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Dear supporter,
You may be familiar with the ongoing development at the corner of Route 229 and 211 known as Clevenger’s Corner. This 770+ house residential and commercial development was initially approved in 2005 and took almost 20 years just to break ground. Now, as the project is nearing completion, the developer is trying to change the rules to industrialize the land closest to Route 211.
Take Action: Help stop the industrialization of this rural area by speaking at the public hearing this coming Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Culpeper County Administration Building.
You can also write to the Culpeper County Planning Commission by emailing planning assistant Morgan Green at [email protected]. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to do so as well.
Planning Commission Public Hearing
Wednesday, Nov. 13 @ 7 p.m.
Culpeper County Administration Building, Board of Supervisors Room
302 North Main Street, Culpeper
Developer Breaking Promises
Saadeh Financial, LLC, the commercial developer behind the project, is once again asking to renegotiate its proffers. Proffers are a set of additional promises tied to a development. They often include monetary contributions to the locality or enhanced environmental standards to mitigate a project’s impact. Proffers are also offered to make it easier for elected officials to support a project.
However, these legally binding agreements can be renegotiated or backtracked multiple times before the project is completed — which is what the developers behind Clevenger’s Corner are attempting to do now. Saadeh Financial submitted an amendment seeking significant changes to their proffers including:
- reducing the required square footage of retail commercial space to instead expand on industrial space
- removing the affordable apartments from the commercial space
- slashing the 178 foot setback from Route 211 down to just 35 feet
- destroying the existing vegetative buffer at the corner of Routes 229 and 211
It is clear that the developer wants to reduce the commercial requirements and replace them with more industrial uses — which further degrade the rural character of the area.
Data Centers on the Horizon?
Earlier this year, Saadeh Financial submitted a change that would nearly double the allowable building height in a section of the property “to increase the marketability of the property for data processing” — in other words, for future data centers. That amendment was withdrawn after a local journalist looked into the matter, but the developer can still develop data centers without needing additional approval from Culpeper County. We’re still concerned that the push for more data centers in the region and access to a nearby 500kv transmission line could make this land a target for development.
As we know, data centers often require large amounts of water and are make bad neighbors. Allowing data centers to be built at Clevenger’s Corner could have serious consequences for home values of the newly built houses within the development. The developer promised walkable access to commercial goods and services, not an industrial campus. The South Wales community across the road, which shares the same well-based water system as Clevenger’s Corner, could also be impacted by the developer’s bait and switch.
What We Think Should Happen
It is unclear how Culpeper and surrounding counties will benefit from the increased industrialization that this proposed amendment will bring to Clevenger’s Corner. We are asking the Planning Commission to reject the proposed amendment unless the developer is willing to do the following:
- Remove the proposed changes to setbacks
- Retain the existing buffer at the corner of 229 and 211
- Remove the right to build data centers and other inappropriate industrial uses
Take Action!
Let the Culpeper County Planning Commission know that you do not want Route 211 to be industrialized. Please consider attending the Planning Commission’s public hearing this Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. on 302 North Main Street, Culpeper.
You can also write the Culpeper County Planning Commission. Email your comments to Planning Assistant Morgan Green at [email protected].
Thank you so much for your support and for taking an active part in steering the future of Culpeper County.
Sincerely,
Sarah Parmelee
Land Use Field Representative
Culpeper Counties
[email protected]
(540) 347-2334 x7045
