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Follow us on TwitterLynchburg planners give Liberty University expansion plans OK
Lynchburg Planning Commission narrowly approved Liberty University’s expansion plans Wednesday after making numerous changes to the proposal.
“I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this,” Chairwoman Laura Hamilton said just before the vote. “But I think the compromise we’ve come to is one that’s positive for the city.”
A dozen or so revisions were made to the LU package that afternoon to satisfy concerns from both city and school officials.
LU is seeking approval of a new master plan that prepares it to reach 15,000 students within five years. Officials expect to be at 11,000 by the start of next fall’s semester.
The plan they brought forward calls for building out along the base of Candlers Mountain. Lynchburg leaders are being asked to rezone 237 acres there to accommodate the expansion.
The planning commission passed both the master plan and the rezoning on a 3-2 vote with two members absent. Their recommendation will be forwarded to City Council, which has final say over the matter.
Commissioners Rick Barnes and Gerry Swienton dissented, saying the proposal wasn’t crafted according to sound planning philosophy.
Barnes had expressed concern early in the process about plans to build dorms along Candlers Mountain away from the main campus and all the academic buildings.
“There are a lot of things I can support in this plan,” he said Wednesday. “But, overall, I don’t think it reflects the best principles of campus planning.”
Swienton echoed those sentiments, tacking on further concerns about traffic and environmental impact.
“I really feel we’re making this decision, not on best planning principles, but on a fall enrollment deadline, and that concerns me,” he said.
Commissioners Ted Hannon and Sharon Oglesby joined Hamilton in approving the expansion plans.
LU officials said afterward they were pleased with the decision and felt a mutually beneficial plan had been arrived at.
“At the end of the day, we came up with a plan that’s good for the city and good for the university,” said director of auxiliary services Lee Beaumont. “… We compromised and worked together.”
LU objected to some of the original conditions proposed by city planning staffers. The biggest sticking point was a suggestion that the school be required to offset any waterway damage inflicted during construction by making equivalent improvements somewhere within the same watershed.
That caveat was changed Wednesday from a requirement to a recommendation. LU officials said they’ll make improvements locally whenever possible and added their preliminary plans have been positively reviewed by state environmental officials.
Lynchburg did not have the authority to compel the university to comply with its request.
Other alterations made to the terms attached to LU’s plans include:
- Changing the timetable on all traffic improvements at LU’s request so projects are tied to specific enrollment targets rather than calendar dates.
- Making it clear the city will partner with the school to construct three pedestrian crossings once it hits 12,000 students, which will likely be around fall 2009. City officials sought that change following some discussion on who would foot the bill.
- Adding a provision that requires new traffic lights and a turn lane to be installed at the crossing of Wards Road and Harvard Street once LU builds its planned vehicular tunnels there.
- Allowing LU to clear up to seven acres of trees beyond what has been specifically designated within the master plan. University officials requested that revision as a means of preserving some flexibility in their future development options.
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Reader Reactions
Say what you will about Liberty’s religous beliefs, but I’m pretty sure that is their right as Americans to believe whatever the heck they want to. Also Liberty is accredited by the same agency that accrediteds many other university, and adheres to all of their guidelines, so to say it is not intellectual just because you disagree with thier beliefs is a little bigoted. Also if you were all so concerned about what Liberty does with the mountain, than you should have bought it. It is Liberty’s property and they should be able to do whatever they want with it. How would you feel if you had to go through a planning commission everytime you wanted to do something new with your house?
Hey Cosmo Wafflefoot, why don’t you stop bashing LU and these students for doing good things in the community for others? You are showing how low your morals and standards are, and how you conform to today’s society. Oh wait, you are the definition for today’s society.
Cosmo,
“Thanks to LU Lynchburg is a cultural and intellectual dead end. Property values can not compare to Roanoke or Charlottesville. Neither can the schools.”
Just how long have you lived in Lynchburg? Property Values do not compare to Roanoke or Charlottesville because they are much bigger and more developed cities:
In 2005 the estimated population of Roanoke was 292,983. (U.S. Census)
In 2005, the estimated population of the Charlottesville Area is 118,398 (U.S. Census)
In 2007, the Lynchburg population is: 71,282
One thing that should be considered is why Charlottesville and Roanoke have such high property values. After visiting both, I can tell you that it is because they are nice cities with a lot to offer. Perhaps Cosmo, you should take a look back at the history books and see that Lynchburg before LU was not a very developed town in terms of other cities.
It wasn’t really known for anything and had a serious lack of major businesses, economic development, and population growth. Today the city is growing rapidly, new businesses are being attracted, and a world-class university is being built. This is hardly a town that is stuck 6,000 years in the past, but is instead taking a town which once had a giant field and turned it into a place where Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Kohls now exist.
“There is a price to be paid for hitching your wagon to a cult. Get out of Virginia and tell people you live in a town where most of the people think the world is 6000 years old. Take note of how they look at you. Tell them you come from where Jerry Falwell comes from. See how they look at you then. (tmlee2) posts:..“one day when you are in a Nursing home, you will need assistance and I guarantee you a Liberty Student will be the first at your door”… Then, I wouldn’t be in a Nursing Home…..I would be in Hell!
“Get out”? I’m guessing you don’t live in Virginia, or you wouldn’t say that. But… if you are in Virginia and feel that way… I would love to help you pack. As far as the nursing home at Liberty Students helping or visiting… perhaps you’re prefer to be in a different environment such as Alaska where the Eskimos put you on a block of ice and push you out into the ocean to die. Or perhaps you’d prefer a place like the Netherlands where doctors killed 1040 people without their consent in 1990. Believe me… the world is a cruel place. The LU Students love others as Christ loves the world… you won’t find that sort of love in this world from another source.
I pray that you would find peace and forgiveness in your heart. It is obvious by your tone that you’re angry and hurt by something from the past. Know that Christ’s love can set you free.
I used to live in Roanoke and then moved to the Raleigh, NC area…now I live here in Lynchburg and I have seen the growth here and the changes have been very good for the community. People who have their biased arrogant prig attitudes need to get a life. Nobody is going to like everything done around here. If you actually had any facts to support asinine comments about the “destruction” of Lynchburg then maybe you’d be worth listening to. Instead you resort to name calling and ignorant rants about religion. Stop being lazy and investigate the facts. I’m tired of ignorant people speaking out…that’s the problem with our country.
damalama,
DON’T confuse me with the LU crowd. I just wanted to know if you had any facts backing up your assertion that LU had killed a mountain? Have you actually been up there? or just seen it from your trailer park? I have been up there and I don’t see where they have done any damage. I believe in judgeing each person on their own actions, not pre-judgeing before I have any facts. If you want to resort to name calling over that…...St. Johns Wort can help you if you don’t have the health insurance to get a prescription for Prozac.
g
Hello, Feel free to move to another city of you do not like LU. For all of you “non-business minded” people, LU is the greatest thing that has happened to Lynchburg’s economy. Most importantly, LU is training students for the future of this country in order to become better people and Champions for Christ. You remember that because one day when you are in a Nursing home, you will need assistance and I guarantee you a Liberty Student will be the first at your door.
luv2bliberal your name says it all, your just another brain washed jerry kid that wouldn’t see a bigot if he stood in front of you for years preaching hatred, for gays and blacks.
I’m so mad I can’t hardly even type. Dr. Shahady should have been elected to council & override yet another STUPID decision by the Falwell-owned City Planners. None of them give any regard to the environment or the citizens who perhaps liked Lynchburg the WAY IT WAS before the mountain was desecrated for nothing but VANITY.
It’s too bad the church didn’t stay in the back of the Donald Duck Store and the trees (NOT rocks) are still haboring the wildlife that GOD created and LU is DESTROYING. Not to mention the town. Lynchburg survived before Wards Road became Falwell-ville and it still could without it. Believe me. Not everybody on earth shops on Wards Road…...
“LU is allowed by the City of Lynchburg to flaunt rules and regulations to which other citizens and businesses must adhere.“
Oh really? Please, do tell. If you’re going to talk smack, don’t leave out the details.
“The vehicular and pedestrian traffic being created by LU students is horrendous, now. Just imagine what it will be like as these plans come about.“
Isn’t that kind of the point of submitting the plans to the city planners? So that city can be prepared? If the traffic is horrendous it isn’t LU’s fault. The city can either vote down plans or build out the infrastructure necessary to support the growth of it’s citizens (including businesses, schools, etc.). If the city fails to do both, the blame does not lie on the citizens.
You can talk about the planners, you can talk about the council members, but to put the blame on LU is just plain silly. They have the right to grow and expand, no matter how you feel about their religious beliefs. If the city can’t (or won’t) keep up, then the local government isn’t doing it’s job. That’s where the fault lies if growth problems occur.
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