Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

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Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

to order the Lynchburg Planning Commission meeting for Wednesday, August 12, 2026. We will not be having any reading of minutes or hearing minutes, so we're going to move on to the public hearing. And our petitions are open to public comment. Petitioners or representatives are given 10 minutes to present the petition. Subsequent individual citizens wishing to speak IN FAVOR OR AGAINST ARE ALLOWED THREE MINUTES AND PEOPLE REPRESENTING A GROUP ARE ALLOWED TEN. AT THE END OF THE PUBLIC HEARING THERE'S A THREE-MINUTE OPPORTUNITY FOR REBUTTALS. OUR NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THE PETITION FOR ADAMA FARO LLC TO REZONE APPROXIMATELY 167 THOUSANDTHS OF AN ACRE LOCATED 802 COURT STREET FROM B-1 LIMITED BUSINESS DISTRICT TO B-4 URBAN COMMERCIAL DISTRICT TO ALLOW CONDOMINIUM CONTAINING FOUR RESIDENTIAL UNITS. WHO WILL BE PRESENTING?

All right, I will be today. Thank you, Chair. Kurt Schultz of Adama Faroe LLC is petitioning to rezone 802 Court Street from B1 Limited Business District to B4 Urban Commercial District to allow for a condominium containing four residential units. The future land use map recommends a downtown use for the subject property. These areas contain a mix of retail, entertainment, restaurant, office, employment, residential, public, park, and institutional uses, and demolition of historic buildings is inappropriate. The subject property was part of the original city limits established in 1786. The existing B1 limited business district zoning was established in 1978. The subject property consists of approximately 167 thousandths of an acre and contains a three-story historic structure constructed in 1860. The structure currently contains two residential units and one commercial unit and is approximately 5,953 square feet in size. The property is surrounded on all sides by a mix of residential uses, commercial uses, and parking, as is consistent with the downtown area. If the petition is approved, the existing structure would be converted into four residential units as part of a condominium. Interior modifications would be made, but no new buildings, additions, or parking areas are proposed for the site. The B4 district does not have a parking requirement, but the petitioner has indicated that off-street parking will be provided through parking permits for the Clay Street parking deck. On-street parking is also available along Court Street. The proposed multi household structure consisting of four units is a by right use in the B4 urban commercial district and would agree with the current flume designation. The rezoning would also facilitate the continued use of a historic structure without compromising its character. Rezoning the property to B4 and its use as a four residential units should have limited impact on the surrounding area. The technical review committee reviewed the petition on June 16th and comments were minor in nature. The planning division recommends approval of the petition.

Thank you. Who is here to speak on behalf of this petition? Please come forward to state your name and sign in and tell us more about it.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Mark Bergen with PLDR Law. I am here on behalf of the petitioner. I believe what was just stated very adequately represents the purpose of the rezoning application. I will just add in addition to that the- Is the sound on?

Is the sound on? Excuse me, is the sound on?

I believe the sound is on.

Yes, ma'am.

Sorry. I will note that the only internal renovation that will be conducted is the installation of a single door that will divide the commercial unit into two residential units. There's no other external renovations or additions or changes that will be made to the structure itself. It has its own separate plumbing, so there will be no need for changes in the plumbing to the sewer or sanitary. I will open it to any questions that the panel may have.

That's great. I appreciate it. We'll go ahead and hear it. We might have one commenter, and then we might call you back up. Of course. Thanks so much.

And when you said sign-in, are you referring to the sheet?

There should be a sheet for the sign-in. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anybody here to speak on behalf of this petition in favor of it? Any emails? Okay. Anybody in opposition would like to speak? Okay. If you would like to come forward, please, you can state your name and there's a place to sign in there.

Can I ask a question before I start the 10 minutes?

Because I'm 85 years old.

And did you realize that almost all the parking near here is 30 minutes?

Oh, we have to deal with the same thing, but if you could, if you could sign in and are you representing a group?

No.

Okay. So yeah, individuals have a three minute.

Okay. I am representing a group. It's in, it's registered in Richmond. We the people, you can check it. Okay.

Yeah. So if you would sign in then as that, and then you can begin. Thanks.

Okay, I own a building on Court Street. And to add more people is just very difficult. The trees are just so you can't see. And I live close to 8th Street. So it's just terrible. And to have more people come in, I just don't see how that's going to be helpful. Two, I'm curious. I'd like to know more about the people you represent. So could you ask him about that when you talk to them after I get through?

Sure. He might share more of that.

I didn't get your name. I'm sorry. Hope McCrory. My husband was vice mayor in the 90s when George Allen was on. Anyway. It's a very quiet area. And I'd be curious to know, who are they going to be wanting to sell to? Are they going to be wanting to sell to business people? Can they have business in those condos? Or is it just for people?

That might be a question for Ms. French.

Are these just maybe retired people?

They're intended to be residential units.

Mm-hmm.

But it could be commercial in the B4 district. So you could have four businesses there?

Yes. Okay. Well, then that's going to bring more people and more parking. And I was here. I've been here since 65. The city at that time was very, very adamant when we built the mall. And probably maybe some of y'all weren't even born then. But anyway, they were adamant about parking places. That's why some of the parking places there are very close unless they have changed them. And it looks like to me we need to require parking for people because, you know, that is a problem. We're getting more and more people coming into the city and more and more traffic. And I don't know whether you've been in traffic even starting at 3 in the afternoon. some of the things that the city has done, it's just atrocious. I mean, they advocated that they could have new developments where the traffic is still okay. And right at the end of, sorry, I'm 85, remember. But When you're going out to Forest, right there, that interstate, not interstate, but the interconnection, that was supposed to have been done years ago when my husband was alive. I mean, he's been dead 10 years. But you're putting the traffic out there. And, you know, we've got traffic on Court Street. 8th Street is awful. We've got that driveway that goes behind three buildings that are on let's see, that's 717 Court there, and you pull out there, and I talked to the police years ago, and I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere, because people pull off Court Street, and they just, it's like a racetrack there, and you've got that little light, not light, the mirror, I guess you'd say, but unless it's a white car against the dark things, that can be very difficult. Even coming here today, I pulled there, and somebody just went like that. And some people won't even go down that way. You know, they go back through the parking lot that Horizon, I think, has. And I just think these things need to be considered. But I don't think the city is considering a lot of things in how it affects we human beings. And I just don't know what this is going to generate, if they could also have businesses there. And I'm sorry, but I've never been called public before. You said the public is here today. And I apologize because my husband really believed that the people need to be involved. And I do feel sorry for you all that you don't, how can you please or help the people if they don't give you information? I found something recently in going through my husband's papers. that there was a sheet that gave citizen input. And I don't know, I guess they could put it in a box somewhere. And I think we need that again because people need to think that they have some input on these things because obviously they don't. They obviously think it's a done deal. You know, you all are just going to do stuff. And that's not a good way for a society to exist. You know, if I were you, I wouldn't want to take that responsibility. because you will be held accountable here or later. And I just appreciate, as my husband always said, he always appreciated everybody that served, like you all are doing. And I want to say that, too, because it's just horrible. I have a thing that was in the newspaper that he wrote that we just need the citizens' input. So I wish that you would look very deeply, because I think government a lot of times has to do things so fast that they don't look at details. And I'm very interested in details, because they say the devil's in the details. And I would like to know the name of the group. I don't know what those words are. Is it somebody's name, or is it, you know, who are these people that are coming in? I see a lot of things since I was here in 65. I see a lot of things in the city changing, not for the better. And it looks like a lot of it's just to get money and tax in. And it's been very sad, because this was a gorgeous city. And I think people coming from the north think it is too. But they don't understand what's behind things, because it's not the way it used to be. And I know people will say, well, things grow. But when things go too fast, sometimes it's cancer. And I just wish you all would consider these things. And you don't have to consider a lot since I'm the only one here. And I'm sorry. I try to get people to come.

We do appreciate it. Thank you, Ms. McCrory, for coming. That's one of the things that we make sure people get 30 days notice. So it's nice that you were here. And when he comes up, we're going to get him to address those issues.

I would like to ask one more thing. Can I have a sheet with all of your all's number and who you are so that if I want to comment about something, I can get in touch with you? Can we do that?

Thank you. Do I just need to talk to you? We'll print one for you. Okay. Thank you very much.

And thank you for giving people time even though they didn't avail themselves of it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right. And if you want to come up and just address the parking issue, you know, We don't really adjudicate what is going into a B4, but maybe state the owner's intent again.

Understood, and absolutely. Well, I can't speak to the city yet. and speak to the specific request. And in the particular application for rezoning that was submitted, it was stated that the owner of the property currently provides parking permits for the Clay Street parking garage, which after the Sheriff's office has moved out, has plentiful amount of spaces. And that is what is going to be used for the accommodation of parking for the residents that will be in the building after the application, if it is approved by the panel. With respect to on-street parking, it is during the daytime limited to only two hours, so there wouldn't be any additional influx of street parking due to that. And again, the owner of the property provides a parking permit to all the residents for the Clay Street Garage, which has plenty of space. With respect to the owner of the property, the owner of the property is a business with a sole member who is Kirk Schultz. He has been owner of the property for a significant number of years, so he is very familiar with the Lynchburg area. He has also done a fair amount to maintain the historic nature of the downtown property that he's owned. With that, if there's additional questions, I'm happy to answer those.

So it's a bit, the current building owner has been the owner for a little while. That's just the name of his business.

That is correct. He set up an LLC for the ownership of the property, which is very common for individuals that own.

And then the parking will be provided through parking passes in the deck. Okay. That is correct. Right. All right. We're going to go ahead and close the public hearing then. And if you want to stay here, there might be some other questions to address as well.

for the owner and who this gentleman is. He is owner and developer. He has renovated and preserved historical commercial properties in downtown Lynchburg for a number of years, director of engineering at Sweetbriar College, professor of engineering at University of Pacific. So he has extensive work in preserving and renovating historic buildings, from what I can find.

Being an owner for a number of years, what is the time element on this project? Is this something you're going to do in 26, 27, or is there any time element on that? That's question one. Question number two is, in these condominiums, how many bedrooms will you have in each condominium? Is that addressed? Maybe Rachel has that information on that. And my third question is, the current use today as far as a tax base, Flip into four condominiums. What is the selling price? Do you have a target selling price? And as we in Lynchburg constantly need more revenue to fund the city, will this be a, I know it's going to be a trivial amount of tax increase revenue for the city. What is the expectation on that?

So as to the timing aspect of it, as mentioned in the initial comments, the only renovation that would need to be done is the installation of a single door inside the building. So if upon the approval of the rezoning application, it could be done immediately. It wouldn't take all that much time. As for the intentions afterwards, actually, let me go back. In terms of the number of bedrooms, as part of the application that was submitted, there were, in fact, plans that give a layout for the property itself. And I appreciate it. Thank you so much. My understanding is that each of the units would have, I believe, a single bedroom in it with their own kitchen as well. WITH RESPECT TO THE ECONOMIC IMPACT ON THE CITY, THE PROPERTY IS INTENDED TO BE RENTED OUT FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS AFTER THE CONDOMINIUM IS SET UP. THERE'S NO INTENTION TO IMMEDIATELY SELL ANY OF THE UNITS. AFTER THE THREE YEARS, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE A REASSESSMENT OF THE FINANCIAL VALUE OF THE PROPERTY AND WHETHER OR NOT TO CONTINUE TO RENT THE UNITS OR TO SELL ANY OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONDO UNITS. I apologize. I cannot speak to what will be or will not be three years from now or if they will or will not be sold in three years. But in terms of economic impact, it would be the same if not more revenue for the city because an additional unit would be rented out.

Right. So basically what you're saying that these condominiums, four condominiums probably will be owned by one individual and they will be kind of like of an apartment. There'll be a rental units, a studio type of a unit with one bedroom, kitchen, and what you'd have each of the four units there. That is correct.

Okay. I see that, only before I go down that little path. Well, I guess we'll lay that one first. So it looks like back in 2010, Adama Farrow sought and had approved a conditional use permit for this building to be converted into apartment and office uses back then. Was it ever approved and was it ever used for that? What's it being used for right now?

Do you know? Current use of the property is for two residential units and one commercial unit.

So it's being used for what the conditional use was? That is correct. Okay. So that kind of leads to the second thing. I guess normally if you're gonna convert something into condominiums, there's gonna be a homeowner's type situation that eventually once the condos are sold, the owners take possession of it and so forth and govern it after that. In this case, he's talking about renting them out as apartments for three years, or at least an indefinite period of time. Is that so that he can just sell them, I'm guessing, so they can sell them individually at some point down the road as the market is more favorable for that sort of thing, as opposed to selling it as a single apartment building? Is that...

The understanding is that all four of the units would be owned by a single entity and rented out. For three years. For three years. So after that, he would sell them, I'm guessing, individually? After the three years, he would do a financial assessment to see whether or not financially it makes sense to sell the units or continue to rent them out. If he were to sell the units, then the new individual that would purchase the condo would be a part of, as you described, a condominium association, which is required under the Virginia statutes to be established for the purposes of a condominium.

Is he doing that already? I mean, if he's going to build condos and label them condos, does he have the...

under the Virginia statutes that cannot be done until there are SOAR units. So until the rezoning application is approved, he cannot start down that process.

So he's laying the groundwork to do what basically they do in places like San Francisco, which is Honestly, it's smart. I think it takes a single house that you convert into apartments that you would rent out individually as apartments. And if you ever sold it, you'd have to sell it as an apartment building, a four-unit apartment building. But in this case, if you divide it into separately owned things, like in San Francisco, you can actually buy one level of a house. And you can buy if the house is three levels, you can divide it, subdivide it into three levels and sell each level separately as an individual residence. And theoretically, you can make a lot more money doing that sort of thing over time. So I assume that's what he is doing here. So I don't have any critique of it. It's just interesting observation. So I assume that's where he's going with it.

I think that was something I noticed, the difference. We heard a petition from Ana Chitla a few years ago, just a couple blocks down, to turn a house into seven apartments. I thought maybe these were going to be deeded, but yeah, that makes sense. But I have no issues with it. I like to see properties that... still have some life and I'm used well. So I think that's a, I'd be supportive of this.

What kind of business?

I apologize. You did not know that off the hand, but I can certainly ask and inquire about that for you.

Sentiment. And frankly, I would make a motion to approve. Sorry.

Yeah, yeah. I actually have, I'm not in favor of this petition. To me, it's incomplete and inaccurate. And frankly, it's non-compliant in some instances. A, it's currently listed for sale. I don't know if you guys happen to see that. It's been listed for sale for about a year. On the application, it states, currently contains the two residential units and one commercial, which we've established. But the listing... here, states that it is actively currently all four units are set up as a short-term rental through Airbnb. So it seems like everything has already been set up based on the listing that has been active for over a year or about a year.

not to interrupt you, but it's set up to do what it's doing, which is what the conditional use permit was issued for back in 2010, which is the rental thing. But he's trying to sell it. He can't sell it. The market stinks right now. He can't sell it as a multi-unit thing, so he's doing the next best thing, which is turn it into four sellable units. And in three years from now, if you think things are expensive now, wait three years.

Right. So with that, wouldn't that require a subdivision of the single parcel to be selling individual property units?

No, not for a condominium. Because the condominium, you don't actually own the separate units. You own the space between the walls. So the rest of the structure is community property. And so you really, while you sell what's in between the walls separately, what's actually owned is just really that, the air. So, yeah. You need a subdivision.

I have a question.

If the listing is incorrect, like I haven't been in it, it doesn't look like it's used that way. You know what I'm saying? Like maybe this listing was kind of a, we can't really tell that. I know it's had business in it before. But I understand what you're saying.

And also where I was talking about the noncompliance thing, the city code 352-71.16 for short-term rental states that the maximum number of occupants in a dwelling unit offered for short-term rental shall not exceed four unrelated individuals. So if you have two couples in two of those units, that's four people. If you have two other people in there, they have to be single people that are nonrelated. Correct?

Yeah, I don't know how that works. Again, a condominium has its own definition. Actually, I'm sure you have a good understanding of what he's doing here. So maybe you could speak to that.

That is correct. With a condominium, each of the units is their own separate, so to speak, real estate property divided by common walls. And there are certain common spaces, which is the purpose behind the condominium association is to maintain those common areas. with respect to the airbnb uh i i'm not aware that is being listed as an airbnb that that is news to me and i apologize i wish i had known that in advance however as i understand it is not being used for short-term rentals after the rezoning application my understanding is that's not the intention it's to be rented out as individual units I SHOULD SAY CONDOS. WITH RESPECT TO THE OWNERS, IF IT IS EVER SOLD AT ANY POINT IN THE FUTURE, THE OWNERS OF EACH OF THE CONDOS WOULD FALL UNDER A SEPARATE FOR PERSON UNRELATED.

SO I GUESS MY ULTIMATE QUESTION IS WHY ISN'T IT ACTIVELY FOR SALE?

I, again, I apologize. I was not aware that it is or that it is being listed for sale. As far as I was aware, it was not.

Okay.

If you'd like the listing. I would love to have a copy of that. I just.

You know, and I wonder, like we've seen, made a call or got a call, um, about a property, um, earlier today and it's listed for sale, but it's going under zoning in, in the sale is, you know, could be contingent on the change, you know? So I don't know. I don't know if that plays a role in. Yeah.

Significantly. More money coming down the road.

Yeah. I don't know if that's something that we would be able to, you know, make a determination on its applicability to, to acceptance.

It's, it's, it's not uncommon for a petition before you to be under contract or to actively be for sale. So I don't know that that is. should really be factored into the land use decision, regardless of who owns it now or in the future. I think you're looking at the uses that are proposed, the surrounding zoning pattern, and the other zoning actions that have taken place in the area.

So to me, it seems like it's actively being advertised that it's already set up as four units. I mean, as part of the sale, it gets into the approximate gross annual revenue as well in this listing. So I'm not going to share any of that. That's not information to share, but to me, it seems like this has already been set up to four units.

It's different the way it's set up, if I may. For example, if if we subdivided this room into four apartments, and we wanted to sell this building, and then just as a prelude, I'm just gonna say, I think he's just trying to figure out a way to make some money on this building he can't get rid of over time. If it were my house, that's probably what I'd be doing. And so we subdivided this into four rooms, four apartments. If we at some point decide we wanted to sell this building, you can't sell the apartments. You have to sell the whole building with the four units in it. However, for whatever price you can get. However, if I subdivide those apartments, those four apartments and turn them into condominiums, suddenly they become four different properties and I can sell them individually. I can rent them or I can sell them. It just creates some flexibility. So I don't think, I mean, personally, I don't feel like there's anything nefarious going on here. I think he's just trying to find some way to make this thing profitable.

And I'd be curious, Rachel, you might know this, an owner doesn't have to, like a potential owner can apply for rezoning, right?

Yes. Yeah, so it doesn't even have to be.

Yeah, so I think that's why I don't think it really matters. You know, although I understand your concern.

It seemed very confusing to me.

Yeah.

What I was going through and looking at everything that I had to.

Well, we do have, you know, a motion already. I don't know if anybody else has any other comments or wants to make a motion. What's that? Yeah, that's what I meant. Is there a motion to accept? We had a first motion to accept, and then there was a comment, and I didn't know if there was a second motion or a substitute motion.

Well, I'll make a second to accept the petition.

Okay, so first and second. Any other comments? We're going to go ahead and put it to vote. Okay, motion to accept, second, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?

No.

All right. So it's five to one. Yeah, five to one. Motion carries. Thank you and good luck at council.

Thank you.

Have a good day. All right. Do we have any other business that needs to be addressed?

We do not. We... Your next meeting is TBD on the 26th. And then, as I mentioned, we will be scheduling our work session on the comp plan. Probably first week in September is what I'm looking at right now. So if you do have travel coming up, I know most of you have been good about keeping me in the loop, Natalia and I in the loop on scheduled vacations or things like that. But that would be great if you could just remind us.

I just want to keep Dave

Can I ask staff a quick question? A few times this has come up where the potential impacts of rezoning on the tax income for the city and how that can change the financial status. And I'm just curious how much of that is a preview of a planning commission for consideration? It seems like that. I know it's a lot of gray area in some of the things we get into. but it seems like that's something that we don't consider.

As far as fiscal impact, that's a valid question. I might need to do a little research on that just to make sure where I speak that we're compliant with. When we consider rent, sometimes that can be seen as discriminatory, that sort of thing. But I think we're talking more maybe a tax base in this question.

Like going from residential to business and how that affects us.

But there is a distinction there, and so I'd like to...

Yeah, that's fine. I mean, I think that's something council can certainly address, but it seems like that's not something that's under our purview.

I'm not sure. I feel like in our training, that was something they said that you don't do because I want to, I want to consider that sometimes, but that's. Right. Anyway, it's come up a few times.

So maybe some clarification on how we should consider that. That's all I'm asking.

Consider it a point that any time the government can tax you forever on personal property, especially real estate, you never own that property. You simply lease the ownership rights back from the entity, the government entity. Okay.

Thank you. All right, I'll make a motion to adjourn. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Your go for rent taxation is illegal.