Planning staff presented three items that were being prepared for upcoming hearings and answered commissioners’ questions about design, buffers, proffers and timing.

Commonwealth Center commercial: Staff described a follow-up application to correct a nonconforming commercial parcel created when a prior residential rezoning carved out part of a commercial district. The commercial area was left subject to a compatibility requirement that included a 100-foot separation between commercial and residential districts; the current filing would reduce that separation and address the residual nonconformity. Staff told commissioners no new design or compatibility conditions are proposed beyond those already considered in the prior rezoning.

Belmont Cove rezoning: The application covers about 19 acres adjacent to Belmont Country Club and seeks rezoning from Office Park (OP) to R-16 to allow roughly 78 single-family units. The filing includes four zoning modifications to reduce building and landscape buffers along Russell Branch Parkway, to permit townhouse units to face the country club, and to modify requirements for street trees. Staff said some parking and setback issues remain under review: existing office parking borders the residential boundary, and the applicant requests a reduction of a 50-foot parking/parking setback down to approximately 20 feet in some locations. Commissioners requested clearer diagrams showing buffer/boundary dimensions, current and proposed parking counts for the adjoining commercial building, and comparisons with nearby approved residential densities.

Sterling student welcome center (commission permit): Staff described a plan to reuse a former bank building near the Sterling Community Center as a student welcome center focused on students for whom English is a second language. The county has negotiated a 12‑year lease for the facility. Staff said the item is a commission permit and that staff had not identified outstanding zoning issues; the proposal will be ready for action at the hearing.

During the briefing, staff also noted departmental capacity: DPZ reported four current vacancies in planning positions and said the department is actively hiring across 14 open positions countywide. Commissioners asked staff to provide updated aerials, parking counts, and comparative density figures where applicable and to include proffer triggers and timing for the Russell Branch improvements in materials for the hearing.

What’s next: each item will appear on a forthcoming public hearing docket; staff will provide the additional diagrams and proffer/history information requested by commissioners ahead of the hearing.