Developer plats large G’ville housing complex, construction distant

Progress on a large-scale residential development project just outside of Gordonsville has been weathering out the recession, with the land undisturbed and no construction underway since a controversial rezoning on the land was approved in 2006.

Now, Annadale project principals are moving forward with necessary paperwork for the residential development’s first phase, but actual construction is still a ways off.

Richard M. Tremblay, executive vice president of residential development at Silver Companies, the firm which owns the Annadale property on Route 33 west of the Town of Gordonsville, said it was necessary to move ahead with paperwork in order for the project to remain in compliance with state and county code and ordinances.

In 2006, county officials approved a rezoning which allowed Silver Companies to subdivide the Annadale property and develop the 244-acre parcel west of Gordonsville on Route 33 as a 290-unit active adult residential community. The rezoning was controversial from the beginning and public hearings and meetings were well attended and the issue hotly debated. Project supporters have said the development will result in a broader tax base for all county residents, not to mention close to $8 million in proffers. But opponents expressed worries over water availability, traffic and threats to small town quality of life.

The Orange County Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend denial of the rezoning to the board of supervisors. But after Silver Companies agreed to lower the number of units-initially proposed at 488-and raised proffers to $25,000 per dwelling, supervisors ultimately voted 4 to 1 to approve the rezoning.

But all that took place before the economy-and the housing industry in particular-took a nosedive. In the meantime, the land has remain undisturbed with little more than Silver Companies’ signs on Routes 33 and 231 to indicate that there were plans to create a entire community on the property.

But as part of a predetermined timetable for subdivisions, Silver Companies submitted the application for review of the Annadale’s first-section plat. Now, the county is in the process of reviewing that plat, which proposes 39 home lots on the Route 33 side of the land.

“In Virginia, once a subdivision application has a preliminary plat approved, you have a year to submit the first application of lots,“ Tremblay explained. “We’ve been moving forward to do what we need to do, and that’s keeping all our entitlements current.“

The developer is simply putting ducks in a row in terms of filings and permitting, according to Tremblay. But as a result of the developer’s action on the project, the county receives a tangible benefit once those initial 39 lots make it into the records.

Once Silver Companies’ plats are officially recorded, the county will receive two parcels based on a condition the developer agreed to as part of the proffer negotiations of the 2006 rezoning, Orange County Attorney Sharon Pandak said. Unofficially, the two parcels are referred to as the “park parcel” and the “school parcel.”

“They are to provide us with those two parcels once they record that final plat,“ Pandak explained.

Tremblay confirmed that once the first section is finalized, deeds to a 20-acre parcel and a 22-acre parcel on the Annadale site will be transferred to Orange County.

Although there will be changes to Annadale on paper, the property’s appearance will change very little, Tremblay said, while Silver Companies continues to wait out the depressed housing market.

“The time is still not right to develop the first phase of Annadale because of the softness in the housing industry,“ he said. And in fact, it may be more than a year before the developer even considers beginning construction. “The developer does not have any plans to develop Annadale in the coming year,“ Tremblay added.

Tremblay said he wasn’t aware of any significant cash proffers associated with this first section, 39-lot subdivision plat. And in fact, according to the county’s proffer policy, Silver Companies isn’t yet on the hook for anywhere near the $8 million in cash proffers project proponents cited back in 2006. That kind of money doesn’t come into play until the project is much further along in the build-out process.

Cash proffers spelled out in the county’s negotiations with Silver Companies specify that $150,000 is to be paid to the county at the time the first plat of residential lots is recorded.

Orange County Planner Kevin McMahan said the subdivision plats are currently under review, and have already been approved by Town of Gordonsville officials.

Once the plats have been approved by the county, they must be recorded in the circuit court clerk’s office within six months, he added.