Planning Commission

City of Petersburg Planning Commission Meeting July 6, 2023 Minutes The City of Petersburg Planning Commission meeting held on Thursday, July 6, 2023, was called to order by the Chair, Mrs. Tammy Alexander, at 6:30 p.m. A roll call was completed by Ms. Michelle Murrills. Members Present: Ms. Tammy Alexander, Chair Mr. Fenton Bland, Vice Chair Ms. Marie Vargo Dr. Chioma Adaku Mr. Thomas Hairston Mr. Michael Edwards Members Absent: Dr. James Norman Dr. William Irving Mrs. Candace Taylor A Quorum was established by Ms. Murrills. Others Present: Mr. Reginald Tabor, Ms. Sandra Robinson, Ms. Michelle Murrills, Mr. Ryan Ruffin, Mr. John Barksdale, Mr. Jason Wilkerson, Mr. Colin Patterson, Daku Reinhardt, Kat Sangregorio, Laura Anderson, Mark Boyd, Jacob Simmon, Tinesha Jones, Krystle Winfield, Regina Jones, Carolyn Cassel, Gregory Sangregorio, Kate Sangregorio, and Brian Moore, Director of Economic Development. 1 Adoption of the Agenda: Chair Alexander called for any changes to the agenda. Since there were none, Commissioner Edwards moved for the approval of the agenda; Commissioner Vargo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Minutes: Chair Alexander asked about the minutes from June 1, 2023, but due to technical difficulties there were not available. Public Information Period: Chair Alexander opened the Public Information Period to anyone who wished to speak on an item, not on the agenda. No one chose to speak, and so the Chair closed the public information period. 6. Public Hearings: Chair Alexander read the notice of a public hearing as follows: 6A. 2023-SUB-01: A Public Hearing and consideration of a resolution approving the subdivision of the property located at 1544 Halifax Street to create five (5) Single-Family lots. Mr. Tabor made the presentation. The City of Petersburg received a request to subdivide the property located at 1544 Halifax Street, PIN: 052030005, to create five (5) single family lots. The property is located in a B-2 General Commercial District Zoning District across Talley Avenue from Cool Springs Elementary School. The proposed parcels meet the minimum dimension requirements. Chair Alexander then asked if the commissioners had any questions for Mr. Tabor. Mr. Hairston wanted to verify that this was the lot that was right in front of Cool Springs. Yes. He then questioned if it was a good idea to have five houses go right there. The developer, Mr. Ryan Ruffin, answered. He said that he had made some observations before he purchased the land that it was rare that anyone that approached the school from that area. He did not see a problem. Ms. Robinson then said that she just wanted to add that this property is now zoned as B-2, which is general commercial. So, with single family homes being built it is much less activity, 2 much less density and less people using the property than what it is zoned as now. And it is consistent with those homes that are already part of the community. When Mr. Ruffin bought this property from the City, there were already covenants on the property that say that there can only be single-family homes (now there can be businesses in the single-family homes) but with the change in zoning we are just enforcing the covenants. The plat that he has submitted not only goes with the zoning of the community, but also the covenants as well. Commissioner Adaku then asked if the developer had had any conversations with anyone in the neighborhood to let them know that he was planning on building these houses. He said that he has spoken to many friends and family members in the neighborhood, and they know he is planning on building the houses. He said that he does not see any negative parts to it and that it should all be good for both the community and for Petersburg. Chair Alexander then opened up the public hearing and asked if there was anyone that would like to speak for or against this application. When no one answered she closed the public hearing and asked if any commissioner had anything to say. Commissioner Hairston then said he would like to make a motion to accept staff’s recommendation and approve the recommendation with the resolution. It was seconded by Commissioner Edwards. It passed unanimously. 6B. 2023-SUB-02: A Public Hearing and consideration of a resolution approving the subdivision of the property located at 2951 Travis Lane, PIN: 038030003, to create six (6) single family lots. The property is located in a R-1, Single-Family Residential Zoning District. Mr. Tabor gave the presentation. The City of Petersburg received a request to subdivide the property located at 2951 Travis Lane, PIN: 038030003, to create six (6) Single-Family lots. The property is located in an R-1, Single- Family Residential Zoning District on the border of the City of Petersburg and Prince George County. The minimum dimension of property zoned R-1 in the City Code, Appendix B. Zoning are as follows: 75 feet across the front and at least 8000 sq feet. All the lots do meet the minimum requirements. Chair Alexander then invited the applicant to come up and speak. Mr. John Barksdale and Mr. Jason Wilkerson came forward to discuss the property with the commissioners. Commissioner Adaku then asked if anyone had spoken to the people in the surrounding area about wanting to build these houses. The answer was no. Vice Chair Bland also asked what the cost of these houses would be. Mr. Barksdale said that they would be in the low to middle three hundred thousand. He said that they would be three-to-four-bedroom homes; 1500 to 2200 sq feet. But the details were still being worked on, they would be a high-quality house. Commissioner Edwards then asked once you get final approval, what is your timeline? Mr. Barksdale said that he was not completely sure as this was just one part of the project. He said 3 that he expected to start houses before the end of the year. Ms. Robinson then said that they are not required to go to City Council so if there is an approval tonight then they can start from there. Commissioner Hairston then asked what happens when the Planning Commission approves these. He said that there has been things that the commission approved, but then nothing ever gets done. Are we allowed to approve things with a specific timeline or once they are approved that there is no real timeline at all? Ms. Robinson said that the commission is allowed to place conditions which could include a timeline. Chair Alexander then opened up the floor for the public to speak either for or against it. Since no one decided to speak, she then closed the public hearing portion of the meeting. Commissioner Edwards then offered a motion to approve the recommendation of staff to approve the resolution. A vote was called, and it passed unanimously. 6C. 2023-SUP-06: A Public Hearing and consideration of a resolution recommending approval of a Petition for a Special Use Permit (SUP) for a proposed Multi-Family Residential Development on the property located at 235 Medical Park Boulevard. Ms. Robinson made the presentation. 6D. 2023-SUP-05: A Public Hearing and consideration of a resolution recommending approval of a Petition for a Special Use Permit (SUP) for Car Wash and Automotive Detailing at 1602 W Washington Street. The property is located in a B-2 General Commercial Zoning District. Ms. Robinson then gave the presentation. This request involves the requirement of a Special Use Permit because the Planning Commission made the amendment to the Zoning Ordinance back in February, and Council then approved and adopted that ordinance to require those individuals who are wanting to build multi-family in a B-2 district, which this is zoned a B-2 district. They have to go through the Special Use Overlay. The applicants are here because they were unaware of the need for the Special Use Permit until they contacted the Planning Department. What you are looking at tonight is the approval for the Special Use Permit. Chair Alexander then asked if there were any questions from the commissioners. Commissioner Adaku then asked about a previous Special Use Permit for the new Aqua Apartments and what the Commission decided on it. Mr. Tabor then said that it was anticipated that the improvements to the Poor Creek wastewater would be finalized before the Apartments were, so the commission decided to vote yes. Then Commissioner Adaku asked the applicant what his timeline was going to be. Mr. Jerry Heller then stepped up to make the presentation for the Special Use permit. Pedcor Investments is a large owner of many apartment complexes. They have been in business since the 80s and hold these complexes as long-term investments. They have properties throughout the United States, including others in Virginia. The company likes the area because it will make 4 it a multi-use area and will benefit all other businesses in the area. He believes that it would be late 2024 to start at the earliest and then mid-late 2026 to be completed. Commissioner Adaku then asked what the cost of the homes would be, and the answer was that the apartments would be income restricted. So, as it stands it would be roughly $860 for one bedroom. This project would not be subsidies housing per se and instead is using tax credits that would be given because the people renting would be lower income. Which means that the apartments are renting for 30-40% less than market rate. Chair Alexander then asked how many years they would have those tax credits and the answer was that they would be available for at least ten years. Chair Alexander then asked for more explanation about the cost. The answer was that the apartments would be affordable to those who make 60% of median income or less and median income in the area is $104,000 for the Greater Crater area and so for a family of 4 the income would be roughly $60-65,000 for the average tenant. One of the people that they are going to try to get are nurses since they will be right across the street from the hospital. Commissioner Hairston then spoke up and said that he is reading their reviews on other properties and that they say that the company is not a very good property management company. Mr. Heller said that with 34,000 units obviously not everyone is happy with everything that they do for them. Commissioner Adaku then said that the people who came to the meeting tonight are the people who properties abut up to the new project and how is it that the company plans on helping to keep their property values up. We are willing to listen to what the neighborhood thinks that they need and to work with them. Commissioner Edwards said that since these apartments are not going to be market rate, he is worried about the people who would be moving in. The neighborhood that is back there, most of the people have lived there for years and it is a very quiet neighborhood. Would the company be willing to hold a sit-down meeting with the neighborhood homeowners to help work with them to assuage their concerns? Another question I have is are you going to have security onsite? Will there be a guard station that people have to check into as they come onto the property? Mr. Heller said that yes of course we would be willing to have a sit-down meeting to discuss concerns from the neighborhood. As for the lower income housing renters…these are working class folks. They are typically nurses, first responders, teachers, etc. While the name of the program gets negative stigma to the name, but at least 95% of the people that we would be renting to are actively working just like you and me. Yes, there may be some on disability or supported by family, but that is true everywhere. The condition and the quality of these units are very important to us as our intent is to build something that will last. The idea is that it is going to be three stories, but the design has not been finalized yet. It was also asked if the neighborhood people would be allowed to use the amenities that would be available to the tenants and the answer was no, they would not be invited to come use things like the pool or gym. Commissioner Edwards then sought clarification on just how much the apartments would be and who would be allowed to rent them and how much would they actually cost. He said that it was not fair that Petersburg got wrapped up into the Greater Crater area since the surrounding area median income was so much more than Petersburg (and the rent is based upon 60% of the area median income). It was mentioned that that is what happens since that area also extends into Richmond as well. The income that was needed for a single person to 5 rent these apartments is only $50,500 and in Petersburg if someone has that amount as income, they do not need to be considered low income. But unfortunately, it does not just extend to Petersburg. Then Commissioner Edwards asked about elevators, handicap equipped first floor apartments and such that would be available for the handicapped and he was told that the company always does what both the state and federal governments require. Chair Alexander then said that she was going to open up the public hearing portion of the hearing and she asked if anyone wanted to speak in favor of the project. When no one said yes, she asked if anyone wanted to speak in opposition of the project. Many people did. She then said that there were a lot of you who wanted to speak and not much time to speak. She said that what she was going to do was limit everyone to three minutes and to only speak if someone had not already said what you wanted to talk about. Tinesha Jones, 234 Seyler Drive, I want to know what research was done around the apartments because if you are aware of the area, you would know that just because of the low- income homes that we have down the street on Crater Road they have had to have the police just sit on the street. So, if you put a low-income division and that many homes it is going to bring crime. Petersburg is already full of crime. It is going to become like every other day. Some one will be calling the cops. If anything, you should put an assistant living facility there instead. I don’t see anything good coming from this, it don’t matter. You can build a wall it is still not going to matter. The traffic is going to interfere with the hospital. Ester Regina Jones, 234 Seyler Drive, and Carolyn Cassel, 140 Seyler Drive, out in this area we have nature. We have the trees that purify the air, and we have the deer, and we have the birds. If this goes through, we will not be seeing them anymore and we have some beautiful birds. We have herons, and turkeys, and if this is done, they will be gone. And we have squirrels and rabbits and other nature. Krystle Winfield, 234 Seyler Drive, I feel like this project is going to bring more traffic to the neighborhood. We already have problems with the traffic now. You have had people running from police, people running to the store. You have kids running through back yards trying to get to places and cutting through private property to get to across the street to the Sheetz there. What about if someone were in your neighborhood and someone else was trying to get to the hospital? You got to think about the people who have lived here for thirty some years. There is an open field down the street from Walmart that would be much better for this. Michelle Jones, Seyler Drive, I moved here a few years ago from a golf course community in Annapolis, MD. When I moved here, I had my choice of several different houses to buy, but I fell in love with this neighborhood. It is perfect. It is diverse, it is quiet, it is respectful, it’s clean, it has the woods. It is so beautiful, and clean, and safe. Our home values in the two years that I have lived there have gone up like 60%. When this happens our home values are going to go way down. The value of my home is very important to me. It is the first home that I have owned by myself. I chose this place because of how special this property is. The characteristics are special. 6 Greg Sangregorio, 164 Seyler Drive, I bought my house and my property back in 1991. I moved here from San Diego and the thing that I loved about it is the fact that the neighborhood is so quiet, everyone is friendly, its safe. I don’t even lock my car there, when it is parked behind my house, I don’t even worry about it. It’s a dead-end street and it’s just so quiet. This concept of high-density low-income apartments…This is going to change everything. Now there will be a parking lot behind my house rather than the woods I have now. Part of my property is where the rehabilitation place is and they built a buffer there and the other part of my property is where they are going to put a parking lot basically. I do not see any type of buffer there. It is just going to ruin the neighborhood. I understand that Petersburg needs to develop some of these areas, but does it have to be dense apartments like this? There is all that open area right across the street and that does not back right up to a small neighborhood. All of this none of us are crazy about. People are going to be cutting through your yard and we are going to have to start locking things up at night. There are not going to be any woods there and I do not see any buffer between my back yard and this development. I think that we should at least have some woods as a buffer or something. I have been here a long time and there has never been crime and now I am going to have to worry about that. This is just going to ruin our neighborhood. I can understand a development but that is awfully dense. Jake Sangregorio, 164 Seyler Drive, the pictures that have been passed around tonight are promotional literature, and so we don’t know how those buildings actually look lived in. But we do have reviews from Timber Ridge Lodge which say “horrific not safe for children or adults” “this place is gross and trash is everywhere” “it’s sketchy and people are loitering everywhere” I have heard a lot tonight about how they plan on owning these buildings for the long term and how much they care about the community. I personally have a problem with all of this. Kate Sangregorio, 164 Seyler Drive, some of you know me as the Preservation Planner for the City of Petersburg, but I am also a tax paying resident and I have lived on Seyler Drive for 90% of my life. I made sure that the notices that I was aware of were given out to my neighbors as well. I was born and raised here so I remember when it was farmland, with the ducks and turkeys. And then the doctor’s offices came in and the hospital on Medical Park Blvd., and it has gotten busier and busier. I understand that Petersburg needs development as an employee and as a resident, but I really don’t think this is such a great idea. If there is some consideration with buffering between this project and our houses, I suppose it wouldn’t be horrible, but generally this is not a good idea. Chair Alexander then asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak, and no one did so she closed the public hearing and asked if any commissioners had anything to say. Commissioner Adaku then said that she had something to say. She said that since she had moved to Petersburg she has lived in Addison and at Aqua. At Addison there is a portion of the apartments that are subsidized, and that the majority of those people were simply people who went to work every day and we never had any problems. Yes, there were times that there were issues with the management with things like garbage pickup or whatever, but those are issues 7 that everyone can have whether they rent and apartment or live in their homes. Aqua doesn’t have the same thing, and I don’t live in your neighborhood, but I have never had any problems living alongside subsidized housing. Petersburg needs affordable housing, they really do. And I want to say that everyone that is getting subsidized housing are not bad people. Commissioner Hairston then said that I believe that we need affordable housing, but when a whole street comes to say that they don’t want something I think that it is our job to listen to the citizens. I do not live on that street, but certainly if someone wanted to build some apartments on my street and the whole street were to come and say hey don’t build them then it is our job to say hey don’t build them. Our job is to represent the citizens that are here. I can’t remember the last time we had a full entire street come to say what they did. Commissioner Vargo then said that Petersburg needs safe affordable housing. And not subsidized housing. We have young people having a hard time getting a good start because they can’t get started on $1500 dollars a month one-bedroom apartments. They can’t afford Richmond or even here. But at the same time the folks who live here or have been here…One thing that concerns me is the going for absolute density, every inch of it has to be covered. I agree with a little less density it could be pulled back with an even larger buffer zone. I think that is going to be critical to making this kind of project work, and I am not talking about having a couple of trees. I am talking about having a certain amount of buffer where the residents still have their sense of community and privacy without someone from the third floor looking down at them. I think that that is a valid concern. I am not sure where the middle of the road is, because I do believe that we need this, I am just not sure that we need this much on one property. My thought is that it might not be too bad if we could require some level of significant buffering. This would help with a lot of the problems that the people were citing this evening. Ms. Robinson then said that she wanted to remind the commissioners that they are only voting for the special use permit overlay for 235 Medical Park Blvd. The property adjacent to it is already zoned R-4 multi-family. I too would think that a relatively thick buffer would be amenable to the neighborhood since that is something that they have stated before. Perhaps there is something more that this group can do for the neighborhood. Commissioner Edwards then asked Ms. Robinson if perhaps this should be tabled to allow these concerns to be addressed rather than just say no to the whole project. Ms. Robinson said that this will not be addressed until September or possibly October and it would give the applicants an opportunity to meet with the citizens and maybe develop something that would work with both ends. Commissioner Hairston said that he had googled the company in the past few minutes, and he said that it bothers him that in those few minutes he can find five pages of negative comments about the company, and no one seems to care enough about it to comment on it. I mean if you are saying that you keep the yard of your buildings clean then I would think you would address these issues and keep the internet clean as well since nowadays a yard and the internet are 8 really one and the same…public space. I mean there should at least be a few positive comments and I cannot find any in the short amount of time that I have spent looking. I think that that is not a look that I find a good look for a company. That is my two cents. Commissioner Edwards then said that he wanted to make a motion to table this until our September meeting to allow time for the developer to meet with the residents. Commissioner Adaku seconded the motion. Mr. Tabor then said that the item is on the agenda of the July 25th City Council meeting. So, the Planning Commission could make the recommendation to City Council to also table this. Commissioner Edwards then modified his motion to recommend to City Council to table this so that the developer could meet with the citizens of the neighborhood could speak with developers for at least another month so that they could get this all together. A vote was called, and the motion passed unanimously. 7. OLD BUSINESS Comprehensive Plan update. Mr. Tabor then said that he wanted to remind everyone that the next session for the Comprehensive Plan is July 25th at 6:00 p.m. The schedule for the next Planning Commission work session on July 25th will be Parks, Recreation, Historic Preservation, Public Safety, Community Facilities, and Infrastructure 8. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Tabor also said that he had included the information about the Capital Information Plan so that the commission would have the information that would be needed for the September meeting. Commissioner Hairston then asked why the city would have in the budget would have $2.1 million dollars for the renovation of South Side depot and yet we don’t have anywhere for people to visit…like the sports complex, which is where that money should be going. I think that we should take the bold step of putting this money into things like our parks and our sports complex so that we then when we have our visitor center they have somewhere to visit. Mr. Tabor then explained that all of this is why he gave the commission the proposed budget so that things could be changed at the next meeting if needed. 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Alexander asked if there were any announcements. Commissioner Edwards then asked if anyone had seen his pictures of Virginia Ave School and that nothing has been done with it yet and it continues to deteriorate. He wants to have the developer come to the September meeting and discuss the timeline of what is going on with Virginia Ave School. He also asked about what the legalities are for people who buy properties from the City of Petersburg and then do nothing with them. We don’t want another Ramada Inn issue. 9 10. ADJOURNMENT Since Commissioner Irving was not available, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 with the assistance of the Librarian. 10