Developer seeks rezoning for 86-townhome Ivy Park; council hears buffer, parking and drainage concerns

Developer representatives and city planning staff presented a rezoning and multiple waivers for the Ivy Park site on Oct. 7, asking the Manassas Park governing body to rezone roughly six acres to a planned unit development to allow 86 townhomes.

Planning and zoning administrator Michelle Berry summarized staff’s recommendation, describing the site as split-zoned with two parcels in an I-1 industrial district and one in a planned-unit development. She told the council the applicant is seeking a 100% residential waiver (to permit no commercial uses), a reduction of the required 40-foot vegetative buffer to 20 feet with proposed landscaping and a solid vinyl fence, and six public-facilities manual (PFM) waivers that mostly affect private-street standards.

The applicant’s counsel, Jonelle Cameron of Walsh Colucci, said the project would provide 86 townhomes, including nine homes designated as either affordable or workforce units. She said half of the nine units would be set at 70% of area median income (AMI) and half at 80% AMI, with the 80%-AMI units first offered to qualifying city employees. Cameron said the site plan would include about 33.8% open space — roughly 2.1 acres — and building elevations with brick, stone and fiber-cement siding; the maximum building height would be 58 feet.

On parking and traffic, the applicant said parking counts meet the city’s requirements (the developer reported 205 spaces where 201 are required under the city standard that counts garages as half a space) and that traffic impact modeling shows the local intersections would retain current levels of service under a 2% annual growth assumption and with related background projects included in scenarios.

On utilities and construction timing, the developer acknowledged a proffer that calls for undergrounding utilities but said the original 12-month timeline could be shortened: “We are happy to limit that time from 12 months to 6 months,” Cameron told the council.

Residents who spoke during public comment raised several recurring concerns. Neighbors near the Digital Park Business Center said they hear music, late-night dumpster activity and occasional drag-racing sounds and worried that a reduced buffer would leave future homeowners exposed to industrial noise. Others asked about cluster mailboxes and stormwater capacity; the applicant and staff responded that mailboxes will be clustered (exact distances to be provided during site plan) and that storm drainage will be reviewed during the site-plan stage and improved if capacity is insufficient.

Staff disclosed planned monetary proffers: the staff report referenced approximately $1,800,000 to the city and a subsequently added $15,000 proffer to Belmont Reserve HOA for nearby lighting; the applicant later cited a proffer figure of $1,887,000 in its presentation.

The council closed the public hearing after questions and testimony. No final rezoning vote was taken that evening; staff and the applicant said further design and proffer revisions would continue through the site-plan and planning-review process.

Next steps: staff will receive revised proffers and a development plan from the applicant; the governing body said final action on the development plan will precede city execution of any amended purchase or sale agreement.