Approval of Fishersville small area plan tabled

VERONA — The Augusta County Board of Supervisors tabled a small area plan for Fishersville’s future development Wednesday so they could more closely look at the plan’s provisions for housing density.
Supervisors agreed to table the plan upon the motion of Wayne District Supervisor Wendell Coleman. Fishersville is located in Coleman’s district.
Coleman said the Fishersville plan, which was developed after public meetings and work with county planners over the past eight months, called for a lower density than should occur in an urban service area and for two types of mixed-use development. Coleman said only one type of mixed-use development might be needed, and he recommended six to 10 units per acre.
Coleman’s suggestions for the Fishersville plan will be reviewed by the county planning commission, and a vote on the plan is likely when the supervisors meet Sept. 24.
Supervisors also heard concerns about the plan’s density from owners of Fishersville land, and the potential developer of the land, Steve Cathcart, of Charlottesville, the chief executive of Cathcart Properties.
Cathcart said he wants to build housing units on 120 acres of land near Augusta Medical Center, but said he can’t build the needed nine and a half units per acre under the proposed small area plan.
The Cathcart proposal as previously outlined calls for 900 townhouse, rental and other housing units.
He said the plan’s neighborhood mixed use provision allows up to eight units per acre, which is not enough. “We’ve worked on this for two years,’’ said Cathcart, who is supported by the owners of the two pieces of property he would develop on.
Other supervisors agreed it was important to make certain the Fishersville small area plan works, because it is the county’s first and outlines not just future housing plans, but a plan for improving existing and constructing new roads, an increase in the area’s healthcare offerings and the development of neighborhood parks and a major park facility.