Apartments
Proposed In County
Rezoning Recommended For Tract Behind Brewery
An apartment complex with up to 192 units is being proposed for a tract of land behind Devils Backbone brewery off of U.S. 11, north of Lexington.
The apartments are to be marketed as workforce housing, considered to be in short supply in the Rockbridge area, according to a recent study commissioned by the county’s Department of Economic Development. The apartments would have one- and two-bedroom units.
Conceptual plans show eight 24-unit, three-story buildings that would be constructed in phases. The first phase would include three of these buildings encompassing a total of 72 units. No timetable for when construction would begin was given at a presentation to the Rockbridge County Planning Commission this past Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The Commission recommended approval of a rezoning of 12.5 acres at 592 Valley Pike from R-1 residential general to R-2 residential mixed use to allow for multi-family hous- ing. Even though the property has a Valley Pike address, the proposed apartments would be accessed through a planned extension of Northwind Lane, which serves the brewery and is accessed from U.S. 11. No access from Valley Pike is planned.
R.P. Fralin Inc. of Roanoke is the developer behind the proposed Northwind Lane Community Planned Housing Development. John and Christine Fix are the landowners.
A 1999 rezoning application by John Fix was approved by the Board of Supervisors that rezoned the land to R-1 from agricultural and general uses (A-2) and general business (B-1). At the time, Fix was planning to develop a 70-unit multi-family housing project. R-2 was not then an option and those plans never materialized.
A proffer amendment associated with those earlier plans was approved in 2007 to provide for three residential lots along Valley Pike (Va. 645) and a maintenance building for the multifamily project. Three houses were subsequently built, one of which the Fixes now reside in. The land the houses are on is apart from the 12.5 acres for which the latest rezoning is requested.
Robert Fralin said the plan is to provide “quality, affordable housing” that is in great demand in the Rockbridge area. He alluded to his company building similar garden-style apartments in Alleghany County and Christiansburg that were well received.
The county’s economic development office has applied for a Virginia Workforce Housing Investment Program grant in connection with this project. This state funding source is intended to assist localities in their efforts to provide workforce housing. The county owns an adjacent tract of land that could be used as a local match in securing the grant funding.
Northwind Lane is a private road that is owned by Mountain View Brewery LLC, owner of Devils Backbone. The first 500 feet of the road is paved but then turns to gravel for the next 500 feet. It returns to pavement at the brewery’s bottling facility, where the former bowling alley was located. The Fix tract where the apartments would go is to the west of the bottling facility.
The Commission’s recommendation to rezone the property will be considered by the Board of Supervisors in January.
