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White Marsh development in Bealeton Approved 9 September 2010 - the submission of a revised proffer by the developer seemed to be a major contributing factor leading to approval of this application. While the reported final proffer statement provided to CFFC showed a significant improvement, it still fell short of matching the County proffer guidelines.
The Final Proffer Statement additions included approximately: $ 1.8 M for County Infrastructure Expansion $ .4 M for Senior Care Emergency Services Expansion $ .4 M for The Bealton Transportation Fund
Total $ 2.6 M in Proffers
While this is a significant improvement, the value is short of the County Proffer Guidelines and it is unclear how far the $ .4 M contribution to the Transportation Fund will go toward resolving the open transportation issues identified in the final staff report.
The open transportation issues and CFFC's estimate of the appropriate proffer amount for this development is at the bottom of this page.
The applicant is requesting the rezoning of four (4) parcels totaling ninety-seven (97) acres to Mixed Use Special District - Bealeton Service District (MU - Bealeton).The proposal consists of a Mixed Use-Core area of 25 acres and a Mixed Use – Residential area of 72 acres.
In 2007 sixty three (63) of these acres were rezoned as the Colonial Crossing development consisting of 95 single family detached dwellings. You can access the 2007 application at
On December 9, 2009, the Fauquier County Planning Commission held its final public hearing on the Rezoning request and recommended to the Board of Supervisors that the application be denied with the rationale that:
-The existing zoning of the property is reasonable. -That the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance for a Rezoning are not met in this application, the Planning Commission finding that said application will negatively impact the public health, safety, and welfare of residents of Fauquier County. -That the proposed use fails to comply with and is not in conformity with all the applicable standards of Article 4 and Article 13 of said Zoning Ordinance and all other applicable requirements of said Zoning Ordinance. -That the proposal does not conform to the Comprehensive Plan as it relates to the Bealeton Service District. -That the impacts of the proposed use have not been mitigated.
Since that time the applicant has made a great deal of progress with this proposal but it still needs more work. See the Current Issues listed below.
Since December 2009 the proposal has had a number of changes. The description of the project for the 9 September Supervisors Public Hearing is noted in red text. The Mixed Use – Core Area 263,000 322,150 square feet of commercial space including retail, restaurants, bank, offices and boutique two hotels and a grocery store. 23,000 30,000 square feet of Public, Civic and Institutional uses and an organic farm. one hundred bed (100) Nursing Home, fifty-five (55) 130 unit assisted living/nursing home structure facility. one hundred ten (110) one hundred forty (140) multi-family residential units with forty (40) age-restricted forty-one (41) fourteen (14) live/work and townhouse units six (6) age-restricted townhouse units. The Mixed Use – Residential area 23,500 19,000 square feet of Public, Civic and Institutional uses, 5,000 square feet of commercial space, and two bed and breakfasts. one hundred forty-six one (146) (141) single family detached units with seventy seven (77) age restricted units (over 55 years old), eight (8) multi-family age restricted units, twenty-five (25) unit nursing home, twenty-five (25) unit assisted living facility. eighteen (18) townhouse units with fourteen (14) being age-restricted three (3) age restricted quadriplex units
CURRENT ISSUES
Since the 8 July 2010 Supervisors Public Hearing on the application the proposal has made progress on may issues, but gone backward on one key element.
NO CASH PROFFERS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION The application provided for the 8 July Hearing included a Proffer Statement that followed the Fauquier County Proffer Guidlines for the County infrastructure need to support this development. See our Cost of Growth Page. In the application provided for the 9 September 2010 Hearing the applicant proposes NO CASH PROFFERS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION.
The applicant attempts to explain this away with creative math that includes taking credit for permitting fees (that pay for administering the permit process) and allocations from the State of Virginia (our tax dollars) along with a very optimistic projections of the property and sales taxes.
Based on the current proposed mix of units, including proffer reductions for age-restricted units, CFFC's rough calculations indicate cash proffers for infrastructure expansion are: Schools - Approximately $ 2 Million Other County Service areas - Approximately $ 2.2 Million Total - Approximately $ 4.2 Million
And this does not include any consideration of additional proffers for Rescue Services for the Assisted Living / Nursing Home units. Without the developers proffer contribution these costs can be expected to be added to our real estate tax bills in the future.
Hopefully the mix of commercial and residential development in White Marsh will be tax neutral for Fauquier residents on a long term annual basis, but this is a hope, not money in the bank.
TRANSPORTATION
The following items are extracted from the 6 September 2010 Staff Report for this application.
The Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) concludes that there will be generally acceptable levels of service at a 2018 build-out year, with the exception of several intersections. At the intersection of Routes 17 and 28, the level of service in 2018 will be “E” in the a.m. peak hour and “F” in the p.m. peak hour with and without this development, although this development will exacerbate the situation. Other intersections that cause concern are the east/west movements at the intersection of Covington’s Corner Road and Route 17, and the intersection of Independence Avenue and Route 28. VDOT has suggested the applicant add additional lanes to Route 28 and install an acceleration lane where White Marsh Avenue exits onto Route 17. The County is not convinced that these will be necessary or desirable as the north end of Bealeton develops. However, County staff remains open minded and has currently contracted with Renaissance Planning Group to study this important corridor in Bealeton. It is the County’s desire that alternative solutions to calming traffic will be developed through this study. Staff has suggested the applicant proffer a pro rata share towards these aforementioned off-site improvements; however, staff and VDOT could not develop specific language to address this issue. This remains an outstanding issue.
The East/West Collector called for in the Comprehensive Plan is formed by the western portion of George Tuberville Avenue and the eastern portion of White Marsh Avenue. Ultimately the East/West Collector will extend to Route 28 at a location east of the Service District. It is critical that the applicant dedicate and build this vital road link to the edge of his property. Rather than building the road to the edge of the property, the applicant has proffered to reserve a 60-foot rightof-way for a twenty-five year time period, should the County want to build the road in this location. After twenty-five years, if not constructed, the reservation would revert back to the property owner’s association. If this crucial road link is not required to be constructed to the edge of the property with this rezoning, the ultimate East/West Collector could potentially never be constructed. This remains an outstanding issue identified by staff. The majority of the Planning Commission did not view this as a critical issue. The greatest challenge posed by the VDOT access management standards is to the intersections on Route 17 itself. Because VDOT classifies Route 17 as a Rural Principal Arterial, signalized intersections must be 2,640 feet apart. Unsignalized intersections must be 1,320 feet apart with partial access (generally right-in/right-out) allowed 440 feet apart, given a speed limit of 35 to 45 miles per hour. Independence Avenue is approximately 2,500 feet from Route 28. White Marsh Avenue is approximately 750 feet from Independence Avenue, and George Tuberville Avenue is approximately 850 feet from White Marsh Avenue. VDOT has indicated that signalized intersections on Route 17 at Independence Avenue and the East/West collector (George Tuberville Avenue) are grandfathered as they were proffered with a previously approved rezoning (Freedom Place and Colonial Crossing). This leaves the main street (White Marsh Avenue) with only a right-in/right-out. The applicant has chosen not to seek a waiver from VDOT for a signalized intersection here, although County staff believes this will be detrimental to the businesses on the main street. It is critical that the County study access management along all of Route 17 in Bealeton to ensure that intersections are being properly placed for the good of the whole service district. This study, as mentioned earlier in this report, has been contracted, with work to begin in late 2010.
SITE SUITABILITY/ENVIRONMENT
The following items are extracted from the 6 September 2010 Staff Report for this application.
The applicant briefly addresses environmental issues in the Statement of Justification. There are some Jurisdictional wetlands and a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain located to the rear (east side) of the large parcel. The applicant states they intend to preserve these sensitive environmental features consistent with the jurisdictional requirements; however, the location of the East/West Collector makes some disturbance necessary. The Soil Scientist has noted on numerous occasions that there are two stream channels being compromised with this proposal. The applicant should consider protecting these areas by avoiding development within the channels.
While this development advances a number of positive development concepts, there are still significant issues which need to be resolved before approval.
The application documentation and staff report on the application is available in the 9 September 2010 Supervisors agenda published on-line at http://agenda.fauquiercounty.gov/ . This application is addressed on pages 230 through 332 of the downloadable agenda document. The proffer documents begin on page 265 of the agenda document.
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