By Meg Hibbert
Contributing Writer
At the April 10 meeting, Salem Planning Commission members voted 3-2 to send the HopeTree Planned Unit Development zoning request to Salem City Council.
Commission Chairman Vicki Daulton opened the meeting by stating she would vote against the proposal. Commissioner Neil Conner also voted against it.
“I appreciate the four hours the developers spent going over line by line with us,” Daulton said, “but I feel the plan needs to be tweaked later.”
Conner stated “The uses are completely incongruent with the area. The current residential zoning is the proper one. Building 340 residential units on 37 acres gives me pause,” he added.
The proposal that could allow up to 340 residential units, plus a small hotel, corner store and other commercial areas has been under study and revision for 100 days.
At the beginning of the meeting attended by about 95 people, Daulton asked the audience to refrain from any outbursts. They did.
HopeTree President and CEO Jon Morris told commissioners the ideas of leaders of HopeTree – founded more than 100 years ago as the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home – would honor the history, look toward the future “And provide something of which we can be proud.”
Under the PUD idea, which is new to Salem, Stateson Homes representatives said the proposal would repurpose at least three existing buildings on the campus for a corner grocery and coffee shop and small restaurant.
“It would be more pedestrian friendly” than traditional development, said Todd Robertson, president of Stateson Homes.
Under current zoning, HopeTree property could be developed into 200 houses with no additional zoning.
HopeTree plans to sell half of its 37 acres to Stateson Homes to develop more-than 300 homes, condos and apartments.
Morris previously stated HopeTree’s mission is not what it was 100 years ago, to care for orphans. Today HopeTree can have up to 16 youth, plus its HopeTree Academy for students who need one-on-one learning, and small group homes for developmentally delayed adults.
Commissioner Reid Garst said he was in favor of the PUD idea because otherwise, “this could be just another neighborhood with cookie cutter houses. If you put in the PUD, this will be a historic neighborhood, more like Crystal Springs in Roanoke” that has a blend of residential, and small commercial.
“We need to build in Salem and plan for the future,” Garst added who addressed the fears of increased traffic on North Broad Street and Red Lane, in particular.” With the PUD there would be less traffic, he said.
Garst teaches at Salem High School, and said he had presented the ideas to his students. “I polled my students and 77 percent were in favor of the PUD. They liked the variety, walkability and shared green space,” Garst said.
Others voting in favor of forwarding the PUD request to Salem City Council were Jackson Beamer and Vice Chairman Dee King, who attended the meeting remotely from Norway where she was vacationing. It was 1:23 a.m. there, she noted.
She said in general, citizens she had spoken with under age 55 were in favor of the PUD idea. “Those over that age are generally against it,” King said. “We must live in the present and build for our future,” she said.
Beamer said “I’ve listened to your concerns. There is a lot of change around where I live, too. I think voting for the PUD is best, the lesser of two evils.”
The HopeTree proposal will go to Salem City Council sometime in May, de]ate to be determined.
