Construction on a new 48-unit apartment complex off 5th Street Extended in Charlottesville won't happen until the developer changes his plan to deal with traffic flow. That's the conclusion the Charlottesville Planning Commission came to Tuesday night.
Commissioners voted to uphold a previous decision disapproving the Willoughby Place project. The city says the site plan violates code because the entrance doesn't provide the required 280 feet of sight so vehicles can safely enter and exit. Developer Keith Woodard tried to appeal that decision Tuesday night.
"If you go to so many places here in Charlottesville, in these side streets coming up to Market Street or a variety of places, the sight distance is more like 20 feet or 50 or something," Woodard said. "I don't know where 280 feet comes from."
Some neighbors also complained the project would have added more traffic to the intersection of Harris Road and 5th Street Extended. They'd rather see the complex have a direct outlet to 5th Street Extended.
"Then there would be a proper entrance and a proper exit, not just going into a neighborhood, little unlined, one-lane road basically here," Willoughy resident Claire McKinley said. "This intersection already has enough accidents, I mean, there's a whole slew of issues, but people don't yield the right of way there."
Tuesday night, Woodard told commissioners he hoped to be able to amend his current site plan instead of having to spend money on a whole new one.
