Published: October 17, 2007 08:53 am      

City residents protest proposed zoning changes

Two proposed zone changes within the city drew a packed house Tuesday in the Richmond City Commission Chambers, and an overwhelming majority was there in opposition of one or the other.

The Richmond Planning and Zoning Commission heard from Richmond Attorney Mike Eaves who spoke on behalf of the parties proposing the zone changes.

The meeting was a work session only, and no official action was taken on either agenda item.

The first item of controversy was the possibility of property located at 1266 Willis Branch Road being rezoned from single-family residential to multi-family.

“There was a considerable amount of discussion at the last (planning and zoning) work session about R4 (multi-use residential) and how many dwellings you can have on this property,” Eaves said. “The developer does not intend to develop the property anything close to what the ordinance permits.”

The R4 zoning classification allows six dwellings per acre, with a total of 1,104 dwellings.

Most of the developments will be single-family residential, Eaves said.

Doug Begley, president of the Deacon Hills Subdivision neighborhood association, spoke on behalf of the majority of the audience.

“We are totally against the R4 zoning,” he said. “Our main concern is all the traffic that we‚ll have going through our subdivision that was not designed for that. We also feel like this kind of development will lower our property value.”

The remaining audience was there in opposition to the next discussion item, which was a proposal for a zone change of 10.5 acres of property at 107 Barnes Mill Road owned by Jessie Kennedy Fennell.

The property is zoned as single-family residential, and the request is for multi-family units.

Developers Sherman, Carter Barnhardt, based in Lexington, have plans of building 144 units, with a total of 276 bedrooms and 351 parking spaces.

The development will consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in two- to three-story buildings, Eaves said.

A plat for the development has not yet been submitted to the planning and zoning commission.

John Wenergren of the Barnes Mill Neighborhood Association spoke on behalf of the audience.

“The neighborhood association is opposed to this zone change,” he said.

The association also plans to be represented by legal council.

“The proposal is being submitted by an attorney, and it seems like in that legal framework, citizens opposed to a project like that should be represented by council, just to make it a level playing field,” he said.

The planning and zoning commission will come to an official vote for both the Willis Branch and Barnes Mill zoning recommendations at its next meeting, The next planning and zoning commission meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, in the City Commission Chambers at City Hall.

The commission’s final recommendation must be presented to the Richmond City Commission, which has the authority to either accept or reject the planning and zoning commission’s recommendation.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.