This application is a request to rezone approximately 549 +/- acres of property located in the Central District of Essex County. The property includes Tax Parcels 31-2 and 31-2H and is currently zoned A-2 and included in the County’s Countryside District. This request is proposed to amend the Land Use Plan Map from the Countryside Designation to a Rural Residential Designation for the subject property, which would allow the request to rezone the project property from A-2 to R-1.
2.0
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
As illustrated on the Preliminary Site Plan I (Appendix 1 – Sheets 1 thru 4), the property is partially bounded on the north by Route 17, several neighboring residential properties and the Essex American Retirement Homes on its east and on the south by Mount Landing Creek and on its west boundary by Mount Landing Creek and adjacent A-2 Property.
The property is composed predominately of forest and active agriculture. The forest area includes flood plain, wetland and RPA influenced by its southern border with Mount Landing Creek.
3.0 LAND USE PLAN MAP AMENDMENT CONSIDERATIONS
3.1 Current Zoning
The Beasleys Landing property is currently located in an A-2 zoning district included in the Essex County Countryside District Area. This district requires a suggested average density of .02 units per acre (or 1 unit per 5 acres). The current zoning supports low density residential development.
Appendix 2 illustrates the Essex County Land Use Plan Map dated April 22, 2022, and identifies the location of the Beasleys Landing project area. The figure shows the relationship of the proposed project with Route 17, the Rural Residential Development to the north and the Countryside District to the South on the other side of Mount Landing Creek and to the West of the Project. This property is generally isolated from the Countryside Districts to the South by Mount Landing Creek with no opportunity for internal road or transportation connections. The property is bounded on the north by Highway 17 Tidewater Trail.
3.2 Land Use Plan Map Amendment and Requested Zoning
The Beasleys Landing applicant is requesting a change in the current A-2 zoning to R-1 zoning. Figure 3 illustrates the proposed change in the County Land Use Plan Map if this rezoning is approved.
The figure shows that the Beasleys Landing property has more geographic and transportation compatibility with the existing Rural Residential Development to the north. The wetlands and protected banks of Mount Landing Creek provide both a physical and natural separation from the existing Countryside District to the South. The features of this rezoning request are:
• The Project contains a gross area of 549 acres +/-
• The Project contains 266 acres of Wetlands and Flood Plain that will not be developed.
• The Project has 283 acres proposed for development
• The Project proposes 55 residential units. It is proposed to include 50 one + acre lots and 5 on large estate lots.
• The Project proposes a unit density of .19 units per acre, which is less than the suggested .2 units per acre for the Countryside District requirement.
• The Project Plan utilizes the Flood Plain, Wetlands and RPA as the intentioned buffer to protect Mount Landing Creek and the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
• The Project proposes to cluster the 50 one acre + residential units in two development phases and maintain an agricultural buffer strip between the development and Route 17 as part of the project open space.
3.3 Other Considerations
The project will offer a diverse mix of housing products to meet the market interest in new and more modern construction standards. Appendix 1 – Sheet 5 illustrates typical elevations for the proposed houses.
The project is expected to draw market interest not only from Essex County residents, but also interest from Fredericksburg and Richmond area home buyers who are looking for more affordable housing opportunities. This market attraction would provide an opportunity for residential and economic growth for Essex County and the Tappahannock commercial area.
The layout of the proposed project provides clusters of development to support a variation in housing types, styles, size and affordability. Price points for the proposed housing products in the community would start between $325,000 and $350,000 depending upon material and labor costs and market conditions. It is anticipated that the larger estate lots would be more focused on larger custom homes with prices exceeding $450,000.
4.0 PROPOSED PROJECT
4.1 Lots and Density
The proposed project concept represents a residential subdivision of 50 residential homes offering a minimum area of 1 acre. These lots range in size from 1 acre to the largest lot which is approximately 14.6 acres providing an overall average lot size of 3.28 acres. This residential area will be divided into two (2) separate development phases. The project also includes an estate lot section proposing 5 lots that will range in size from 26 to 88 acres. A major portion of the estate lots contain forested and or wetland areas bordered on the south by Mount Landing Creek. The project proposes private wells and septic systems for each unit.
4.2 Public and Private Roads
It is planned that the 2 residential lot phases will have a public road system constructed to VDOT Standards with roadside ditch drainages. The Estate lot section is proposed to have a private road and access that will be maintained by the Estate Lot owners as part of the project covenants. In all cases the road and drainage network will be designed to meet the Virginia Stormwater Management Regulations, with appropriate BMP’s installed to prevent erosion and to meet water quality standards. The drainage will use existing drainage ways to discharge to flood plain and wetland area, using appropriate ditches, level spreaders and other control features required by regulation.
4.3 Entrances and Traffic
The two (2) residential phases and the Estate Lot section will each have their own separate entrance. Each phase or section will not be connected. The entrances will be located on Route17. The central entrance for the larger residential phase will line up with the existing median break and will permit traffic to go east or west directly from that entrance. The other entrances will be right in, right out only and will require traffic to use existing median breaks in order to travel west toward Fredericksburg.
The entrances will provide road improvements such as taper and right turn deceleration lanes and other improvements that may be required by VDOT.
The traffic generation for the project is estimated at 10 trips per day per residential unit or 550 trips per day. This is compared to the approximate 7500 trips per day that have been estimated by VDOT in a 2022 route 17/360 Corridor Study. This is calculated to be less than 6.8% of the project reported existing traffic volume.
4.4 Amenities and Natural Resource Protection
The development, as presented, includes the preservation of natural areas and some limited amenities for the enjoyment of the community residents and to protect the environmental and land resources that characterize the property. Project features included in the concept plan are:
• Cluster Mailbox Locations
• Three entrances onto Route 17. One entrance will be aligned with the Route 17 median break. The east and west entrances will be right in and right out only but will have access to existing median breaks to support both east and west bound traffic.
• Water access with two private boat docks, each with a proposed 10 small boat slips for use by the subdivision property owners. The access road will be maintained by the property owner’s association.
• In addition to wetland areas that will be owned in common by the POA, the project will provide approximately 28 acres of non-wetland, non-flood plain area for passive recreational use in common, divided into separate areas dispersed throughout the developed community.
• A property owner’s association will be charged with the responsibility to maintain common areas to protect the natural resources contained with the common areas. This may include trash pickup, erosion inspection and management, observation and protection from hazardous conditions and enforcement of land clearing and tree cover restrictions.
• Pond Management – Subject to stormwater management and wetland consideration, it is proposed that the existing pond will be an amenity and passive recreational resource for the community.
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE IMPACT
The proposed project is located in a predominantly agricultural, forest and wetland setting. The features are key components of the overall development plan and will create an attractive community for potential homeowners. The overall preliminary conceptual plan includes and protects these sensitive areas in the following ways:
1. Agricultural areas will be maintained as a buffer between Route 17 and the residential development preserving a rural view shed from Route 17 that is characteristic of Essex County.
2. Wetland areas remain undisturbed and are preserved as space in common for their preservation in their natural state.
3.Forested areas will be disturbed only as required for road services, facilities, and house lot development. Disturbed tree cover will be considered in the overall stormwater management design in accordance with the Virginia Stormwater management regulations.
