Quick decision after planners’ recommendation
The Washington Town Council voted in a brief special meeting Monday to approve the addition of seven parking spaces in the Rush River Commons’ residential area.
The approval comes after a sparsely-attended public hearing hosted by the Planning Commission last week, after which the commission voted to recommend approval to the Town Council.
The original phase one development plan for Rush River only included one residential parking spot per rental unit, many of which have multiple bedrooms, and six shared spaces used by both commercial and residential parkers. Richie Burke, site manager of Rush River Commons, said at the Planning Commission meeting last Thursday that the additional spaces for residents will hopefully lessen the competition for the shared space and accommodate units with multiple cars.
“[In] three-bedroom apartments, you may have two people that have two cars,” Burke said.
To allow for the new spaces, landscaping designs were also altered. Caroline Anstey, commission chair, said when the development plan was first being considered, the ratio of “hardscape” — paved surface — to landscaping was an important factor in the approval process.
In the revised special use permit (SUP), the amount of paved area does not change, however, sidewalks were narrowed and hardscape square footage was reallocated from other areas of the project.
Anstey asked Burke if any more revisions to the SUP would be brought forward, specifically more revisions to landscaping plans, to which he said there are currently none. She asked that going forward, there be no more amendments to the SUP.
“We would like to encourage that there’d be no more amendments,” Anstey said. “When we originally approved these plans two years ago…it was very important that we felt we weren’t just getting barren asphalt, that we would have had landscaping for beautification.”
“We don’t like changes either, because changes typically cost money,” Burke replied.
Mayor emeritus John Fox Sullivan, the Planning Commission hearing’s only attendee, asked how many parking spaces the commons will have in total. Burke said the original development plans included 73 parking spaces, so the addition will bring the total to 80.
After a three-minute meeting, the Town Council accepted the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve, with no discussion about the matter. Steve Plescow, Rush River Commons engineer, represented the development at the meeting, and simply said he was asking “for approval” from the council.
Mayor Joe Whited, along with council members Fred Catlin, Gail Swift, Patrick O’Connell and Brad Schneider, voted in favor of the SUP amendment. Council members Jean Goodine and Drew Beard were not in attendance.
Ireland Hayes is a reporter for Foothills Forum, a nonprofit organization that supports local news in Rappahannock County.
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