Presentation on controversial Liberty Landing subdivision set for Tuesday’s New Kent Planning Commission meeting

A revised proposal for a controversial mixed-use subdivision in New Kent comes before the county’s Planning Commission during the group’s meeting next Tuesday (Feb. 18).

Liberty Landing is proposed for 113 acres on the south side of Route 60 near Bottoms Bridge, across from the existing Five Lakes and Patriots Landing subdivisions. The developer, Virginia Beach-based Boyd Homes (Bridgewater Crossing Inc.), is proposing to build 450 housing units along with commercial space provided the county approves the company’s request to rezone the land from its current business status to R-3 multi-family residential. Developers are scheduled to give a power-point presentation on their plans before the commission Tuesday night.

New Kent planning manager Kelli LeDuc said Friday that no formal rezoning application has been filed with the county, but she expects a document to be submitted sometime Tuesday. No public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday night, although LeDuc said she anticipates Boyd Homes requesting a public hearing be held during the commission’s March meeting.

A major change in Boyd Homes’ plan centers on the number of housing units. In response to a firestorm of protest over housing density that arose when the proposal resurfaced in 2012, the developer has scaled back the number of housing units to 450. Those units are expected to be a combination of townhouses and apartments, but developers have yet to submit an exact breakdown.

Back in 2012, developers proposed 608 units (344 townhouses, 264 apartments). And before that, 398 units, mostly single-family houses as part of a PUD (Planned Unit Development), had been proposed when Liberty Landing first appeared before the county in 2006. The economic downturn sank the project then, at least temporarily.

No new information has been forthcoming from the developer since early January, LeDuc said. And so far, there has been no revision of the commercial phase for Liberty Landing. Developers pegged commercial development at 100,000 square-feet back in 2012.

“We don’t know what they’ll end up proposing. We haven’t seen any site plans,” she said in an interview last month.

There is, however, a slight downward change in cash proffers. The developer is proffering $4,500 per housing unit ($4,000 for schools, $500 for emergency services) with the total subject to upward revision after four years to account for inflation. In 2012, the cash proffer totaled $5,000 per unit.

In their proffer statement, developers are offering to designate a portion of the 113 acres as site for a fire station. Also in the statement are turn lanes and median upgrades on Route 60 along with provisions for recreational space, open areas, and sidewalks/paths within the development. The developer must also notify representatives of Five Lakes and Patriots Landing in writing within 10 days of filing formal plans or changes with the county.

In an attachment to the proffer statement, the developer says housing units are limited to no more than three bedrooms. Townhouses can have up to three bedrooms while apartments can have no more than two.

A financial forecast provided by the developer estimates net revenue generated by Liberty Landing for the county at $30 million over the next 20 years. They claim the project will generate $5.6 million in water/sewer fees, more than $2.7 million in proffers, and $1.5 million in net revenue per year “after stabilization.”

Opponents of Liberty Landing raised the housing density matter along with issues of traffic problems, stress on county emergency services, and overcrowding in schools when public hearings were held in 2012. That November, Planning Commission members voted 9-0 with one abstention to send Boyd Homes’ rezoning application to the county’s Board of Supervisors with an unfavorable recommendation.

Supervisors were set to host a public hearing in December, but at the last minute the developer asked for and was granted a 90-day deferral. There had been no activity since, until last month.

LeDuc said the housing density and other changes proposed by Boyd Homes have generated a new round of public hearings. Once the matter leaves the commission’s hands, supervisors will then hold a public hearing before taking final action on the application.

Also on the agenda at Tuesday’s commission meeting is a presentation of the county’s proposed Capital Improvement Plan by county administrator Rodney Hathaway. Planners will also receive an update on the pending and controversial storm water ordinance, view proposed land development fees for the next fiscal year, discuss family subdivision/future subdivision ordinance amendments, and elect new officers for 2014.