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A zoning text amendment to update and clarify regulations governing Buena Vista’s institutional district is under consideration by City Council.
The proposed amendment is a response to the recent rezoning of a 285-acre tract of land for the Rockbridge Creative Institute and Meridian Farmstead. City Council this past Thursday held a first reading on the amendment, which was earlier recommended by the Planning Commission.
This recently rezoned land and Southern Virginia University’s campus are the only areas of the city that fall in an institutional district and are thus the only properties to be affected by revisions to the institutional zoning text.
The text amendment clarifies, pointed out Tom Roberts, the city’s director of community development, “that the purpose of this zone is just for institutions and not for miscellaneous uses that might be near a college.” The amendment adds the phrase “directly affiliated with an institution” to several permitted uses within an institutional district such as retail shops, restaurants and small-scale production establishments.
The amendment also goes into detail over uses associated with an institutional district that would require a conditional use permit. These include athletic fields, indoor athletic uses and camping.
Dimensional regulations for an institutional district would be established. Lot coverage would be limited to 80 percent of a lot area, and a maximum building height would be set at three stories or 40 feet. Any single building in an institutional district that exceeds 25,000 square feet would require a conditional use permit.
The text includes carefully measured requirements for outdoor lighting. Language in the current institutional zone text would be cleaned up and clarified at various points.
While the zoning revisions would apply to SVU’s institutional district, they do not affect the Seminary Overlay District that sets historic architecture guidelines. The purpose of the overlay district is to maintain historic architecture standards set primarily by SVU’s historic Main Hall.
A second reading on the zoning text amendment is to be held Sept. 7, after which Council will consider adopting it.
The Rockbridge Creative Institute, a school that is to teach skilled trades to college-age students, is set to open this fall. The school’s founder, Austin Rehl, has said the initial students are to design the campus under the direction of professionals.
