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Washington County Planning Board approves Devil's Den office conversion and phase 1 site plan
Summary
The Washington County Planning Board approved a conditional use permit and preliminary large-scale development plan for Devil's Den Proving Ground, allowing renovation of an existing visitor center and a planned addition that together will total about 16,000 square feet and employ about 25–30 people during normal business hours.
The Washington County Planning Board on Feb. 13 approved a conditional use permit and a preliminary large-scale development (pre-LSD) plan for Devil's Den Proving Ground to convert an existing visitor center into office space and to build an addition that would bring the total to about 16,000 square feet.
The project will be completed in two phases: phase one is the renovation of the existing structure; phase two is a planned addition to the east and related parking and site work. Planning staff said the site will include vehicular access and drop-off, permeable-paver parking, a fire-truck turnaround, two ADA parking spaces (one van-accessible), a native-landscaping plan, septic-field service access, and pond improvements. The applicant estimates the office use will employ about 25 to 30 people and operate Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sam, planning staff, presented the application and said the conditional use permit (CUP) must be ratified by the quorum court before construction begins. Michael Davis, project architect with Marlon Blackwell Architects, confirmed the project team has coordinated plans and that the site work and building renovation have been developed to meet the conditions included in the staff report.
Board members did not receive any public comments opposing the proposal, and the board approved both the CUP and the pre-LSD by voice vote. The motions and subsequent votes were taken after the meeting reconvened with the required members present.
Planning staff stressed that the pre-LSD approval does not replace the final large-scale development review. The final LSD and the CUP ratification by the quorum court are required steps before the applicant may receive final permits and begin full construction.
Next steps for the project are submittal of the final large-scale development application and scheduling of the CUP for quorum-court ratification. The applicant did not provide a firm construction timeline at the hearing.
