Strasburg panel OKs amended permit for affordable housing
Below is an article that appeared in the Northern Virginia Daily on January 27th, 2021.
STRASBURG – The Strasburg Planning Commission on Tuesday night approved an amended version of a special use permit for the Mowery Family property near the intersection of Pleasant View Drive and Stonewall Street to allow one affordable housing building with 48 units on the site.
Commission members John Rhodes, Vince Poling, Steve Nicholson, Robert Flanagan and Councilwoman Emily Reynolds voted in favor of the permit. Commissioner Brian Otis voted against it and Commissioner Hank Dean was not present at the meeting.
An initial motion to oppose the permit was supported only by Otis and Polling. The application originally included two affordable housing buildings with 48 units in each for a total of 96 units.
Jen Surber, who submitted the application for the permit, agreed to only one building being approved after saying the plan was to build only one building next year due to the timeline of her company possibly receiving tax credits for the project.
Surber said she would like to build one building before coming back and applying for a second building after several citizens spoke against the project prior to and during Tuesday’s meeting.
The special use permit was applied for because the town’s ordinances allow only up to 12 units to be in a building at a time for a residential family unit.
The property is zoned as a “by-right” property, meaning the town would be obligated to approve a site plan that meets the town’s current ordinance, so Tuesday’s vote was a matter of allowing the larger or smaller buildings on the site, Town Planning and Zoning Administrator Lee Pambid said.
Otis had suggested several smaller buildings that would run north and south in the area.
A site plan will need to be submitted and approved at a later date, but initial plans call for a 36-foot-tall building that is 363 feet long and 66 feet wide. Eighty percent of it would be covered with an earth-tone brick. The building would be similar to the ones built in Augusta County, which feature siding at a top portion of the building and asphalt-colored shingles.
A retaining wall ranging from 4 to 6 feet would surround the property, and views of the area would not be diminished, town staff said. Most of the concerns centered around overloading police, fire and EMS services, school capacity and the environmental impact on the area. Entrance to the site would be through Pleasant View Drive, as initially proposed.
Residents also raised concerns about crime stemming from residents of an affordable housing building. Surber said residents would have their criminal and credit backgrounds checked, and added there has never been a violent crime on any of her properties. Other residents stated the values of their property that backed into the wooded area may diminish.
Councilwoman Doreen Ricard suggested going to the town attorney to see if there is any legal way to get out of approving the project for the site. Councilwoman Christie Monahan agreed with Ricard’s request.
The permit is expected to be discussed at the Town Council’s work session on Feb. 1 and then voted on after a Feb. 9 public hearing.
Along with the permit approval, the commission approved a resolution stating the area is a revitalization zone, which will help Surber get the tax credits she would like for the project.
In a memo from Community Development Director Michelle Bixler, affordable housing is needed in the area as the four largest employers have continually noted that a sufficient workforce remains an issue.
A 2019 review by RKG Associates Inc. found that Woodstock, Mount Jackson and Basye are becoming the new growth centers for the county, and Strasburg had comparably higher housing values. Only 16.9% of the county’s most affordable housing is located in Strasburg, the review found.
Contact Charles Paullin at cpaullin@nvdaily.com
