Housing proposal stirs up concern

A proposed townhouse subdivision on about two acres in Waynesboro’s Basic City area is “bugging” some nearby residents concerned about stormwater, mosquitoes and quality-of-life issues.
Jacqueline D. Metzger – represented by John W. McNair of John McNair and Associates – wants to put 18 townhouses between Winchester Avenue and Forest Avenue. A private street would connect the two roads.
However, residents fear the development – which some at a public hearing Monday misunderstood as apartments – would be a detriment to their own properties by bringing less desirable people there.
“These are not apartments; they’re townhouses,” McNair said. “And my client is interested in those being in the same general quality as the existing houses in there. They’re connected houses, but they’re not apartments.”
Harmon Avenue resident Stanley Smith said he was concerned about the trash going into a proposed retention pond, attracting more mosquitoes and snakes.
Like Smith, Jeanette Ownby, who lives on Faber Avenue, also expressed concerns about mosquitoes. She said she has “three rivers” running through her yard during rainstorms.
“The water in my yard is terrible,” Ownby said. “This pond, or retention pond, that they’re going to put up is going to draw mosquitoes because it’s going to be sitting water.”
Smith and Ownby also expressed concerns about the type of people who might move in, and expressed fears that crime would increase with the development.
The intent, McNair said, “is to have this as high level of development as can be sustained economically in comparison with the area adjacent to it.”
He said mosquitoes wouldn’t be a problem in the new development.
“As far as the mosquitoes are concerned, this is a stormwater detention pond, which detains water,” McNair said. “When we have had rain going in there, it’s not a pond that sits full of water that would bring mosquitoes and that sort of thing, in my judgment.”
Jamie Vest, who also lives near the proposed development, said if the townhouses were put in, there could be further issues with standing water that currently collects at the foot of Harmon Avenue.
Though the townhouses would not face city streets – as is required – City Planner Jim Shaw has recommended waiving that part of city code, citing the property’s steep slope.
Members of the City Council said they would like to visit the area to get a better understanding of residents’ concerns.
The Planning Commission will take up the matter at its May 20 meeting.