Government
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Slightly Revised Preston Lake Proposal |
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 Slightly revised documents related to this evening's meeting for the proposed rezoning / expansion of Preston Lake.
Some notable items, some of which are changes, some are not.... There will be a divider between the apartments and the remainder of the community.
The quantity of each type of dwelling could change from this proposed plan.
The order and timing of the development each type of housing is unknown.
There has been some discussion of how Preston Lake would get to the point of having a community center and pool.
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Preston Lake developer seeks approval for expansion, higher density |
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 Preston Lake, a large mixed use development east of Harrisonburg began selling homes in 2008, was foreclosed on by Wells Fargo in 2011, and was then acquired by a developer out of Maryland in 2012. Tomorrow night, the developer will present a proposal to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to make several changes to the community, including most notably:
[1] Proposed Addition of 336 Apartments As shown below, the corner of the property that is bisected by the new Southeast Connector Road is proposed to change from being single family homes and townhouses, to being two large apartment buildings.  [2] Proposed Addition of 76 Quads As shown below, the intended soccer field and walking trails are proposed to be replaced by 76 quads --- single level villas. The location of the park would then be adjusted as well. This expansion/revision utilizes a portion of the adjacent property already owned by the developer.  [3] Proposed Reconfiguration of Townhouses As shown below, the townhouses intended to be built along Massanetta Springs Road are proposed to be rearranged a bit, and expanded from 55 townhouses to 66.  [4] Townhouses and More Townhouses As shown below, additional townhouses are being proposed adjacent to the already expansive townhouse section that surrounds the large Village Green. This expansion/revision utilizes a portion of the adjacent property already owned by the developer.  [5] Expanded Single Family Home Section As shown below, an adjacent property owned by the new developer is proposed to be added into the overall Preston Lake development.  Here are some pertinent documents that I obtained from the County that will be presented and discussed at the public hearing....
If these changes to the Preston Lake master plan impact you, definitely plan to attend the Public Hearing tomorrow (Dec 18, 2013) at 6:30 PM to let your voice be heard. | |
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Understanding Assessments in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County |
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 Learn More Here: City | County The ASSESSED VALUE of a property is the value assigned to the property by the local assessor's office, for the purpose of determining how much you will pay in taxes. The MARKET VALUE of a property is the price at which a property would sell in the current market. As shown above, properties in the City of Harrisonburg tend to sell for a bit less than their assessed value.....while properties in Rockingham County tend to sell for a bit more than their assessed value. However -- there is a great deal of variance --- explore the data via... HarrisonburgAssessments.com | |
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Comparison of Assessments and Sales Prices in the City of Harrisonburg |
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 click here for more details I frequently hear from homeowners wondering why their assessed value is so high AND from other homeowners wondering why their assessed value is so low. Some homeowners know they could never sell their home for the assessed value, and others know they could it for more than the assessed value. So, to further understand assessed values, let's explore their relationship to sales prices. Click here to view a full comparison of 2013 Sales Prices and 2014 Assessed Values for the City of Harrisonburg. | |
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City SFH Assessments Down 1%, Sales Prices Up 3% |
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 As reported in today's Daily News Record, assessed values in the City of Harrisonburg stayed relatively stable over the past year. As shown above, the average assessed value of single family homes decreased 1% over the past year from $235,000 to $231,900. In the same time period, average sales prices increased by 3%. A few clarifying notes....
Read more about the latest update to City of Harrisonburg assessed values in the DNR article or read more about market values at HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com. | |
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The government shut down did not seem to affect mortgage interest rates |
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 Mortgage interest rates have stayed relatively stable over the past few weeks, despite the shenanigans going on in Washington. The current average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 4.28%. | |
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Update on future park for downtown Harrisonburg |
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 If you haven't heard about it yet, downtown Harrisonburg might feature a park in the near future. Here are several updates to bring you up to speed, and to get you connected if you are interested in participating in the planning process or in making this a reality.... Update from Eddie Bumbaugh, and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance.... The Plan Our Park Committee recently hired a team of professionals to invite the public and city officials to provide input on the proposed park concept, produce park conceptual drawings, develop park operational recommendations, and conduct a feasibility study. The study area includes not only possible park footprint options, but the impact and interrelationship with surrounding projects and properties. [ read more ]Review of Public Charrettes Plan Our Park Facebook Page WMRA's Martha Woodroof interviews Plan Our Park's Ken Smith. | |
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This Thursday, Remembering Newtown and the R4 Project in Harrisonburg |
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 What makes a space or place valuable to a community? How do we decide which spaces and places to preserve and which to destroy? And who should decide? These are just some of the hard questions that will be discussed at a series beginning this Thursday that looks back at Harrisonburg's Newtown and the R4 Project, the city's "urban renewal" initiative of the 1950s and 1960s. [ Read more about Newtown and the R4 Project at the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance blog. ] Details on the event..... Remembering Newtown Lucy Simms Center Thursday, September 19th 6:30pm to 8:30pm (doors open at 6:15pm) | |
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For Sale By City, 317 South Main Street, prior location of Harrisonburg City School Board |
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 From the Daily News Record, August 30, 2013.... Want To Buy An Old School Office? By PRESTON KNIGHT Daily News-Record HARRISONBURG — The city is almost ready to see its former school headquarters graduate to a new life. The city is preparing a request for proposals for parties interested in either leasing or purchasing the building at 317 S. Main St., spokeswoman Mary-Hope Vass said Thursday. It has been empty since Harrisonburg City Public Schools left in early 2012 for a larger, more modern home at One Court Square. The structure, which is next to the Municipal Building, once was a private home. It is part of the central business district, zoned for a number of commercial- and officetype uses. "We would like to get it back into use," Councilman Charles Chenault said. "One thought is, if we could find somebody willing to lease it, we might be able to do some type of deal, reduce the rent for them to do some improvements to it. In its current condition it's not, I don't think, inhabitable." Chenault said local charities have expressed interest in using the building in the past. The city's request will come as council mulls constructing a new Municipal Building next door, including an option to construct a building on the south side of the existing one to meet space needs. John Mather, the architect working on that project, will give an update to City Council on Sept. 10. At one time, city staff had the idea of demolishing the vacated school office and constructing an annex as part of the new municipal complex. That is no longer a consideration. City Manager Kurt Hodgen also has said " several different parties" have expressed interest in the former Harrisonburg School Board office. The request could be out by next week, Vass said. Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com | |
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New City Park for Downtown Harrisonburg? |
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 A design team is studying the possibility of a new park in Downtown Harrisonburg, and the scope of the project seems to be expanding with the announcement that an option has been negotiated to purchase Lindsey Funeral Home, which is located adjacent to several other City properties including Community Development, the Municipal Building and Turner Pavilion. Below is a map I put together based on the information I have been able to gather thus far. Click on the map for a larger image.  Read more about the park the option to purchase Lindsey Funeral Home in this recent DNR article.... HARRISONBURG — A committee pitching an urban park in downtown Harrisonburg announced Friday a privately negotiated option to purchase Lindsey Funeral Home on South Main Street, which could create a larger layout for the proposed attraction. | |
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Will Harrisonburg pay $9.5M towards a $40M downtown public-private hotel and conference center? |
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 A private developer (dpM Partners, LLC) is proposing to build a hotel and conference center in Downtown Harrisonburg. The $40M project would be (per the proposal) paid for with $9.5M of public funds towards the 18,180 SF conference center.....and the remaining $39.5M of private funds would help build the remainder of the project to include a 205-room hotel and a restaurant. Thus far.....
And the latest update is that the developer will likely be ready to present the detailed plans (and feasibility study) to City Council by early summer. Read today's DNR article for more details. | |
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Ramblewood Park in Harrisonburg gets a makeover to include softball fields, soccer fields, dog park, disc golf, skateboard park and biking trails! |
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 Have you driven by Ramblewood Park lately? It's gone! The City is in the early stages of re-vamping Ramblewood Park, which currently involves recapping the closed landfill cells within the property. Some pertinent details about the makeover of Ramblewood Park include:
The master plan for Ramblewood Park includes:
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Rockingham County to build 65 acre park East of Harrisonburg? |
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 Click on the image above for a larger version. Rockingham County may trade the remainder of Albert Long Park on Reservoir Street (downsized by the SouthEast Connector) for a much larger parcel on Route 33 East (shown above). If this deal goes through (which depends on a rezoning being approved) this would be a much larger park for Rockingham County! Click here to read the full details in the April 29, 2013 DNR article. | |
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Downtown Harrisonburg featured in national publication, Main Street Now |
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 Downtown Harrisonburg has seen some major growth over the past eight years and there are exciting projects on the horizon. Perhaps that's why Downtown Harrisonburg was recently featured in the national publication pictured above, Main Street Now. In fact, the magazine actually features a lengthy case study highlighting the successes in downtown Harrisonburg, with quotes from Eddie Bumbaugh, Barry Kelley, Andrew Forward and John Sallah....  Click here to download the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Main Street Now to read the full story about how Downtown Harrisonburg has been transformed in recent years. | |
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Harrisonburg Real Estate Taxes To Increase 6% in 2013? |
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 Per the proposed 2013-14 budget, real estate taxes in the City of Harrisonburg may increase from $0.63 per $100 of assessed value to $0.67 per $100 of assessed value. Above you'll note that Harrisonburg real estate taxes continue to be quite low compared to other Virginia localities. Review the entire budget here: 2013-14 Proposed Budget. Read an article from the Daily News Record here. A public hearing for the budget is planned for April 23rd. Of note, we're not yet setting new records for historical high tax rates....  | |
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Boyers Road to end in cul-de-sac (at Route 33) |
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 When the SouthEast Connector is finished (in December 2014) Boyers Road will no longer connect to Route 33 East. Instead, it will end in a cul-de-sac as shown above. Per Rockingham County, the cul-de-sac and road closure may not be exactly as depicted above, but conceptually this is what is planned Further details from Stephen King, Deputy County Administrator for Rockingham County, include.... With regards to residents and businesses on Boyers, those with frontage on Route 33 would continue to have access to 33 and the stub of Boyers that remains. Those residents on the cul-de-sac'ed side of Boyers would travel south a short distance to the new southeast connector. Again, precise location of the road closure and cul-de-sac (or similar feature) are to be finalized in the design. If you have any concerns or ideas you would like to share, we're eager to hear them.Click here to view an overview map of the entire Southeast Connector. Click here to view a map of the section of the Southeast Connector between Reservoir Street and Route 33 East. | |
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The City of Harrisonburg might not need the alley behind (or beside) your house any longer |
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 Harrisonburg's City Council met yesterday, and one of the topics they discussed were the many (many) alleys behind/beside properties in the City of Harrisonburg that may or may not be needed any longer as alleys. Some of these alleys are still used by the City for trash collection, but many of the alleys are no longer needed by the City and they believe it may make more sense to hand them over to adjacent property owners to maintain. A group of City staff members (Police, Fire, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Public Utilities, and Community Development) met to make preliminary determinations about which alleys were still needed by the City. Click here to view a PDF of the 2013 Alley Inventory with a map showing the City's preliminary determination of whether they need or do not need each remaining alley in the City. | |
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76 Townhouses, Event Center planned for Massanetta Springs Road |
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 Lakeview Development Corporation (who own and operate Lakeview Golf Course) are planning to build 76 townhouses and an Event Center on the edge of the golf course near the intersection of Massanetta Springs Road and Shen Lake Drive (as shown above). According to information compiled by Rockingham County staff: "The proposed development consists of townhouses along a curvilinear roadway that follows the topography of the site. A new access point from Massanetta Springs Road would be constructed and a traffic circle woudl be placed near the entrance to the new development."The proposed proffers offer some helpful details:
View details of the proposed rezoning and development here. | |
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Business Garden Proposal: Allowing Horticultural Businesses on Residential Property |
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 The City of Harrisonburg seems to have made some quick progress towards trying to figure out a reasonable way to allow for what some call urban farming. The new proposal would allow "business gardens" on any/all residentially zoned properties so long as the business garden regulations are followed. MEMORANDUM To: Harrisonburg Planning Commission From: Adam Fletcher, City Planner RE: Horticultural Businesses on Residential Property Date: Friday, Jan 4, 2013 After taking into consideration the comments from Planning Commission and the public last month regarding the issue of allowing horticulture-related businesses on residential property, and in performing more research on the matter, staff has prepared language to begin receiving additional feedback on how to address this use. (To our new Commission members, please review the draft minutes from the December meeting regarding this issue beginning on page 17). In brief, we are proposing identifying this practice as a "business garden" having a definition that includes being classified as a home occupation. The definition also includes a reference to Article BB, a proposed new article of the Zoning Ordinance that would outline the use regulations and requirements. In this proposal, since it would be classified as a home occupation, business gardens would be allowed by-right in every district that allows home occupations—essentially that would be all residentially zoned property, and as proposed, also in the B-1 district. Staff will be in contact with interested individuals before next Wednesday's meeting so they are aware that draft language has already been prepared and ready for feedback. Staff will soon post the draft language on the City's website and reach out to the media and utilize social networking to draw attention to the matter to get as much feedback as possible. At next week's meeting, Planning Commission can decide whether they want to hold a special worksession to further talk about this matter. If Planning Commission is interested in getting this matter to public hearing as soon as possible (which would be in February), staff must have an advertisement prepared by Thursday, January 24th. Such an accelerated schedule may not provide enough time for public input. However, not holding a public hearing in February, but rather March, means interested individuals, if all amendments were approved accordingly, could not operate their business until April 24th. If you have questions before next Wednesday, please let us know. Click here to view the details of the Business Garden Proposal. | |
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Should Harrisonburg allow Urban Farming? |
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 Sam Frere and Dan Warren are running what would seem to be a small farm (Collicello Gardens) at their property on Collicello Street in Harrisonburg. Their landlord is supportive, as are the people who are buying the produce that they grow. But there is one small hitch --- Sam and Dan cannot obtain a business license from the City of Harrisonburg because horticulture is not an allowable use on a residential property. City Planning Staff has prepared an ordinance that would allow for such uses on residential properties in the City, but they (City Staff) have decided not to recommend the ordinance. Read LOTS more about this issue.....
Attend the Planning Commission meeting on Wed, Dec 12 at 7PM in City Council Chambers to express your opinions on urban farming in Harrisonburg. Learn more about Collicello Gardens on Facebook. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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Commonwealth of Virginia
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