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Summary Staff Report:
New Legislative Approach: In the past,
amendments to proffers constituted a change in
the zoning and thus followed a rezoning
process. In July 2009, the General Assembly
adopted an amendment to Section 15.2-2302 of the
Code of Virginia to allow a Board of Supervisors
to waive the requirement for a public hearing
for an amendment to proffered conditions where
the amendment does not affect conditions of use
or density of a property. Specifically, Section
15.2-2302 states:
“However,
where an amendment to proffered conditions is
requested by the profferor, and where such
amendment does not affect conditions of use or
density, a local governing body may waive the
requirement for a public hearing (i) under this
section and (ii) under any other statute,
ordinance or proffer requiring a public hearing
prior to amendment of conditions created
pursuant to Section 15.2-2298 or 15.2-2303.
Once so amended, the proffered conditions shall
continue to be an amendment to the zoning
ordinance and may be enforced
This is our first request under this new
legislation, and as a result, we do not have a
process or approach to the comprehensive
evaluation of such requests, nor how to bring
them to the Board’s attention and
consideration. Staff would like this to be a
topic of Board discussion in the near future to
provide Staff direction as to the future
processing.
Analysis of Vint Hill EDA Request: VHEDA
has made a request for an amendment to the
proffers as it relates to the continued use of
Finch Lane as part of the site development for
Vint Hill is included here as
Attachment 2.
Finch Lane (Route 652) is an existing street in
the VDOT-maintenance system to a point that
approximates the guard house entrance to the
original Vint Hill Farm Station. It is located
immediately parallel to the boundary of the Vill
Hill property, adjoining the Grapewood
subdivision. At that point, it connects into
Kennedy Road, a privately-owned roadway.
Recently, a new driveway connection has been
made from Finch Lane to a residential property
in the Grapewood subdivision reinforcing a
continuing use of this roadway for other than
the Vint Hill development.
Kennedy Road was designed in the original CDP to
be a loop road, connecting the Brookside/Vint
Hill Parkway to Watson Drive, which functions as
shown in the CDP as the only connection of the
Vint Hill development (both residential and
commercial) to Rogues Road (Route 602).
One of the largest Land Bays (Land Bay V, with
an area of about 81 acres) encompasses the area
bounded by the Parkway on the north, the
property boundary on the west, Rogues Road on
the south and Kennedy Road and Watson Drive on
east. Slated for the total development of about
880,000 square feet, the CDP shows only one
stubbed access point into this area from Kennedy
and no access from Finch Lane. In fact, the CDP
also shows a 50-foot vegetative and open space
buffer separating Finch Lane from the Vint Hill
development.
The Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA), prepared for
and submitted with the original rezoning in June
1999, evaluates a three phase approach to the
development of and traffic generation/impact of
the build-out of Vint Hill, as follows:
Phase A: Development of about 736,000
s.f. commercial and 239 dwelling units (Design
year 2002)
Phase B: Total site development of about
1,908,000 s.f. commercial, 300 dwelling units
and 250 assisted/independent living units
(counted as non-residential development) (Design
year 2005)
Phase C: Build out totaling 3,048,000
s.f. non-residential and 300 dwelling units.
(Design year 2009)
The full build-out traffic distribution
anticipated about 85% of the traffic into and
out of the Vint Hill development to be by way of
Vint Hill Road (Route 215) to the north/east,
with a total of 75% of the traffic traveling in
from Route 29. According to the TIA, the amount
of traffic entering the site in the AM peak hour
at Watson Drive is 259 vehicles, coming from the
area to the north and east and 193 vehicles
during that peak hour, coming from the south
along Rogues Road from Dumfries Road (Route
605). In the PM peak hour, 274 vehicles were
projected to leave the site heading to the north
and east, and 228 were projected to leave
heading south towards Dumfries Road. These
counts did not include any traffic generated by
Kettle Run High School and Greenville Elementary
School, which were not on the horizon at the
time of approval of the Vint Hill development.
With the addition of these two projects, traffic
entering and exiting Vint Hill by way of Rogues
Road may indeed end up higher than originally
projected.
The TIA shows the retention of Finch Lane in
Phase A and its removal in Phase B, when Watson
Drive was slated for construction. However, a
portion of Watson Drive, including its
connection with Rogues Road has already been
constructed principally to serve the development
of the 300 residential units located to the
northeast of Watson Drive. The elimination of
Finch Lane would result in combining both
residential and commercial traffic at just one
location.
At the time the Vint Hill project was approved,
a key approach to transportation planning was to
concentrate the traffic at a few key locations.
This approach has been found to result in larger
intersections and more concentrated traffic
congestion over time. Transportation planning
philosophy has changed over the years, most
dramatically in the last ten years, to provide
more connections in order to better distribute
the traffic and reduce congestion by its
distribution over a larger network.
The development of Vint Hill has not taken place
at the pace originally envisioned with the
approval, nor has the sequencing of development
occurred in the manner presented in the proposed
phasing of the land bays for development. From
a timing/phasing standpoint, full build-out of
the site was projected in 2009-2010. However,
with only 576,000 square feet of commercial
space (and 300 residential units) currently
developed, the project is still in Phases I/II
(Transportation Phase A) from a construction
standpoint. Vint Hill’s development has been
much more responsive to market forces and market
demands than to the original phasing pattern.
For example, Land Bay “V” was originally slated
for development in one of the later phases of
the project’s build-out. However, the market
demands for smaller sites and more flex-space
type development has pushed this area towards
development earlier in the overall sequencing of
the Vint Hill development. Technically, with
the original approvals, Finch Lane may remain
for the time being. However, in the planning
for the development in Land Bay “V”, the VHEDA
wishes to ensure that it can remain in the long
term.
The only off-site road improvement required in
the TIA to handle traffic from the southern end
of the Vint Hill development is the installation
of a traffic signal along Dumfries Road at Route
676 (Riley Road). This signal, whose need was
not projected until Phase C (full build-out),
has already been installed as has a signal at
the intersection of Dumfries Road and Rogues
Road. The timing was pushed forward to
alleviate impacts from the construction of the
two new schools along Rogues Road.
One of the proffers for Vint Hill requires the
upgrading of all existing substandard roads to
VDOT standards “before completion of
development”. The request by VHEDA to retain
the connection to Finch Lane includes a
commitment to upgrade Finch Lane to the
intersection with Kennedy Road no later than the
issuance of final occupancy permits for new
building construction in excess of 200,000 s.f.
within Land Bay “V”. Staff believes that the
continued use of Finch Lane would also
potentially serve other traffic generated within
the project as a whole and, thus there should be
the additional trigger for upgrading this road
that is based on the overall development. The
trigger in the proffers for the construction of
Watson Drive was 1,000,000 s.f. of development.
With that consideration, Staff recommends that
the commitment should be related to the
additional 200,000 s.f. of new construction
within Land Bay “V” or 1,000,000 s.f. within the
project as a whole, whichever occurs first.
An analysis of the 60,000 s.f. +/- of
construction anticipated at this time within
Land Bay “V” by VHEDA, prepared by PHR&A in
March 2009 (Attachment 3), demonstrates that the
project as proposed does not meet the VDOT
threshold for a new traffic study, but does
conclude that VDOT would suggest the widening of
Finch Lane at the intersection with Rogues Road
to accommodate separate right and left turn
lanes. Such improvement would need to take
place with this initial construction in Land Bay
“V”. Additionally, the installation/maintenance
of the required 50-foot buffer as shown on the
CDP would need to be incorporated with this
initial construction.
Identify any other Departments, Organizations
or Individuals that would be affected by this
request:
Department of Economic Development
Citizens, Property Owners and the Traveling
Public in the Vicinity of Finch Lane and Rogues
Road
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