Proposed 170-Unit Apartments Draw Fire

By Jane DeGeorge

Published: March 20, 2008

A dozen Madison County residents spoke out March 11 against the construction of an apartment complex near downtown Madison, a project officials say is unlikely to happen.

The citizens, mostly residents of and near the Fox Ridge subdivision off Fishback Road (Route 722), cited traffic, crime and an increased burden of public services as reasons why the creation of apartments in their neighborhood would harm the community.

“We have a 15-year-old daughter that loves to walk in the [neighborhood] with her friends, we feel safe with that because there are not apartment complexes, we don’t have to worry about somebody hiding in their cars doing drugs…we just don’t want to be impacted by the negativity of an apartment complex,” said J. DiMartino, a resident of Fox Ridge.

The crowd was criticizing what some said they had been told or heard was a possible plan for a section of a 78-acre piece of property adjacent to the Fox Ridge subdivision. Officials told the crowd they were unaware of current plans to create an apartment complex on this property but criticized the residents’ opposition to the construction of apartments, citing a need for affordable housing within the county.

Culpeper-based contractor Trigon Development has applied to rezone two sections of this property, owned by Walton C. Thompson. Current plans request that about 27 acres currently zoned for multiple family residential use and about 31 acres zoned for agricultural use be rezoned for limited residential use.

The company has said, in correspondence with county officials, that it intends to create a total of 22 homes on the rezoned property. (The number of homes the company plans to build on the property has been revised multiple times.)

A previously approved rezoning request dating back to 1988 included a plan to create 170 apartment units to be built on this site, however, the proposed development did not occur.

In January, the Madison County Planning Commission voted to recommended approval of this rezoning. Some commissioners noted that they supported the proposal since the developer’s current plan for the property would create a smaller number of homes than is currently allowed on the section zoned for multiple family residential use.

The board of supervisors has since postponed its vote on the rezoning application, due to concerns about the number of septic systems required for the development, increased traffic, higher taxes and, most recently, the benefits of maintaining the property’s zoning as a possible location for affordable housing.

During the afternoon portion of the regularly scheduled March meeting, Miller told fellow board members that he had spoken with a Fox Ridge resident who told him Trigon Development representatives had sent some Fox Ridge residents a letter regarding possible construction projects on the nearby property.

A copy of a letter sent in January from Trigon to a Fox Ridge resident obtained by The Eagle says that the land’s current zoning allows for 170 apartments and three large single family homes to be built on the property. The letter says that “Trigon appreciates the need for affordable apartment housing in Madison, but does not consider this location to be appropriate.”

The note includes a request for “support [of] Trigon’s efforts to dramatically reduce the allowed density of development in an effort to maintain the quality of the surrounding community.”

Miller, who said he had not seen a copy of the letter at the time, told the board that the point being made to residents in the letter was “either contact the board of supervisors in support of [the rezoning] or that there would be 170 apartment houses built.”

“Clearly the letter was intended to intimidate and confuse residents,” he said.

Considering the county’s current zoning requirements, a developer would only be able to construct about 140 apartment units on the property, according to Miller. In addition, the ordinance requires public water and sewer on lots with more than 14 homes.

“There is no public sewer and water available to that property, there are no available [equivalent dwelling units] to purchase,” Miller said.
“I think they’re totally bluffing the 170 thing to get what they want,” he told the board.

The owner of the property, Walton C. Thompson, told the board at the evening portion of the meeting that although he was not especially in favor of a project that would construct 170 apartments on the property, “taxes keep going up and [it’s] forced me to do something.” Thompson, who is a resident of Reva, noted that he has been a farmer all of his life but that this specific piece of property is no longer suitable for farming.

Despite providing reasons why apartments were unlikely to be constructed on the property, Miller said that housing for low- to middle-income residents is needed in the county and is a goal outlined in the county’s comprehensive plan. This view was echoed by Supervisors Vice Chairman James Arrington and Supervisor Clark Powers, as well as two county residents, who do not live in or near the Fox Ridge subdivision, who spoke during public comment.

Miller criticized previous comments made by some Fox Ridge residents about the crime that may come into the community with the creation of an apartment building.

“The stereotype painted of lower to moderate income houses is despicable,” he said, as a resident of Fox Ridge who had spoken earlier, attempted to respond to the comment but was hushed by Chairman Eddie Dean for talking out of order.

Supervisor Bill Crigler, who said he had mixed feelings regarding the rezoning request, said that he tended “to agree with what the [adjoining] landowners are thinking,” adding that the supervisors could possibly rezone a separate piece of property in a different location to be set aside for affordable housing.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors voted to unanimously approve a request that Trigon Development create a study of the proposed subdivision’s financial bearing on the county. This would determine the estimated total amount of taxes that may be collected from the property once the development is complete and the total estimated expenses of county services provided to residents of this proposed subdivision. Information likely to be referenced in the study includes the estimated cost of homes to be built within the subdivision and what types of residents may live in the homes in order to figure out what county services, such as use of public schools, they may require.

The supervisors then voted to postpone its decision about the rezoning request until it receives the requested study.