Proposal would allow institutions in city more flexibility in zoning

A zoning law that requires Lynchburg colleges and other institutions to get their development plans approved by City Council may be changed under the terms of a proposal scheduled to come to council today.

City staff is recommending that a zoning amendment be initiated in order to give landowners such as colleges, hospitals and churches greater flexibility to build on their campuses.

City Manager Kimball Payne said staff has begun to question whether internal campus improvements are regulated too closely now, citing one example where Lynchburg College had to seek council approval for a batting cage.

“You kind of start to ask yourself if we’re not just making more work for ourselves here,” Payne said. “The external effects a project has on the city is something we still have an obligation to address, but things that happen within the campus itself may deserve a greater degree of freedom.”

Council is scheduled to discuss this issue during a work session tonight. Officials are not being asked to vote on the amendment itself at this point, but rather to authorize staff to move forward with the project.

An amendment to the zoning ordinance requires public hearings and deliberations at both the planning commission and council levels. If council greenlights today’sproposal, it will likely be two or more months before it comes back for a final vote.

The city says the idea for this amendment originated with staff, but was prompted by concerns from Liberty University, which feels the current oversight process is onerous and unfairly saddles LU with the expense of certain improvements it feels should be done by the city, such as off-campus road upgrades.

Under current regulations, colleges and other institutions in Lynchburg must secure conditional-use permits in order to build on their campuses. Such permits can only be granted by City Council and require a public hearing process. Council is also empowered to attach special conditions to such permits if it is deemed necessary.

Under the system proposed by city staff, eligible institutions will have the option to establish their property as a special zoning overlay district that would free them from the permit process going forward.

The establishment of an overlay district will not exempt an institution from other zoning regulations regarding things such as storm water management. But it will allow them to get their construction plans approved administratively by city staff, a process that is generally quicker and cheaper and not open to the same special conditions as a permit process.

The zoning amendment’s language is still preliminary at present and certain key points have yet to be worked out.

Payne said the amendment was not being undertaken to pacify LU and no institutions helped develop the content of the proposal before today’s meeting, although stakeholder input will be sought if the process is allowed to continue.

“We would not propose this if we did not think it would be beneficial for everyone, the city and the institutions,” Payne said.

LU itself has doubts about the amendment. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said the school is concerned the proposal would end up placing more restrictions on the university rather than less. He said he hoped the city would engage in a dialogue with LU and other stakeholders before moving forward.

“We don’t even know what the city is trying to accomplish with this,” he said.

The city manager said many more discussions need to take place before the amendment is put in its final form. City Council’s work session will begin at 5 p.m. today in City Hall, 900 Church St. A regular business meeting will follow at 7:30 p.m.

Other items on the 5 p.m. agenda include:

• Continuing discussion on the possibility of moving the Heritage Elementary School polling place to a site closer to Liberty University, whose on-campus students now make up a majority of that precinct’s voters.

LU has requested the move, citing in part concerns about congestion and inadequate parking at the elementary school. Falwell said the university is willing to offer up a vacant storefront in the Candlers Station shopping center, which the university recently acquired, as the precinct’s new voting location.

• Continuing discussion about the future of the city’s little league football program, which is currently managed by the nonprofit Hill City Youth Football & Cheerleading Association.

During a council meeting last month, it was proposed that the city start its own program under the auspices of Parks & Recreation. That department has since met with the Hill City association and plans to recommend that the nonprofit retain control of the program provided that a contract is signed to delineate the responsibilities of the association and city, respectively, in administering and supporting the football program.

Hill City representatives have previously expressed a desire to have such a contract in place. A memo to council indicates the two parties planned to meet last Friday to discuss a draft version of the contract.