OUR VIEW: Commercial rezoning the natural call, if done right

This week, the Culpeper Town Planning Commission wisely voted to delay its recommendation on an important zoning change near the southern intersection of Bus. 29 and U.S. 29.

It’s not that the area isn’t in desperate need of commercial offerings for town residents and travelers. We just think the rezoning request, as it stands, is too vague and requires more time to be studied.

We’re glad a work session will be held July 9 to further discuss the matter.

Of the request’s four concept plans, we strongly discourage any options that include big-box stores or residential housing. That area of town is not conducive to massive retail operations, and a housing development would be out of place.

Instead, with five hotels, the town’s southern gateway has morphed into a place for tourists and highway travelers to find rest. Unfortunately, apart from Pepper’s Grill, no food options are within walking distance for hotel patrons. And motorists who exit nearby U.S. 29 are in a real bind. It makes little sense that the vast majority of the town’s dining establishments — fast food or otherwise — are located about three miles north.

Therefore, the Clore family’s 4.3 acres between James Madison Highway and Zeuswyn Drive is a natural to be rezoned commercial, a designation long bestowed upon its adjacent pastures. But what should go there, and how should it meld with the existing landscape?

For starters, any development should be relatively small and keep in mind the Country Club of Culpeper’s picturesque back nine. Second, it should not greatly increase the south side of town’s calmer traffic patterns. (There’s a reason people avoid the northern big-box corridor.) Finally, it should cater to the needs of a) hotel guests and b) U.S. 29 motorists looking to gas up their car while getting a quick bite to eat near the highway.

Of course, it would also be a nice bonus to have attractive shops and restaurants convenient to residents of the south side. But whatever decision is made, let’s hope it’s best for the entire community.