Town Planning Commission Approves a Preliminary Plan for a Major Subdivision and Anticipates Zoning Ordinance Rewrite

On the evening of Wednesday, August 21, beginning at 7 in the Warren County Government Center at 220 North Commerce Avenue, the Front Royal Planning Commission transacted a regular meeting that adjourned within thirty minutes. The highlights of this brief event were the approval of a preliminary plan for a major subdivision and a reminder from the planning director that a sizeable amount of work faces the commission as they prepare to read, make comments, and eventually vote upon a draft of a zoning ordinance rewrite that staff has been preparing in connection with Summit Design and Engineering Services. Summit has reorganized and streamlined parts of the code to furnish the Town with the draft that now sits before the commission.

The Front Royal Planning Commission begins a regular meeting at the Warren County Government Center on Wednesday. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Squirrel Hill Development is the project name for the site of a proposed major subdivision at 344 West Main Street. The owners, Douglas, Dennis, and Donald McCarty, sought approval from the commission for their preliminary plan to develop thirty-three dwelling units at this location, consisting of sixteen duplexes and one existing single-family dwelling unit, all the above contained within eighteen lots. The property is zoned R-2, Residential District. The minimum lot size requirement is eight thousand square feet. Staff recommended approval on the condition that the applicant respond to comments sent to the applicant in a letter on August 6.

Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware provides the commission with an understanding of the process before them regarding an application for approval of a preliminary plan for a major subdivision.

Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware helped the commission understand the process for this application, which begins with the preliminary plan. If that preliminary plan is approved by the commission, then the applicant has received the greenlight to take his engineering studies to the next level; with certain deadlines at play and if all goes well, the commission will see the application two more times, forwarding it to the Town Council in both cases with a recommendation for approval. Ware explained that all of this happens within the context of multiple agencies including the County and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reviewing the project for things like erosion and sediment control as well as stormwater management.

Seth Roderick of Monteverde Engineering and Design Studio addresses the commission on behalf of his clients in the application for approval of a preliminary plan for a major subdivision.

Having received Ware’s instruction and after hearing from the project’s engineer, the commission proceeded to unanimously approve the preliminary plan. They proceeded to hear a report from Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke, in which she underlined the importance of the commissioners preparing themselves to comment upon the ongoing zoning ordinance rewrite in which the code is being reorganized and streamlined. She referred to the current draft which is available on the Town’s website under the agenda packet for the planning commission’s work session of August 7. The public can read here what the commission is reading and Kopishke made note that public input will be incorporated.

With the completion of the evening’s agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 7 pm.

Click here to watch the Front Royal Planning Commission Meeting of August 21, 2024.