Officials put off decision on units

By Scott Marshall

Published: September 24, 2008

Amherst County supervisors and planning commissioners delayed deciding whether to approve a proposal to build 22 units in Madison Heights designed to accommodate disabled people.

The developer, Ron Mittelman, said the location on Lakeview Drive is ideal because it is near public transportation and services and said residents’ concerns were the result of misconceptions.

“I think this will be a good neighbor to commercial interests on Lakeview Drive,” Mittelman said. “You have enough need in Amherst County alone to fill this project up five times.

“There isn’t another site in this market that is as right as this is for this particular project,” he said.

Residents disagreed, contending the parcel would increase runoff to nearby properties and traffic not only on Lakeview Drive, but also on Triple Oak Drive between Lakeview Drive and Seminole Drive.

Lakeview Drive runs between U.S. 29 and Seminole Drive and is zoned for commercial businesses.

The complex would have eight one-bedroom units; 12 two-bedroom units; and two three-bedroom units.

“We have, for the past 40 years, battled water problems,” said Renee Thresher, who lives on Triple Oak Circle. “My yard, during a rainstorm, I’ve got lakefront property.” Problems date back at least a couple of decades, when the parcel that would be used for Lakeview Commons became a softball field, she and others said.

“The need is there, absolutely, the need is absolutely there,” she said. “Twenty-two units is only a drop in the bucket, but neighbors will suffer the effects.”

Mittelman said during the meeting that a marketing study revealed a need for housing in Amherst County for disabled people and concluded that hundreds of people would seek to live in the complex.

Nearby business owners have said traffic would increase significantly. Mittelman said the complex would create just over 100 car trips per day and that many residents would not own vehicles.

“I think it’s a great project, but the wrong location,” said Les Irvin, one of two recently appointed planning commissioners, who pushed for a vote last week but was overruled when other commissioners and supervisors voted to postpone the decision.

The other newly appointed commission member, Claudia Tucker, asked whether residents would undergo criminal background checks and whether the complex would increase emergency medical calls for service.

“The issue isn’t crime, the issue is health,” Tucker said.