Despite opposition from residents, Charles City leaders approve rezoning of land for subdivision
A request for the rezoning at one of the few subdivisions located in Charles City County was granted Tuesday night, much to the dismay of current residents.
Charles City Supervisors voted 3-0 to approve the rezoning of 31 acres of land from agricultural (A-1) to residential (R-1) at the Trevor’s Bend subdivision.
Charles City’s Director of Community Development Gary Mitchell spoke about applicant Corey Cotman’s request for the expansion. When the project was presented to the county’s planning commission, they recommended denial based on factors that included spot zoning, the area being too dense to develop, the concern of neighbors who live in the area, and that A-1 was a ‘catch-all’ category.
Cotman originally requested to expand from 11 to 26 lots, an increase of 15. When the planning commission said they would only feel comfortable with an increase of eight due to concerns on the efficiency of the private wastewater system, the applicant agreed to those amendments. Those changes were part of Mitchell’s presentation to allow the expansion of 19 lots.
Current residents of Trevor’s Bend were not happy, with many of them being deceived as they felt they were promised tranquility on their two acres of land and that no further expansion to the subdivision would be made.
“When Mr. Cotman presented his ‘Filling the Gap’ PowerPoint [at a community meeting], I didn’t feel that the goals of the expansion would meet the audience he was targeting,” commented resident Erin Klink. “Doing my research, the numbers don’t add up.
“While I do agree with Mr. Cotman that young adults and teachers need a good home, I just don’t like seeing them used as scapegoats for this project,” Klink concluded, speaking specifically on how the price of the home exceeds the median household of what an average resident of Charles City County makes.
Others echoed similar sentiments, saying that they were promised that only a certain number of homes would be constructed in the subdivisions. Others worried about the increase traffic on the private road.
“You heard the practical reasons, but you haven’t heard the emotional reasons,” said Kate Ruth, who relocated to the subdivision. “Our personal decisions are what we put in when we were building the home of our dream. I feel changing what we were promised is unfair and I feel like I was lied to [by Cotman].”
Cotman responded, saying that he has met all the obligations required by law and that many of the citizens raised concerns about.
“We will be putting in dry hydrants into the subdivision,” he said, addressing comments about no working fire hydrants in the subdivision. “Our roads are built to VDOT standards (18 feet wide), and our wells are tested by the state and maintained by a waterworks operator.
“Everything is in compliance,” Cotman added. “It’s one thing that they [current residents] don’t want more people coming in, but this isn’t a community just for the first section. The purpose of this is to expand this community to give them homes.”
Prior to voting, District 1 leader Ryan Patterson asked how much the new homes would cost for the new residents. Cotman responded that the new properties would start at $320,000. Residents who currently reside in the area purchased their homes starting at $295,000 according to Cotman, adding that the increased cost is due to inflation and to offset future costs to current residents.
After hearing this information, Patterson motioned for the approval of the rezoning, allowing the expansion of the number of lots on the premises. The vote passed unanimously, leading to many of the 14 citizens who spoke against the rezoning upset.