Corner on hold

By Susan Gibb, Record Reporter
Published: August 7, 2008

The Greene County Planning Commission has rejected a request to rezone more than 16 acres diagonally across from Sheetz on Route 29 North in Ruckersville - putting a hold on the development of Midway Corner.
Midway Corner is a proposed commercial development of retail shops and office space. It would be developed by Charlottesville’s KG Associates - developer of the Forest Lakes Shops and the Forest Lakes residential community in Northern Albemarle - would put Midway Corner up on the 16 or so acres stretching southward down Route 29 from its intersection with Route 607 for the W. Copley McLean Trust.
Planning Commission Chair Davis Lamb was one of the two Commission members who voted against denying the rezoning. But he expressed some hesitancy. “I have concerns over traffic impact. I think you might have to do some compromising with the neighbors,” Lamb said.
During the public hearing, a petition signed by 107 people opposing the development—was presented to the Commission. Several residents who live close to the site objected to the zoning designation the developer is requesting.
The site is now zoned for residential development. The applicant is requesting that it be granted the County’s B-3 zoning designation. According to its ordinance, the County intended that designation for businesses, geared to local and transient markets, requiring frequent efficient access. Uses permitted in a B-3 zone include those which may lead to a heavy congregation of people and passenger vehicles.
County resident Sue Lewis said: “The business plan has … 24-hour businesses that could attract a hang-out crowd.”
Highway retail service centers and truck stops, bus, truck and taxi terminals are permitted within the B-3 zone, but KG Associates has proffered those possibilities out of its request.
Others concerned about “hang-out crowds” indicated they might be more receptive to a B-1 designation. According to Greene’s code, a B-1 designated zone is designed primarily to serve as a transition area between general commercial and residential areas. Businesses in B-1 zones are to be dependent on local neighborhood patronage. Establishments requiring heavy trucking or characterized by other nuisance factors are prohibited.
Speaking for KG Associates, Michael Barnes said, “I don’t think the point is the district. The point is the use.”
Three residents of Willow Creek told the Commission they were concerned about increased traffic on Route 607.
But Commissioner Jim Frydl, the other of the five-member panel who voted against denial of the request, spoke about traffic in a different light.
“This happens to be a major intersection in Greene County. It’s a high traffic area and these are the businesses that I think would bring the highest benefit to the County,” Frydl said.
Commissioner Norman Slezak was adamant in his opposition to the project: “I personally cannot support this 16 acres being B-3 … I wouldn’t want it next to me. It looks to me as if the residents do not want B-3 next to their houses,” Slezak said. “To me, B-3 is an open checkbook; if you say B-3, then you’ve got a right to put in a whole lot of things that I don’t think the residents would like.”
Commissioner Phyllis Woodfolk was also opposed to the rezoning.
“I hear people talk about security,” Woodfolk said. “I do think that’s a big issue for all the citizens in Greene County.”
Commissioner Anthony Herring moved that the request be denied and so voted, along with Slezak and Woodfolk.
The proposal to rezone was first presented to the Commission in May. The Commission’s vote serves as a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. At press time, KG Associates had yet to set a date to appear before the Board with its request.

Record Editor April Taylor contributed to this report