Lewisburg mayor: Gateway rezoning application flawed

By Tina Alvey

LEWISBURG � Plans for the further development of the Gateway Commons commercial area are on indefinite hold due to a �fatally flawed� rezoning application.

Even without the application�s deficiencies, however, it appeared unlikely the request to rezone 13 acres from residential to commercial would have been granted, as four of the six municipal planning commission members present for Thursday night�s public hearing spoke against the change.

Tom Reishman, spokesman for the developers, said the two lots in question are located in a �heavily commercial� area that will only become less attractive to residential development with the expansion of the dead-end private road designated as Grand Avenue.

Reishman said the state Department of Transportation approached him in May regarding plans to take over a 40-foot-wide roadway easement with the intent of extending the road from U.S. 219 to Fairview Road. He said DOT plans to start construction of the improved roadway in February and finish the project by the end of the current fiscal year in June.

No one at DOT could confirm the road project Friday. A DOT spokeswoman said further information might be available Monday.

If the rear of the Gateway Commons development were rezoned, Reishman said, he has already been approached by a company about the possibility of constructing a Microtel lodging establishment on a portion of the site. Also in the mix is a �sit-down restaurant,� he added.

The interested company intends to have the Microtel Inn ready for occupancy on an accelerated schedule, according to Reishman.

�They very much want to be in business before the (Greenbrier Classic) golf tournament next July,� he said.

Attorney Robert Richardson, representing Sharon Hayes and Dennis Barrucci, who own property adjacent to Gateway Commons, raised the issue of the application�s completeness, pointing out state law requires any petition for rezoning to be signed. Gateway�s application is not signed, he said.

Richardson also noted the city never approved a plat designating the still undeveloped property as parcels 7 and 8, as described in the legal notice of the rezoning hearing, rendering the notice defective.

Planning commission president John Schriefer commented, �It appears to me that we have a defective petition.�

Before Schriefer ruled no action could be taken due to what Mayor John Manchester termed a �fatal flaw,� the planners engaged in a spirited discussion of the merits of rezoning the land.

Planner Pat Baker complained, �We are nibbling and nibbling and nibbling at our residential property.� She said it isn�t fair to homeowners that they have to constantly fear a nearby lot will be rezoned to the detriment of the neighborhood.

Planner Linda Terek Ball echoed those sentiments, saying, �I am so tired of the average citizen being shortchanged.�

Manchester argued the opposite side, challenging the notion that the site on the table could be effectively marketed as a residential development, despite the fact it is designated residential on a future use map included in the city�s comprehensive plan.

�People need to recognize that times do change,� he said, adding it is unrealistic to think a residential development would succeed there.

Ball countered, �If you build it, they will come.�

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In other business, the planners unanimously approved a conditional use permit sought by Lewisburg United Methodist Church to operate a church and associated facilities on property zoned residential.

Church trustee Richard Ford, a Lewisburg attorney, explained approximately one-third of the church�s footprint is located in a residential zone, as is a recently acquired structure that was previously a single-family residence. The church intends to convert the former home into a �youth house� where Sunday school classes and United Methodist Youth Fellowship meetings can be held, Ford said.

He assured the planners that adult supervision will be the norm when the house is in use.

The permit now goes to city council for final approval. Manchester said he will put the issue on the agenda for the regular December session.

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