Warren County Report

To that end council agreed to include wording recommending viability studies of a number of road projects in the amended Comp Plan. Likely included will be references to Shenandoah Shores Road (Route 606) and its intersection with Happy Creek Road, Leach’s Run Parkway running between John Marshall Highway and Happy Creek Road, a flyover of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks connecting the proposed Leach’s Run Parkway with Shenandoah Shores Road, and even a new east-west connector road between town and Shenandoah Shores Road.

Deputy Town Manager for Planning Nimet Soliman said Leach Run Parkway remains atop the town’s priority list for needed road improvements, followed by the flyover that would connect it to Shenandoah Shores Road at some point north of the Route 606-Happy Creek Road intersection. However, she added that specific improvements to Shenandoah Shores Road and its intersection with Happy Creek could be bumped up the priority list. Such improvements have been requested by several industrial park businessmen relying on truck traffic to service them.

Eileen Grady said the town needed to make a good-faith attempt “to follow through on old promises on roads.” While those promises pre-date the current council they were instrumental in bringing a number of businesses into the Happy Creek Industrial area. AirPac owner Arthur Behnke expressed the severity of the situation in the minds of some of those businessmen during Public Hearings before both the town planning commission and council. Behnke said rather than expand his internationally distributed manufacturing operation he might relocate if road improvements are not made.

Addressing future residential development options on vacant Agricultural land in the same North East Planning District as the Happy Creek Industrial Park area, Grady said, “You can still get density through proffers – or am I missing something?”

Mayor James Eastham acknowledged rezoning to accommodate clustering and Planned Neighborhood Development with surrounding green space was possible as long as developers “have a compelling argument.”

Asked by Grady to define compelling argument, Eastham – come on Jim, I got to use it, it’s too good – deadpanned “four votes” before getting more serious. The mayor explained that developers would have to step up to the plate to show how they would mitigate the impacts of increased residential density on the community.

“What are you going to do to step up so we can assume this will not have a negative impact on the existing situation for the people who are already here?” Eastham said.

And there lies the classic proffer/rezoning dichotomy.

Chief among such negotiations is likely to be money for the very type of road improvements being discussed for the area.

Remember when?

Such discussion was at the forefront of the county’s negotiations with Centex during the much-ballyhooed 2,400, then 1,862-unit residential development proposal for some 600 acres of land straddling the town border between Happy Creek Road and I-66. It remained unresolved exactly how many millions of dollars the county would take to rezone and in what numbers development would be allowed for the very type of road improvements – among other things – as the town is now wrestling with in that area.

Numbers thrown around included $15 million for unidentified – but likely Leach’s Run Parkway – other money or actual construction of a major east-west connector road to parallel Happy Creek to the north, and improvements to the existing county road system including Happy Creek and Dismal Hollow Road and John Marshall Highway at Linden.

Those negotiations were still going hot and heavy with the county planning staff, much to the dismay of everyone from nearby residents, local builders afraid of getting squeezed out of the building permit equation and town council.

Of course, then the economy and housing market began their major tank jobs and Centex bailed out of a number of projects, including this one. However, Centex opponents note that when the economy turns, the Centex’s of the world will return. How they will be held accountable for their proposals, as will smaller local builders is what council is now trying to build into its Comp Plan.

Following the work session, Mayor Eastham pointed out that despite all the talk Centex attorney John Foote did in front of county officials about cash proffers that would go to projects in town to mitigate traffic impacts, the town was never contacted directly by the developer about such proffers.

Internet electric?

Management consultant David Shpigler briefed the town on his client, ProTel’s desire to enter into a franchise agreement with the town to use the town’s existing electrical power lines to run broadband Internet access throughout the town.

The town already has two Internet providers using different technology and transmission lines – Embarq, who provides DSL through the copper wiring in phone lines and Comcast, whose cable modem system runs through coaxial cable tied to its cable TV system.

Gene Tewalt asked if such an agreement with ProTel might conflict with the town’s existing agreement with Comcast. Staff was instructed to explore that. And the EDA’s Technology Consortium Committee was also asked to explore the proposal. Tech Consortium Committee member Craig Laird of Royal Oak Computers was present at the work session, along with Executive Director Mike South. Laird said the Tech Committee had reviewed the electrical wire broadband technology about a year ago and was familiar with it. Laird said the committee’s next scheduled meeting was Jan 31 and predicted an evaluation could be forthcoming shortly after that.

Shpigler said the project would raise the competitive bar and thus help keep prices down and service up among all providers.