The James City County Board of Supervisors has delayed voting on an affordable housing and storage unit complex proposal after there were some questions about how it fits in with existing county policies.
Wayne Harbin Builder Inc. has proposed building 46 “affordable” townhomes, a mini-storage facility and a residential dwelling unit for a storage unit caretaker on an 11.42-acre parcel.
But the mixed-use land at 6015 Richmond Road, now owned by the Salvation Army, has some restrictions for what can be built. The restrictions, which require an 80-20 percent balance between residential and commercial and phasing-in of construction, were put into place in 2011 when the county rezoned the land as part of an improvement in the Forest Heights neighborhood.
Particulars of those restrictions under the master plan and mixed-use zoning — and how the project fits in with those guidelines — fell under fire from supervisors Tuesday night.
Supervisors voted unanimously to table approval or denial of the project until the board’s next meeting July 9.
“It’s really a matter of cleaning up some of the uncertainty,” Supervisor John McGlennon said.
The applicant and their attorney, Vernon Geddy III, also asked the application be deferred until the restrictions are completely figured out.
Supervisors acknowledged Wayne Harbin Builder Inc. has a positive reputation in the community, but requested the company provide additional information on whether the units will be rented or sold, how much they could be rented or sold for, and other details.
“It’s not your fault, but this is a mess,” McGlennon said of the land’s restrictions, addressing the applicant.
The parcel is unique because its master plan requires it to have 80 percent residential and 20 percent commercial development, as well as a phasing-in of construction over a set period of time.
“It looked like we ended up making this mixed use in order for roads and lots and all that to be maneuvered and changed and all that so we could do what we needed to do for Forest Heights,” Supervisor Michael Hipple said.
“We’ve kind of created this and now we want, maybe are looking at … we may not allow this,” Hipple added. “I think we should take ownership of it and continue with the plan we created.”
The Salvation Army originally intended to build new offices, a community meeting space and gym and more. Planning staff said it no longer intends to pursue that development.
Planning staff does not recommend approval of the application as it stands because it does not offer to phase-in construction as required for under county policy for the mixed-use designation.
The Planning Commission previously recommended approval of the project, adding a recommendation that the Board of Supervisors remove the construction phasing requirement because it would allow the applicant to obtain financing for the commercial and residential components separately.
