A public hearing on the development is slated for Sept. 17
Should Warrenton make it easier for Hero’s Bridge to build 44 affordable housing units for military veterans?
Or should zoning laws be interpreted strictly, which would block the project?
And does a 2020 Virginia Supreme Court decision point the way to a simpler solution?
Hero’s Bridge, a local nonprofit that serves veterans aged 65 and older, has asked for a zoning change to allow construction of the veterans’ housing project. The Warrenton Planning Commission began discussing the request on Tuesday.
The proposal is a joint project of Warrenton United Methodist Church and Hero’s Bridge. They want to rezone an empty lot at Church Street and Moser Road so Hero’s Bridge can build 44 affordable housing units for veterans, arranged in 22 duplexes. The plan includes access to services and recreation for the military veterans who would live there, and Hero’s Bridge hopes to build a 19,000-square-foot community center that the church would also use.
The land is now zoned residential; the change would make it a residential planned unit development, which would allow a higher population density than single-family zoning does.
The work session is just one step in a long road for Hero’s Bridge Village. The proposal was presented to town zoning staff last December, which offered comments and feedback, starting a back-and-forth with the zoning staff that can be repeated as many times as necessary.
On Sept. 17, the proposal will be considered by the Warrenton Planning Commission.
After that, the commission can make a recommendation to the Warrenton Town Council, which would conduct its own review and hold another public hearing before voting on the plan.
If the rezoning request is approved, the project might also need at least three other waivers – though John Foote, an attorney for the project, argued to the planning commission the project doesn’t actually need zoning waivers, thanks to a Virginia Supreme Court decision pertaining to another Warrenton project.
In the case, Rowland v. Town Council of Warrenton, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of a rezoning dispute on Eva Walker Drive that the town approved despite it not strictly fitting the terms of its new zoning.
Town attorney Martin Crim said the decision in that case relies on whether the project is “beneficial to the community.” Depending on whether the Hero’s Bridge project fits that definition, the rules could be either loosened or more restrictive.
Planning commissioners wanted to know if Hero’s Bridge Village could be permanently limited to single-occupancy units for veterans 65 and older. Foote said that’s possible, but Crim, the town attorney, was concerned that limiting residents on the basis of military service could violate the Virginia Fair Housing Act.
There was also disagreement on estimated water and sewer use. Foote says the town’s metrics, based on multifamily units, overestimates the Hero’s Bridge Village strain on utilities by over 8,000 gallons per day.
Commissioner James Lawrence balked at that argument and said the town government should listen to its staff experts. “We have expert staff here for a reason, and I think I’m going to follow their recommendations for the calculations,” Lawrence said.
Staff writer Tate Hewitt can be reached at thewitt@fauquier.com.
Read the story on The Fauquier Times.