New center approved

by Susan Gibbs Record Reporter
Published: May 22, 2008

After a year of public meetings, discussions and deferrals, Greene’s Board of Supervisors finally gave its nod to a planned unit development (PUD) in Ruckersville consisting of retail stores, single-family and town homes, and apartments—at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, May 13.
With a vote of 4-1, the Board approved a request to rezone nearly 40 acres on the west side of Route 29 just north of State Road 607 from business and residential to PUD. The new development will be known as Deerfield Village. 
Board Vice-Chair Buggs Peyton cast the only dissenting vote, saying that the rezoned acreage, adjacent to land already zoned for residential development, “sets a dangerous precedent” regarding project development on land where a mixture of zoning exists.
Peyton was referring to the fact that proffers—cash offers meant to help the County recoup some of the capital costs resulting from new residential construction - can be requested only when that new residential construction requires a rezoning.
According to County Zoning Administrator Bart Svoboda, a portion of the land which was already zoned residential - and therefore free from the expectation of proffers—can hold 38 single-family homes or 46 duplexes, or 123 apartments or 46 town homes.
“Single family homes and duplexes can be built By Right, but apartments and town homes would require a special use permit,” Svoboda informed the Board.
Though he agreed with Peyton’s concern about By Right impact, Board Chair Steve Catalano called the overall proffer document, “one of the best I’ve seen since we (instituted the policy in September 2006).”
Deerfield Village plans call for the 52 single-family and town homes to be built on the rezoned acreage - for which proffers are expected.
The developer, James Lavin of Kinvara Properties, LLC of Rochelle, upped his proffer to $9,000 per dwelling on those homes.
Kinvara has also made an effort to control the flow of traffic in its proffer document.
The Center is to have three entrances: one to be off Buck Drive, another off Route 29 and another off Route 607.
Kinvara will install traffic signals at the Route 29 and Buck Drive entrances and right-in and right-out lanes at the Route 29 entrance, as well as a road parallel to Route 29 to access the commercial area. It will also pay its pro rata share of any necessary improvements to the intersection of Routes 29 and 607.
In addition, Kinvara proffered an acre or so behind the Food Lion Shopping Center to be put aside for future use by the County and a covered bus stop.
Catalano was also pleased with Kinvara’s efforts to please existing Greene County residents.
“There’s been an exhaustive public effort on behalf of citizens’ groups and on behalf of the developer … to address concerns … about this … particular development. I applaud the efforts of the developer, his assistants, and the citizens,” Catalano said.
As for Deerfield Village:
• The commercial center is to be anchored by a 60,000 square foot retail store surrounded by retail specialty stores, restaurants a medical center, and offices.
• The village homes will be similar to those found in developments such as Gateway Village and Holly Meade off Route 29 northbound, RiverRun off Rio Road and Carriage Hill at Pantops.
• A trail network will connect the residential area to the commercial area, and about a quarter of the rezoned acreage will remain as open space.
Board Member Jeri Allen spoke to the effort made to involve the public in the conceptualization of the project as well as the project itself and the proffers.
“We’ve been looking at this project for almost a year and … it has continually gotten better and better over time,” Allen said. “The concept of a village development in that particular location seems to me an ideal transition from a residential area to a commercial area. They’ve taken something that could be very alien to the existing neighborhood and made a lovely transition.”
Allen added: “The proffers that have been provided on this project set a new standard against which we can measure future requests.”
Board Member Carl Schmitt also applauded Kinvara.
The way of development “is changing … (the economy) is going to … drive development in a very different direction than most of us have been used to; (away from) the huge houses that no one is going to be able to pay to heat or to cool,” Schmitt said. “The wave of the future is compact development that is walk-able and bike-able and … it turns out, that’s what (Deerfield Village) is.
“There may be traffic issues, but the people who live in this development have the ability to do their shopping without ever having to get in a car,” Schmitt continued. “If people who live there work in the commercial area they can walk to work … you wind up with a much more sustainable community (that will), combined with Deer Lake and Willow Creek … give us a real … town and not a strip mall.”
Another thing that Catalano likes about the project is that “its development is to be phased.”
Over the course of the last year Kinvara and its agents has been saying that construction would begin in the middle of this year or the beginning of the next. They have said that plans were to develop the commercial element first, followed by the 46 By Right units in the first year, and no more than 40 units in the following year, and the remaining units after that. Build out was to be achieved in five years.
But reached after the meeting, Bill Gentry of Jefferson Land and Realty in Rochelle, who is Kinvara’s broker, says things will happen by ear.
“The commercial market is slow and we’ll have to take the pulse of the residential market … to see what kind of absorption rate can be obtained. It doesn’t make sense for the developer to spend money unless buyers can be found.”