The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors might not require Tricord Inc. to pay cash proffers to build an age-restricted subdivision on a portion of the Mullins farm.
Several board members interviewed over the past few days favor waiving the cash payments of about $156,000 because of the company's role in preserving part of the Chancellorsville battlefield.
Tricord plans to build The Retreat at Chancellorsville, a neighborhood of up to 294 age-restricted homes. By right, Tricord could have built 73 homes.
The county's proffer guidelines call for cash payments of $2,145 per detached home in communities where deed restrictions ensure most residents are 55 and over, and that none are children.
Board Chairman Bob Hagan said Tricord earned an exemption for two reasons.
First, the company has agreed to sell 140 acres of the Mullins farm--including 55 acres of commercially zoned land--to the Civil War Preservation Trust for only $3 million. Tricord paid businessman John Mullins $12.5 million for 227 acres abutting State Route 3. Historic preservationists covet the land because it saw fierce fighting on the first day of the Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville.
Mullins originally owned nearly 800 acres, but has sold the balance of the farm to luxury home-builder Toll Brothers Inc. A portion of the land Tricord bought was zoned commercial, but the Spotsylvania developer decided not to take advantage of that.
"Part of what makes this deal so outstanding is their willingness to forgo profit on the commercial land in order to preserve core battlefield," Hagan said.
He noted that Tricord originally planned limited construction on the commercially zoned land.
"When they saw maps of troop movements from the first day of fighting, they agreed to give up all commercial development on that property," he said.
The board--now dominated by a solid slow-growth majority--favors age-restricted subdivisions because residents often demand fewer government services and put no strain on the public schools.
"Frankly, without any students being added to our school system, we will be saving over $325,000 each and every year that it would have cost us to educate children [who] would have been added to the system under the by-right development," Hagan said.
Supervisors also are pleased that leaving the commercial property untouched will cut estimated traffic flow on that portion of Route 3 by 17,000 vehicle trips per day.
Supervisor Gary Jackson called waiving the cash proffers "a relatively small price to contribute" toward such results.
"If this relatively small amount of money will make this project go forward, I don't think the taxpayers will have a problem with that," he said.
Supervisor Hap Connors hesitated to use the word "waive" but said exempting Tricord from the cash proffer differs little from the county's other business-friendly practices.
"When we negotiate commercial activities or try to recruit businesses in the county, there are all kinds of incentives involved," he said. "In my mind, this is similar to those kinds of negotiations."
Supervisor Emmitt Marshall said Thursday that he probably will support waiving the cash proffer but doesn't want to discuss it until after a public hearing on the matter.
Supervisor Chris Yakabouski--though supportive of the Mullins farm deal--worries that waiving the proffer may set a bad precedent.
Hagan seemed unfazed, saying the board will exempt only developers who offer extraordinary deals.
"If they can bring the preservation of the core battlefield from the first day of the fighting at Chancellorsville as well, we'll certainly look at alternatives," he said.
The Planning Commission will vote on the proffers and the needed rezoning for The Retreat at Chancellorsville on Oct. 20. The supervisors last month directed that the county serve as a co-applicant on the rezoning request, indicating it will almost certainly be approved.
"If the deal remains intact, as we publicly discussed, I'll support it," Connors said. "I think it will have if not unanimous support on the commission and the board, overwhelming support."
To reach GEORGE WHITEHURST: 540/374-5438 gwhitehurst@freelancestar.com