Copy Center, Office Space Envisioned
Washington and Lee University got the green light to move its copy center into the basement of the Grand’s building at the corner of Main and Washington Streets – as well as potentially using the upper portion of the rear of the building for additional administrative offices – following unanimous approval of a conditional use permit by Lexington City Council at its meeting last Thursday.
The permit application by John Adamson is part of his proposed renovations for the building, which will include three retail spaces, one of which will front onto Washington Street.
The conditional use permit for use of an educational facility, college/university, applies to the basement level of the building and the upper floor of the rear portion of the building, over the Washington Street retail space.
Adamson has an agreement with W&L to rent the basement level for storage and a new home for the copy center.
The upper portion of the rear of the building was included in the permit application, but the university has not agreed to rent that space from Adamson. When asked why he was applying for that space as well, Adamson explained that his goal was to not give the perception that he was “inching [the city] along” and to apply for the use for both spaces at the same time.
If the upper portion of the building is not used for an educational facility within two years, the permit expires and Adamson will need to reapply for the use.
The permit had two conditions recommended by the planning department, that the educational facility use only apply to the lower level and the rear portion of the upper floor of the building and that the retail space was not subject to the use. At its meeting on Feb. 27, the city’s Planning Commission added a third condition – that the use was only applicable as long as the property remains on the city’s tax roll. The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the permit 5-1.
Adamson also addressed concerns over impacts the use could have on parking in the city, saying that he’d had conversations with the university about having employees who would use these spaces park on campus and walk to the building. The university, he said, was willing to write a letter to the employees encouraging them to do that, but didn’t want to be in the position of enforcing it.
“Like most things in life, I think there will be a lot of good actors that would follow suit,” Adamson said. “I’m happy to continue that conversation. I think that, for all the reasons that we’ve stated, it’s logical [and] it’s reasonable. Anywhere else on campus that they had these functions, they would be parking and walking. I think as a good neighbor they would want to do that, and they want to be good neighbors.” -Before discussing the permit among themselves, Council held a public hearing at which several city residents encouraged them to deny the conditional use permit.
Michael Perry noted that while renting the space to the university wouldn’t result in a loss of property tax revenue, it would result in the loss of other potential revenue sources such as business license fees and business property taxes that would apply if another office-based business rented the space.
“We are losing that revenue as a city, and it’s going to impact the taxpayers in Lexington and it’s going to diminish the amount of revenue available to our schools, for public safety, and for infrastructure,” he said. “The last thing we want is Lexington to become another Blacksburg where we have a major university taking over most of the downtown space.”
Mary Stuart Harlow, who serves on the city’s Planning Commission and voted against the conditional use permit when it came before the Commission in February, said that renting the space to the university would take away space for use by other businesses or residents of Lexington.
“We all know that Lexington’s downtown is currently very safe, vibrant and welcoming, and we want it to stay that way with a variety of commercial entities for all residents and visitors to enjoy,” she said. “So, in my opinion, when bits and pieces of the city’s commercial district disappear – or are no longer available for the community at large – the downtown starts to dry up and we don’t really want this to happen. With this particular CUP, a significant section of the available commercial property is no longer going to be within the reach of our taxpayers and residents.”
Patrick Rhamey noted that, while the city’s comprehensive plan does focus on W&L buying property and not renting it, it also calls for the city to “avoid the removal of viable commercial activities from an already limited downtown.”
“It doesn’t matter if Washington and Lee is buying the property or renting the property through a third party,” he said. “It is removing square footage of viable commercial activity from an already limited downtown. It’s a distinction without difference.
“This is not about Washington and Lee,” he continued. “The zoning code specifically focuses on higher education institutions interfering in downtown – that’s why this is a CUP. What I’m saying would be applicable if it was VMI renting space or if it was SVU renting space or if it was Trump University renting space, because as the comprehensive plan says, ‘[avoid] removal of viable commercial activities from an already limited downtown.’ You do not need to worry, as some of you seem to exclusively do – and already have in your comments tonight – about protecting Washington and Lee. You do not represent Washington and Lee. You do not represent Mr. Adamson. You do not represent the outof- town non-voters who populate and control Main Street Lexington. You represent me. You represent the voters of this community. And it’s disappointing that you have to be reminded.”
Rhamey and Perry also criticized Council members David Sigler, Chuck Smith and Leslie Straughan for not recusing themselves from the consideration of the permit application. Prior to the public hearing, all three Council members disclosed that they had a personal interest due to the fact that their spouses are employed by the university, adding that they were not disqualified from participating due to “being part of a group of three or more that is affected by the transaction.”
Rhamey and Perry both argued that there was an appearance of a conflict of interest, with Rhamey saying that appearance “destroys the integrity of the process,” citing the vote on a similar permit application for the Rockbridge Building last fall. Council was split 3-3 on that permit, with Sigler, Smith and Straughan all voting in favor. The permit was approved when Mayor Frank Friedman cast the deciding vote in favor.
Mark Reed spoke in favor of approving the permit, saying that it was “the right thing to do.”
“I have a hard time understanding a Lexington or any city that would want to not rent to anybody,” he said. “I don’t understand why we wouldn’t want to rent to anybody who is willing to pay to rent [space downtown], especially people who are good citizens or want to be good citizens. It dumbfounds me that we’re trying to be this good community that thinks about other people and then we turn around, some of us, and say we just don’t want those kind of people renting in Lexington.” -After the public hearing, Straughan made the motion to approve the conditional use permit and Smith provided the second. Council members then discussed the permit before voting.
Nicholas Betts noted that the biggest difference for him between this application and the one for the Rockbridge Building – which he voted against – was the inclusion of a plan to address parking concerns.
“I can’t say I have zero concerns about parking, which I do think falls under the category of ‘adequate services provided by the city,’ but some of my concerns have been addressed there,” he said.
Sigler noted that the basement of the building is not accessible from Main Street and that the space was “not desirable for much,” but that it may be a good place for a copy center and storage, and that the overall plan for the building would serve to enhance the downtown.
“That’s how I’m seeing this space underground. I see that as something that I can live with,” he said. “Yes, it’s being rented to Washington and Lee, but it’s the use and, as far as I’m concerned, basements – at my house and a lot of houses – are used for storage. It’s not desirable downtown for retail or commercial operations.
“I’m willing to, in my mind, rationalize Washington and Lee being a tenant and renting the basement and having a copy center and storage, so that, quite honestly, an investor who hasn’t asked for one red cent from this city council – when we’ve had other investors in Lexington ask for hundreds of thousands of dollars from us in abatement – to let him rent to someone that will pay their bills on time so he can provide enhanced retail space upstairs,” he added.
Straughan also spoke in favor of the proposed additional storefronts in the downtown area.
“When I talk to people, they’re not concerned about what happens in the basements and upstairs of these buildings,” she said. “They want more storefronts available so they can expand and new businesses can come in. This project has provided for three great storefronts, and is filling up the rest of the space with people and opportunity to create more foot traffic to benefit all of downtown.”
Smith expressed the same reasoning he’d used to vote in favor of the conditional use for the Rockbridge Building – it’s about the use and not the user.
“The fact that it’s Washington and Lee is a distraction,” he said. “When we were talking about a VMI permit, there was no problem with that, it seemed like, from the public. So the perception is, it’s more about the user for some and not about the use, as it should be.”
Vice Mayor Marylin Alexander said that she had “gone back and forth” and had “been thinking about a lot of different things” in regards to the proposal. She acknowledged the concern about over-saturation of any one use in the downtown area and the impact it could have.
“Too much of any one thing can totally decimate your intentions and your vision of what your intentions are for an area,” she said. “Too much of a downtown having all office spaces – no matter what kind of offices they are – will not leave enough spaces for retail and for restaurants and other things that will attract tourists to keep Lexington as a destination … I cannot say enough about what too much of one thing can do.”
She also made note of the unique structure of the interior of the Grand’s building and how it might be difficult to do something with the space other than what Adamson is proposing.
“I’m at the point now, if we don’t take advantage of an opportunity like this we lose money in regards to the tax roll. I don’t want to see the use being over-used, but shame on us for not having the ability to go out and bring businesses in. So that leaves us in a quandary – do we make use of the opportunity that we have, or do we just let downtown roll up like it was before?”
The motion to approve the permit with both staff recommended conditions and the third recommended condition from the Planning Commission passed in a 6-0 vote.
