Commission recommends RPC overlay for James Place, with HOA proffers for emergency services and parking conditions

The Georgetown Planning Commission on May 20 recommended approval of a rezoning and concept plan for James Place, a proposed 96-unit residential development on about 21.92 acres on North Bedford Street. The commission’s recommendation would superimpose an RPC (residential planned community) overlay over the existing UR-1 zoning and advance the project to subsequent site-plan review with conditions.

Mark Davis of Pennoni Associates, representing Bedford Holdings LLC and applicants James Grant and Jordan Ashburn, described the concept as 96 total units made up of 51 single-family detached dwellings, 26 duplex/twin units and 19 townhouses. Davis told commissioners the site would be served by public water and sewer, include about 7.85 acres of open space (roughly 35.9% of the gross site), a centrally located wet stormwater pond with recreational features and walking paths, and a neighborhood layout intended to preserve wooded areas and provide interconnectivity to adjacent parcels in the future.

Davis said the applicants request several RPC-related adjustments, including a reduction of the single-family side-yard setback from the standard 10 feet to 6 feet for detached homes; he emphasized the change would provide design flexibility but would not increase unit count. The team also proposed infrastructure upgrades on North Bedford — dedicated left- and right-turn lanes, a five-foot bike lane and widened shoulders — and submitted ability-to-serve letters from utilities and emergency services.

A key applicant proffer discussed at the hearing requires each unit, once sold, to contribute annually from HOA dues $75 to the town fire department and $50 to ambulance/EMS. Davis and applicant Jordan Ashburn said the developers will administer the HOA and its budget until turnover (typically at 70–75% build-out) and that the emergency-service contributions would be recorded in HOA governing documents and enforced through the deed/HOA framework. Attorney David Hutt said such conditions are commonly made part of recorded governing documents and are ordinarily enforceable when included as conditions of approval.

Commissioners raised safety and design questions: one commissioner asked whether the wet pond might present a hazard to children (Davis estimated a maximum depth of roughly 6–8 feet and described a 10-foot safety bench around the pond), and several members pressed the applicants on street widths and on-street parking. Engineer Alan Decker said the plan provides at least two parking spaces per unit and noted that under RPC flexibility the pavement width could be reduced from the town-standard 28 feet to 24 feet to preserve green area; town staff and the town engineer suggested a mix of measures such as selective bump-outs and designated overflow parking near green spaces to meet the RPC criteria for “adequate parking.”

After deliberation, a commissioner moved to recommend rezoning the parcel to RPC and to approve the RPC concept plan with conditions that include recorded HOA provisions for emergency-service contributions and additional provisions addressing off-street/overflow parking; the motion was seconded and the commission recorded affirmative votes. The recommendation now goes to the town council as part of the formal rezoning and approval sequence; final engineering, architectural and site-plan compliance will be required prior to any building permits.