Craigs Baptist Church looks to expand in rural area

Virginia Code, Sec. 15.2-2223.1 requires that Spotsylvania County establish one or
more UDAs by July 1, 2011.
UDA basic statutory requirements include:
· One or more areas most be designated for a UDA in the Comprehensive Plan
· Densities must be appropriate for “reasonably compact development”
· Residential density must be at least 4 residential units/ gross acre
· Commercial minimum floor area ratios must be 0.4 per gross acre
· Projected population growth in the UDA areas must accommodate the localities
growth rate for at least 10 years and not more than 20 years

there’s still a lot of time to figure all of this out but this is one of those under-appreciated aspects of
the 3202 legislation… a bit of a “sleeper”

If the county follows the law – and it’s not subsequently repealed or gutted (it could be), then..in
theory.. the county needs to designate areas that can accommodate 10 years worth of growth..

I can’t quite figure this part out:

….. ” identify at least 3,008 acres of UDAs to accommodate a
population of 26,103 (2% growth).”

my understanding is that the density must be at least 4 residential units per acre so that would be a
a lot more acres than 3000.. unless they are proposing even higher densities…

but I also thought I read in the legislation – here:

“Future growth shall be based on official estimates and projections of the Weldon Cooper Center for
Public Service of the University of Virginia or other official government sources.”

which I think is likely to be a different number than 2% though the whole issue about how growth is
projected in the first place is a murky critter.

but this really sets a precedent for the county…. in terms of designating future growth in that in the
past.. the county has basically responded to growth proposals… which sometimes occurred in the
Primary Settlement Area (roughly where water/sewer is provided) but not infrequently in other parts
of the county … For instance – Fawn Lake got it’s own water/sewer way the heck out on the fringes
on the county near orange and all along the length of the pipes.. subdivisions have sprung up…
contributing to the Route 3 corridor traffic as well as necessitating new schools out in that direction.

There are some folks – even Smart Growth folks who advocate “nodes” or “villages” separated by
rural … but I don’t think we are headed that way… as the reality is that we are substantially a
bedroom community with a high percentage of long-distance commuters.. who live here and work up
in NoVa.

Which presents an interesting issue in that despite what some folks say about the development
community and “sprawl” – they will tell you that they are responding to the “market” and I think it’s
an open question as to whether folks who work in NoVa and come down here looking for a traditional
sub-division …cul-de-sacs.. green grass front and back yards…. etc… will buy.. something that
looks a lot like what is available up in NoVa (but still cheaper down this way).

At any rate.. i thought the UDA stuff on the Agenda was potentially very interesting.

4 units is right on the edge of your traditional single family home on a lot… which is the “sweet
spot” for most NoVa commuters.. Higher density than that.. means townhouses and apartments
… which “normally” is not the kind of housing that mom & dad commuter-competemplating-a-
family are looking for …

So it might boil down to:

1. – Can we ‘create’ urban-type development like Fredericksburg where commercial and residential
are … “New Urbanistic” …i.e. apartments on top of Stores… etc…. even more “mixed-use” than
what some traditionally view as “mixed-use”.

2. – If we are successful at building “mixed-use” New Urban villages… will it attract NoVa
commuters … more so than the traditional single family home subdivision?

so this goes to the heart of the growth argument.

Why?

because if the county designates super-dense UDAs as their response to 3202 and in the process,
they designate little or no single family home subdivisions as part of the UDA… and the builders
and developers come back and say that they can’t make it because their customers want single
family home subdivisions an none are designated in the UDA/Comp Plan….

there’s a bunch of ways that this can go…

Mr. Vakos has attempted to go down the New Urban road with his Courthouse Development but
that project does not look like it’s on a fast track at all….just the opposite.

Tricord has shown a willingness but the County was less than thrilled with what was proposed.. even
though it would have brought them some major road infrastructure….

Truth be know.. this is getting into uncharted waters… for the County…