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Buena Vista
A conditional use permit was granted this past Thursday for a duplex at 217 W. 28th St. in Buena Vista.
City Council approved the permit on a 4-2 vote, over the dissents of Cheryl Hickman and Stanley Coffey, who objected on the grounds that the measure would allow up to four unrelated individuals in each dwelling because of provisions in the city code for student housing.
Parking is going to be a problem, asserted Coffey. “You got students – I mean they’re going to have friends over – their cars, they’re going to need parking. Where are they gonna park? They’re going to park on top of everyone else. That’s the whole [problem] with this now in the city. It’s nothing against the students or the school, but it’s just they park on top of everybody. I know they’re kids, but I’ve had to go to the other city manager before about parking, parking in front of other people’s houses” Putting so many people in such a small place is a concern for Hickman, she said. It’s not in the best interests of traffic and safety to have this many vehicles in a half-block area, she said. “That was my concern from the beginning. It’s not an apartment complex.”
City Attorney Brian Kearney advised Council to “focus on the nature of the neighborhood – not just the parking. There are parking regulations within the district that require a certain number of spots, so you want to focus on the use of a duplex in that neighborhood and whether it’s appropriate – not just focus solely on the parking.”
Mayor Bill Fitzgerald suggested putting additional parking spaces behind the house – in front of the alley. The motion that was approved to grant the conditional use permit included a provision that additional parking be developed.
Decision Postponed On Manufactured Homes
Buena Vista City Council decided to postpone making a decision on whether to allow manufactured homes in additional zoning districts in the city.
Council members discussed the issue for a second consecutive meeting this past Thursday, in response to a request by Andrew King to be able to place a manufactured home on land he owns next to his house at 1205 Pine Ave.
The site is in an R-3 district in which current zoning rules forbid manufactured homes. There are existing manufactured homes in the neighborhood that were placed there before zoning rules were enacted to prohibit them.
King favors getting a manufactured home over a modular home because it’s less expensive. The difference between the two types of pre-fabricated houses is that manufactured homes are based on federal guidelines for factory-built homes while modular homes follow the Virginia code regulations for site-built homes.
Discussion among Council members has centered on how changing the rules would affect other residential neighborhoods in the city. One option under consideration is rezoning a certain amount of the area that encompasses King’s property to R-4, which allows duplexes with a conditional use permit. An argument against this is that it would open up this area to apartments, thus changing the character of the neighborhood.
Another option would be to change the rules governing R-3 so that duplexes are allowed with a CUP. A counter- argument to this option is that it would greatly expand where manufactured homes could be placed since R-3 is the predominant designation for single-family-home neighborhoods.
Tom Roberts, the city’s director of community development, is going to research the issue further and return with recommendations on how to proceed. Council could hold off on taking action until a regional housing study that’s being commissioned by the three Rockbridge area localities is completed.
BV Approves Opioid Settlement
Buena Vista is receiving $84,000 as its share of a legal settlement between multiple jurisdictions across the country and manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
City Council this past Thursday adopted a resolution endorsing the settlement of opioid-related claims against Teva, Allergan, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and their related corporate entities. The resolution directs the city attorney or outside counsel to execute documents necessary to effectuate the city’s participation in the settlement.
“We have had agencies starting to reach out to ask for some of those funds, so my thought process is to get a file going,” said City Manager Jason Tyree. “Most of them are regional activities, but when I say regional activities, there is Rockbridge Recovery, which has purchased [property on Magnolia Avenue], which is in Buena Vista, so a lot of these funds will be used to support Buena Vista within these regional activities.”
Appointments Made
Buena Vista City Council appointed Bryson Adams to the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization Board. He takes the seat formerly held by David Truslow, who asked not to be reappointed when his term expired Dec. 31.
Also, David Gowdy was reappointed to the Buena Vista Economic Development Authority.
