New center on the way?

BY SUSAN GIBBS, Record Reporter
Published: June 5, 2008

The developer of the Forest Lakes Shops and the Forest Lakes residential community in Northern Albemarle is working toward bringing a commercial development to Ruckersville.
A representative of Charlottesville’s KG Associates - formerly the Kessler Group - is requesting a rezoning of more than 16 acres stretching southward down Route 29 from its intersection with Route 607.
The development - to be called Midway Corner—will consist of “smaller retail” shops and office space,” says Michael Barnes, whose job is to guide KG Associates’ clients through the maze of bureaucratic approvals.
Barnes began making his way through that maze by requesting the rezone of the County’s Planning Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, May 21. He made the request on behalf of the developer, S.J.S. Limited of Charlottesville.
At that time, the request was deferred so to give the applicant more time to get roadwork, multi-modal transportation and other issues included in the proffers.
“I have no problem with commercial development, but a lot of things were unclear,” says Planning Commission Chair Davis Lamb.
Lamb is also concerned that the citizens of Greene be pleased with the proposed project.
Last month, after a year of public meetings, discussions and deferrals, Greene’s Board of Supervisors gave its nod to Deerfield Village, a planned unit development that will run along Route 29 north of Ruckersville’s Food Lion shopping center.
At that time, both Board of Supervisors Chair Steve Catalano and Board Member Jeri Allen applauded that developer’s public efforts.
“There’s been an exhaustive … effort … to address concerns … about this … particular development,” Catalano said.  And: “We’ve been looking at this project for almost a year and … it has continually gotten better and better over time,” Allen said.
Bill Gentry of Jefferson Land & Realty in Rochelle helped arrange meetings with the public about Deerfield Village as well as about Ben Leake Plaza, a Ruckersville commercial development approved last year.
“We took a recommendation for an internal road for Ben Leake Plaza from the Ruckersville Citizens Council,” says Gentry. With Deerfield Village, which contains residences, more meetings with citizens groups were held. “We took a lot of comments from the Ruckersville Citizens Council as well as from Willow Creek and Deer Lake residents,” Gentry adds.
At press time, Barnes, who points out that KG Associates is not yet marketing any potential Midway Corner properties, was planning to speak at the Ruckersville Citizens Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 3.
“At his point we’re talking zoning,” Barnes says.
KG Associates’ proposal calls for the 16.15 acres currently zoned R-1 to be rezoned to B-3.
Greene’s B-3 zone covers those portions of the County that are characterized by constant heavy traffic where “frequent efficient access” to businesses is required.
Use regulations allow for all business uses allowed in other business zones, as well as, among other things: vehicle sales and service; drive-up restaurants; hotels and motels; building material sales; service contractors and convenience stores.
Highway retail service centers and truck stops, bus, truck and taxi terminals are also permitted by ordinance within the B-3 zone, but KG Associates has already proffered those possibilities out of its request.
“We are sensitive to the relationship between the proposed commercial area and the existing residential uses,” Barnes wrote in a letter to Greene’s Zoning Administrator Bart Svoboda in March. “We understand that Greene County has recently enacted a landscape and lighting ordinance … We are willing to … meet (those) standards.”
At press time, the Midway Corner folks had met with the Virginia Department of Transportation to iron some things out, though details were not yet available.
Also at press time, Ruckersville Citizens Council Chair Andrea Wilkinson was planning on addressing citizen concerns regarding roadwork connectors and “low impact development to improve water runoff.”
According to its website, which can be viewed at http://www.kgassociates.net, KG Associates is the market leader in land development in the Central Virginia region. It is involved in the site selection, financing, entitlement, construction management of its commercial and residential projects.
Forest Lakes and Forest Lakes Shops are two examples of KG Associates’ work.
Forest Lakes is a 750-acre 1,518-home community comprised of neighborhoods consisting of detached single-family homes, duplexes, and townhouses.
Forest Lakes Shops, situated between Forest Lakes North residential neighborhoods and Route 29 North, is comprised of 15,740 square feet of commercial space.
In 2006, Don Franco, now president of KG Associates, requested a rezone of a little more than 280 acres behind the Great Valu shopping center in Stanardsville. That rezone would have made way for a project that might have contained 300-350 residences, and a commercial structure. That request was eventually withdrawn due to infrastructure concerns.
Greene’s Planning Commission will hear the request that will make way for Midway Corner again on July 16