table below estimates the
demand for public utilities.
Business Development Strategies Report (March 2, 2007)
The Business Development Strategies Report (March 2,
2007) documents the limited availability of sewer. The
Remington WWTP is not yet fully operational to its maximum
permitted capacity of 2.5 million gallons per day (mgpd).
Rather than expand the treatment facility to treat 2.5 mgpd,
the Board of Supervisors asked the WSA to make mandatory
upgrades to the WWTP by 2010 for an anticipated total
treatment capacity of between 1.8 and 2.0 mgpd. All
upgrades to the plant must be fully operational by the year
2010, or else its capacity for sewage treatments is
essentially limited to 1.4 mgpd (more specifically, the
nutrient levels will be capped at existing levels on
12/31/10).
In addition to Bealeton, Opal and Remington requiring public
sewer service from the Remington WWTP, the Village Service
District of Midland might also be a contender for this
public utility. Midland is heavily zoned and planned for
industry and has an operational airport that could expand
one day. It is estimated that Midland could require at
least 100,000 gpd. One option outlined in the Draft Midland
Plan (2008) is to run sewer lines from the Remington WWTP to
Midland. Should the Board decide to extend the sewer lines
further to Catlett and Calverton, even more sewer capacity
from the Remington WWTP would be used elsewhere.
Using the Business Development Strategies Report
estimates, the portion of the Tharpe property already in the
service district would use approximately 73,500 gpd (37,500
gpd for 25 acres of commercial and 36,000 gpd for 60 acres
of residential at 2 units per acre). This is based on the
existing land use designations of Commercial Office and Low
Density Residential: 1-3 units per acre. While this is a
Comprehensive Plan Amendment not a rezoning, rough
assumptions can be made about the sewer demand for the
proposed 13 acre increase to the Service District. 13 acres
of mixed use core would generate approximately 31,200 gpd
(19,500 for commercial plus 11,700 for residential, assuming
3 units per acre). These figures do not include the
increased sewer demand based on the Comprehensive Plan
Amendment recently approved by the Board of Supervisors that
re-designated the 25 acres from Commercial Office to
Commercial Office/Mixed Use. This could add another 22,500
gpd (75 residential units) in addition to the already
accounted for commercial development. Note, these are rough
estimates and future rezonings will contain the details to
allow a more thorough evaluation of sewer demand.
The County and the WSA strive to have balanced land use
plans with realistic utility plans. However, the demand for
public sewer service according to the land use plans for
Bealeton, Opal and Remington already exceeds the supply
under current conditions. Therefore, more intense
development of the service district and expansion of the
service district will essentially cause a reallocation of
utility service capacity from other areas of the districts.
This proposal would take away sewer capacity from sites
already in the Bealeton, Opal & Remington Service Districts
that have the higher zoning potential or are comprehensively
planned for a more intense use than the existing zoning
allows. The Board will need to determine if the location
and merits of this property justify using the limited future
taps for this project.
The proposed Service District expansion will require a
certain amount of public water. The Water & Sanitation
Authority should be able to supply staff with a
determination of whether there is a water supply source
great enough to service the Service District expansion.
Transportation:
The applicant is proposing access via a Comprehensive Plan
local access road that connects Marsh Road (Route 17) to
Liberty Road (Route 745) through the Colonial Crossing
project. The applicant intends to use the Comprehensive
Plan connector road that will be constructed as part of the
pending Colonial Crossing rezoning. The Virginia Department
of Transportation (VDOT) has stated they do not have any
comments at this time; however, a Traffic Impact Analysis
(TIA) has been prepared for the companion rezoning, and VDOT
continues to work with the applicant on the rezoning.
Site
Suitability/Environment:
The
applicant briefly addresses environmental issues in the
Statement of Justification. According to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate
Maps, these properties are not located within the 100-year
floodplain. However, it appears there are soils that are
characterized as being subject to frequent flooding and may
have hydric inclusions, which indicate the possibility of
wetlands. According to Fauquier County Zoning Ordinance
Section 13-202, a wetland delineation is required with the
rezoning application. A Stormwater Management Plan is also
required with any rezoning application in accord with the
Fauquier County Design Standards Manual 203.2.1, which will
specifically identify environmental features and impacts on
the site. There are significant mature trees at the
northern end of the site, which screen the site and are in
keeping with the rural character outside of the Service
District.
Historic
Resources:
The
Comprehensive Plan, Appendix C, identifies historic
resources located within the County; the Appendix does not
identify any historical features on this site by the plan.
However, this list is not exhaustive and Chapter 2 of the
Comprehensive Plan states that there are more historical
sites beyond those listed in the Appendix. A site visit by
staff showed an older home and rock wall that was somewhat
in disrepair located on the property. Staff can provide
pictures if the Board so wishes and further study may be
warranted. It may be possible to incorporate the structure
if historic, or to move it.
Community
Facilities:
As
previously mentioned, the applicant has filed a companion
mixed use rezoning application. The Comprehensive Plan for
Bealeton calls for a mix of uses including civic uses and
urban parks and squares. These are not currently included
as part of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment application.
Staff and
Review Agency Comments:
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