A development of around 16 townhouses is being proposed at the site of a three-story office building in Dominion Hills.
A proposal for a General Land Use Plan (GLUP) amendment to make this possible at 6045 Wilson Blvd received mostly positive feedback at a Long Range Planning Committee meeting last week.
However, some questions remain around preservation of tree canopy and the specific designation the property should receive.
The existing office building, which is occupied by law offices and other tenants, was built in 1967. A representative for developer BCN Homes maintained that the current commercial use of the site is financially untenable amid high office vacancy and that constructing townhomes aligns with county goals of building diverse housing types.
“This is a chance to work within the existing framework of the county, in the zoning system, to achieve those kinds of alternative housing projects,” a representative said.
The developer also asserted that building at least 16 homes is one of the only financially viable ways to redevelop the property — although even with townhomes, each of those units still “would have to be” over $1 million.
Chris Tighe, president of the neighboring Boulevard Manor Civic Association, said he polled his neighborhood on the project and heard relatively few objections.
“There were a bunch of comments on it, but basically the majority agree that, look, if the property owners wants to build 12, 16 [units] or whatever makes economic sense for them — because obviously … they need to turn a profit — we’re fine with it,” he said.
BCN Homes is requesting to change the property’s GLUP designation from partly “service commercial” and partly “low residential” — allowing for one to 10 units per acre — to “low-medium residential,” allowing for 16 to 36 units per acre.
Another option, which BCN Homes does not favor, is to designate the entire property as a variety of “low residential” that allows for 11 to 15 units per acre.
A representative from the Forestry and Natural Resources Commission favored this designation in order to prevent denser development that would lead to greater reduction of the site’s tree canopy.
“I’ll say preliminarily, we would lean toward the low residential rather than low to medium,” the commission representative said. “That is because it has a maximum of 15 units — and not that I don’t trust you guys, but once something gets changed, it could go up for 36.”
Another speaker, who lives near the proposed development, argued in favor of a single-family zoning designation. Although BCN Homes plans to include a two-car garage in each of the townhomes, he noted that some neighboring businesses use the existing parking lot at 6045 Wilson Blvd, so redevelopment could potentially lead to spillover.
He raised concerns about “overcrowding” and “maintaining consistency with the character of the neighborhood.”
No designs of the proposed development are available, but the applicant presented “test fits” showing how the site could accommodate up to 16 homes with about 57% of the property remaining as open space and landscaping.
