Town Planning Commission Debriefed on Possible Development at Ashton Green

After executing a brief presentation of an application for a special use permit for a short-term rental at 415 East Main Street, Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware guided the Front Royal Planning Commission through a detailed, intense overview of a possible development at Ashton Green that lasted for roughly an hour at the commission’s work session on Wednesday, June 5, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall at 102 East Main Street.

Front Royal Planning Commission meets for a work session on Wednesday, June 5. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh

Located near Happy Creek Road’s connection to Leach Run Parkway, Ashton Green is a wooded area with forty-three acres and borders already developed residential zones. Rappahannock HC, LLC owns 1321 Happy Creek Road, and the property is currently zoned Suburban Residential District (R-S). If the commission votes in favor at their June 26 meeting, this property will be rezoned to Residential District (R-1). This potential rezoning is significant because it would allow the developer to build forty-three additional dwelling units that would be permitted if the property remained under R-S zoning. Under R-S, Rappahannock could develop sixty-one dwelling units by right, while under R-1, the number would increase to one hundred four by right.

Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware briefly presents a request for a special use permit before moving on to an in-depth presentation on an application for rezoning at Ashton Green, where a potential residential subdivision is proposed for development near Happy Creek Road and Leach Run Parkway.

The evening’s agenda packet reflected a significant amount of labor on the part of the Planning and Zoning Department. A letter was addressed to Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) informing her that, in their estimation, “this subdivision will have minimal impacts to the local roadway network.” As Ware explained to the commission, Rappahannock is prepared to give the Town the right-of-way it needs to make needed improvements to the Happy Creek Road segment adjacent to Ashton Green. Currently, that area features an S-bend that is less than ideal, and a realignment is desired. The proffers that Rappahannock is making would in part offset the cost of roadway improvements and offset the cost of a rise in the number of young people attending local schools. A fiscal impact analysis conducted by S. Patz and Associates concluded that the development of Ashton Green into an R-1 zone with one hundred four single-family detached dwelling units would generate an annual tax revenue of $407,620.

Warren County Planning Director Matt Wendling addresses some of the finer points of the Ashton Green rezoning application.

Real estate consultant Ariel Goldring, the president of S. Patz & Associates, answers questions from the planning commission about the projected fiscal impact of the Ashton Green project.

In compliance with the requirement of the state of Virginia that localities facilitate Urban Development Areas (UDA), the Town’s comprehensive plan calls for higher-density development, and Ashton Green, where Rappahannock wishes to achieve higher density, qualifies as one such UDA. Instead of pushing development out into the outer reaches of Town limits where there are likely to be agricultural zones that do not wish to be encroached upon, developing by right at a higher density within areas like Ashton Green has the potential to fulfill Front Royal’s need for housing for those working in the Town.