Strasburg council OKs permit for 48-unit affordable housing building
Below is an article that appeared in the Northern Virginia Daily on February 17th, 2021.
STRASBURG – The Strasburg Town Council approved the special permit for a 48-unit affording housing building in a 5-3 vote Tuesday night at a work session.
Councilmembers Taryn Nicholson, Paul Weaver, Dane Hooser, Emily Reynolds and Christie Monahan voted in the affirmative. Councilmembers John Massoud, Doreen Ricard and Ken Cherrix voted in opposition.
“The best bad solution that we have as a council is to actually provide a really good place for people to grow, to live,” Monahan said before the vote. She spearheaded several additional stipulations of the special use permit that allowed the project to move forward with more town control on what can be built on the site at a later date.
“We have, in my opinion, as a council, failed to listen to the will of the people,” Massoud said. Several people spoke out in opposition of the project at a Planning Commission meeting, Town Council meeting and public hearing for it, primarily because of increased traffic in the area.
The special use permit was applied for because the 10-acre Mowery Family Property was zoned multi-family residential in 1987 and town regulations allow for buildings with no more than 12 units to be built there.
Applicant Jen Surber, of Pleasant View VA LLC, initially applied for two 48-unit buildings to be built on the property, thus requiring the special permit application, but amended the application to one at a Planning Commission meeting after hearing opposition against it.
The property is zoned “by-right,” meaning if the applicant meets requirements for the property, the town would have been obligated to approve the project, pending further site plan approval. There are 118 units allowed on the property based on those allowances.
As several residents spoke against the project throughout the past month, among the additional stipulations for the permit is council approval to amend it if any future development is proposed for the site, such as a second building. The town wouldn’t face legal repercussions if it denies an application for a second building at a later date, Town Manager Wyatt Pearson said.
Councilmembers Reynolds, Hooser, Nicholson and Mayor Brandy Boise said citizen comments were heard while making the decision.
Construction has been discussed to start next year, with the timing of Surber’s application for tax credits and pending a more detailed site plan approval.
The council also approved a resolution, 6-2, deeming the property a revitalization zone to help provide affordable housing in the area, which will help Surber’s application for tax credits for the project. The tax credits will, in turn, allow for more affordable rents. Ricard’s vote to the affirmative was the lone change in the vote tally, as the project had already been approved, she said.
The town concluded the meeting by entering into a closed-door session to discuss the acquisition of property for a public purpose. Details of the meeting were not provided before the council entered it.
Contact Charles Paullin at cpaullin@nvdaily.com
