Planning Commission approves West Point rezoning petition 4-1 despite staff concerns about traffic and proffer language

The Lynchburg Planning Commission voted 4-1 on Feb. 12 to approve a petition from JAM 89 LLC and Langley Land LLC (branded as "West Point") to amend the future land use map and rezone approximately 53.33 acres along Wigginton Road to allow up to 750 residential units.

Planning staff recommended denial. Staff's report said the petition would change the future land use from low/medium density residential to high density residential and rezone parcels currently in I-3, R-2 and R-3C to R-4C with conditions to permit up to 750 total units. The staff analysis flagged traffic and proffer deficiencies: the petitioner's traffic study projects 4,923 new daily residential trips related to the development, which would roughly double current daily traffic on the Wigginton Road corridor (VDOT 2022 baseline ~4,100 trips), and the proposed proffers were described by staff as vague and potentially asking the city to shoulder a large share of mitigation costs.

What proponents said: Chris Langley, the project developer, described the proposal as a workforce and homeownership solution. He told commissioners West Point would deliver…