Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

After several months of questions and different numbers being offered, we now have a decision on the Meriwood Farm Road rezoning. By a 4-1 vote on Aug. 9, with John Hardy opposing, the Farmville Town Council approved the request from developer Harper Associates.

The focus here is on two parcels of land in the 300 block of Meriwood Farm Road in Farmville, both owned by Harper Associates. The company wanted the 31 acres rezoned from R1 to R2, so they can have a roughly 50/50 split of townhomes and single family houses. The current R1 zoning on the property only allows for single family homes to be built.

Nearby residents in the Jessie’s Way neighborhood have opposed the change, however. They’ve been concerned about how many homes would be built there, as well as the impact the development could have in other ways.

“We still have concerns about the traffic density, the actual density about the housing itself,” said Robert Dillman. He and his wife live closest to where the development would go up. Dillman also raised concerns about the real impact on services like sewer, water and electricity. He questioned if the town has enough capacity of each to handle a new development in that area.

During that Aug. 9 meeting, Farmville Town Manager Dr. Scott Davis explained that the missing details will be filled in later on in the process.

“Until they do a more complete study, which they do not normally do at this stage of a development, you won’t know what that (answer) is,” Davis said, talking about impact to water, sewer and electric capacity. He pointed out that if the town’s system can’t handle the development’s needs, then it’ll be the developer’s responsibility to fix that.

“They will have to enhance the system at their cost or it will meet what the current system can take, as far as water and sewer,” Davis said. “(But) the developer is not going to spend that kind of money until they’re further in the process.”

How many homes in Meriwood rezoning?

One of the biggest questions for nearby residents has been how many homes will be in the new development. Switching from R1 to R2 doesn’t just give the ability to add townhomes. It also increases the number of homes able to be placed on the site. In their application to the town, the company said their plans were for a 140-home project, with about an even split between townhomes and single family houses.

However, in his presentation Wednesday, July 12, Will Allen from Harper Associates placed the number in the high 90s.

“The memos reference 140 units, and that’s intentional,” Allen said. “The traffic consultant and utility engineer, they typically will go with a higher number out of the gate. They want to be very conservative. They don’t want us to spend a big number, a big investment to do all the engineering work and find that utilities aren’t available on site.”

Allen told the council at their July meeting that his group didn’t see a market for a project with a number of homes much larger than that in Farmville. Instead, his group is proposing a 50-50 split between smaller lots, single family detached homes and townhomes that would be roughly between 1400 to 2000 square feet.

As for a cap or absolute total on the number of homes, the council learned what that would be on Aug. 9.

Harper Associates makes a deal

The town isn’t legally allowed to require limits on the number of homes, beyond what is allowed in a specific zoning area. The only way to get a limit is if Harper Associates would self-impose one and commit to only building X number of homes on the Meriwood site, regardless of the market.

Known as a proffer in real estate, that limit would become a legally binding part of the development agreement. Even if Harper Associates sold the property, any proffer previously agreed to would still stand. Previously, Allen had declined when asked, saying the company wasn’t prepared to do that.

But in the Aug. 9 meeting, Davis read a list of several proffers the company was prepared to make. The first of those is that the property will not have more than 140 homes in total. The second was that the minimum lot size for townhomes will be 1600 square feet, with a maximum building height of 35 feet. Meanwhile, the minimum yard setback shall be a front yard setback of 10 feet, measured from the right of way, a rear yard of 15 feet and a zero side yard.

Meriwood rezoning a first step

To be clear, the Meriwood rezoning approval doesn’t mean construction will begin tomorrow or anytime soon on the property. This is just step one. In July, Allen told the council it would take between 12 to 18 months to get the Meriwood property ready for individual lots.

“I think that’s the minimum to get started,” Allen said, adding that a five to 10 year trajectory to complete the project was probably realistic. He explained that the rezoning was needed before any other work could be done. “You cannot market a project like this to a builder until it’s rezoned, ‘cause you’re talking about such a long duration before those lots would be available to sell to a customer.”