Council approves code cleanup and Gillespie PUD after neighbor concerns about buffering

The Amherst Town Council on Jan. 14 approved a code amendment to the town’s planned unit development (PUD) section to explicitly allow semi‑detached dwellings and to adjust acreage thresholds, and then approved a related PUD request for property at the end of Cedar Street. Planning staff said the change is a code “cleanup” because semi‑detached dwellings are allowed elsewhere in the ordinance but had been omitted from the PUD section; the planning commission recommended the amendment unanimously.

Neighbor Kathy Beck, whose property adjoins the development area on Glenway Drive, asked whether the developer would preserve wooded buffers, whether the pond would be disturbed, and whether screening or landscaping would be provided to protect privacy. “We really love where we live...all we ask is that consideration be made ... be mindful and assist with any type of potential landscaping,” she said.

Trevor Gillespie, identified in the hearing as the property owner, and Norm Walton of Perkins and Orson, the project engineer, described the plan: the developer seeks reduced front‑yard setbacks (shown in concept at 35 ft or 20 ft depending on the plan) so houses align with the existing neighborhood and to minimize cut slopes and retaining walls. Walton said reducing setbacks avoids a large retaining wall and keeps the feel along the roadway uniform. He added the project would not increase net density and that utilities and roads will meet VDOT standards.

Council members asked about screening and fencing; Walton said the developer and homeowners association have discussed vegetated buffers rather than privacy fencing and expressed willingness to coordinate landscaping. After Q&A, Council moved and seconded the motion to approve the code amendment and associated development; the motion carried on a 5–0 roll call.