Supervisors to consider application for warehouses, hotel and restaurant near I

A proposal from a real estate investment company to construct five buildings for

A proposal from a real estate investment company to construct five buildings for industrial uses, as well as a hotel, a restaurant, and possibly a data center on property just west of the Interstate 81 exit 323 interchange in Clear Brook, is scheduled to go before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors next week.

The Board of Supervisors could green-light the project in a vote on June 14, according to the meeting agenda. A public hearing will be held on that date.

The rezoning application for "Fruit Hill" was unanimously supported by the county's Planning Commission in mid-May after the panel previously tabled the proposal on April 19, citing concerns about proffers pertaining to traffic impacts.

Equus Capital Partners, Ltd. — the developer that has filed the application — continued to work with county staff in refining transportation proffers to address potential traffic impacts, and the Planning Commission eventually decided the project was ready to move forward to the supervisors for consideration. Equus Capital Partners, Ltd. is headquartered in Pennsylvania.

Transportation-related proffers in the application seek to address a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) dated January of this year.

The proposed development would consist of five buildings of various sizes that total approximately 2,425,500 square feet, as well as a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and a hotel with up to 100 rooms, according to county documents. The site that would be rezoned is 220 acres.

The properties are located at 384 Ruebuck Lane, 1420 Rest Church Road and the southwest corner of the intersection of Rest Church Road and Zachary Ann Lane.

The site — which fronts Rest Church Road, Ruebuck Lane and Zachary Ann Lane near the Flying J Travel Center — is currently zoned Rural-Agriculture; the application seeks to rezone the 220 acres to Light Industrial (M1) (189.08 acres), General Business (B2) (10.34 acres) and Technical Manufacturing (TM) (20.64 acres).

Located in northeastern Frederick County, the area eyed for development already experiences high traffic volume. The TIA indicates the proposed project would have significant traffic impacts on Martinsburg Pike (U.S. 11) and surrounding roads.

The proposal from the developer currently includes the following transportation proffers:

The construction of two lanes of the planned north-south collector road and relocating Zachary Ann Lane to an intersection with the collector road, which the applicant is calling Fruit Hill Road. This construction would include a bike lane and 104 feet of right of way.

The construction of a westbound left turn lane with at least 200 feet of storage and a 200-foot taper on Rest Church Road at its connection with Fruit Hill Road.

Abandonment of Ruebuck Lane right of way beyond its current terminus and dedication of an additional 25 feet of right of way along existing Ruebuck Lane. The applicant would also construct a turnaround at the terminus of Ruebuck Lane — as well as pave and pay for road improvements to Ruebuck Lane.

The applicant would construct at its expense improvements at the intersection of U.S. 11 and Rest Church Road as called for in the TIA. Upon the approval of the rezoning, the applicant would, within six months, prepare plans for the U.S. 11 improvements for review by VDOT and the county, as well as proceed with those improvements.

The applicant would contribute its pro rata share of the cost of installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Fruit Hill Road and Rest Church Road when a signal warrant is authorized.

County staff have noted that the development is not consistent with the county's current comprehensive plan.

"The proposal is not in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan as it does not meet the intent of the Mixed-Use Industrial/Office designation. The vast majority of the proposal (85.9%) is proposed to be designated light industrial, thus not providing a true mixing of uses, and in turn not meeting the stated intent of the zoning ordinance or Comprehensive Plan," read a staff-prepared document.

The 300,000 square feet the developer is holding for the data center would remain vacant until a data center elects to locate there, legal counsel representing Equus Capital Partners has said.

John Foote of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh, P.C. previously stated, "Equus is prepared to take a long-term risk on this," referring to the possibility of a data center choosing to locate in Frederick County — as Northern Virginia has become an increasingly difficult place for data centers to locate.

The rezoning application shows the proffers for the proposal have been updated six times since December.

— Contact Cormac Dodd

at [email protected]

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