Berryville Planning Commission Recommends Denial
On January 24th, 2024 the 7 members of the Berryville Planning Commission reached a unanimous decision: recommending that Berryville Town Council deny the D.R. Horton proposal to build 198 homes on the northeast edge of town. Specifically, the motion to recommend denial was that the density requests did not fit the character of Berryville and there was no reason to deviate from the Berryville Area Plan. Opponents of the subdivision have often called for local leaders to “stick with the plan”, and they agreed.
The main request for density on behalf of the developer comes from the reasoning that other areas of town (namely Battlefield Estates, and The Hermitage) weren’t built as dense as they could have been. The Berryville Plan and land use map for zoning indicate that the property is assessed for low-density, not the requested medium-density by the developer. Commissioners commented that they believed the Clarke County School impact numbers provided by the developer are too low, meaning increased cost burden for all the additional students brought by this proposed neighborhood. Additionally, as mentioned in citizen editorials and public comment, there are serious traffic concerns about access to/from the proposed subdivision and the amount of new traffic trying to squeeze it’s way through town. Citizen opposition and engagement also played a factor, signaling a rise in civic engagement over this proposal. The Berryville Planning Commission is to be praised for their diligent examination of the proposal and listening to citizen concerns, which ultimately led to the unanimous recommendation that Town Council deny the requested amendment to zoning to add more houses.
The Berryville Town Council will take up this issue at their next meeting, February 13th @ 7pm, with a review of the proposal with the developer and recommendation from planning commission. It is expected that Town Council will set a public comment period for citizens in March, but each Town Council meeting has an open Citizen’s Forum to hear on any topic desired by a registered attendee. Stay tuned to the website for more information once a public comment period has been set, and feel free to attend the February 13th town council meeting February 13th @ 7pm (101. Chalmers Ct., Berryville VA 22611, Main Meeting Room 2nd Floor).
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