By Alicia Petska

Published: May 8, 2008

A big-box ordinance pending in Lynchburg needs exemptions for redevelopment projects and a less restrictive standard for builders wanting to avoid a public hearing, according to a panel of area developers.

On Thursday, the Planning Commission convened a second stakeholders meeting in its effort to craft a new big-box regulation that will provide stricter oversight of large-scale retail construction.

During the first session in March, developers present argued the law should only apply to projects of 100,000 square feet or more, double what had been previously proposed.

In the second meeting, they said the new standards needed to be more reasonable and include exemptions that encourage redevelopment of existing commercial property.

“This is not a high-growth area,” attorney Herschel Keller said. “You can’t afford to ‘disincentivize’ redevelopment.”

“You guys are saying you can’t redevelop under this ordinance, and you absolutely can,” commission Chairwoman Laura Hamilton said.

“Well, you can, but you can’t afford it,” real estate agent Gary Case responded.

Under the proposed ordinance, large-scale retail no longer would be considered an automatically acceptable or “by-right” land use. Instead, all such projects would require special permits necessitating public hearings and the formal approval of City Council.

A quicker, administrative process is provided for in cases where developers comply with a series of 19 voluntary regulations that exceed the design and construction standards currently mandated by the city.

Developers say both options will delay projects and increase costs to the detriment of the city’s future growth.

Redevelopment in particular would suffer, they said Thursday, because it’s already a more expensive, less-attractive option to building new.

Stakeholders further suggested that the alternate option provided for those wanting to avoid a public hearing process was too restrictive.

Currently, the draft ordinance states those pursuing administrative approval must comply with all 19 of the higher standards laid out.

The committee suggested a lower degree of compliance — perhaps 50 percent — would be more reasonable.

No deadline has been attached to the Planning Commission’s deliberations. Commissioners will convene a public hearing on the proposal before making their final recommendation to City Council.