Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. so Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you . . Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. so so

foreign

. .

Thank you.

I call to order the Lynchburg Planning Commission meeting for Wednesday, June 10th, 2026. We're not gonna be hearing our meetings, our minutes from the last meeting until our later meeting this month. So we will now be moving right to the public hearing on the petition of 1612 Concord Turnpike LLC to rezone approximately three and 294 thousandths of an acre located at 1612 Concord Turnpike from I-3 Heavy Industrial District to B-4 Urban Commercial District to allow for an event space, hotel or apartment units, restaurant, pool, gym, and parking.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, members of Planning Commission. The purpose of this petition is to allow for the adaptive reuse of the existing historic structures at 1612 Concord Turnpike. Our future land use map recommends downtown uses for the subject property. Downtown is our central commercial core of the city and contains a mix of retail, entertainment, restaurant, residential, and other uses. Demolition of historic buildings and construction of suburban style low density or low intensity development is inappropriate. The subject property was annexed into the city in 1870. The existing I three heavy industrial district was established in 1978. Our zoning ordinance describes this district as one that provides for industrial and other activities which produce the highest levels of objectionable characteristics permitted under federal and state regulations. The future land use map designation for downtown use was established in the downtown 2040 master plan, which was adopted by council in November of 2018. The plan also identifies this area as a gateway. These areas signal arrival into downtown Lynchburg. The property at 1612 Concord Turnpike consists of approximately, let's go with that slide, approximately 3.29 acres and contains a 59,000 square foot two-story brick warehouse constructed in 1899. The property also contains smaller outbuildings and several deteriorated concrete foundations where previous warehouse structures once stood. The property is bound to the east by Concord Turnpike and the James River, to the west by Norfolk Southern Railway. There are also industrial uses adjoining the property on the north and south sides. The property is located within the Lower Basin Historic District, which is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places as of 2023. The warehouse built in 1899 is listed as a contributing structure to that district, so the property is eligible for state and federal historic tax credits. Using the tax credits for rehabilitation of the building would ensure preservation of historic features on the property. The property is located in the flood zone, and a large portion of it is also located in the current floodway of the James River. FEMA is currently in the process of updating the city's flood maps. The current draft maps show the floodway in this area being revised, which would actually remove the property from the floodway itself. Whether or not the map is ultimately revised, the petitioner would tailor the building and site plans to meet whichever applicable floodplain requirements are in effect at the permitting phase. If the petition is approved, the existing warehouse structures would be renovated to include a mix of hotel rooms and or apartments on the upper level of the structure with commercial spaces on the ground floor. Commercial uses include a restaurant and event space as well as potential spaces for other tenants. Amenities for residents and or hotel guests would include a pool and gym. As mentioned previously, the property is currently zoned I-3 heavy industrial, which severely limits development, redevelopment opportunities on the site. And many of the permitted uses in the I-3 district would be inappropriate for an important gateway as described in the downtown 2040 master plan. The proposed to be for urban commercial district would allow flexibility in the range of uses and development standards for the site. And the before district would also align with the future land use map recommendation of downtown use. The rezoning facilitates the adaptive reuse of an existing industrial building while also preserving historic character and improving the gateway to downtown. Approval would allow the building, which has been vacant for several years, to return to an active use. The Technical Review Committee reviewed this petition most recently in March of 2026. Comments were minor in nature and would be addressed through the site plan approval process. Thank you.

Great.

Thank you. And who's here to speak on behalf of the petition? If you could please come forward, state your name, sign in, and tell us a little bit more.

Yeah.

Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Casey Service with Surface Architecture. I'm here with Amy Seip with AccuPoint Surveying and Design and Tony West, who's the property owner. As always, Rachel did a fabulous job of saying everything I was gonna say. But generally speaking, the flume calls for this as a downtown designation and the industrial zoning doesn't match up. And on top of that, the industrial zoning doesn't allow for this building to be used in any real significant way. And so without some form of, change, it will be hard for it to do anything other than to just continue to deteriorate. So we're proposing this rezoning to be for the first floor, sort of no matter what happens with the updated flood maps, residential won't be allowed on the first floor with the floods on the flood the flood level, I think it's like four or five feet above the first floor. And so we've had conversations with DHR on the tax credit side that there's not really a way to, even though we have the ceiling height, adding a floor to get us out of the floodplain isn't really a feasible thing with the tax credit. So the first floor and the two outbuildings will be commercial in nature, no matter what that status is. If the flood... if the updated flood maps are approved in the near future then that opens us up to the ability for the second floor to be apartments versus a hotel or short-term rental type situation which is why we're asking for the flexibility for for both or showing that it may be one or the other um and yeah the other we were uh commissioner woodson and i were talking before the um the meeting started a little bit about the site and the parking on the bottom right was all, at least as of the 1950s, I think 90% of the site was building. And so the concrete slabs and hard surfaces is already there so that we'll be able to, so a lot of that parking is basically, needs a little cleanup and repair, but we're not making significant changes to the site, so. That's everything over here. You guys have any questions?

Thank you so much. Is there anybody here who would like to speak in favor of the petition? All right, anybody in opposition to the petition? If you would like to come forward, please state your name and sign in.

My name is Jimmy Sly. I own Furby Johnson Company, which is adjacent to this. I've been at Furby Johnson in the Lower Basin for 63 years. I bought it In 85, I got wiped out in 87, stayed there. I have no problem with putting a hotel. I just want to know. I have been changed. I was industrial. Then I was put in a floodplain. Then I was taken and put in another district. And last year, I was put in a historical, which I did not want to do. I have a building across the street from 1611. I have 1611, which we operate every day. And like I said, I don't really want to say anything bad about it because the thing is rotted down. It's bad. But to take away the industrial, I've been put in the historical, which I didn't really want. My question is, what am I supposed to do? I own the land across the street from it. I bought that from Lynchburg Foundry. I have another building over there, 1614. I have 1611, 1614. All the way down the river. I own down the riverfront. And I just had the gas company put a pipeline down through the middle of my property. They said it was the city of Lynchburg. I talked to a lady, Kate Berger. She said, no, it's your property. Now I'm having to get an attorney to fight that. So what else am I supposed to do down there? I employ 20-some people. Total of 30-some. I have branches in Harrisonburg, Covington, Salem, and Lynchburg. So I mean, I'm not against it. But I want to know what I'm supposed to do. Where am I supposed to go? Where do I fit into this deal? And I think I'm legitimate to ask that after 63 years on the lower basin.

Quick question. That gas line.

Yes.

Were they replacing a gas line or was it a new gas?

New. And I told him, man, he said it was on the city's property. Well, I talked to Kate Berger and I have an attorney working on it right now. I didn't want, because the city, the problem of it is if you've seen the 2040 project, have y'all seen that? That is going right down through where that gas pipeline is. The city wants my building across the street, which they can have it. Just give me some money. Everything's money.

So the gas was the gas line to service your property or someone else's property?

It's not for me. It goes to Rock 10, which is now something else.

So you didn't sign anything?

I didn't sign anything.

They didn't ask me to do the squat, to be honest with you. Did you know, based on your surveys, that they put it on your body?

Yes, I just had the property surveyed two weeks ago. And Kate said it was on your body. Right. I had it surveyed two weeks ago.

And if I could interrupt, I mean, I think this is a good conversation. It's very important. I think this is something you need to get with Ms. Fresheisen about so you kind of understand what's going on with the zoning around it.

I mean, it's been zoned three or four times.

Every time I turn around, it's been rezoned. And I didn't have anything to do with it. Since we were only looking at this one parcel, I think it would be good to talk to them. And I recognize that you're not passing judgment on the project itself. And that's what we're here to hear about.

No, because my building was built in 1878. Right, right. Have you ever been in a building? The building next door was beautiful. I bought a lot of stuff from Fairview Johnson. I know who you are.

I've seen you before. I think it would be a good conversation.

The thing of it is, I want to move. The city does not want me there, to be honest with you. They don't want me down there anymore. Right, right. I don't fit into the scenario or the plan.

Yeah, with our policies, we're not allowed to really talk about things. Yeah, I'm just telling you, that's what I feel like. I appreciate your comments.

If I could find a place in the county, I would leave Lynchburg and take my millions of dollars off of business. I'd leave Lynchburg and go. Just get that paycheck. I've had it.

Well, yeah, you might want to connect with our colleague down here, too, at the end of the meeting.

But thank you for your comments. I do right-of-way acquisitions for a living, and I've worked with the city in Cape Cod.

Yeah, well, I'm just telling you, I don't know what to do. We need to move with them digging streets up every week. I mean, I know what you're saying.

Yeah, we're not allowed to talk about other projects here.

Well, I'm just telling you, that's in my decision. And if you want to buy me out, I'm saying. But I just want to know if I'm still I3 or whatever it is, industrial. Will I stay that way? Right.

Yeah, we don't do anything with that. So your question, your concern is that will your property, if this is zoned, will your property stay zoned? Industrial, yes.

Yes.

It will not change. Okay.

It's only in this segment. I don't know if I'm right. I can't see it. You need to be 83 years old.

You can't see much. Do your best.

Does that answer your question?

Once the public hearings comment is over, I can address that.

I'm not against it, but I'm not for it either.

Thank you. Anybody else here to speak in opposition? Okay, no emails or voicemails. We'll go ahead and close the public hearing and address questions to Ms. Fresheisen or to Mr. Service.

Just on that last public comment, just to speak to what he was talking about. I believe his property was included in the historic district expansion. I'm looking at Casey. But that is not the same as being in a local historic district. So it doesn't mean he has to go through historic district or HPC, Historic Preservation Commission, alterations that sort of thing like we have in a lot of our residential areas it's not like that um it's it's uh it's something to help if the property were to ever you know move to something like a use like this they could use tax credits that's the benefit right um so it's not it's not an additional um yeah it's not a regulatory thing it's honorary yeah

So I have a question about the floodway versus floodplain. The floodplain would be where water just rises in the floodway is where it has a current. What is the difference between those two?

so the flood way uh i would have to refresh my memory on the definition to be quite honest with you and the fema conversation who wants to answer please come forward and explain just explain the ramifications and just so that the commission knows the you know the conversation with fema and the flood maps has been ongoing for quite some time i think that's why you know the petitioner is ready to move forward, whichever way the maps go. That's, that's been a long, DCR has been involved. It's been a long process. Yeah.

And would you please go on? You can sign that.

Sure.

Amy site. Oh, go ahead. Sure.

My memory is not that good, but I do remember when this flooded, I was 15, 20 years ago and Griffin pipe was underwater. A couple of feet look like, I don't remember if this was underwater or not. Does anybody remember?

I think it was. Same thing down where all those restaurants are. They were... uh underwater yeah the depot grill they were all underwater back in 87 and as long as i've been here i think there was another flood that reached that same level too i think it may have been square oh wow really yeah it was you know very very difficult flood there when are the new maps and maybe you can speak to when the new maps are so they have so they have draft maps so um

Correct. The new ones ratio? The draft. Oh, the draft.

So there's an acceptance period. There's a public hearing period. It's a federal FEMA. So, you know, that tells you right there that, you know, FEMA in itself is a, you know, whole ball of wax. So floodplains, everybody's in some sort of floodplain. Even if you're in floodplain X, that means you're just outside of a 100-year flood. So floodways are typically seen as areas of more frequent flooding. Now we know that this area has not flooded up to these buildings in 35, 40-ish years. So they've gone back as FEMA has, just like a census, they have a map review period And so they will go back and as we all know, development occurs and so that's why they revisit the maps. So floodways also have an established base flood elevation. And so anytime you do a modification, some of you may have heard of letter of map amendment, which you can get your structure removed from it if you do certain preventative measures or if you can prove Like sometimes your property may be in it, but your house is not in it, and so you can get your house removed from the floodway. How your restaurant is not in it, I still can't figure that out. Because when I looked at the map, I was like, man, you got lucky. But that's what it is. It's historical flooding. They look at all those. They look at what's gone on just in the overall watershed of the area. So you can imagine how long that takes to do for the whole country. So it's not just our area. They have, you know, like I said, the census type thing that happens for each area where they start to review those and the development that's occurred upstream all the way downstream and for us to the Chesapeake Bay, so.

Great, thank you.

I just, I'm in support of this project. I think it's going to be great for downtown. I think it's going to be great for tourism and hopefully give an extra boost to the investment of the amphitheater. My only comment is related to the emergency services section 10, where there was no comment. And I guess I'm just confused. If it's in a floodway, floodplain, flood anything, the in and out of that area is really difficult, I guess, in that scenario. So are there no, I mean, how is that, how would that be managed? Yeah.

Yes, please. Good evening, everyone. What it is, We have the best swift water rescue service in the city. So that's no different than if an ambulance came up or a boat came up. You're always going to know it floods down there way before. It's not like a flash flood that may occur in certain parts of the city. You're going to know days ahead of time. I'm personally financing everything. Nobody's invested. That's why we said hotel or something. No one else would be in danger of losing anything. We'll evacuate people out. We'll put policies and procedures in place to have everybody leave the facility. So you're no ahead of time. We'll lock it down. We have flood way doors and everything built in to secure the facility. I'm going to spend at least $15 million there. Or we can wait until somebody burn it down. And then it's just another piece of work.

I think it's a great project. I was just curious about that particular section. Yes, sir.

But we do have the best in the state, I believe. Isn't that what we said we had? The state of Virginia? Swiftwater Rescue here.

I hope.

That's what they said.

That's what they said. yeah i'm uh i'm i'm generally supportive of those types i think the reuse of properties uh even even like mr sly was saying you know businesses come and go and after a period of time a business might move and it's so hard to find people who will use them so i think that it's great that we have mr west and other people in lynchburg who want to reuse buildings So I generally am very supportive of this and I think that it's an interesting proposal now that we just saw a hotel that got transitioned over to a nonprofit. It'd be interesting to see if we had another hotel pop up in Lynchburg downtown, so.

Yeah, I've been doing this for a while.

First time I've heard the term adaptive reuse. I love it. It describes what we're doing. I fully support it. So I personally

There's some things, those of you who are familiar with me know that I'm not a fan of parts of the city. I am a fan of using old things to do new things. And I'm a fan of downtown development, particularly if it's mixed use. Now, Mr. West is willing to incur the risks of flood damage, that's on him. The one outstanding little mark that I have is that in the past, Sometimes the Planning Commission and Council will come and approve conditional use permit to change the zoning for a specific project. And then once all that is done, the development rights are sold to somebody else who does something totally unexpected and different.

If you look at my record, I've never sold any investment. I don't even know what I'm holding. It's hard to let go.

I have a problem. I have an addiction.

The combination of that record and the floodplain, floodway.

I would probably make it unlikely to sell.

There's a lot of limitations to this property. And by using federal and state taxpayers, Mr. Sly did offer him over $2 million years ago for his property, which is a much smaller piece of property. And by making it historic, it actually raised the value of his property. Because when you use historic federal and state tax credits, you can beat 45% of whatever you spend. So if I spend $15 million, pretty much I'm going to get back half my money, just giving you the round numbers. So that makes it more advantageous than any other type of development.

Right. Now, is that...

i mean i was a little unclear to the tax dollars apply uh there's an attachment there as to whether or not it's a floodplain as to how it's developed and into x or y if one of you would like to come up and speak to that so it's easier to hear on that microphone so the historic tax credits are federal and there are federal and state historic districts which as rachel said are different than local historic districts they the state and federal districts do not require you to do anything. Tony could go and tear down that building tomorrow. They can't say a word. What they do do is give you incentives to rehabilitate and they have certain rules. The overlap between, and that's to do, you know, we basically, there's a, it's a three-part application. We write a report, say this is what we're gonna do. Send in drawings, get that approved, do the work, send in photographs and accounting, and then they come back and say, yes, you qualify for X number of dollars of credits at the federal and state levels. Where the overlap is with the flood, zone is because the building is historically designated, there are some exceptions in FEMA's regulations and the building code that allow for alternative flood proofing methods that wouldn't be permitted in a new construction building. So in our case, the floodplain is up above the windows on the first floor. So in a 100-year flood, the water would be up there. So what we will have to do is essentially install metal brackets in the mortar of the brick at each opening that will then, they'll be there permanently, so they won't, but they're minimal, so they won't impact the historic character of the structure. And then in the case of a flood, which in this zone, as Tony said, we'll have several days' knowledge that it's coming, part of the building will be storage for removable gasketed panels that will then go be installed over every window and flood proof the first floor can you insure a building like that yes and with because of the historic status we can do those love that level of work and get it insured is that backed up by the city or the state in some way just because it's a historic district or it's a redevelopment of a downtown area i don't think this is

Yeah, I don't think the city has to. Okay, I don't get too roundabout on this. I mean, frankly, the risk of putting it in is so low compared to the benefit that you're offering to put in there. I mean, I don't have the objection. I'm just getting some clarified details on how you're planning to do this. And that original one was the concern is that you're not planning to get the permits and then out the door with it to someone else.

Do you have any comments?

For the project there, but when we classify this as like the gateway to the city, are we going to have to improve those roads all the way down to Rockton crossing? When we use that word gateway, is that what we're looking at? The traffic is coming in from 460 from the east down Concord Turnpike to this what I call gateway area? Yeah.

Designating something as a gateway doesn't necessarily require traffic improvements. I mean, a good number of residents and visitors already use this corridor to enter into the city, like you said, from 460. I mean, that's a major entry point. The term gateway is used to kind of just place emphasis on something to say, hey, this is an important place. You might wanna think about how the land uses look here. You might wanna encourage rehabilitation. You might wanna encourage investment versus the vacant deteriorating building that you have now. It's just another kind of layer. It's not like zoning necessarily, but it's something to say, hey, this area, we should pay special attention to it and how it looks and how it's developing because, you know, especially for visitors, which tourism is such an important part of our economy, you know, for visitors coming into the city, coming right into downtown Lynchburg, and they're seeing this this vacant structure with 100 broken windows last time I passed it, you know, that doesn't send a good message. So that's what we mean by gateway. It's just kind of a calling attention to certain points and access areas. Right.

And certainly with the flour mill, there's been so many improvements there, been a lot of improvements. Of course, a lot can still be done there, but it's just kind of almost adjacent to this project. A question real quick.

So you guys with the Riverwalk Trail, the parking lot there, I'm sure you've all seen break-ins into vehicles, that type of stuff. With the parking situation, have you guys thought about additional security measures for either your customers or your tenants, depending on which way you go, like additional security measures to kind of prevent vehicle break-ins to reduce that liability?

Generally speaking, we never have break-ins. They always say that wrongly. I don't know that you can understand it. I have tons of apartments and everybody leave their car to go online. So your car didn't get broken into if you left the doors unlocked.

Correct.

But they always say that. They always say cars got broken in. Kids go around and check doors and they see what's in the car and they run us through the cars. If people took a little bit more proactive, used to hit the clicker, push the button down, walk inside, that wouldn't even be a problem.

Right.

I've never seen them go and burst out a window and grab something. They're always going for the easy print. But, since you do ask that, I've also bought that old factory to the right of that, and I'm putting probably, in what case, maybe 300 units right downtown, total, three, four units, and that's where we're going to end up having amenities down here in that space. And at that time, I wouldn't employ properly a security guard, only in certain hours, like three to five, or like from five to six when there's actually people out, because the biggest problem that guys like me they put graffiti on everything. That graffiti cost me more money, more time, and it hurts the city more. They really need to make a real enforcement law mechanism for that. But so much of people going by recommend, that's not happening. They check a car door, they see a decent opportunity.

That's what they do. I didn't know if it was on your radar or not, so thank you for that explanation.

We try to talk to the police and tell them, lock your doors, you're going to have a problem. When we called, they said, yeah, somebody took a gun out of the car. They broke into the car. I said, well, the car broke into the door and we looked at the camera. They just walked in and got the car. If you have a gun and you actually went out and got permanent, why don't you take that in class to understand how to secure your weapon? I was in the military. I learned to secure my weapon. I secure my weapon at home. I don't even know how to do it. My son said, I love very much. I'm not leaving a gun for you. So why would you leave it in your car? Maybe they didn't take your license from you to say that you could never, never have a weapon. That's just my personal opinion. Well, I think this will be great.

I think this will be great. And I appreciate all you guys do down here. I think you guys do a lot of good stuff. So thank you.

What kind of rent range are you talking about on these units?

Most units we range anywhere from $1,200 to $1,400. And y'all want bedrooms. I don't think we're mostly one bedroom. We might be a few, two bedrooms we have, Casey, but most of them range from 12 to 1400. Young professionals, college students, something like that.

That's the real question, I guess.

Yes, sir. Great, thanks.

Motion stands. Second.

So we have first and second. Any other discussion before we go to vote? All right, all in favor of supporting this petition, say aye. Aye. All opposed? All right, it's unanimous. Good luck at council. Thank you for bringing it to us. You'll have a good day. All right, do we have any other business to attend to?

Not today.

We'll have a meeting in two weeks.

Possibly.

Just to do the minutes, I hope.

We will not call you in here just to do minutes, I promise. Just kidding. But we will let you know. That one's a little bit up in the air, so.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Any motion to adjourn?

All right, seconds. And everybody's making motions, so we're adjourned.