Residents, Commissioners Warm to New Plan for York Development

By Kimberly Lenz Monday, February 15, 2010

There have been other plans to develop the 14 acres at the southeast corner of Route 17 and Battle Road, but none that earned the hearty support of York County planning staff, planning commissioners and nearby residents.

If approved by the county’s Board of Supervisors, Nelson’s Grant would be York’s first foray into the world of mixed-use developments, where commercial and residential exist in a planned – if not near-perfect - harmony.

Planning commissioners last week unanimously recommended approval of the proposal to build a maximum of 112 homes, 66 of which would be single-family townhomes, 44 condos and eight units above commercial space. Commercial space would occupy 13,750 square feet, and about 3.5 acres would remain open space.

The Nelson’s Grant plan is a stark contrast to the failed Yorktown Green proposal of about a year ago. None of the homes in Nelson’s Grant would be apartments, and the residential portion has about 60 percent fewer units. Yorktown Green’s commercial space was slightly more than double the space proposed for Nelson’s Grant. The earlier plan did not include an out parcel that fronts the Patriots Square strip mall, just south of the proposed development. Nelson’s Grant show this as a secondary entrance and the location of a commercial building.

Residents of nearby Marlbank Cove, Edgehill and Settlers Crossing turned out in large numbers to oppose the Yorktown Green proposal. This time, the developer courted their input with a meeting last month. By all accounts it was a warm reception.

Steve Miller, of developer Pritchard Miller, explained their goal was to strike the right balance between commercial and residential while creating a neighborhood that would be a good transition between the Patriots Square strip mall to the south and the single-family Settlers Mill neighborhood to the east. Pritchard Miller has developed the Port Myers and Taylor Farms subdivisions.

Miller said the development group wants to “try to create a landmark community – it’s a pretty heavy word, but we hope we will accomplish this.” In coming up with the 8-10 designs for homes, Miller said the team looked at places like City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News and New Town in James City County to create a feel for the neighborhood that wouldn’t be like anything yet built, but “appropriate for this area of York County,” he said.

Just two residents spoke during the public hearing for the proposal; both were encouraged by how much different the process had been this time around and supported the plan.

General concerns that earlier proposals were too big, too dense and would generate too much traffic and too many students have disappeared.

Planning Commissioner  Chris Abel, who lives near the proposed development, asked what the target demographic was and what sort of commercial tenants the group would court.

Miller said they were aiming for current county residents looking to downsize, or young professionals looking for an affordable start. Units wills start in the upper $100s, he said, and top out around $300,000. Amenities will include a recreation center, fitness center and covered garages.

The developer is “not as far along as with the residential side,” Miller said, but they’re hoping to attract businesses, including a restaurant, that are “not something you can get up and down 17 right now.”

Planning Commissioner Anne Conner, a banker, asked whether the developer had secured financing – a critical aspect of most developments in the planning stages today – and whether they had the “financial strength to see this through.”

“We won’t start it if we don’t,” Miller replied, adding that failure that far down the road has too high a cost for all involved.

The issue is likely to be on the board of supervisors agenda March 16.