By Hannah W. Wever

Published: April 24, 2008

More than one hundred jobs just left Orange County, but Ken Dotson has a way to bring those jobs back—and more.
Tuesday night, Dotson, a local businessman, came before the Orange County Board of Supervisors to present a conceptual plan for a mixed-use, commercial, retail and office development on 900 acres just off Route 3.
The development, he said, would ultimately create a sense of community through intentional, well-considered design features, while increasing the county’s tax revenue and limiting growth to within a designated area.
Dotson has been working closely for several months with the present owners of the Route 3 property, county representatives and designers to work up a conceptual design for the development.
Zack Lette, a principal planner with Land Planning Design Associates, presented the multi-phased project along with a colorful Power Point presentation. He detailed the plans for each phase, which include development of mixed-use office and flex space, a retail and commercial “village center” area, medical facilities, educational facilities, tourism draws including an amphitheater, hotels and entertainment venues, and recreational uses like a village green, parks and a trail system.
Lette said there would be limited access to the expansive development off of Route 3, and an internal system of travel ways that would create a “hierarchy of connectivity.”
The commercial core of the project, Phase I, would depend on large-scale retailers to serve as anchors, “maybe a home improvement store—something like that,” Lette said. And surrounding those anchors, businesses like pharmacies, hotels, smaller retailers and groups of restaurants would complete a Main Street feel. Later phases, scheduled for build-out as development as much as 30 years from now, will implement community open spaces “to start to balance the streetscape,” Lette added.
There would be a strong emphasis, he promised, on design standards and pedestrian access.
“It doesn’t have to be a painted block façade with large signage,” he explained. Instead, design of buildings and landscaping features would convey a consistent architectural flavor. “The buildings are pedestrian-scaled,” he added, and the entire development would be centered on “pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and connectivity.”
A number of lakes and ponds were depicted on the conceptual rendering, and Lette said there would be space for a water impoundment facility. Other elements that would be valuable to the entire county, he added might be a YMCA facility, or parks and recreation facilities. The development includes plans for tourist draws, like a resort, spa and wellness center which would serve as a gateway from Route 3 into Orange County.
“That’s a very intensive thing to go after for economic development,” Lette said.
Dotson said the development would give county residents a place to work—and to play—in Orange County, while increasing personal property, real estate, sales and food tax revenues, and balancing the tax base. And there is already interest from businesses, he added.
But what he needed from the board of supervisors, he added, was confirmation that the county would support his idea.
“We are currently in negotiations with a company who wants to open a home improvement retailer and a large retail store on this property,” Dotson said. The early benefits, if the project is allowed to proceed, would be 500 new jobs for the area. “This money would be brought back into our community and our economy,” he said.
“We’re really just trying to make the right mix in the right area and create a synergy for the community,” Dotson said. What project planners would not do, he said, is create another Route 3 in Spotsylvania or Route 29 in Ruckersville.
“I’m not ready to say I support this,” Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Johnson said, “but if we can get some of the economic benefits, I think this is something we should think very seriously about.”
District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin called the design “wonderful,” and said he particularly favored the plans which buffered the development from the main road with vegetation. He supported the planned retail, and commercial activity as a much-needed addition to the county’s economy.
And Zack Burkett, of District 2 was in favor of the project following the presentation, he said. “The alternative to this,” he said, “is going to be Route 3 in Fredericksburg,” where development sprawls, unplanned along the roadway.
But District 4 Supervisor Teri Pace wasn’t convinced the project could provide any benefit to the county.
“This is what counties do when they want to urbanize,” she began. The project was better suited to an urban area—not for a rural county.
And Pace was dubious that there was any economic gain associated with the development. “It doesn’t help the tax rate. Actually, your taxes go up and up. The tax rate will increase for every taxpayer,” she said.
Lee Frame, of District 5, agreed with Pace. “It’s a big urban project,” he said. He favored a scaled-down idea which centered on a conference center, he added. Either way, he said he saw the logic and the importance of creating jobs for county residents who are presently traveling over county lines to work each day. “More of them would go to work here if we had office space—there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Orange County Administrator Bill Rolfe recommended that supervisors support the development project, based on its long-term strategic planning versus scattered uncontrolled growth, and on its shorter term potential to earn for the county income.
“We need revenue!” Rolfe said.