Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the Town of Abington, Virginia Planning Commission regular meeting. We appreciate your interest and we encourage public participation in our meeting. Your comments are important to our decision-making process. Please note that there will be two opportunities during the meeting for you to address the commission members. The first will come when we ask for public comment for items not on the agenda. The second will come when the chair opens a public hearing for comment from the public. Anyone addressing the commission will approach the podium, give your first and last name and your complete physical address. Comments must be limited to three minutes. Uh, roll call. Mr. Austin, present. Mr. Johnson,

present. Mr. Thompson, present. Mr. Pennington, Mr. Sprouls, Mr. Wilson present, and Mr. Schuman present. Next item on business is approval of the minutes from the December 15, 2025 regular meeting. Has everybody had an opportunity to review those? Um, are there any additions or corrections for the minutes? If not, is there a motion that they be approved as submitted? So moved. All right. Is there a second? Second. Okay. You want to call the role? Mr. Austin, I would abstain as not being present. Mr. Johnson, I. Mr. Thompson, I. Mr. Wilson,

I. And Mr. Schuman,

I. Next order of business is public comment for items not on the agenda. Is anybody signed up for that? Is anybody want to make a comment for an item not on the agenda? All right. Next order business, certificate of appropriateness. Kenneth A. Flanders, applicant, Betty J. Arnold, owner, certificate of appropriateness for demolition of accessory structure located at 43 453 West Main Street, Abington, Virginia 24210. Parcel 019-1-1A in parentheses. Staff report. Kin Flanders, applicant representative, and Betty Arnold, owner, have requested approval of a COA for the demolition of rear accessory structure to existing concrete pad located at 453 West Main Street. Tax Map number 019-1-1A. Per chapter 44, land use section 53-4, a certificate of appropriateness is required to erect, construct, reconstruct, alter, restore, move, or demolish a building within the entrance corridor. The property is within the general business district B2, the entrance corridor and can be seen from a public rideway, therefore requiring the approval of the planning commission. According to the Washington County Land card, the primary building and rear accessory structure were constructed originally in 1969, but alterations and repairs place both structures effective circa 1995. Virginia Sports and Chiropractor currently occupies the building since circa 2012. Previously, the primary building had been occupied by a tattoo parlor. Access to the site will continue to be West Main Street. Adjoining properties are zoned B3 Central Business District on all sides. The applicant proposes the demolition of rear accessory structure to existing concrete pad. The rear accessory

structure is a one-story brick garage approximately 40 ft by 30 feet. The accessory building has undertaken structural damage along the south elevation primary and the west elevation. Such damage includes large cracks between the bricks and fallen gutters. After demolition, the concrete pad beneath the structure will remain. All right. Any questions, Miss Howard? Not to be replaced or anything along those lines. Just taking advant

uh does the applicant wish to say anything? They can. They don't have to. All right. Um any discussion? Make a motion we approve the certificate of appropriateness as uh suggested in the uh information provided to us. Is there a second to that motion? Second. All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the role. Mr. Austin. I. Mr. Johnson. I. Mr. Thompson. I. Mr. Wilson. I. Mr. Schuman. Hi.

Next order business is certificate of appropriateness. Holston Mountain Artisans applicant plot and plat holding LLC owner certificate of appropriateness for non-illuminated wall signage located at 280 West Main Street, Abington, Virginia 24210 parentheses parcel011-1-85A in parenthesis as report. Holston Mountain Artisans applicant and Plot and Plat Holdings LLC owner have requested approval to install one 4 foot 3 inch by 2'8 in 11.33 ft non-illuminated single side vinyl mesh banner with brass grommets onto the rear south elevation directly above the secondary entrance tan vinyl dome-shaped canopy as shown in the rendering submitted according to places in time volume two Abington Meadow View and Glades Spring, Virginia. Written by Nancy C. King. The brick building, historically known as the HH Scott building, was constructed in 1914. The building, commonly known as Wolfill Center today, is occupied by Holston Mountain Artisans, Dotenhop Studio, and Apartments. There is an existing Holston Mountain Artisans Wall sign on the portion of the building fronting West Main Street. Access to the site will continue to be West Main Street and Piggly Wiggly Alley. Adjoining properties resone central business district B3 on all sides. The applicant has requested approval of a CAOA for the following items. Install one 4T 3 in x 2t 8 in 11.33 square ft non-illuminated singlesided vinyl mesh banner with breast grommets onto the rear south elevation directly above the secondary entrance tan vinyl dome-shaped cany canopy as shown in the rendering provided. Um, tax map number 011-8-25 is zoned central business district B3. Businesses in the B3 are allowed one

wall sign per business point per per street frontage. 280 West Main Street has frontage along West Main Street and Piggly Wiggly Alley, allowing a business located at 280 West Main Street to have two wall signs. The Washington County Land Card shows the south elevation has a total of 62 linear feet of building face with approximately 20.60 60 linear feet dedicated to each business located on the first floor as internally arranged. Currently, the proposed 11.33 square feet wall sign meets the requirements of the sign ordinance. The applicant did request to change that um wall sign from um what is listed to 6 by two and it would still be 12 square feet and still meet the applicants um the sign ordinance requirements. All right. Now, will it replace that sign that's just freestanding there in the

So, that's a a portable sign. Yeah. So, it's an A-frame. So, it's temp temporary. They're allowed to have it as long as they take it in and out of the building um when the business closes. Um so, it's not going to replace it. They're still going to have that one there. Okay. Does that uh dome count as a sign since it has the name on it or is that just It's a canopy sign. Yeah. And then they'd be allowed the wall sign. Okay. It'll be a little easier to see from the further back road. Any additional question. Does the applicant want to say anything?

All right. What's the pleasure of the commission? I'll make a motion that we approve the certificate of appropriateness as presented. Is there a second? Yeah, I'll second. All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the role. Mr. Austin, I. Mr. Johnson? I. Mr. Thompson. Hi. Mr. Wilson. I. Mr. Schuman.

I. U. Next order of business. A certificate of appropriateness. Abington Interiors Hill Group and Edward Jones applicant. The Clifton Partnership owner Jerry Signs Inc. Representative Certificate of Appropriateness for non-elilluminated freestanding signage located at 263 West Main Street, Abington, Virginia 24210 parenthesis parcel 011-1-85 and01-1-85A in parenthesis. ster report.

The applicants Abington Interiors Hill Group and Edward Jones and the owners Clifton Partnership and Representative Jerry SCS have requested approval of a certificate of appropriateness for the following items. Replace painted blue wooden post with a painted black steel post. Install one three feet by three feet, nine square feet non-illuminated double-sided aluminum with applied vinyl graphics freestanding building tenant sign with a painted black aluminum frame sat on top of the proposed painted black steel post as shown in the rendering submitted. located at 263 West Main Street. Tax map numbers 011-1-85 and 011-1-85A. The property is within the B3, the entrance corridor and can be seen from a public rideway. The subject property contains 222 acres and is legally described as Cummings Lot West Main acre.22. The existing building was constructed circa 1955. According to the Washington County Land Card, the building is occupied by Abington Interiors, The Hill Group, and Edward Jones. Access to the site will continue to be West Main Street and Plum Alley. Adjoining properties to the north are zone Old and Historic District Old and Historic Subdist 2, residential focused adjoining properties to the east, south, and west or zone central business district B3. The applicants requested the a COA for the following items. Replace the painted blue wooden post. Install one 3T by 3T 9 square ft non-eluminated double-sided aluminum aluminum with applied vinyl graphics. Freestanding building tenant sign with a painted black aluminum frame sat on top of the proposed painted black steel post as shown in the rendering submitted. Tax map numbers 011-8-25 and 011-1-85A

are zoned central business district B3. Businesses located in the B3 are allowed one freestanding sign per street frontage. The proposed 9 square foot freestanding building tenant sign structure meets the requirements of the sign ordinance. Questions for Miss Howard? If not, what is the pleasure of the commission? I move the COA be uh granted as submitted. And I'm assuming I do have a question. The colors are as represented. Yes, the colors will be as shown. Okay. Is there a second to that motion? Yeah, I'll second.

All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the role. Mr. Austin. I. Mr. Johnson? Hi, Mr. Thompson. Hi, Mr. Wilson. Hi, Mr. Schuman. Hi. Next order of business is a public hearing. Special use permit. Addie Herstein. Herstein applicant owner special use permit for home occupation category C in the high density residential district located at 338 Land Street Virginia Abington, Virginia 24211 parcel parentheses parcel 014-12-31 in parenthesis staff report

Hen applicant owner has requested approval of a special use permit to allow a home occupation category C and the highdensity residential district located at 338 and 340 Land Street tax map 014-12-31. The property is within the highdensity residential district and home occupation category C is a special use. Therefore requiring a recommendation of approval from the planning commission. The subject property contains approximately 0.5 acres and is legally described as WMR and Hazel M Bish prop acres.5 tax map number 014-12-31. Generally, the subject property is located at 338 and 340 Land Street. The building was constructed circa 1960 and previously occupied by Grace Lutheran Church. Currently, the applicant owns the building addresses the buildings addressed 338 and 340 Land Street and intends to convert the church to a single family dwelling and use the detached accessory building for a home occupation category C. The category seam home occupation is requested for a professional art studio. Access to the site will continue to be Land Drive. Adjoining properties are zoned high density R3 on all sides. The applicant proposes a home occupation category C within the highdensity R3 to operate a professional art studio from the detached accessory building on premises and occasionally host studio art classes to a few clients at a time. The SVP findings are the following. One, demonstrate that the proposed use when complemented with additional measures, if any, will be in harmony with the purposes of the specific district in which it will be placed. The R3 district intends for higher density residential uses and compatible public and semi-public land uses, which allowed a church with regular Sunday services to operate from this location since circa 2010. The applicant has applied for

applicable building permits to convert the church into a residence and the accessory structure into an art studio. Occasionally, classes will be hosted, but on a less frequent schedule than when the church was in operation. Two, demonstrate that there will be no undue adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhood in terms of public health, safety, or general welfare and show measures to be taken to achieve such goals. Screening. The proposed home occupation is screened by an existing dense tree line along the eastern, southern, and western property line. The existing tree line should remain intact to preserve natural screening. Parking. The minimum off- streetet parking requirements from home occupation category Z are not specifically stated within the zoning ordinance according to section 8310 interpretation of specific requirements for table 8.3.9. Uses not specifically listed shall be the same as for a listed use of similar characteristics. An art studio is considered a professional studio which requires a minimum of one off- streetet parking space for each 500 square ft of floor area. The applicant intends to use the accessory structure approximately 576 square ft for the home occupation. Standard single family dwelling units require a minimum of two parking spaces. A minimum of three total parking spaces are required. While there are not any marked or painted spaces, there is ample room for paved off streetet parking. Signage. Only one sign is allowed per home occupation. There is an existing brick monument sign structure on the property near the entrance to the parking lot approximately 2 feet by 2 feet. The structure may be retained and utilized for future signage or removed and replaced with the new monument sign not to exceed four square ft. The new monument sign may not be internally illuminated or the applicant may choose to utilize one wall sign a fixed to the rear accessory structure to be the art studio where the classes are held. The sign shall not exceed four square feet

nor be internally illuminated. All signs require a sign permit application to be submitted to the community development department with dimensions, materials, and rendering provided. The sign permit must be issued before any installation of signage can occur. One portable sign is allowed without a permit provided the portable sign does not exceed four feet in height, is not placed in a location that obstructs sighteline distance, and is moved inside when an event is not held. Three, show that the proposal meets the applicable, specific, and general standards required by this article. The planning commission can discuss with the applicant and make conditions within the motion for the special use permit. If seen that fit, the planning commission can incorporate conditions for the following. Other than signage and parking for the home occupation, there are no visible indicators of a home occupation beyond the property line. Parking spaces shall be 9 feet wide by 8 18 feet in length and striped or marked according to 44-8-3-7. At no time shall additional parking be made on the street. Storage of items for the business may not be placed in front of the building or be seen from the public right ofway.

Questions for Miss Howard. All right. Does the applicant wish to make a presentation? Oh, hi. I'm Addie Hursten of 338 Land Street. Share with some slides with you so that you can get a sense of what I'm going to be doing with this space. This goes fast. Sorry. Where do I point it to?

Thank you. Okay, this one. Okay, so um I've been a painter for many, many years, my whole life, but I've been a professional painter for the past 15, 16 years or so. I do a lot of traditional landscapes, uh florals, um fruit has been my obsession lately. Um, but I teach a lot of realistic painting classes and that's what I plan to do in this space. Um, you can see there there's um the one in the middle a demonstration. There's a real flower and then the one that I've painted. And let's see, I pressed the button and it didn't work. Okay, thank you. Um, so events that I'm planning on having at the studio include occasional workshops. So I'm thinking once maybe twice a month. Um, sometimes I'll do three-day retreat class. Um, and I plan on having an annual openhouse, but that will be the only time this space will be open to the public. Um they said, "Oh, you know, I need to indicate with my signage and get approval for that later." But um if I do have a sign, I wanted to say uh you know, open by appointment only, you know, because I'm not going to be open on a regular basis.

May May I interrupt you and ask a question about that? They were talking about the existing freestanding signage that currently exists. Yeah. Do you intend to continue to use that or not? Uh, no. There it actually partially fell over. So, I've already I've already removed it. I hope that's okay. Um, but it it was falling over. Okay. So, I won't be using that one. Sure. Pardon me for interrupting. Oh, no. Thank you. Okay. Do it. Babe, can you progress? I can. You just you just me up when you want me to. Okay. Thank you.

Um, so I added this slide just because I wanted to make the point that I teach um very serious classes. I mean, I like to think that they're fun, but this is not a paint and sip type place. I do not uh serve alcohol of any kind. And so, you know, students come to me who want to do serious work. They want to make meaningful art pieces. And uh this something that's important to me. Um, but just wanted to let you know that um, that's what I'd like to attract to this space and in case that was, you know, something that was of a concern. Um, wanted to share with you that my last art studio in Indianapolis, I also did a similar renovation. Um, this was in a historic district and you can see the before and after pictures on the right hand side. This is the interior of the building. Much like this building, it had uh holes in the floor. The structure had to be redone. So, um this building, these well, the sanctuary, which will be a house, had major structural problems. And so, we're working on that now. And you can see here um that the studio is this one that's at the back. It's you can't really see it from the street. Um I think this was perhaps the uh you know fellowship hall or you know the religious education room for the church. Um you can also see from this overhead view that there is a fair amount of parking at the front. The entire front of the yard is already paved. So, you know, for my classes, I'll only have, you know, eight to 10 people tops in my class. And, you know, this is more than enough uh space for the parking. Um I estimate, I've not

measured it, but I think it's like 10 to 12 parking spaces at least. Um just in case you guys wanted to see the before pictures, this is what uh the the space looked like a few months ago. Um and uh so the purple carpet is now gone, but we're working to uh change that into um my house. And then the one that's on the right is what will be the art studio. So um it'll look different when I'm all done with it, but uh thanks. Do do you have any questions for me?

I I have a question. When you say that you're going to do a a three-day retreat, does that mean that your students will be staying on site? No. No. Yeah. Um, no. They'll just uh stay in local hotels and um, you know, go out to eat and restaurants about town. I'd like to think it'll boost the economy in a very very small way is small classes. But any additional questions for the applicant? I have one for uh, Gabe relative to parking. Um, this is primarily a residential structure that will host on occasion, students, classes, what have you. You've got ample parking. Does the parking need to be painted?

It would have to be striped and then once construction kind of ends and everything, that would be part of our kind of final review or final checklist would be that it's striped, which you can see if you go on the back, it's kind of just a roll up where people can just park in those lanes. But anything in the front would have to be striped. Uh but obviously the applicant can do some landscaping to cut down that entrance and kind of create like a parking lot area as well where there should space too. But that's kind of like at our final checklist. Okay. And that that's covered a little bit in um recommendation. Yeah. What you what we could incorporate as conditions of the approval should we give the approval. Any other questions?

Yeah. What what hours do you anticipate, you know, like having these events? Oh, it'll usually be in the afternoons. I usually teach classes from 1 to 4:00 p.m. is what I like. It's a nice sweet spot. Yeah. But like not into the we hours of the night. Oh, no. No. Yeah. I'm Okay. No, I have other questions for the applicant. All right. We appreciate that. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Um, I'm going to open the public hearing. Um, is there anyone that wishes to speak to this uh request for special use permit? Okay, if you want to come forward. My name is Maurice Pope Barnes. I live at 417 Dmore Street Abington, Virginia. I own the property directly next door. I don't have a problem with that. I just have one question. Have you had the property survey? Because that sign and part of that property park you pass on my property and when the church put it there, I notified them with a certified letter.

That's something you need to know. That's my only comment. I'd like to stay at art studio, but you need to know that about that party. Okay, that's my only comment. Okay, thank you. Should we um incorporate something like that into the what we what the requirement would be or that's really up to the to the property owner to do to just verify where their values are. Again, still they still have ample parking. They have to stay on the property, so Oh, okay. It's kind of, you know, they have to do it anyway.

Um, any additional people want to speak to the public hearing? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing. Um, discussion. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion the COA be approved as submitted uh subject to um parking being identified as far as the applicable striping and obviously uh the meats bounds um being identified. Right. Is Is there a second to that motion?

Yeah, I'll second. All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the role, Mr. Austin, I. Mr. Johnson, I. Mr. Thompson, I. Mr. Pennington. You've got enough to carry. I'll abstain since I was not here for the full presentation. Okay, Mr. Wilson. Hi, Mr. Schum. Hi,

good luck. Uh next order business special use permit Appalachin Highlands Housing Partners applicant owner special use permit for residential cottage housing development in highdensity residential district located at TBD Taylor Street Abington Virginia 24211 parenthesis parcel011-1-13 in parenthesis. Um before we get started on this, one thing I wanted to note is that um when we updated the um ordinances uh in 2023, one of the things we did in that update was to make arrangements for developments like this, whether it's called cottage housing or or or has another designation, but this was discussed and the um uh high density district is allows for this type of development. And I thought we ought to note that in the beginning. Uh staff report.

Sure. I'll give uh Amber a little bit of a break here. Uh Appalachin Highlands Housing Partners applicant/owner has requested approval of of a special use permit to allow a residential cottage housing development in the highdensity residential district R3 located at 2B determined Taylor Street tax map number 011-1-13. properties within the highdensity residential district R3 and requires a special use permit therefore requiring a recommend recommendation of approval from the plan commission and approval from town council prior to completion. So here's just kind of overview map as you can see here. This is the property right here. Again, that's just a zoning map. Here's kind of an outlook of what the site looks like today. Uh background, currently a vacant accessory structure occupies the property. There is an existing natural vegetative buffer surrounding the property. The property has steep topography throughout. Access to the site will continue to be Taylor Street. However, there is an un unopened rideway adjacent to the northeastern property line. The unopened rideway shown in the picture to the left uh would connect Taylor Street to Henry Street. Town of Ammon currently has no plans to develop the rightaway and the rightway is currently utilized as a driveway for parcel 011-1-8. Adjacent land uses adjoining private zoned highdensity resident residential district R3 on all sides as you can see here. Staff findings. The applicant proposes a residential cottage housing development within a highdensity residential district R3. According to land use chapter 44, a cottage housing development located m located may be allowed in the R3 district with the approval of a special use permit. The SP findings are the following. One, demonstrate that the proposed use when complemented with additional measures, if any, will be in harmony with the

purposes of the specific district in which it will be placed. The R3 highdensity residential district is intended to allow higher residential density with compatible public and semi-public land uses when served by public water and sewer. Caj housing developments are allowed by SUP in the highdensity residential district with careful consideration to maintain open space and preserve a highquality residential environment. All adjacent parcels have the same zone and use permissions as subject parcel. This property has no under has has not undergone a zone map amendment and has always been R3. Two, demonstrate that there will be no undue adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhood in terms of public health, safety or general welfare and show measures to be taken to achieve such goals. Overall, all colleges will be arranged in a manner to allow common open space, private open space, parking and landscaping throughout according to the applicable specific and general standards found in section 7-2-13 college housing developments and section 8 design standards of the town of Evan zoning ordinance. Overall, all colleges will be arranged and amend oh sorry density according to table 7.2.13 2.13 cottage housing developments require four to eight cottages per acre on a 2acre minimum lot size. A total of 15 units will be placed on the 2.33 acre property. The maximum density of one cod per 4,000 square ft is met. Typical dimensional standards for main structures in this district include setbacks that are 10 feet from property line in front and side yard, 15 from the property line in the rear yard, and the maximum height uh which shall be 25 ft from grade and unless otherwise approved as part of the SUP. All cottages maintain a separation of 12 feet minimum, have a covered main entry porch, at least five feet in any direction, and measuring 60 square feet, a maximum ground floor area of 1,000

square ft, and an additional covered private back porch. Facade architectural plan shall be submitted that demonstrate a variation in building design, including building articulation, materials, textures, and other features. Typical materials are outlined in section 7-2-13F, but departure from the standards may be reviewed through an alternative design review process. Streetfacing facade should include changes to side inside materials and color. Building modulation with width of at least 1 foot and/or windows which include bay windows. More than one main entry door will be visible from the street and no cottage appears to turn their backs to Taylor Street. Common open space. Over 50% of all cottages must have a common open space which shall not include slopes of greater than 15%. Streets or parking area. Nine of 15 cottages of but a common open space including a dog park, pollinator garden, and picnic area. Private open space. Individual cottages shall shall have a minimum of 200 square feet of private space separated by a privacy fence, no taller than 36 inches in height, and no less than eight feet in any direction. All fences shall be designed according to section 8-2-9. The smallest private area is shown on page C102 as 6'4 in from the building to the privacy fence. This will need to be adjusted so the dimension is no less than 8 feet from from building to fence on the rear or the side. Landscaping. A landscaping plan shall be included with the site plan submission. The plan shall include the standards outlined in section 8-2-3 and 8-2-4. There there is an existing dense tree line surrounding the property line that may be retained and credited towards landscaping requirements if they are healthy and conform to the minimum size and height standards outlined in 8-2-7 and protection standards outlined in 8-2-8.

Screening is required for mechanical units and groundbased utility equipment. Rolloff waste receptacles will be utilized instead of dumpsters and no screening shall be required. Parking and loading. Parking lots uh should be designed according to section 8-3-7. Each space shall be a minimum of 9 ft wide by 18 ft in length. Striped or marked and include accessible off- streetet spaces are required in in accordance with Virginia uniform statewide building code. Parking lots for cottages are typical in rear or side. However, this parking lot will be clustered in the middle of the site due to the topography considerations. Low impact storm water development techniques are encouraged for parking areas and walkways. A minimum of two spaces is required per dwelling unit. A total of 30 spaces is required and proposed. A minimum of 10% of the overall parking lot is required to have interior landscaping parking islands with one tree for every five spaces and every and other shrubs, lawn or trees throughout. The parking lot should have reduced visibility from the street and should be landscaped and screened accordingly. Lighting. A lighting plan shall be included with the site plan submission. The plan shall include the type of lighting fixtures, location of fixtures, color temperature, height of poles, and illuminance of light as outlined in section 8-1-3. Lighting shall be pointed downward and away from adjacent properties. Mechanical or electrical equipment associated with lighting should be screened. Signs. The cottage housing development is allowed. One freestanding monument sign that is not internally illuminated. This monument sign shall be no taller than 6 feet with a total area of 16 square feet or less. Adequate landscaping shall surround the perimeter of the sign. All proposed signage to be installed must be submitted with a sign uh should must be submitted with a signed permit application into the community development department and be issued a sign permit before any installation of any signage can occur. Storm water management and erosion

control and storm water management or ESM plan shall be submitted according to section 8-5 of the town of Edmond land use ordinance. Three, that the proposed meets the applicable specific and general standards required by this article. A site plan, grading plan, utility plan, and street walking path and parking plan have been submitted for review and the document reviewed in determining if the requirements for cottage housing and community design standards have been or will be met. Overall, staff can conclude that the approval of this special use permit will con will not constitute adverse impact to public health, safety, or general welfare, provided that all standards outlined in section 7-2-13 college housing developments and section 8 community design standards are met. The planning commission can further discuss with the applicant and incorporate additional conditions within the motion for the special use permit. Uh we have a presentation from the applicant uh before they come up. Uh Mr. Wilson uh email me just asking about the storm water and uh plan and everything. Uh we recently or formally we were approved for a uh grant to improve the basin on Wheeler Street. So that would work into their plans. That's the reason why there's no plan yet because we were waiting till formal approval which just happened last week. Uh so again, Hagen Gil, he gave us a memo just to say everything will be met accordingly with the state regulations and town regulations. If you have any questions about what that plan would entail, uh he is here to answer any of those or the applicant.

So is that in lie of a detention basin? You've got two drainways that come into this. Megan, did you want to come up and describe This is Hagen Gil. He's the senior engineering uh technician. He's also our stormwater management facilitator. Hey, sorry I didn't hear what you said. No, I mean in looking at the plans and if you look I'm assuming what the lane group Yeah. here's uh I guess existing you've got two different drainways that flow into this property flat and there is no provision for detention basin and all of a sudden you're creating a number of imperous areas that create runoff.

Yeah. So originally that the basin that the town owns that's on the corner of WY and Willer Street. It was kind of when they did the neighborhood redevelopment uh they installed it then we had actually looked at uh for some like TMDL uh reasons actually upgrading that basin making it larger giving it a bigger capacity and just kind of happened that this project was going on at the same time so we could kind of use it as a regional basin for that whole area. So the design of the basin will take that into account. How much space is left in what are you designing the basin for? I mean because there's obviously additional property that is undeveloped.

Yeah. Yeah. Sure. So which actually we haven't even got the plan yet for the basin. It's just we actually just got the grant funding to start the engineering and stuff like that. So are we sure the and and not being problematic here? Yeah. Are we sure the basin can accommodate not only this project but future future projects? Yes, we would ensure that that would that was the point of actually going after the grant. So, we would ensure that it would or it just wouldn't wouldn't work. It would have to do something a little different. But yeah, I'm not familiar with projects of that nature. Scott, are you Yeah. Yeah. It should be fine. I mean,

seems like a cart before the horse almost, though. Well, a little bit, but I mean they can project what the runoff's going to be. So you've got your finished grade. Lane Group did finish grade on that. So you like Mr. Wilson stated, you should be able to project what the runoff is going to be combined with the historical runoff.

Yes. Yeah. And that's essentially it's going to be similar to the Meadows basin out there with all the different parcels. We're gonna assign them each parcel, you know, like a a drainage impervious area that can drain to it. Um, so the vacant parcels will have those very similar to the meadows the way it's configured. So it does like a max for each parcel. So if they couldn't, they would have to do something on site or and if I may interject, that might be these questions that you're asking, they might be more suited for the applicant. So if we could have their presentation, then I'm sure Matthew Lane could offer some insight into that. probably come on up. Yeah, you need to.

Thank you, sir. We We prepared preliminary calculations. We need Can you give us your name, address, and so forth? I'm Matthew Lane, uh, owner of the Lane Group at 310 Valley Street Northwest here in Abnet. Um, when we prepared the grant application for the storm water improvements, we did preliminary calculations on what the pond would need to look at. So, we've at least got the preliminary stuff together as to how it'll handle the additional runoff. And there may still be required some uh on-site work with some of the open spaces, but in general, we believe that the the the pond as it's proposed to be modified will be adequate to handle the development.

Okay. Questions for Mr. Lane? One of the questions um how is the water actually getting from this site to the basin? Well, we'll you have an aerial you have a site plan somewhere in that there it is. Um what we're intending to do there there is a storm drainage system already along the the road there that was installed years ago when the original pond was built.

We'll run calculations to see if that existing storm water system can handle the additional flow. If it can, we'll just pipe it over to the to that storm water system. If it can't, we'll we'll put in a new pipe from the development all the way to the storm water pond. And that was my question because you got an adjoining land owner. Yes. That Okay. Yes. I I think it will be adequate to to handle what we need it to, but again, when we do the final calculations, we'll know for sure. And if we have to, we'll you're put on site. Yes, sir. Additional questions. All right. Thank you.

Thank you all. U next would be the uh applicants presentation. I'm sorry. uh when when we open the public hearing,

the applicant will make a presentation and then I'll open the public hearing and then then you you'll have adequate time to unless y'all want to keep going on storm water first. All right. Maya Rice, um I live at 15506 Menota Road. Um, so the project that you have here before you tonight is called the Sta Taylor Street Cottages. And I'll give you a little bit of a background about how we even got here in the first place. So, um, the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia was started four years ago and their, uh, main goal were for health, children, and families, workforce development, education, and economic development. That's sort of the pillars of their organization, what they fund, what they look for in the community, how they try to um influence the outcome of the lives of four counties, Washington, Grayson, Russell, and Smith. Um one of the things when they approached the four counties um and asked them what was probably the most important thing that they needed in their community, every one of um the community said workforce housing. Um if you could go to the next slide. And so that is what we are proposing here. Um workforce housing for us is 80 to 120% of the AMI and that is a family of four making between 65 and $100,000. I want to put that out there because this isn't an affordable housing project. Um when we say workforce, we're we're not saying affordable. Um the houses um in that price range are to be sold between $200 and $300,000. Um, one of the questions that we often get is, "Well, aren't we competing with the for-profit market?" And I can tell you right now that we're not because there are no homes going into our local market in this price range. Um, you all

have a few subdivisions and a few um other projects that are happening, but for example, I think the one out on Green Springs Road is like 575,000. I think some of the other ones you have some rental ones, but really honestly there's not a lot of workforce development housing going on in most of of the community. So, why can we do this when maybe other people can't? Um, we are functioning as a nonprofit development organization. And so, one of the key things that we work with is this idea that we're not building these for profit. Um, the program that we're using is called a community land trust. Go to the next slide, please. Um, and a community land trust is fairly simple. It's a lot like a condo association. Appalachin Highlands Housing Partners buys land, they build houses, then Appalachian Housing Partners sells homes with a ground lease. So, it's basically a deed restriction that says when and if the owner sells the home in the future, they also have to pay that model forward. So, it ensures that if you buy a house from us for $215,000, you really can't just wait for the market to sell it and, you know, sell it for $400,000. If you are in it for certain number of years, then you'd get to to gain that equity. Um we think that's really important because that assures that houses um in this neighborhood and in the projects that we work on won't just increase the entire neighborhood cost and basically um create an overabundance of high cost housing. Go to the next one. Um so you kind of saw this a few seconds ago when uh Matthew talked about what the project is. Um I'll go ahead and go take us to the next slide. The great thing about this location, which I hope you all drove by it, but you know, it's less than a mile from William King, Main Street Retail and Restaurants, the Barter 3 Theater, HMG, and the Ballot

Health Campus. So, this is a perfect location for homes for workforce. Um, we imagine that, um, when we say workforce, we mean somebody like a Gabe um, working here for the town of Abington. We imagine a public works person, maybe having a spouse as a teacher. Um, so that's really where you get that 65 to 80 65,000 to $100,000 because that is a really critical point for people um that are trying to trying to purchase a home. We can go to the next one. So this is the surrounding neighborhood. Um, again, there's a mix of homes. Um, the size of the homes honestly are very similar to what we're proposing. Um, we're not trying to put this development with smaller houses in a neighborhood that has really huge homes. Um, so we think that it'll fit really nicely with the character of this neighborhood. Um, we talked a little bit about the open space that's required for a cottage development. So, you'll see that we have three um identified three locations specifically. um the dog park, a pollinator garden along the rear and then a gathering space in the front which is sort of our proposed picnic area. Um you can also then if you can go to the next slide Dave um we sat down with the town of Abington which everyone does um and we really said well what are your needs? So I think we started did we start with 16 or 18? We started with a higher density based on the actual density that would be allowed here and working with the fire department. You know we identified that the turning radius needed to be large enough so that you can get a fire department fire truck all the way through here. Um so that limited some of our total number of dwelling units. Um we needed this water and sewer connection that is inside Taylor Street um for the development. So that's a really great piece um that exists. We can talk a little bit more about storm water. Um, but curb and gutter are in Taylor Street and we will have to install curb and gutter on this project as well primarily because that's

what the code says that if you are adjacent to other um storm water then or if you're adjacent to other storm water features like curb and gutter then you also have to install it on your property. So we will be doing that. Um if you want to switch to the grant. So, um, talking a little bit more about the grant and the storm water upgrades to the pond. Um, yes, we found out that that was happening and in existence that the town had actually applied for a grant to upgrade this storm water pond that exists here on Wher Street. And one of the things that we indicated to the town is that we would provide the matching funds to that grant. Um because if we are if we just were completely isolated and said we're not going to help um improve that storm water facility, then we would again be having a giant pond and all of the storm storm water would have to be retained on our site, which would again limit the total number of units. It probably could be done, but um if there's the ability to partner um and be, you know, in that relationship with the town, we think it's really important and we're willing to provide the entire match. Um I will say that your comments about you know making sure that this is accessible so if this the joining land owners also wanted to put a development in that they could. Um you know we had some discussions originally about should we look at the total square footage that we're actually needing and you know kind of try to say well maybe we shouldn't put the entire match in because this basin once it's improved will be for the entire development. And we said no it doesn't really make any sense. Let's just go ahead and match it. That way the town can go ahead and improve that basin. Um and we will be beneficiaries but also anyone else who wishes to develop in this area will also be a beneficiary. Um so cottage design we have talked with a few different um designers and one of the things tonight that I would like to discuss with you all is really what your

what your which one of these really appeals to you. Um when we get to the end, I'm going to ask for a vote that's really primarily on the special use permit with the idea that we will come back um to talk to you specifically about the final design of the structures. Um there are a number of different people that do cottages. You can see that um on the top left you have something that's quite a bit more modern. Um you have what is probably more southern um and has that cottage feel on the right hand side. And then this developer that we are looking to potentially build the homes for us um with the blue ones in the middle, he's actually out of Asheville. So, we have a variety of people that are interested in this project. If you all approve the special use permit tonight and town council does the same, we will actually put this out for an RFP. So, we'll put the entire project out for an RFP. We'll see who comes back with a a really great price for us. Um, and that's where we would come back with that final design um, of the actual cottage. So, as you saw from the staff report, the proposed 15-unit cottage development complies with all of the applicable standards that you have in your town of Abington zoning ordinance. Um, some of those final things like a landscaping lighting plan. Um, again, those need to come after we fully designed the project because, as you all are sitting here speaking now, if for some reason we needed to do a storm water uh piece differently, we may or may not lose one of one or more of the cottages. So, um, tonight we're really looking at the design of the layout to see if you all agree with that and then also some of the design elements. So, the next one, um, the next sort of series is to kind of explain to you a few of the things that we're trying to, um, get to. Um, we're requesting approval for primary exterior materials, um, that would also be allowed to have high quality vinyl sighting. I know that when this was originally written,

um, it was really focused on on wood and those types of things. Um, but there are a lot of products out there um that you know would match very nicely in this community. Also, looking at those pictures of all of the surrounding units um in the neighborhood, I mean, they are all vinyl sighting, so it would make sense um that we would use some um alternative sightings and not be required to do wood. The next one, um, we'd like to do some brick and stone, um, accents primarily around the entryways. Um, we'd like to probably not have like a full width of masonry facade, but do it more of a a feature. The next one, um, we want to also be able to do some PVC or composite trim in place of wood or fiber cement. um some of these pieces that we we could do in wood, a lot of times they're just going to have a longer longevity if we use a different um product. And um okay, next one. We're talking pretty much about a simple gable or shed roof. really not going with a cross gable or a lot of decorative roof offline sets because one of the things that I will say with the cottage development is we're trying to fit a small homes um in a small area and really create that cottage environment where you interact with your neighbors and the front porch really becomes that piece where you're sitting on it, you're interacting. It's a community community that we're developing. The next one, um, we do intend to do the full porch depth, but we wanted to request approval if there was any, um, necessary situations where we'd have to reduce the porch width or depth just slightly. Um, we wanted to have some discussion of that. And really, we're trying to do, um, elimination of non-structural porch detailing. really when it comes down to building a house and I know I put it in the staff report

um didn't really put it in the presentation but you know it's gonna it really honestly costs the same amount of money whether or not you want to sell a house for $350,000 or if you want to sell a house for $266,000. The real piece that's important in there is that philanthropy is stepping to the table to say we're going to help subsidize that cost. We're not saying that if we build a house here for $250,000, we have to sell it for $300. We're saying we could build a house here for $266,000 um and we may have to sell it for 245. Um and so I think that's where some of these alternative design elements are really important to us. Just having that flexibility, we are 100% willing to either come back to you all with the final product or bring it to staff if if you all approve that. Um the final slide on the request and this is um to show you that you know you can get some of this rather than every single one of them being a different color which I honestly think wouldn't really necessarily work in this community. I've given a few examples here where the palette is a little more simple where you end up with you know two colors perhaps or maybe you do some different colored doors. Um, but you don't try to sort of make it uh Key West style or you know add a bunch of different colors in there because again wanting to fit into the neighborhood and the primary the primary color in the neighborhood is really that white vinyl sighting with black shutters. So we also will try to ensure that our final product fits really nicely into the neighborhood. So, our final slide is that we're requesting approval of the Taylor Street cottage development with the alternative design. Um, conditions to be included that we talked about are that staff would approve the cottage design, sighting, roof trim, and that we will of course submit all the final plans for lighting, landscaping, signage, and all of the infrastructure, water, sewer, storm water. So, with that, if you have

any questions for me, I'm happy to answer them. Um questions for Miss Rice. One of the questions, um your open space, um on the plan that is being drawn. Uhhuh. Um if you can get to just the overview. Okay. Right. Right there is fine. The landscape area that is the darker brown, is that proposed open space? It is. That would be the proposed pollinator garden. And that's common. That is common. Yes. I think the code specifies that the maximum is 15%. Great.

All right. From the rear of the structure on your left to the property line, you're roughly rising 20 ft. This this is a difficult piece of property to develop. It is. I mean, and I don't know what the distance is, but I think your slope's going to be greater than 15%. So, I mean, you mentioned that you were in compliance with everything. I don't think that's in compliance. Okay. I will have our engineer address that when he gets up here to address that. And if that is something that we need to request the alternative design for, I'd be happy to.

And the project personally I'm in favor of. It's just this is a difficult piece of property to develop. You've got two different drainways coming into it. Um that your waterhed in that area goes from the top of Taylor's Hill, top of Crest View, back side of Crest View all the way down. But um you know, and then you've got uh Henry Street that comes down as well. Um and the slope,

you know, the slides that you put up of the different uh facades and everything, that's level land. Um, but these are just little aspects that personally I would like to know that they're in compliance with everything. The project and the need for what you're trying to do I agree with. I do. Um, we've got a number of employees at Paramount Manufacturing that fit into the category. Um, you know, so I'm I'm in support of the project. It's just you want to make sure that dots all the eyes and crosses the tees.

Yeah. And we um again like when we first met with the town, we had a higher density. So if for some reason we end up in a situation where we would have to take out um one of these or more to create another open space that's common, we can. Um we just, you know, really thought that having the hillside with a pollinator garden that people are able to get to would make probably the most sense for that area in the back. Um and I will let our engineer address um storm water and You are definitely correct. It's not an easy easy side at all. And that that slope in the back will be greater than 15%.

It'll have to be um just just because we're going have to grade into the hill to get the road in and get the cottages situated, but also it's a tiered development. So everything's not going to be flat. The cottages will be tiered as you as you go up the hill, which I think will look good anyway. Yeah. And that's Yeah, Mr. Lane, that's what I was looking at. I think the back of the one cottage was 2146. All right. And the top of the slopes 2166. Yes. Yeah. It it it's steep. It's it's very steep. And and we've also got a we've got a a retaining wall there on the right hand side of the property as well.

Yes. um to to deal with the with this with the slope. But no, you you are correct. Absolutely. Additional questions for the applicant or for Mr. Lane?

Thanks, sir. We we are using every bit of the the property like you said. So it's and and as Mayanna said, the only thing we could do to get more flatter space would be to red to take out one or two of the cottages themselves. So it's just a like you stated it's a difficult piece to work with. Yes, it is. So absolutely. Thank you all.

All right. I do have a I do so relatable. So fast forward in terms of getting to the point where it's the the development is done. Are your applicants screened in a situation such as this in terms of when you have attainable you'll have a lot of people will be well it's cheaper in terms of doing that. So th those applicants are screened from a mortgage standpoint. That's great. And there will be additional oversight within the association after the fact to monitor restrictions and the things that are there. So that's the harder part is you're screening your applicants within the is there like what what goes into that is there

so um an applicant who would be interested in this program um would come to us and we would do basic a basic intake application um and we're actually proposing this is this would be online um they would talk about you know their income their current you know debt to income ratio um they would go through the normal things that you would basically for applying for a mortgage. However, we're just a program. So, they still are we have several banks that we're working with including Virginia Housing. Um and that is where they would actually receive their mortgage. So, we're not a mortgage company. We're just a program. So, yes, let's say you came in and you were making um $65,000 a year and your wife was making 30. Um then we would say okay you qualify for the program and then we would accept a mortgage that you bring to us or provide you um the banks that are working with us um to actually get a mortgage. So we're not providing those. Now the things that we will also intercede with are things like hometown heroes. So you know there's a program for firefighters to get down payment assistant spark which is um another program that allows people to get in. There's a dreamer a dreamer um program that allows down payment assistance for firsttime buyers of a home in a generation. Um so there's a lot of really interesting programs out there that we can really funnel people to that will allow them to bring down, you know, the cost of their actual mortgage. Um and so that's why we keep saying we're building houses that are market rate homes, but we have a lot of access to programs that people will be able to utilize. And um basically through Virginia housing, I mean there's programs up to people making $140,000 a year. So I think that a lot of people aren't necessarily tapping into all the things that exist out there. There's one really fantastic program where for every dollar you put in, they put a hundred up

to $10,000. Um so there's a lot of ways for us to create an affordable product without creating an affordable structure if that makes sense. Um and so our goal really is to leverage the programs that exist, leverage the dollars that Wellspring is willing to put into um the housing market and say, you know, philanthropy really needs to step to the table to start solving some of these housing issues because a normal developer, this just isn't there isn't a there isn't enough of a margin to make it appealing to them. Um and so who's going to do that? Well, that's where we can step in. And yes, you know, we're looking at buying lots that are already developed and doing one-off homes, etc. But one of the things we thought with this is that it really fits really nicely into the community. It fits really nicely um in sort of that walking distance to everything that you know people may not want to walk uphill, but it at least is close to where we think a lot of the workforce will come from. And um it's an infill project, right? Like it's infilling in a spot. Now, could we have come to you and just proposed, you know, six lots across the front? Sure. But it didn't seem like that would really meet with what this community um in that area really has going for it. So, um so yeah, we we're excited. Um we think that a lot of the folks that we've talked to um could really use this type of adventure. And I think, you know, we're really looking at ensuring that we're attracting young people. like, you know, Abington has a lot of houses that are attractive to maybe some seniors that are moving in, but this idea like I keep thinking of a Gabe or somebody of this nature, but you know, living in a community where you're with other people that's active that young families can have as a jumping off point. And um one of the things that they say about community land trusts is really that about 80% of people that come into a

community land trust use it as that jumping off point after they have been in this type of an environment and they've gained equity, they take that equity and they go into the open market. So it really is hopefully a path forward for um building wealth. And that consistently is what the Wellspring Foundation has found is that when you're really looking at a person's health, if you can improve their wealth, you can improve their health. And so this really is starting to create those pathways for people to not throw away their money in rent. Um find a unit that they can afford and hopefully it's a beautiful community and then they might jump off into another another house. Um so yes, we are trying to meet all of the standards as we indicated. Um we are working to help match the dollars on the grant for the storm water to ensure that we can have this density and that other parcels in the area that may want to develop could take advantage of that improvement.

Kind of piggybacking on Mr. Pennington, um I would anticipate you have multiple applications for every structure. How do you differentiate?

Yeah. So, um it will be basically a first come first serve based on qualifying um folks. Um we're hoping that it won't take um we're hoping that this isn't the last one. I think if we do our uh projections correctly, and we have done housing studies in every single one of the four counties that are in our region, um we'd love to be developing at probably 40 houses a year um in in the different communities. So, we'd love to do one and then, you know, come back and do do some more. So, we are land banking currently. Um, finding properties. You know, I think infill development is a is a thing that's really important to towns. Um, you know, it supports your restaurants. It supports um the small businesses. And so, rather than just pick a parcel out in the county and start from scratch, we're really trying to focus on on doing this type of work inside the town.

One more question and I'll be quiet. No, you're fine. ask the trust. Yeah. Okay. So, this is analogous to an HOA. All right. You're talking about deed restricting. Um, who is going to be overseeing this? Sure. I mean, because in essence, it's in perpetuity.

It is in perpetuity. Um, so the foundation with Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners incorporated Appalachin Highland Housing Partners as a 501c3. So, it is our responsibility um when we go through this pro process that the people who are in our communities understand the type of community they're in. So, not only will we have an application for qualifying, but some of the really interesting things that we're looking to provide is really that homeowners education, right? So, um not everybody has ever had to take care of a home and frankly sometimes you don't want to take care of your home, right? So, we're looking to provide that homeowners education, um, financial education as well. And I will tell you that financial education doesn't mean that, you know, the more money you have, the more educated you are about finances because frankly, we find that that's not always true, right? And so, um, just understanding how a mortgage plays into into your, um, into your process when they go to sell because they have that deed restriction, um, through the through our program, you essentially wouldn't be able to sell at that higher price. Like, we are going to be in communication with them on a regular basis. So, they become part of a program. Um, and I know you've kind of questioned the cottage development from the get-go with mortgages and and all of that. Um the style of development is really considered a single family condo, right? So most of us understand what a condo is. You don't own the land, you own the buildings. And that's really what would end up happening here. So Appalachin Highlands Housing Partners would still be the common space owner um and the owners would own the land um and um have the private open space as well. So there will be some management on our part is what I'm trying to say. like we would be the ones that would be part of

understanding who plows the parking lot in snowstorms and um the general maintenance of all of the open space areas would be part of our program. So we currently have se several properties that we've just purchased and we are doing the maintenance on them now. Um and they'll be you would have covenants conditions and restrictions relative to Yes. maintenance of the exterior um all of it.

Yep. Yep. And I mean obviously the town of Abington has a really strong um code enforcement arm. Um but in general a lot of people ask those questions of us and yes because the properties are with us in perpetuity, right? We then have to sell that house again. We have no incentive to let the property go. Um and so part of the stewardship of the land is that stewardship of of the homeowners. Um, and I went to a conference um, about other community land trusts um, last year and there was a woman there who said they have 1,200 homes in their community land trusts and every Christmas she writes a handwritten Christmas card to each one of her tenants. So, it becomes a relationship. It's really not just a we sell you a house at an, you know, an attainable price and we see you in 10 years. Um there will be a need for that stewardship piece to exist.

How is uh Highlands funded? The Appalachian Highlands housing. Sure. We've seen 501c3s that have gone under. Sure. So our operating budget is funded through Wellspring.

Um we our executive director Sean McMurray is also the executive director of Wellspring. So it's integrately tied together. Um it is their initiative. Um, if you are asking what happens if the whole community land trust fell apart, if that's your question, um, people would be able to own the homes. We would basically remove the deed restrictions, but we don't see that happening. Um, because one of the key things is just that, you know, it should be in perpetuity. So even if you even if you end up with a hundred homes, um, you still can continue to manage those with a smaller organization. But as of right now there um the support because the executive director is the executive director of both organizations really keeps that continuity going.

What's the due structure to on a monthly basis to the tenants? Yeah. So um we are honestly trying to keep it at a minimum. Um the real reason that you do a due structure is really to keep that relationship. It's incentive. I mean correct. Yeah. um it is not necessarily because we want to make money off of it. And so um right now we are thinking no more than about $200 a year. Um really it's on it's again we expect a lot of participation from them but we are not expecting a ton of um of dues

because that goes back to the feasibility of the overall longevity of the project because if this ultimately becomes a drain on all of your resources and essentially it's your you become a landlord and a renter rather than doing that. And if your abilities are not to capitalize upon equity and and appreciation. So if somebody were to sell with the principal balance that they pay down, is that essentially the equity that

um the equity that they would acquire is um the balance that they pay down, but also a portion of the sale price. So we um are looking at something like a two to 5% increase for every year that you're in it. Um, and so one of the things that is key is that you actually create the home when the first time you sell it, you're selling it at a lower, you know, a lower value because that's sort of where you kickstart the affordability in perpetuity. So let's say I sold this home, one of these homes for 210. Um, when you sold it in seven years, you might be able to sell it for 245. So all of the payment, all of the equity that you've paid plus a portion of the actual sale price will go back to you. So in that scenario, let's just say right now you were paying $1,800 in rent and you were able to get this at a $1,400 a month mortgage. There's a potential of saving $400 a month for seven years plus your equity that you're building in there um plus a portion of the sale. So you're just, you know, we've gotten really used to this idea of buying a house for 250 and selling it for$450. Um, and that is why we're in the situation that we're in. So I remember when I first bought my first house, um, I bought it for 89,000 and we sold it for um, I think we sold it for 107, right? So that was like a natural progression. We'd been in it for like 5 years and it just seemed like that was sort of a reasonable we took that equity and then we went to the next house, right? Um, it wasn't until I got up into a much larger house where suddenly I sold it for a huge amount of money. Um, and really honestly that's what's continuing to create the circle that we're in. Um, and so these really the whole goal really is to create attainability and

but the trust is actually setting the sale price. Correct. So I mean I understand paying down the the equity, paying down the principal. Yep. All right. Plus, I would envision a portion of the delta, correct, in between 210 to 245 is what they're going to be responsible for or they could share in. Correct. But it's not going to be a market price.

Correct. So, it'll never it should never be I mean, unless we had catastrophic situation, you would never hopefully be selling that house at market. Um, two things that are really important for that. Community land trusts are not allowed to be used as comps. So, if somebody came in and they were able to get a whole bunch of programs stacked together and they were like, "Oh, I actually had a mortgage on this for 187, you cannot look at that um as a realtor and use it as a comp." So, it does not bring down neighborhoods. Um it doesn't create any of that. Really, what it does is it really gives an avenue and a vehicle for people to um get into home ownership when they maybe wouldn't. And one of the things we keep talking about internally is when people say, "Well, who would buy your product?" Um, I think you said the opposite, which is like you think you we'll have them sold before they're even on the market, but who would buy your product? And we kind of look at that and chuckle because there's so much pressure right now on that middleric home, right? So, you have seniors retiring who are looking for an affordable house. You have people that are coming to our community for jobs um buying and converting churches into homes. But you have people, you know, coming into the community that have come from places where they've sold homes for more money. And so they're putting pressure on that market because there's no homes to buy. And so, um, I was talking to somebody in Russell County today and they were asking me about housing prices. And I said, if I go on to realtor.com right now and I look for like homes under $200,000, there's about 15 of them. And out of that 15, there's probably seven that I wouldn't want anyone to live in.

So when people say like, "Oh, the housing prices still seem low." That's because somebody's trying to sell a house that shouldn't be lived in for that low low price, right? And so, um, I think there there's a lot of pressure on the market from all different aspects. And this really is something that we think will be a solution to really keep that, um, that affordability in perpetuity. And we're trying this as a cottage one. Um, we're looking at some townhouse projects, which again, we could do that here in R3, right? We could do that's a lot of I think we could even do apartments, right?

Yep. So, all four kind of traditional, I guess, modes of dwelling types. So, single family, two family, multif family, and townhouse would all be allowed by right here. So really if they went with that sort of development they wouldn't even be here the town. Yeah. Yeah. So this is I mean we think that this is really valuable and we think that um it's going to be a very interesting and again I think it'll attract people like you said that work for your organization. I think it's a a young person's community. Um and I think it fits really nicely into that neighborhood. if they have the opportunity. That gets back into everything that you just mentioned, whether it's out of state, what have you,

applying, you made the comment earlier, first come, first serve. So, if this goes to the intended purpose, um I think it's great as far as working individuals, things of this nature. um you know it's individuals that may be able to afford you can have somebody come to you on a W2 basis or on a tax return basis meet your guidelines and then still may have resources elsewhere um that would you know and I don't think that's the purpose of this

no and these won't be Airbnbs um because again it's home ownership um we would be reviewing all of their finances so they would have to qualify um and the other key thing I think with that is just um the qualification piece. You still have to have a mortgage, right? We're not a mortgage company. So um all of those pieces go into effect. And one of the things that we find often um with people making you know the 80 to1 120 is that you know in a interesting way that actually gives you a lot of flexibility for loans. And so you know some of the struggle may be that people have car loans and you know they may have loans for student loans and a variety of things. So frankly your buying power in this is again shrunk right because you actually have more debts potentially more debts because you actually make sort of that sweet spot where it's hard to afford a house but somebody will give you a $40,000 on a loan car loan. So there's going to be um education and it'll be part of a program. But I think the key thing is really starting to fit a gap that we are really seeing in the housing market um with a product we think will kickstart that economic development piece.

Let's talk about the financing for just a moment. Uh, I come in to buy one of these structures and I go to a bank in town, secure a lean or the money to do it. The bank takes a lean on my property and I default on that. Sure. What incentive does the I mean the bank I guess is taking the lean subject to that deed restriction. Yes. So these are also Freddy and Fanny are both on board with um with community land trusts. We have seven in the state of Virginia, so it's not a lot, but there's thousands across the the country. Um the great thing is that we will never allow that loan to default. Okay?

Like we would buy it back, right? Like we we're not going to allow that. Um I even had some funny conversations about, you know, what happens if somebody's doing something illegal in here, right? Again, we would buy that home back. And in fact, there is potentially an incentive for us to buy the home back every seven years, right? So, let's just say they're sort of on a regular cycle where we buy the house back, we flip it, so to speak, we improve it, and then we put it onto the market again. So, um, there that's one of the reasons that banks really like community land trust. So, do you guarantee that loan to the bank? Right. Okay.

So, we're not so they there's really such a small risk to the bank um because there's not really a moment in which um we wouldn't be able to purchase that back. That is in perpetuity. It is in perpetuity and that's banking on big brother always backing it. It is um but again there are you know there are sort of ways to un unravel them um and that would simply be providing ownership of the land um and removing the deed restriction to the condo association in this case. But um I don't see that happening. Um,

I don't know how you do that from a mortgage standpoint because in the mortgage you're banking on basically your guarantee that it's never going to default. And all of a sudden, if you say, "Hey, the 501c3 is bankrupt. Everything is going to the individual land owners. You've got it where you break off your certain partial plant. Then I'm going to be calling the note." Yeah. Now that um now what that's worth, I don't know. it

right. We um in looking at the model in the first discussion about creating that I mean a lot of things like that were reviewed and looked at and that really never happens. Some of our questions that we asked were well what if it tanks? How can we guarantee that the person can sell the home? Um and again because we're kind of starting starting off the sale at a lower piece there is some assumption there. Now again, if we're in a sort of a catastrophic situation, we'd have to address it at that time, but there are more um more benefits in general with community land trust and um much fewer ones. We don't have examples where they've where they've unraveled. So,

additional questions for Miss Rice. All right. Thank you. Um I'm gonna excuse me. Now I'm going to open the public hearing and sir you you this be your time to I don't know if this is the right time or not but my name is Trey Hlet. I live at 4 442 Baltimore Street with my grandmother. She's 92 years old and I also look after the McCollum property. Yeah.

Okay. Well, this one it butts up to our property right there and the mumm property. Let's see. Go back to here. Sir, if you want to point it on the screen.

I can't even give me a different picture. Okay. Baltimore Street right here. We are I think and then Yeah. But anyway, the Mcllum family, they live in California and they wanted me to come up here and talk for them and my grandmother did too that they opposed to this. All the neighbors I've talked to, they opposed of it. Uh, I don't see how you can fit 15 cottages and that ain't three acres. Is it 2.33?

How much? 2.33 I think is what I heard earlier. Is that right? The Yeah. The concept is, and that's what the drawing shows, is that the density for this would be much higher than it would be, let's say, if you were building homes in a a neighborhood. You you can get what is it? Eight homes per acre. Is that right? Or eight homes. It's like eight homes per It's like four.

So, it's one cage per 4,000 f feet of land. Uh minimums minimum number density of cottages per development is four. Maximum number density codes per development eight codes per uh acre was two acres. So they meet and that's for oh that's so the high density residential are three uh eight codes per acre is two acres. So

what's the density for town houses? 4,000. Essentially, really it this is this is as much as you would get for multif family. Multi family might even be able to get more because you could just do all you could just do a big building that's pretty much an apartment complex and you can have even more houses here or more more apartments here, more people here. Same thing with town houses. So,

the point of the cottage development was to have increased density in certain parcels. This one doesn't really make that happen because multi could still be more here. uh but it's to provide connectivity and kind of create a more open space, more scenic space and really fit in more with the area. Now, obviously, if you dropped a big multif family building on this lot, it would not look any it would not match at all to what the surrounding neighborhood is. It's mostly all single families here. Um so really the cottage housing in this particular case doesn't really give as much density as you would like a multif family would give you a lot more. So

yeah, that was the point. I know they asked me to come up here and speak for them. My grandmother, she's 92 and she can't get out to come up here and Collins, they live in California. They have a lot of concerns and my grandmother does too. And I know they would like somebody to talk to them maybe about it because most of their properties but right up against that property. So I don't know if y'all could do anything by talking to them, sending somebody to their house or calling Mr. column or something like that. Well, that would be I mean you would be you would be available to to talk to them. Would you?

Yeah. If they have any question about what really the development is more than happy to talk to I don't know when I could get with you give you the phone number or whatever to call if you want to call.

He's concerned about a lot of different things. U which I know if you've done spokes to me then you already know. So but that's all I have to say to ask me speak for Thank you. Is there anybody else that wishes to speak to the public hearing? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing discussion. One question I have, Gabe, is um would the planning commission look at the ultimate design of the cottages within the development?

No, that's something that we can just assume based on because we have to ensure the condominium act to really you can they can bring it back and show you the design, but really honestly and based on how state code has changed, it's more of a staff thing than a board. You're really just looking at does the use match this area. The only thing I would ask is that I know personally I'd like to know what it looked like in the end more just because this is unique to the concept of cottage housing and I assume we're going to see more. So that would be just really a point of interest.

Yeah. Yeah. There's no problem. Either way, if the if the applicants are willing, they can come and show it. Or when we're kind of making our way through as the staff and the and the applicants are, I can definitely bring that in terms of design if that's something that's not on the agenda kind of items and just say, "Hey, here's the designs that meet the guidelines that what they're going to look like." So either way, additional discussion.

Is there a motion? I'll move we approve the special use permit. All right. Is there a second to that? I don't mind second it, but I'd like to add some provisions. All right. I mean, you can amend the motion to add the provisions.

Um, with Mr. Wilson's approval um that the COA be granted subject to confirmation that um the drainage of the lower basin will handle everything off of this project in ad in conjunction with adjacent properties and that the project meets all relevant guidelines such as the slopes for the common areas, everything of this nature that it's in compliance with all of the because what we've what we're looking at right now does not meet the guidelines.

Well, that to me that's all redundant because they have to go through the whole permitting process where all that is captured. We're not approve we're not we're not approving that plan they showed us with the the grading because we're just approving the concept for the land. Yeah. We're saying does this fit in here? Is this something the town wants and needs? And overall, you're approving, you're approving the use. Is this use this cod use appropriate for this area? That's really what you're looking at. And then as staff, we would ensure that all requirements, whether state or town wise, are met. Okay. In that case, then I'll second Mr. Wilson's motion.

Okay. Is that as presented then? Just to clarify. As presented. All right. If you would call the role, Mr. Austin, I'm going to be looking at this once again because this in the form of a recommendation to the town council. That's correct. and and I have some questions that I think could be answered between now and that time, but I I don't feel comfortable enough quite frankly tonight to vote uh I or n. So, I'm going to abstain because uh I will be looking at it once again as member of town council.

Mr. Johnson, I Mr. Thompson. I Mr. Pennington. Hi, Mr. Wilson. Hi. Hey, Mr. Schuman. Hi.

All right. The next order of business is a zoning map amendment and zoning text amendment. Town of Abington expansion of entrance quarter to Porterfield Highway parcels 104A- A-41 104 A-4-2 104 A-34 104- A-2-1 104 A-8-4 104- A-14 104-11-9 107-1-4 107-1-48 107-1-4A 104 A-43 104 A-42 1017-17-8 1017-17-6 1017-17-7 1048 A-13 104 A-3-1 104 A-3-2 104 A-32 in parenthesis. That was not easy. Staff report.

Staff reports easier than that.

Y'all need to take take a rest. I I think I'll take over from here. Uh request Town of Evan has requested approval for a zone text amendment and zone map amendment for specific parcels within the corporate limits along Porterfield Highway to be included in the entrance corridor. Porterfield Highway is a highly trafficked route as a primary entrance into the town and to the historic district. Um just for the record, I'm going to just say all these properties and the parcel numbers so everybody knows what they are. So, located at 325 Porterfield Highway, parcel 104A-41, 380 Porterfield Highway, parcel 104A-4-2, 439 Porterfield Highway, parcel 104A-34. 525 Lakeside Drive, parcel 104-8-2-1, 535 Lakeside Drive, parcel uh 014A-8-4, 555 Horfield Highway, parcel 104-8-14, 641 and 651, Campus Drive, parcel 104-11-9, 667 West Main Street, parcel Uh 017-1-4 667 West Main Street, parcel 017-1-48. 667 West Main Street, parcel017-1-4A. 667 West Main Street, parcel 104A-43. 699 McBroom Street, parcel 104A-42. 7-Eleven West Main Street, parcel 017-17-8, parcel 017-17-6,

Parcel 07-17-7, Parcel 104- A-13, Parcel 104A-3-1, Parcel 104A-3-2, and parcel 104A- A-32. While most of the subject properties are currently zoned in the general business district B2, there is one parcel in the north that is zoned agricultural, forestal, and open space AFOS and five par five parcels in the northwest that are zoned high density residential district R3. The zone map amendment and zone text amendment requires a recommendation of approval from the planning commission and approval from town council prior to completion. So here's what we currently have. So, as you can see, currently the entrance quarter comes up uh Russell Road and terminates pretty much at the intersection of Corfell Highway and Russell and then it uh goes to pretty much this is Walgreens right here and this is part of First Bank and First Bank's parking lot. So, it kind of terminates at West Main Street Porterfield Highways um intersection there. Here's some videos that we took. Sorry, the screen So this is going northbound on Porterfield. So we just exited that intersection of West Man Porterfield going northbound. And just so everybody knows, I think we went over this last time when we showed you the videos way back. Uh, one person was driving, one person was videoing, so this was done perfectly safe. I think that was one question that was

brought up when we first discussed this. Uh, so now you're kind of seeing we're coming up to that intersection where Russell Road and Porterfield Highway intersect. And we're getting off here, but it would just come up slightly past this light to our corporate limit up there. Next one going southbound. If you want to see that, I can play it. If not, Now we're going southbound on the opposite side and we're going towards West Main Street. Now we're about to get to the intersection of West Main and Portfield Field. And this is where you can either go straight to downtown which is our entrance border/historic district further down or you can go further down West Main Street. This is the current zoning map. So as you can see, most of it is B2. There's some R3 up here and this little spot right here is AFOS. This is what we're proposing. So again, essentially it's just connecting making a bridge between the already two existing entrance quarter parcels here and everything in yellow is the one that's uh selected. In terms of this, when we were selecting these, for some

reason, u this parcel is separate from this one. But when you click here, it selects both. Essentially, if anything were to happen, you'd only be looking at this parcel here and this one here for these because they are not adjacent to Porterfield. It's just how the property is connected in terms of taxes. So, for this one, for these, you really just be looking at these two. And then for this parcel since way in the uh I'm sorry for this parcel since way in the back you really only be looking at this section here. So it's kind of like if you think about what EO is like in the back they have that plaza up there and all you're not looking at anything up there but you look at where the monument sign is. So essentially it's that kind of scene but we're just selecting that whole parcel because it easier but essentially you would just be looking at if there was ever a monument sign or thing put here. That's what you'll be looking at because it's from the road and that's just the full list again. Uh taxes to the site will continue to be Portville Highway, Village Boulevard, Wolf Creek Trail, Lakeside Drive, and McBroom Street. Uh staff findings per code of Virginia 15.2-2283. The purpose of a zoning ordinance shall promote health, safety, and general welfare of the public. Therefore requiring that a zone text amendment and zone map amendment be reviewed for numerous specific items prior to planning commission recommendation to and approval by town council. The ZMA findings are the following. Consider the proper relationship of such amendment to the entire zoning plan. The underlying zoning for each parcel will not change. Adding an overlay district to specific parcels imposes additional regulations and will not have any adverse effects on the health, safety, or general welfare of the public. There are no conflicts with any provisions of the zoning ordinance. B. Consider the integrity and validity of the zoning districts described in this chapter. Porterfield Highway is a major transportation route within the town of Abdon leading northbound to other counties and southbound to interstate exit 14. Porterfield Highway connects Russell

Road and West Main Street uh two major entrance routes to downtown and the historic corridor. as a significant access route to the historic district. Porterfield Highway may be taken into the entrance corridor to ensure future development is compatible, attractive, and well planned. Uh C, avoid isolated unplanned spot zoning changes in the zoning district map. All parcels will be taken into the existing overlay district. The underlying zoning will not change. Uh D recognize that a certain element of stability is desirable and land use controls, but conditions and standards will ch uh will change. All parcels taken into the entrance coral will require stupid appropriateness for new developments or redevelopments. Existing structures and centers shall be considered grandfathered or legal non-conforming if there are any such cases. Uh e consider the right of all systems to be treated reasonably. Adjacent property owners were uh sent one certified mailer in January and two certified mailers in February. One for planning commission, one for town council. Uh public notices were issued in a newspaper of general circulation, posted online to the town website and social media page, and posted at town hall in the kiosk box outside the first floor offices. Field notices were placed on February 17th, 2026. A list of parcel numbers, owner names, and physical addresses that will be affected by the possible zoning and text amendments are included as attachment A, which you see here. F. Evaluate all changes based on the comprehensive plan and comprehensive analysis community conditions. The Abdan comprehensive plan was updated in 2020. There are specific references to the ent quarter and forfield highway in Abington. In 2003, Abdan adopted a historic district entrance quarter overlay district to achieve and enhance land development pattern and retain the town's historic character. New development within entrance corridors leading to the historic district may meet design standards for landscaping, signage, architecture, lighting, and site planning and be approved by the planning commission. Corville Highway serves as a major north transportation corridor to adjacent counties. Uh just

to give you a little idea, I had our uh economic development specialist run some numbers. The average daily traffic or AD or ADT is approximately 24,000 vehicles per day along State Route uh 19/4 highway uh between Russell Road and West Main Street. So is a very highly uh traveled route. That's actually I think more than uh Street is uh the town's gateway entrance corridors at Portfield Highway. That's just another reference in our comprehensive co in our comprehensive plan. Overall staff can conclude that the inclusion of specific parcels into the entrance corridor shall not constitute spot zoning and is in line with the town of advent comprehensive plan adopted in 2020. Um as I mentioned all public noticing was done accordingly to state regulations. We even sent out an extra one in January so we could give the public ample time to know what was going on. So really the we started our process in January for a certified mailer but the official state required one started in February. So

questions for Gabe responses to those notices we got. Let's see here. I think I'm just missing two. One's from current property owner 585 South Boulevard East. And actually that's the only one I'm missing for the ZTA and ZMA. That's the only one. Everybody else has received either the PC mailer which we sent out or the TC mailer. So, everybody else has received it. And have they made any comments back to staff regarding their position? Not that I have heard, but Amber, I had one person Oh, Amber, can you come up to this?

I had one person call today at about 4:45 and ask if the meeting was public. Are they here? President's Day, they are here. And that's the only call I received on this particular portion. Thank you. Additional questions? If not, I'm going to open the public hearing that way.

I'm at 525 Lakeside Drive um with my mother, Josephine Shelton. She's on your list. I guess we're one of the few residences involved in this. Um, honestly, I'm I'm still not clear on what's going on with the the corridor anyway. Are you expanding Porterfield Highway? Is that the idea? Or just reszoning right now? So, we're not and we're not reszoning it technically in a sense. So, we're expanding the entrance corridor, but your zoning will not change. You'll still say R3. May I ask where? 525 Lakeside Drive. the house with a pond in front of it when you're in your video when you were driving by. Okay. Which side could you? Yeah. This one right here.

Uh well, it's hard to tell from your map, but when you had the video going, you drove past it. It's the one with the uh Here we go. Um well, your partial number you have on on your list here is 104A. Uh 21-2 make sure I know exactly where you're talking What was the parcel again, sir?

Uh 104. Sorry. Oh, yeah. You're good. Um 104- A-2-1. That's corrective there. I have have it how I have it on screen. Yes. And that's what you had on paper, but I'm not even sure that's the right partial number from what our record show.

It's right at Wolf Creek Trail. Your cursor is almost on and it's right across from Chameleia Center. Go left right there. Okay. And that's where that's where the pond is. In fact, the uh my neighbor from 535 is here as well. Uh we just came down to see what we could uh find out about what's going on. And so your zoning won't change. It'll still be R3 and everything. And as I point out when I was presenting it. So how when you click on that parcel, so if I clicked on this one here, for some reason it selects this part here that's adjacent to Porterfield and the actual where the house is. So

yeah, there's actually I believe that's actually two separate partals. I don't have the numbers, but I believe that was a separate piece of land that we also own. So Okay. And this is from the county. So this is what the county's records have in that sense. But essentially, if anything was to develop on this piece of land, it would come before planning commission in terms of review. But if anything happened at the house here, they wouldn't look at it because it's not adjacent to Porterfield. We're just going by what the records that we have and that the county's provided us in that sense. So that would just be down next to Porterfield, which is where the pond is, right? Yeah. And are there plans to expand Porterfield?

No, not to this point. We're just expand the entrance corridor, which will be from all the parcels that are along Porterfield Highway to the town's limit. So the extension Porterfield is not the actual physical expansion of the road is not occurring. It's just it's just an expansion of the overlay district. So again, for same thing with you, sir, for your uh parcel that's connected to 535 Lakeside Drive, essentially if anything were to happen, which is this very small piece of land here, they'd only be looking at this piece here. If anything were to develop there, but essentially your zoning staying the same, nothing would be changing that sense. So if you did renovations on your house here, they wouldn't look at that. Okay? only the partial and that's okay.

Yep. Gotcha. We just had to go through that because when we clicked it, that's what showed up, right? But obviously when we're doing the map, I can tell our our third party just to select that one parcel. So when it shows up on our map, it's just that one singular parcel that's connected to. Okay. And you're going to tell her that then is that the you're you're saying you'll let them know that just that parcel is okay.

Yeah. So and they can do that. They can just select that one. It's like a polygon almost. And when you do that sort of system and I can just say, you see this part right here? I know it's two. Just select that one. So if if you ever propose something that said, hey, I'm going to do a development on this land. We would look at the site plan and we're like, oh, it's for the house. They're planning commission won't have to look at it. Staff doesn't have to look at it. You'd have to go through any permits, maybe for building if you need some. Well, down the the parcel by the by the road is basically just the pond. We don't have any structures down there. plan on doing any building, but just wanted to ensure it wasn't didn't relate to the property where the house is?

No. Yeah, because we only allowed to do what's adjacent to the artiller road, which in this case is Portfield Highway. It's just because how the when you click on the parcel from our records that we have from the county, that's what selects it. But when we actually do our like uh putting it on our map that you see here, you if you clicked on and I'll do this here so you can see. So, if you go to planning and zoning, you'll see it says entrance portal parcels here. See how they're all red, right? So, when I talk to our third party JS people when they're going in, I'm going to say just select this parcel here. Okay? Or just select this parcel here for for you for you, sir. I'm not going to say select this one or select this one because they can't review it. It's not adjacent to Porter.

Okay? So, and again, your zoning is not changing. You're still R3. Okay. I think answer my question. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, sir. Any additional comments for the public hearing? If not, I'm going to close the public hearing. Any discussion? We've been discussing this for a while. So,

yes, I I apologize for that. But after uh our planner, Juan left us, uh we, you know, just had to make sure things were run smoothly. And then we were able to hire Amber who's doing a fantastic job. So we're able to kind of catch up to uh things that you were requesting previously. So I appreciate the patience and uh we're ready to move forward however you want. Additional discussion. If not, is there a motion? Uh I'll move we approve the proposed zone map amendment and zone text amendment. as presented. All right. Is there a second to that? Yep, I'll second it.

All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the role. Mr. Austin, I. Mr. Johnson? I. Mr. Thompson. Hi. Mr. Pennington. Hi. Mr. Wilson. I. Mr. Truman. Hi. Uh, all business not matter matters not on the agenda. Do we have anything else? Any announcements?

No, I'm going to be setting up kind of those introductory meetings for you guys for whoever selected like infrastructure or tourism or whoever you uh picked whatever group just to kind of meet and greet. I know uh fire departments reached out and said they're, you know, whenever we're ready or whenever you guys are ready to meet with them and just kind of go over stuff. Same thing with public works. So, kind of be a good introductory one. So, I'll be setting those up shortly and the RP will be Sounds good. getting finished up and send to our project manager to review to make sure everything's in keeping with what we need and then it'll go out. Do we have a a vendor for the um comprehensive plan yet?

Not yet. No, we have we'll get the RFP out and then we'll go through our review process. Obviously, you guys will look at them too and then uh go from there. Any additional discussion? Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Second. All right. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Um I will I will be out of town for the March M