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By DAN TELVOCK
Is a proposal for two medical office complexes off Mine Road sensible growth or spot zoning?
Frank Sealy, the developer, says he is proposing a quality project for an area transitioning into professional offices and stores.
Residents who live near the proposed project call it spot zoning, which is when land in an existing neighborhood is singled out and placed in a different use from that of neighboring property.
Sealy says there is a market for medical office space in Spotsylvania County that will only increase when the new HCA hospital opens within two years. That's why he wants to build a two-story and a four-story office building, totaling 123,000 square feet, just east of the intersection of Spotsylvania Avenue and Falcon Drive.
He needs to have the Board of Supervisors approve his rezoning request for about 10 acres from residential to commercial.
At an April 10 public hearing, supervisors tabled the proposal for 30 days.
On Tuesday, they are scheduled to vote.
Residents are concerned about traffic, the size of the buildings and access from the busy two-lane Mine Road. That block of Mine Road has seen 76 crashes in three years, according to county staff.
Sealy said his project is not spot zoning.
"There is one house occupying that side of the road and there is an office park occupying my backyard," he said.
The property Sealy wants to develop is just east of a Wawa and a home. North of the property and directly behind it is PL Physicians and a strip of new empty offices. There are homes to the east on Mine Road.
"That is an area that is up and coming for professional offices," said Mary K. Greenlaw, with commercial real-estate brokerage firm Thalhimer, which is leasing offices behind Sealy's proposed project.
David Winn, of South Ann Davis Drive, said the project will hurt the quality of life for Mine Road residents.
"When you skip over two pieces of residential property which are on a residential road and you grant an entrance into that, then what else is it?" Winn said. "If you are denied access to the commercial property behind you, then how is that not spot zoning?"
Jay Mason's home on 1.5 acres would be sandwiched between the Wawa and this project if it is approved. He, too, says the proposal is spot zoning.
"There are only six four-story buildings in the county, and none are anywhere near residential properties," he said. "This building is going to be looking down in my backyard."
At the public hearing, seven residents who live near the project said they oppose it. Six people supported the project, but Billy Seargeant was the only Mine Road resident to say he supported it. "I am hugely in favor of the project," he said. "You have to have more belief in the work, play and shop village concept."
Supervisor Benjamin Pitts, whose district the project is in, said he has traffic concerns.
"You have to get to point A from point B and he says he'll fix point A, but look at the issue he'll create on other parts of Mine Road," he said. "I am not denying we need office buildings. It is a good project. It is in the wrong location, in my opinion."
Supervisor Emmitt Marshall said the project is not spot zoning.
"There is already commercial development on the corner," he said. "There will be commercial, office and residential all on that same street."
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
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Frank Sealy is offering some road improvements if his rezoning for two office buildings is approved:
He will install a traffic light at the entrance to the proposed development across from Circle One Drive if the Virginia Department of Transportation warrants it within five years, or he will donate $70,000 toward light synchronization along Mine Road. He will dedicate right of way or land needed to expand Mine Road. He will pay for eastbound and westbound turn lanes on Mine Road into the complex, as well as southbound left- and right-turn lanes out of the site. VDOT requires these improvements before he can get occupancy permits. He will build sidewalks along the property or donate to a sidewalk fund. The county requires sidewalks with all new commercial and office developments. |
