Developers Want Nearly 800 Homes at Farmington at Forest: The Bedford County Planning Commission Voted 4-3 to Recommend Rezoning the Forest Property.
By Beth Jones, The Roanoke Times, Va.
Jan. 18–Bedford County schools don’t have the capacity to handle hundreds of additional students.
That was the consensus of parents speaking at the Bedford County Planning Commission on Wednesday during a public hearing for a rezoning request for a Forest subdivision.
Developers initially announced that the Farmington at Forest housing development would include 400 single-family homes.
At Wednesday’s meeting, however, developers asked the commission to rezone part of the property to build more than 600 housing units, that would include condos, town homes as well as single-family homes. Combined with an early phase of the project, already under construction, that would be nearly 800 homes.
Those type of homes, developer Doyle Allen said, would have less impact on county schools because young professionals without children would be more likely to buy the town homes.
Josh Oppenheimer of Prototype, a consultant hired by the developer, said that if allowed to rezone from medium density residential to planned residential development, Farmington would add 258 students to Bedford County schools, while a single-family development would draw 333.
Several parents who spoke, however, talked of their children who attend Bedford County schools in Forest having classes in “educational cottages” or mobile classrooms because schools are already over capacity.
Allen stressed throughout a 212 discussion that the property is already zoned for residential purposes.
The land, he said, will have homes on it no matter how the commission voted.
Allen argued that in addition to having less impact on schools, a planned residential development would allow for more green space, and offer housing in a range of prices, from $140,000.
Planning commission member Lynn Barnes called it a choice between being hit by a truck and run over by a train.
The commission voted 4-3 to recommend rezoning the property to the Board of Supervisors.
Greg Lester, who grew up on the property, said Bedford County had many opportunities to buy the land to expand Jefferson Forest High School.
“They had one bite at the apple and that’s it?” asked commissioner Fredric Fralick.
“They had seven years of bite,” Lester answered.
The planning commission had not yet held public hearings on the Sunset Cay development or a drive-in theater, both in Moneta, by press deadline.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Roanoke Times, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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