Board backs big box ordinance

By Hannah Wever
Review Staff Writer

Published: June 12, 2008

When it comes to a proposed amendment to the county zoning ordinance pertaining to large retail use, or “big box” stores in Orange County, speakers at a public hearing agreed new commercial business would provide benefits to the community. But when it comes to getting that amendment on the books, the planning commission doesn’t agree with the board of supervisors and supervisors don’t agree with each other.
Per the proposed ordinance, any corporation seeking to bring a “big-box” store to Orange County would be subject to the special use permit process and compliance on architectural, landscaping, lighting, signage, parking and maintenance specifications. Before the proposed ordinance was sent to the planning commission for a June 5 public hearing, supervisors set a square footage minimum of 60,000.
“Big box” refers to national retail chains whose stores sprawl over an enormous footprint, (like Walmart, Lowe’s, Target and others). District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin said according to Lowe’s corporate design, the minimum square footage for new store construction is 150,000 square feet. In comparison, the town of Orange’s Food Lion store is around 45,000 square feet.
The Orange County Planning Commission took a crack at a proposed large retail use ordinance at a June 5 meeting, after it had been sent to them on fast track by the board of supervisors. Commissioners unanimously supported the ordinance, but lowered the square footage minimum to 40,000. Other language in the ordinance was changed that would increase the buffer from 50 to 100 feet and specified the nature and quantity of landscaping required on the site.
Orange County Director of Community Development David Grover explained to planning commissioners that a site plan application had been received only the day before for a big box store on Route 3 in Orange County, on a commercially zoned site. The site plan was submitted by JDC Ventures, LLC, of Burke, Virginia, according to Grover.
“There is no indication on the plans or the accompanying documentation of the identity of the specific retailer,” Grover said.
The site plan submitted by JDC Ventures, he added, includes a 141,000-square foot building. But for now, the application process has gone back to the developer; three items on the application were incomplete, Grover said. 
The Orange County Board of Supervisors got the draft ordinance back Tuesday night along with the recommendations made by the planning commission. The board had its own public hearing on the matter.
Don Faulconer of Gordonsville addressed the board with his concerns that the ordinance was prohibitively restrictive. By requiring a special use permit and a series of hoops for perspective applicants to jump through, the only businesses who will have the resources to comply, are the very ones county government doesn’t want, Faulconer said
“It’s the big outsiders who come in and are able to get things done,” he said.
Supervisors rejected the planning commission’s recommendations. In a 4 to 1 vote, with board chairman Mark Johnson dissenting, a variation of the large retail use ordinance was adopted, with the square footage minimum increased once again to the original 60,000 square feet, and language recommended by the planning commission changed.
Goodwin said creating excessively strict design guidelines, instead of simply controlling a business’s impact on aesthetics and culture, could ultimately prevent potential applicants from considering a retail location in Orange County.
“It’s gone too far and we’re making it hard to do business in Orange County. We already have a reputation of making it hard to do business in Orange-and we need business,” Goodwin said.
Johnson said he couldn’t support the ordinance on principle.
“I don’t want a national chain retailer coming in and slamming down ‘Mount Ugly,’ but I’ve got a real problem requiring a special use permit for retail business on commercial property,” he said.
After discussion, supervisors agreed to loosen some of the ordinance’s design guidelines. Instead, they requested Grover to revise the ordinance, shortening the definition and provisions of the term “large retail use.” Instead of including stringent design standards within the ordinance, they opted to incorporate a resolution in the future detailing the county’s design guidelines.
Grover said he will have the latest draft of the ordinance ready for the board to review within a couple of weeks.