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Wendell OKs Buffalo Station rezoning, secures developer-built neighborhood park and agrees fee-in-lieu option for court amenities
Summary
The Wendell Board of Commissioners approved annexation, rezoning and a developer’s agreement for the 27.15-acre Buffalo Station site at Wendell Falls Parkway and Jake May Drive, clearing the way for 83 townhomes, a small commercial parcel and developer-built recreation facilities to be dedicated to the town.
The Town of Wendell board approved annexation and rezoning of about 27.15 acres at 1012 Wendell Falls Parkway for the Buffalo Station mixed-use project and accepted a developer’s agreement under which the developer will construct and dedicate a neighborhood park and recreation facilities to the town.
Under the approved plan the site will contain roughly 83 alley-loaded townhomes, a 1.29-acre commercial parcel at Jake May Drive and Wendell Falls Parkway intended for neighborhood-serving uses, and an extended 10-foot multiuse path to link pedestrian routes toward Buffalo Creek and the future Wendell athletic complex. Staff and the developer said the plan preserves approximately 67 percent open space because a significant portion of the parcel lies in floodplain and other environmentally sensitive areas.
The recreation package shown in the plan includes a pickleball court, a tennis court, a natural play area and paths. During the hearing neighbors raised concerns about the proximity of the tennis court and the possibility of noise and privacy impacts. The developer and staff proposed additional landscaping and screening and agreed the tennis court would not be lighted. Commissioners asked staff and the developer to explore locating the active-sport amenities and agreed, as a result of deliberations, that the town may accept a fee in lieu for the tennis court site in the public right of way and use those funds to deliver an equivalent amenity elsewhere if that approach better serves neighborhood needs.
Why it matters: The decision directs developer-built, town-dedicated recreational amenities into a growth corridor and provides a pedestrian connection from new neighborhoods toward the Wendell athletic complex and regional greenways. It also responds to resident concerns about facility siting and protects floodplain areas by concentrating development in the buildable portion of the tract.
Key details: the town’s zoning conditions require anti-monotony design rules, material standards (two or more accepted materials on facades, vinyl limited to trim), minimum garage and driveway dimensions, and that townhomes be alley-loaded with rear and side elevations containing windows. The commercial parcel will be limited to neighborhood-serving uses (general retail, child daycare for more than eight persons permitted by right) and disallows several intensive uses such as standalone ABC liquor stores, funeral homes, tattoo parlors, automotive uses and outdoor event venues.
Board discussion and public comment: residents from adjacent Foxborough Crossing and North Kinnelman Circle voiced concerns about line-of-sight, the tennis court’s proximity to houses, stormwater and traffic safety. Staff explained the development will install sidewalks and a collector street designed to provide local connectivity and said the project is not generating trips high enough to require a TIA; developers will still construct required frontage improvements and sidewalk connections. The developer agreed to additional plantings and screening near the courts andconfirmed courts would not be lit.
Outcome and next steps: the board approved the rezoning and the developer’s agreement; the developer will build the specified park and recreation improvements and dedicate them to the town per the developer’s agreement, and the town and developer will finalize exact amenity siting and any fee-in-lieu arrangements in construction and dedication documents.
