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Council hears first reading of Berryville Avenue neighborhood design district amid business concerns over permitted uses
Summary
Council considered a comprehensive-plan amendment to create the Berryville Avenue neighborhood design district (NDD). Staff said the district will have no core area and zoning text amendments to follow will address uses for gas stations, drive‑throughs and car washes; several business owners urged that car washes remain permitted to allow a planned auto‑spa to proceed.
Winchester City Council took public comment and held a first reading on a comprehensive‑plan amendment to establish the Berryville Avenue Neighborhood Design District (NDD) on June 9.
Sean Benson, staff presenter, said the Berryville NDD is being drafted without a core area so it can accommodate interstate‑oriented uses along the I‑81 frontage; the zoning to implement the plan will follow the comprehensive amendment and is expected back to council in August or September. "This is obviously a draft ... the zoning to implement this would follow the comprehensive plan amendment," Benson said.
Several business owners and their attorney urged the council to preserve commercial uses they rely on. Jim Emmert, speaking for a petroleum group, said convenience stores were not included in earlier planning materials and asked for continued meetings and clearer outreach. Attorney Jenny kit loss representing local station owners said the property owners were concerned that creation of the district could negatively affect decades‑old businesses and asked that the zoning retain uses and flexibility for expansion. "Whatever district is put in place they can continue to operate as they have," she said.
Julian Greenfield, a commercial agent representing property owners on Berryville Avenue, urged the council to accompany the plan with a text amendment that keeps car washes as a permitted use so a proposed high‑end auto spa can proceed. "Without a tax amendment allowing car washes within the district, this project cannot proceed," Greenfield said.
Staff and councilors responded that the comprehensive plan was intended as visioning and that the implementing zoning and a text amendment would directly address the concerns raised by property owners. Council and staff described a multi‑step process with advisory committees, outreach and a public hearing at later stages. Staff emphasized that existing businesses can remain and that the NDD attempts to balance redevelopment opportunities with protections for operating businesses.
Because this was a first reading, no final zoning or regulatory change was adopted that night; council members asked staff to continue outreach and to ensure the zoning text amendment explicitly addresses permitted uses such as car washes and convenience stores.
