Amended Statement of Justification

Vint Hill Village, LLC, Comprehensive Plan Amendment

COMA-16-004478
Revised March 3, 2017

Project Name: Vint Hill Village

Property Owners: Vint Hill Village, LLC

Triumph Baptist Church
Dreamweaver Holding Company, LLC
Vint Hill Entertainment, LLC
Building 2500 LLC
Building 2400 LLC
Impact Area #8 LLC
Farm Station, LLC

Applicant: Vint Hill Village, LLC

Location: Intersection of Aiken Drive and Kennedy Road

Magisterial District: Scott

Service District: New Baltimore

PINS: 7915-45-3347-000,
7915-54-0780-000,
7915-53-3758-000,
7915-44-5729-000,
7915-64-2507-000 (part),
7915-65-5084-000,
7915-74-0847-000,
7915-55-8048-000,
7915-74-7317-000,
7915-55-1560-000,
 7915-55-3486-000,
7915-65-5274-000,
7915-74-8663-000,
7815-74-8920-000,
7915-74-6958-000,
7915-75-5373-000
(Together the Property)

Acreage: 102.07 acres, total

Existing Comprehensive Plan

Designation: Planned Industrial Development

Current Zoning: Planned Commercial Industrial

Development (PCID) & Planned
Residential Development (PRD)

Request: Pursuant to 13-202.4 , et seq., of the Fauquier County Zoning Ordinance To

Change the Comprehensive Plan Designation of 61.89 acres from Planned
Industrial Development to Medium Density Residential up to 6 units per acre;
Adjust the boundary and location of the Village Center containing 40.18
acres as shown on the proposed land use maps; and to remove the School
Site previously designated

Introduction
Vint Hill Village, LLC, is requesting a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to modify
the Vint Hill element of the Fauquier Comprehensive Plan for the New Baltimore Service
District, to change the designation of 61.89 acres in Vint Hill from Planned Industrial
District, to Medium Density Residential at up to 6 Units per Acre, and to provide a
specific location comprising 40.18 acres for a Village Center that has heretofore been
identified in the Vint Hill element of the New Baltimore Plan only generally. The purpose
of such an Amendment would be to create a residential area linking existing residential
neighborhoods in the area, to the proposed Village Center, and to give greater definition
to the Village Center area. The Village Center would remain zoned PCID.

Approval of this request would permit the continuation of the existing pattern of
development, and enhance the connection of the existing residential communities of
Brookside, Grapewood, and Vint Hill, with the development of a Village Center area and
the County-owned Vint Hill Park. The proposed infill PRD residential development would
also buffer the existing residential uses from the more intense commercial and industrial
uses that belong north of Vint Hill Parkway and would effectively taper the intensity
of residential use from the commercial PCID heart of the Village Center.

The portion of Vint Hill identified as potential Medium Density Residential is

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located in the southwest quadrant of the site, generally south of Aiken Drive, and west
of Kennedy Road, including the small portion north of Aiken bounded by Brookside
Parkway. The area is adjacent to the Lakewood, Grapewood, and Brookside
Subdivisions, and the Fauquier Family Shelter property.

The Village Center is identified as the property that stretches along the north side
of Aiken Drive from the intersection of Kennedy and Vint Hill Parkway to Farm Station
Road and includes, among other properties, the Inn at Vint Hill. This Village Center will
be a focal point of New Baltimore. It will be a small and distinct community serving the
Vint Hill area, accessible to nearby residential uses and integrated with the Countys
central community park and a principal interior main street. It should be developed as a
vibrant mixed-use main street, adjacent to those medium and low density residential
uses, and incorporating neighborhood-style retail, office, civic, and cultural uses. This
core area is in addition to commercial, industrial, and residential areas already existing
or planned within the greater Vint Hill property, a material part of which has begun to
develop with commercial and industrial uses.

The Amendment will also remove the School Site presently shown on the Land
Use Plan for Vint Hill that the County moved to another site in the Brookside
Development, when that site was conveyed to the Board pursuant to a proffer. It is no
longer required at its previously planned location.

Approximately 6.15 acres of the property proposed for Medium Density

Residential are already zoned Planned Residential District (PRD), and the remaining
55.74 acres are zoned Planned Commercial Industrial District (PCID).

Properties located to the east and north of the area proposed for replanning are
zoned PCID. The properties to the south and west are zoned Residential-1 (R-1) and
Planned Residential District (PRD). All of the proposed Village Center is currently zoned
PCID.

This area is a brownfield site. As is well known, it operated as an Army Base for
many years, and consisted of Non-Commissioned Officer Family Housing that has since
been demolished. It also contains a church, which is presently relocating to another site
in Vint Hill, several small storage buildings, parking lots, and a section of woodlands.
There is a wetlands area located central to the site that drains to the south.

There are adequate public facilities to serve the proposed medium density
residential and Village Center uses. Water service is provided by the Buckland Water
and Sanitation and Assets Corporation, and sewer service is provided by the Fauquier
Water and Sanitation Authority. The property is fronted by collector roads that will
function at an acceptable level of service, and the Property will be developed with
adequate public roads on-site. The proposed changes in land use in this Amendment
would not affect any change in the demand for sewer service to Vint Hill. Consequently,
the change in land use from Planned Industrial Development to Medium Density

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Residential (4-6 units per acre) will result in a minimal reduction in the ultimate planned
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for Industrial/Commercial in Vint Hill. The +/- 62 acres proposed
to be planned for residential accounts for 463,000 square feet of FAR, based upon deed
restrictions and the approved Concept Development Plan. With the acceptance of the
Brookside school site, the 30 acre school site at Vint Hill was converted from PRD to PCID
without restrictions. The inclusion of this additional acreages at a 0.25 FAR ( the same
FAR as the proposed area proposed to be removed) results in a reduction of only 136,000
square feet of FAR or 4% of the total FAR across the project.

Background
The County has provided a template for it is near- and long-term growth through
its Comprehensive Plan. It has chosen to manage that growth by concentrating future
development into Service Districts, to preserve and protect agricultural lands, and to
provide for essential public utilities where feasible. Chapter 6 of the Comprehensive
Plan Service Districts, says explicitly areas designated as service districts are designed
to accommodate the highest density residential, commercial and industrial uses in the
County.

New Baltimore is one of the original Service Districts, as they were first created
in the 1967 Comprehensive Plan. It has been the site of the majority of the Countys
residential development over the ensuing forty years. Vint Hill Farms Station was itself
identified in that original 1967 plan as one of the two major employment centers in New
Baltimore.

In 1996, as a consequence of the Base Realignment and Closure Program, the

United States reprogrammed Vint Hill Farms Station, and the first major land use change
was made to the Service District Plan to incorporate the base as a Planned Industrial
Technology Park. This change was based upon a Preferred Reuse Plan (PRP) prepared
for the Board of Supervisors. The PRP was adopted, and the Vint Hill Economic
Development Authority was created pursuant to the enabling legislation for Authorities
for Development of Former Federal Areas, found at what is now 15.2-6300, et seq., to
develop the former Vint Hill Farms Station for the economic, cultural, and social
betterment of Fauquier County and the region.

The County has not changed its view of Vint Hill as a focal point for development
of New Baltimore since the late nineteen nineties. In 2007, the concept of a village
center was added to the Vint Hill Plan. The PRP had itself proposed a Village Core, which
would serve as a neo-traditional hub including retail, civic, residential, and employment
uses in a compact area, though the actual Core area was not specifically delineated. The
2007 Comprehensive Plan also recommended that the Board of Supervisors make
changes to the Planned Residential Development (PRD) and Planned Commercial
Industrial District (PCID) classifications, in order to facilitate the development of this

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Village Core area. 1

In 2011, the Vint Hill Economic Development Authority submitted a Rezoning

Amendment, and Conceptual Development Plan Amendment, with the specific intent of
creating a Village Center at Vint Hill as envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan. It is
Village Center Plan depicted a walkable Main Street with neighborhood services, a
mixed-use community with diverse housing opportunities, and passive and active
recreational facilities. While this application was discussed at the Planning Commission,
it was never advanced to a vote and was not pursued. Because of their common
interests, the County, Vint Hill Village, LLC (which then held interests at Vint Hill), and
the Inn at Vint Hill joined the EDAs rezoning as co-applicants. The effort then made to
identify and define a Village Center is not new, and this proposed Amendment advances
proposals that have heretofore been considered by the County.

Vint Hill Village, LLC, enters the picture

In 2014, Vint Hill Village, LLC, (VHV) acquired a large portion of Vint Hill from
the EDA, and initiated efforts to bring to fruition the development of a viable project at
Vint Hill consistent with the long discussed development of the area.

During discussions with County staff regarding the potential development of

properties at Vint Hill, the staff suggested that a Comprehensive Plan Amendment could
be required since VHVs plans for its properties may differ from the Village Center as
generally described, but not located, in the New Baltimore Service District Plan adopted
nine years ago. VHV believes that rezoning consistent with this Amended Statement
would substantially conform to the language and intent of the existing Comprehensive
Plan, but it has filed this application in the event that County concludes that an
amendment to the New Baltimore Service District Plan is indeed necessary. 2

VHV considers an adequate residential base to be critical to the viability of a

1
The Applicant for this Comprehensive Plan Amendment has filed a Zoning
Ordinance Text Amendment to the PCID text as recommended in the adopted
Comprehensive Plan to create the Planned Commercial Industrial District Village
Commercial sub-district. That proposal will not be considered until the Board of
Supervisors has acted on the present Plan Amendment application. Depending on the
outcome of this Application, it may then appear that no Zoning Ordinance Text
Amendment is necessary.
2
The current Service District Plan says that [t]he specific details of the PRP were
not incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan in order to allow the Vint Hill Economic
Development Authority, or successor) flexibility in marketing and developing the
property without an amendment to the Plan.

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viable commercial base and a successful Village Center, while yet retaining the Countys
long-term vision for Vint Hill. The closer homes are to the Village Center and its retail
and other commercial uses, the more likely those non-residential uses are to be
successful. While it is to be expected that residents of Grapewood, Brookside, and
Lakewood would take advantage of the proximity of the Village Center, a modestly
higher residential density in immediate proximity to that Center would materially
improve its chances for success in both the near-and long-term.

This proposed amendment also reflects the retention of existing transportation

networks and those that are presently under construction. VHV further believes that the
proposal is consistent with the market, and can only produce positive fiscal benefits.
Among other things, a common theme in community discussions over the future of Vint
Hill was the desire shared by VHV to retain and improve the existing recreational
facilities at Vint Hill. The 2011 EDA Village plan had proposed a significant reduction in
the Park serving New Baltimore but VHV proposes a Plan that preserves, protects, and
builds on the Park as the Central Green giving character to the Village Center, but
would embrace the historic nature of the buildings in and around the Main Street core. It
has engaged in extensive discussions with the Parks & Recreation Board, and has spent
substantial sums on development of revised master plans for the development of that
Park.

What VHV Requests

This application is to amend the New Baltimore Service District Plan to:

Modify the New Baltimore Land Use Plan to change the designation of
approximately 61.89 acres from Planned Industrial District to Medium
Density Residential at up to 6 units per acre, to create an appropriate
residential core to support the Village Center.

Adjust the location of the Village Center to be consistent with the

function of the core as described in the text and proposed
Comprehensive Plan Amendment maps and as previously contemplated
in New Baltimore plans.

Remove the School Site shown in Vint Hill, that has been moved to
another site in the Brookside Development; and

Amend the text of the New Baltimore Service District Plan to be

consistent with VHVs request.

Ordinance Evaluation Criteria for Comprehensive Plan Amendments

Section 13-202.4.A(c)(2) of the Fauquier County Zoning Ordinance outlines

criteria to address in the statement of justification, as applicable, when an amendment

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to the Comprehensive Plan requested. Those criteria are set out below and an applicant
is to address them as applicable. The Applicant believes that it readily satisfies the
requirements of criteria (c) and (d).

a. Creative Concepts - presentation of innovative approaches to land use not

currently contemplated in the Comprehensive Plan.

b. Oversights - the subject property was omitted or misinterpreted in the

original plan review process.

c. Change in Circumstances - there has been a significant change in

surrounding land use since the original Plan review process.

d. Goals - the goals of the Plan would be better met with the proposed
modification, or better implemented if such amendments are adopted.

e. Hardship - an applicant has a unique hardship on the subject property not

identified in the original Plan review process. Such "hardship" shall be
similar in definition to that as defined in this Ordinance.

As to criterion (c), when Vint Hill was originally zoned in 1999, the properties
located to the southwest and west were vacant. In the past 15 years, however, the
Brookside community was rezoned to Planned Residential Development (PRD), and has
been constructed to the very back door of Vint Hill. The road network has been
substantially improved and connected, and a shared pedestrian trail system has been
completed. This has completely transformed the potential for, and the future of, the
southwest quadrant of the Vint Hill property. Adjoining lands have gone from
undeveloped properties to thriving residential neighborhoods. These changes constitute
a major change in circumstances driven by the adjacent land uses. VHV submits that it is
no longer appropriate to develop the 60+ acres in direct proximity to residential
neighborhoods and a County Park solely with commercial or industrial uses. Rather, the
advent of a modest additional population center will benefit those commercial and
industrial uses, and the County-owned Park serves as an ideal buffer between residential
and commercial development. Other changes in circumstances at Vint Hill include a
changed ownership pattern, the materially reduced role of the Vint Hill Economic
Development Authority in the development of Vint Hill, a potential change in ownership
of the water system from private ownership to the Fauquier WSA, and the need for a
more specific location of a Village Center at Vint Hill.

VHV submits that it would be more appropriate to continue and expand the
pattern of development that now exists in the area to include the proposed land as
residential at a higher density than existing subdivisions, as that housing approaches the
commercial and industrial uses planned for the Village Center. This will have the extra
effect of maintaining the industrial area north of Vint Hill Parkway, but permit something

7
significantly more reasonably approximating the neighborhood serving commercial uses
along Aiken Drive and Vint Hill Parkway today. This would allow direct access from
Brookside, Grapewood, and Vint Hill residential neighborhoods directly to the Park
without passing through industrial development, and would blend more appropriately
with the existing development patterns.

As to criterion (d), the current Comprehensive Plan envisions additional

residential areas within a neo-traditional core, beyond the existing planned residences in
Vint Hill. The proposed amendment would relocate this neo-traditional core to the west
of the existing Vint Hill Village Green to preserve that park as the heart of Vint Hill. The
original plan plans for Vint Hill anticipated a dense core built around a Main Street, but
failed to recognize the Village Green area to the south of Main Street as a public open
space that serves as the focal point for the entire community. This proposed amendment
recognizes the Vint Hill Village Green as an important component of Main Street. It
retains the Main Street retail, restaurants, theatre, office and 2nd and 3rd story
condominiums and apartments, as called out in the adopted New Baltimore Service
District Plan, but moves the more intense single-family development to a more
appropriate place west of Kennedy Road and the Park.

VHV respectfully suggests that the existing Comprehensive Plan for Vint Hill may
be read to support a rezoning of a portion of the property to PRD, retaining the existing
PCID with appropriate amendments to the controlling Concept Development Plan,
without further Plan amendment. Should the County think otherwise, VHV has provided
proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that would be consistent with its
proposal as set forth herein, in the form attached hereto and incorporated herein by
reference. It would both remain consistent with the County's plan for the Vint Hill and
surrounding areas, while making modifications necessary to a realistic and reasonable
future for the heart of Vint Hill.

Proposed Textual Change to the New Baltimore Service District Plan

A detailed review of the New Baltimore Service District Plan in connection with this
proposal suggests that a number of amendments are necessary to correlate various
segments of that Plan. Attached to this Amended Statement is a redline of the adopted
Plan, identifying those elements that VHV believes should be considered for amendment
consistently with this application.

Attachments:

1. Proposed New Baltimore Service District Plan as Amended.