Danville City Council gave its unanimous approval Tuesday night to four rezoning cases, including one that would allow the addition of a wholesale trade operation at Leggett Town & Country on Mount Cross Road.
Leggett Investment Corp. requested a special use permit to lease its unused space to a larger-scale, wholesale trade business that wants to use the facility to expand its operation. In order to approve the permit, Council first had to amend the zoning code to allow for larger-scale operations in highway retail commercial areas.
As now amended, larger-scale — or, as referred to in the code, heavy intensity — wholesale trade establishments can operate in highway retail commercial areas if they are granted a special use permit by City Council. The difference between light and heavier sales is based on amount and types of products sold, amount of truck traffic necessary, and the amount of square footage necessary to operate.
The Mount Cross Road location provides ample parking for the proposed wholesale trade operation and the continued retail operations of Leggett Town & Country and Carquest Auto Parts.
No public opposition to the rezoning or the permit emerged at the meeting. Council approved the rezoning and then granted the company a permit.
Council also approved the following rezoning cases:
» A request to rezone some of the last residentially zoned and used acreage along Piney Forest Road. The acreage — totaling 16 acres in two parcels — is located at 995 Piney Forest Road and is used, in part, as a mobile home park. The owner requested the land be rezoned from multi-family residential to highway retail commercial.
» A request to rezone property at 5555 Riverside Drive — the former Carter’s Restaurant location — from residential to conditional highway retail commercial. The building that housed the restaurant has been demolished. The rezoning will allow the owner to market the property to commercial clients. An adjoining 1.85-acre portion of the same property received Council approval last year.
» A request to rezone three vacant parcels located behind Williamsburg Village and Westchester Square apartments, which are located on Hermitage Drive, from multi-family residential to attached residential. The rezoning will allow for development of a single-family, townhome community. As proposed, the three parcels will be consolidated to create 7.6-acre tract of land. Thirty-one townhome units are planned. A private roadway from Hermitage Drive — between the two apartment complexes — will lead into the development.
In addition to the rezoning cases, Mayor Sherman Saunders presented a proclamation that recognized the 20th anniversary of Virginia Organizing. Johnny Mayo, a Danville resident and a member of the state governing board for Virginia Organizing, accepted the proclamation.
Mayo told council members that Virginia Organizing has worked on behalf of many who feel they do not have a voice. He thanked the council members, saying they always have treated the organization fairly.