Planning Commission denies rezoning for 533 Leesville Road over front-parking proposal

The Lynchburg Planning Commission on July 2026 voted to deny a petition from RAA Enterprises LLC to rezone 533 Leesville Road from B1 (Limited Business) to B3 (Community Business). Planning staff had recommended denial, saying the request was essentially intended to allow parking in front of a proposed two-story medical office and that the change risked undermining neighborhood-scale protections in the zoning ordinance.

Planning division staff member Rachel told the commission the city’s future land use map recommends medium-density residential for the parcel and that the B1 district’s requirement to locate parking behind the front wall — added in a 2016 ordinance update — helps preserve a transition between commercial uses and adjacent residences. “Planning division recommends denial of the petition,” Rachel said, noting staff concerns about opening the door to more intensive uses if the parcel were rezoned to B3.

Applicant representative Norm Walton, the engineer of record, said the rezoning request was narrowly intended to permit front parking to serve a medical tenant and to provide easier access between two levels of leased space. “We are asking only to be rezoned to allow parking in the front,” Walton said. He and other project supporters emphasized site grade and an existing shared entrance that they said limit options for rotating the building or moving it forward.

Commissioners and staff exchanged detailed parking calculations during deliberations. Planning staff noted that, under the existing B1 standards and shared-parking rules, the parcel and an adjacent lot already provide more than the minimum number of required spaces for the proposed uses (staff cited roughly 53 spaces on the adjacent lot and 23 behind 533 Leesville versus an estimated code requirement of about 17 spaces for the site). Several commissioners agreed that, technically, the site could meet parking minimums without front parking, but nevertheless expressed concern about setting a citywide precedent by changing zoning primarily to avoid a development standard.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to follow the city’s packet recommendation and deny the rezoning; the motion carried. Vice Chair indicated the applicant may present the proposal to City Council following the commission’s action.

The commission’s decision centered on preserving the intent of the B1 district as a neighborhood-scale zone and on avoiding a rezoning that could make it easier in the future for similar parcels to escape design standards intended to protect adjoining residential areas.