Colonial Heritage Changes Plans for Workforce Housing to Age-Restricted

By Amber Lester Wednesday, May 05, 2010

The Planning Commission will take a second look at a plan to extend public water and sewer for further development at Colonial Heritage at its Wednesday meeting.

Last month, the Planning Commission split 4-3 to approve a plan to extend the Primary Service Area to the age-restricted development in exchange for 90 acres of conservation land. In its original proposal, Colonial Heritage Deer Lake sought approval to expand its development to include a cluster of 50 townhomes deemed “workforce housing.” The developer, Lennar, also requested the land be rezoned to Mixed-Use and R-2, General Residential.

The plan should have moved on to the Board of Supervisors for final approval, but Lennar has submitted a new plan to address the commissioners’ requests to make the townhomes age-restricted and remove an entrance from Jolly Pond Road, where traffic is expected to increase when two new schools open in the fall.

Since the new development will now be included under the same age restriction as the rest of Colonial Heritage, per the commission’s request, the proffers changed. Lennar is no longer offering cash proffers for schools; in its recommendation, county planning staff noted the Board of Supervisors adopted a cash proffer policy that suggests age-restricted developments are not exempt.

The developer also altered the Parks and Recreation proffer to include a recreational trail on site and removed a proffer for traffic impact turn lane analysis for Jolly Pond Road.

Because the original plan would have had a public road entrance on Jolly Pond Road, the district could have been rezoned to R-2, General Residential. The R-2 district does not, however, allow for private streets. Under the new plan, the new townhomes would be accessed through Colonial Heritage, which is served by private streets. As such, Lennar is requesting the “cluster” area be zoned as Mixed-Use to allow for private streets.

Planning staff continue to recommend denial of the proposal because it conflicts with the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan, which advocated the use of the Primary Service Area as a tool to manage growth. In its recommendation, staff said, “While the proposed 90 acre conservation open space area provides a substantial contiguous amount of land for conservation, on balance, this feature with other aspects of the proposed design show no distinct environmental benefit compared to the rural cluster.”

When the commission voted in April, Commissioner Richard Krapf worried the plan’s approval would set a precedent that would “plague James City County for years to come.” Fellow commissioner Chris Henderson disagreed and said he considered the PSA extension a “minor adjustment.”

At its meeting, the commission will also consider allowing Busch Gardens to add upward theatrical lighting to the Griffon roller coaster and will evaluate a plan to allow a cell tower’s construction at 126 Camp Road.
The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. today in Building F of the County Government Complex.