Augusta County supervisors deny rezoning for Stuart’s Draft subdivision over flooding, traffic and school-capacity concerns

Augusta County supervisors on Wednesday denied a rezoning request from RAE Enterprises, LLC for about 25.541 acres off Wayne Avenue in Stuart’s Draft, voting 5-2 to reject the developer’s plan for roughly 60 to 69 single‑family homes.

The proposal would have changed the parcel from general agriculture to single‑family residential with proffers to allow development of about 69 lots. Planning staff and the planning commission both expressed concerns before the vote; the planning commission recommended denial 6-0.

Why it matters: Residents and supervisors said the parcel sits at the downstream end of a drainage corridor that frequently floods, and they questioned whether the proposed drainage controls could prevent runoff from backing up at a railroad culvert and into nearby yards and roadways. Board members also cited traffic safety on Wayne Avenue and limited capacity at Stump Elementary School as reasons for denying the rezoning.

RAE Enterprises’ attorney Randy Grumbine, representing the Virginia Manufactured and Modular Housing Association, asked supervisors to table the request so the applicant could complete engineering studies. “We would request that you table the application tonight so that we can do more work to address your concerns,” Grumbine told the board. He described the planned houses as energy‑efficient, modular homes intended to meet workforce and starter‑home demand.

Scott Bain, general manager of Clayton Homes in Harrisonburg and a project partner, said the company supports affordable housing in the area. “I really think this area needs affordable housing and that’s why we’re so passionate about this,” Bain said.

Opposition from neighbors was extensive. Sheila Harris, who lives near the parcel, described repeated flooding along Wayne Avenue and said the area becomes hazardous in storms: “We absolutely do not want the property on Wayne Avenue zoned for residential use. I do mean overwhelming water problems,” Harris said. Mark Anderson and Joseph Harding also described yards and roadways inundated in recent storms and emphasized the railroad embankment near Princess Anne Lane as constraining outflow.

County staff and several supervisors summarized technical issues raised during review: the application did not include a complete drainage plan at the rezoning stage; staff said proffers submitted with the application did not adequately address eastern‑edge drainage; VDOT flagged access and intersection concerns and recommended aligning new entrances with existing intersections; and county engineers noted the property sits in an urban service area but that flood routing is complex in the corridor. County staff also noted that while a developer could submit a 100‑year flood study during site plan review, the county’s floodplain ordinance only regulates FEMA‑designated 100‑year floodplain limits unless the county changes that regulation.

Several residents and supervisors told the board they doubted the feasibility and cost of forcing the railroad to modify the culvert that constrains outflow. “The railroad is going to calculate … in the millions of dollars … to put a new culvert,” one supervisor said during discussion, arguing the project’s drainage problems extend beyond the parcel and would be difficult to resolve by developer action alone.

After extended public comment and board discussion, a motion to deny passed 5-2. The planning commission had voted to deny the application at its prior meeting, 6-0. The applicant had earlier asked the board to refuse or table the application if the board intended to deny it, to avoid spending on further studies.

Ending: The denial ends RAE Enterprises’ current plan for residential development on the Wayne Avenue parcel. The developer can still pursue other options — for example, a revised rezoning application with additional engineering and drainage commitments or a different use — but any future development would require additional submissions and approvals, including site‑plan reviews and engineering that address the county and VDOT concerns noted at the meeting.