Large Toano development plan ties James City County planning commissioners
It's April 3. James City County planning commissioners tied 3-3-0 on a proposed Toano development whose size led one to call it "a new town". Pastel exhibition coming to Williamsburg.
A proposed development that would combine more than 320 homes, a senior citizen community, offices, a museum and a shopping center on 276 acres near the I-64 interchange in Toano deadlocked the James City County planning commission.
“This is a new town, is what this is,” said Powhatan representative Vincent Passero, who voted against The Bluffs at Kiskiack development after a two-hour public hearing at the commission’s meeting Wednesday night.
The scale of the proposed development in a largely undeveloped area confounded some of the commissioners. But even some who opposed it praised the developer for offering a demographically diverse community.
The proposal by the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy and the Hankins Land Trust No. 1 would rezone 276.1 acres on Croaker road to provide:
384 units in a senior citizen community that would include two apartment towers for assisted and independent living apartments, and 80 cluster style homes.
178 townhomes, 30% set aside for households earning 80% or less of the adjusted median income.
142 single family homes, with 30% at affordable pricing.
A museum and visitors center displaying the presidential busts from Presidents Park.
22,000 square feet for medical offices.
24,500 square feet of commercial space.
A clubhouse and recreational facilities.
The new community would add significant traffic to the area, which the developer offered to mitigate with road improvements recommended by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Jamestown District Commissioner Frank Polster said the affordable housing provision meant “for the first time you could live in James City County and be a school teacher or a fireman or a policeman.” Chair Kira Allmann, who ultimately voted against the proposal, praised what she said was “a really thoughtful way of designing” a multigenerational community with households of diverse incomes.
But at-large Commissioner Jack Haldeman worried about the traffic it would generate, and said the jobs in the proposed commercial center would be low-paying.
Haldeman noted that a University of Virginia survey of county residents taken before the last county comprehensive plan found 93% wanted to preserve the rural nature of the county. But he said the comprehensive plan that came out of the process chose to “continue down the path of 120,000 population of almost entirely upper income, white commuters.”
In the end, Haldeman, Passero and Allmann voted against recommending the development be approved by the James City County Board of Supervisors. Polster, Stonehouse Commissioner Jay Everson and Vice Chair Stephen Rodgers voted in favor. At large commissioner Crystal Haskins was absent.
That meant the supervisors will receive a neutral recommendation when they meet to consider the development.
James City County Board of Supervisors Chair John McGlennon said the board would ultimately decide the fate of the proposal, because the commission’s vote is advisory.
“They perform valuable functions, such as highlighting issues of concern or benefit, and they may cause applications to be improved by virtue of their questions and concerns,” McGlennon told us.
Bring back public hearing signs, James City Commissioners urge
Remember the red signs that used to go up outside land parcels in James City being considered for special use permits?
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