“A potential zoning change could allow three apartment-style condominium buildings and four townhomes to be built near Kennard Elementary School. Town planning commissioners raised no major objections to the idea of allowing greater density than is currently permitted on five and a half acres south of Little Kidwell Avenue on Spring Street, a parcel bordered on the east by the Board of Education’s Kennard property and on the west by American Legion Post 21. The response may pave the way for property owner Michael Bozek to develop what he described as affordable housing on the site. Bozek, accompanied by Tom Davis of DMS & Associates, presented a concept plan for the project at the September 16 Centreville Planning Commission meeting. Townhomes featuring 1,400 square feet of living space would start at $150,000 and 1,000-square-foot condos would be priced under $150,000.

“”Town homes and apartments are not permitted in R-2,”” said Chris Rogers of the town’s engineering services firm, URS, referring to the parcel’s current zoning designation. Even a change to R-3 zoning would normally restrict Bozek to building eight units per acre, as opposed to the 11 units per acre that were reflected in his presentation. Although the current designation focuses more on rehabilitation of existing properties rather than on new construction, commissioners could either recommend that all R-3 zoned property be permitted a greater number of units per acre or recommend a Planned Redevelopment Area/R-3 zoning designation for the site that would allow the project to be built.

While Vice Chairman Liz Brice said she would support increasing the allowable density in all R-3 zoning, other planning commissioners said they would prefer to limit it to this particular parcel by using a PRA/R-3 designation. Although the planning commission does not provide any formal recommendation for concept plans, Bozek was encouraged to move ahead with assembling a request for PRA/R-3 zoning.
“