Apartment permit approved

Published 12:12 pm Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Farmville Town Council unanimously voted at the Nov. 8 meeting for a conditional use permit that will allow Eric Arthur Jr. to construct a seven unit apartment complex on Cedar Avenue. The property is zoned Residential District R-3 and allows for multifamily dwellings with a conditional use permit. The approval followed a public hearing.

The meeting also saw questions regarding an update for the intersection of Oak, Griffin and High streets.

Gerald Spates

“I’m a little bit confused about last month’s meeting and the roundabout issue that came up and was sort of dismissed,” said Farmville resident Adam Yoelin, who lives in a residence at the intersection. “I don’t know where we stand on that right now to be honest with you. Where we’re going next or if we’re just kicking the can down the road for a decision further on.”

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Yoelin said as a town he felt there was fair bit of time and money in 2017 to resolving the intersection issue.

“Trying to come out there with the best roundabout solution that we could,” Yoelin said. “I know there’s a certain monetary aspect but there’s also the amount of time the citizens and representatives of government spent forming their arguments back and forth and doing all of this. Now it kind of feels like we’re at a stand still.”

Later on in the meeting, Farmville Town Council At-large Representative Thomas M. Pairet responded to Yoelin’s question regarding the intersection.

“I have been tasked with several different challenges, one of course being the roundabout Mr. Yoelin was referring to earlier as well as looking at the parking situation in the town,” Pairet said. “I’ve asked our town manager to gather some information for us and we’re still gathering.”

He said while they have not met yet, they will hopefully meet within the next couple of weeks, “providing that we don’t run into too much interference with the holiday season.”

“We would like to try to get something done and possibly have some invited guests and try to get some more information,” Pairet said. “Once we get all of the

David Whitus

facts and figures together we’ll be coming back to council with some recommendations.”

Prior to the beginning of the public hearing regarding the intersection at the Oct. 18 meeting, Town Manager Gerald Spates said that during the master plan process, there were numerous issues raised concerning vehicle access, parking, pedestrian safety and bicycle access among other things.

“I find it very interesting that there was concerns for the intersection of Oak, High and Griffin when you have over 2,000 students per day traveling over Main Street going to Midtown Square and there is none or very little mention of this,” Spates said. “Also with the plans in place with the renovations in place with the high-rises known as Curry and Frazier and the entrances fronting on Main Street, the increase of pedestrian traffic in this area will increase dramatically. I truly feel that if we’re going to prioritize projects, Midtown Square should be No. 1.”

At the end of the Oct. 18 hearing, Farmville Mayor David Whitus said the infrastructure committee and the finance committee will both look at the proposal and come back to council with a recommendation.

“Perhaps at the November meeting, perhaps not because there’s still a lot of things to be considered,” Whitus said. “So the two committees will make their report, and we’ll proceed from there.”