Narrower Streets for Marshall’s Glen Development Considered at Town Planning Commission Work Session

On the evening of Wednesday, March 5, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall at 102 East Main Street, the Planning Commission welcomed a new commissioner, Teresa Fedoryka, to their governmental body at the one and only work session they have each month. By filling the vacancy, Fedoryka brings the commission to full capacity with five members led by Chairman Connie Marshner.

Prominent among the items that the commission considered that evening was a request from Rappahannock HC, LLC for property located at 1321 Happy Creek Road to reduce the width required by the Town code of the subdivision roads which the developer desires to construct as the project goes forward. Known as Marshall’s Glen, many will remember this project as the center of controversy in the summer of 2024, when a majority on Town Council voted to grant a rezoning request that reclassified the property from R-S to R-1, allowing the applicant to build at higher density. This was done in the absence of Councilwoman Amber Veitenthal, who would have tied the vote. Many concerns were raised by the community, including the impact a higher density development will have on infrastructure, particularly the school system. The project is located close to the intersection of Happy Creek Road with Leach Run Parkway.

One of the concerns raised by citizens is the traffic this development will bring to the area and the speed at which cars will travel through the subdivision. To abate that nuisance, Rappahannock HC, LLC proposes to reduce the width of the subdivision’s roads from the thirty-six-foot minimum required by a section of the Virginia code to twenty-nine feet. This would be permissible through a special exception pursuant to another section of code. The argument here is that a wider space encourages drivers to speed while a narrower one deters them. This twenty-nine-foot minimum would be done with parking on only one side of the street. Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware explained to the commissioners that VDOT allows as little as twenty-four feet in width provided there is only parking on one side. Hence, the developer is not asking as much as he could ask. Driveways will be constructed to allow four off-street parking spaces per unit in contrast to the two per unit required by code and “traffic calming measures” will be in place chiefly through stop signs and raised crosswalks. Ware explained that VDOT approves of the alternative approach to width.

Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware presents the material for multiple items facing the commission.

The commissioners weighed the pros and cons of the proposed exception and ultimately concluded that more information from the applicant at the time of the public hearing will be pivotal. Will the narrower streets be aesthetically pleasing? Will the danger of clipping somebody’s mirror be increased? Will the traffic calming measures be sufficient to offset the poor driving of the most obstinate drivers? These and other questions were raised. That evening, the commission also reviewed a fee comparison table prepared by staff, delineating what the Town currently charges for various permits and other requests, comparing those fees to what other municipalities charge, and in many cases proposing an increase. The consensus reached was that the new table, as prepared by staff, should be left as it is. They also considered the case of a nursing facility that failed in 1985 to acquire a special-use permit and now seeks to rectify that oversight as they want to expand their facility. Having considered a zoning text amendment to allow lodging houses by special-use permit in the R-1 zoning district, and having briefly discussed the 2024 Annual Report, the meeting was adjourned.