Town Council Overrides Planning Commission (By FAR)

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

October 23, 2013

Two years’ work by the Cape Charles Planning Commission fell victim to an email from an absentee councilman at last Thursday’s Town Council meeting.

The Planning Commission, composed of seven volunteers, had been studying floor area ratios for the Town’s Harbor District.  The higher the floor area ratio (or FAR), the denser the development allowed by right.

The Planning Commission worked “about two years” on a FAR recommendation to Council, according to Joan Natali, who sits on both Town Council and the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission recommendation was presented to Council at its September meeting, where Town Planner Rob Testerman explained that a FAR requirement would “prevent any hugely dense, out-of-character development” in the Harbor District. The recommendation was tabled for further thought when two councilmen disagreed: Frank Wendell argued that the FAR should be lower (less density), while Steve Bennett believed it should be higher.

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Wendell’s position was that a developer seeking to build a higher density project in the Harbor District should have to seek a Conditional Use Permit, which would provide “leverage” for Council. “If you grant a more liberal FAR you have lost a lot of your leverage that would get you a roadway from let’s say Peach Street to the Harbor,” Wendell said. Bennett, on the other hand, said he didn’t want to see the Town being so restrictive.

The issue was back on the agenda at last Thursday’s meeting, which Bennett did not attend.  Bennett did, however, send an email, which Mayor Dora Sullivan read to Council.  The email urged Council to enact a FAR of 1.5 instead of 1.25 as recommended by the Planning Commission for the area directly south of Mason Avenue. For the rest of the Harbor District, Bennett favored a FAR of 1.75 instead of the recommended 1.5. Bennett’s email further recommended a Conditional Use Permit “cap” on any FAR of 2.0.

Council then voted to accept all the FAR changes in Bennett’s email, with only Councilman Wendell opposed.