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The Windsor Planning Commission voted 3-2 at its Wednesday, March 23, meeting to send the Windsor Station rezoning request to Town Council with recommendation for approval if changes to the proffers that were proposed during the Wednesday meeting are incorporated.

Opposing the motion were Larissa Williams and G. Devon Hewitt. Dale Scott abstained, and Jessie Taylor was absent. Vice Chair George L. Stubbs made the motion and voted in favor of it along with Chair Leonard L. Marshall Jr. and Ricky Vaughan.

The meeting agenda summarized what the Windsor Station rezoning request is: “A rezoning request by First Dominion Land Inc., property owners, to rezone 40.028 acres from A-1 to

R1/MHP (Mobile Home Park) to create 60 single-family residential lots. The property is located on Shiloh Drive and connects to the existing Holland Meadows Subdivision. The property is identified as Tax Map Number 54-01-094B.”

Prior to any discussion Wednesday, Interim Windsor Zoning Administrator Maxie Brown read off the complete list of modified proffers submitted by the developer, which addressed amendments suggested by town staff.

Brown told commissioners that town staff recommended the commission approve the rezoning request and the draft proffer statement submitted by the applicant Feb. 21, 2021, provided the statement included the staff’s four amendments/revisions:

1. Work with the Holland Meadows Homeowners Association to remove the stub/pavement section on Lena Rose Street so that it does not appear to be an abandoned street.
2. Regarding proffer No. 8, consider amending the proffer to allow a 30-foot front setback for all lots without the $1,000 cash payment requirement. After consulting with the town attorney, this proffer may not be enforceable and/or deemed reasonable.
3. Consider a cash proffer amount of $1,882 per unit to the county to mitigate Parks and Recreation impacts associated with the proposed development.
4. Incorporate the proposed housing elevation drawings into the proffer statement.

Some extended discussion took place during Wednesday’s meeting between the developer, applicant, owner, commissioners and Lewis Edmonds, a resident of Holland Meadows who was authorized to speak on behalf of the Holland Meadows Homeowners Association.

Edmonds mentioned a variety of concerns and also offered suggestions, including combining the homeowners associations for Holland Meadows and Windsor Station.

The developer provided commissioners with an aerial-view rendering of the proposed subdivision, with designations of where lots, open spaces and bodies of water would be located. The illustration included an open-space area that could become a playground, and it was located near the back of the subdivision next to a stormwater basin.

Williams and Hewitt were among those who desired to see this open-space area moved to a location more easily accessible to all in the subdivision. Safety issues were also raised given the open-space area’s location right next to a stormwater basin.

The meeting’s discussion led to five more changes that the Planning Commission wanted to make to the proffers before recommending the Windsor Station rezoning to Town Council for approval.

Stubbs initially made a motion to table the rezoning request until the contractor could come back with a written set of the updated proffers, but Windsor Town Manager William Saunders interjected.

“I don’t think a written set of proffers is required tonight,” Saunders said. “I think if the changes that have been proposed have been read into the record, you can vote on those.”

He said this could be done as long as what was read into the record Wednesday was part of the written version presented to the Windsor Town Council should the Planning Commission vote to send it to the council.

Saunders also addressed one of the subjects of earlier discussion, noting that he did not believe the law would allow the developer to join the homeowners association of the new development with the existing homeowners association of Holland Meadows during construction.

“There are laws about how a developer is in control of a homeowners association in a subdivision until a certain percentage of the homes are built, and then they turn it over to the residents,” he said. “Now, once he turns it over to the residents at the end of the project, the two homeowners associations may be able — when they’re both independent — to join with one another at that point.”

Stubbs withdrew his initial motion, and then Brown read into the record the five new changes to the proffers.

Those changes, with clarifications from Saunders, were as follows:

1. The developer will change the minimum front setback from 30 feet to 35 feet.
2. The developer will install amenities in the designated open space.
3. The developer will install a fence around the stormwater basin.
4. The developer will add a sidewalk within the street row in front of the single, existing home that fronts Shiloh Drive that is between Holland Meadows and the proposed Windsor Station.
5. The developer will barricade Savannah Street to prohibit through traffic during the course of construction.

In reference to change No. 4, Saunders noted that this sidewalk is in addition to the sidewalk along the entire Shiloh Drive frontage of the new development that an ordinance already requires and that the developer already proffered to build.

After the changes were read aloud, Hewitt asked, “If that place back there against the pond is not feasible for an open space or playgrounds, is it a possibility that it could be moved closer to the front to make it more accessible to everyone?”

The answer from the developers was, “Yes.”

The complete, printed list of proffers produced by the developer at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting that addressed suggestions from town staff read as follows:

1.The developer/owner agrees the total lot count shall not exceed 60 single-family residences.

2. The property to be rezoned shall be developed in general conformance with the conceptual plan submitted by Parrish Layne Design Group and dates April 15, 2021, a copy of which is on file with the town of Windsor.

3. In order to enhance the architectural aesthetics, the developer proffers the following:

1. Homes shall have a minimum square footage of heated living space of 1,600 square feet.
2. Foundations shall be raised slab construction elevated at least 1 foot above final grade and shall be finished with either brick or parged concrete finishes.
3. No more than three exterior materials shall be allowed on each structure, not including doors, windows, shutters, railings, columns and roof materials.
4. Roofing materials shall be, at a minimum, dimensional or architectural asphalt shingles. Standing seam, pre-finished metal roofs, painted galvanized metal roofs, composite slate and composite cedar roofs are allowed.
5. Exposed roof vent stacks shall be located on the rear of the house for minimum visibility. Vented fireplace boxes are permitted provided that they are constructed out of the same primary material as the house and the roof lines are consistent with the main house.
6. All dwellings shall have a minimum of a one-car garage and driveways shall be concrete material.
7. No two dwellings with the exact elevations shall be constructed immediately adjacent to one another.
8.  The development shall require a minimum of three model homes with three different elevations for each model.
9.  All dwellings shall have a covered front porch.
10. No single-wide or double-wide mobile homes or temporary structure of any kind may be used as a dwelling.
11. Extended parking of vehicles shall be limited to paved surfaces.

4. The developer/owner shall establish a landscape buffer 40 feet in width along Shiloh Drive and construct a 3-foot earthen berm within the landscape buffer with enhanced landscaping.

5. The developer/owner shall install a 5-foot sidewalk along the frontage of Shiloh Drive. This sidewalk shall be installed prior to the issuance of the last Certificate of Occupancy for the subdivision.

6. The developer/owner shall impose restrictive covenants and conditions and will create a Homeowners Association with the obligation to maintain any BMP structures located within the subdivision. The Homeowners Association shall provide adequate financial security to maintain any BMP structures located within the subdivision and shall enforce the architectural features listed above as 3. a.-k.

7. The developer/owner shall extend and develop Savannah Street to provide a dedicated public right of way for street connectivity. The developer shall work with the Holland Meadows Homeowners Association to remove the stub/pavement section on Lena Rose so that it does not appear to be an abandoned street.

8. Front building lines shall be allowed to reduce to a minimum of 30 feet as measured from the front right of ways.

9. The homes shall be constructed in general conformance with the submitted building elevations.