Martinsburg council to consider request for apartment project next to cement plant

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Martinsburg City Council on Thursday night is expected to take up a developer’s request for a zoning-map amendment to allow for construction of several apartment buildings as part of a multifamily residential project.

The council’s consideration of the request by NY @ Route 9 Limited Partnership comes after the city planning commission voted unanimously Oct. 2 against recommending the zoning change to the council.

The approximately 15 acres of undeveloped land is south of Apple Harvest Drive off New York Avenue near the end of South Queen Street. It also borders the Argos cement property.

At Thursday’s meeting, the council is expected to hear a presentation from Mike Collier of Falls Church, Va.-based Uniwest Development Co. concerning the zoning request before taking up the first and second readings of a proposed ordinance to rezone the property from service business to community business. NY @ Route 9 Limited Partnership is affiliated with Uniwest.

Adoption of the ordinance wouldn’t occur until after it is read a third time at a future council meeting.

The council meeting is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Martinsburg City Hall at 232 N. Queen St.

In discussing the project with city planning commissioners Oct. 2, a project consultant said the developer is proposing nine three-floor apartment buildings with a total of about 300 residential units, according to planning commission meeting minutes.

Todd Heck of Gordon, the project consultant, said during the planning meeting that eight of the apartment buildings are proposed to have 12 units per level and one building is proposed to have eight units per level.

During the meeting, planning commissioners also heard concerns about the project’s impact on Martinsburg’s south end from New York Avenue resident Robin Truax, who pointed to existing traffic-related safety concerns that could be worsened by further development, according to meeting minutes.

In further discussion, the planning commission was advised by city staff members that the apartment units wouldn’t be allowed if the zoning remains unchanged.

The planning commission aired concerns about the impact of the new housing on traffic conditions on Apple Harvest Drive and other infrastructure, and also suggested that allowing residential housing next to a cement plant is “out of character” of what is intended for the property, according to meeting minutes.

The developer has advised the planning department that the Jefferson Crossing apartments project in Ranson, which Uniwest has developed, is “representative” of the type of project that the company intends to build.

A clubhouse with pool and “tot lot” and stormwater-management infrastructure are also depicted in a submitted conceptual plan.

The proposed residential development could be accessed from yet-to-be-built connecting roads to New York Avenue and South Queen Street, according to the concept plan.

The residential development’s conceptual access to W.Va. 45 via Virginia Avenue Extended also would require extending the road beyond the entrance to the former Porterfield’s Collision Center property at 22 Virginia Ave. Extended.

The remaining portion of the Uniwest property that fronts W.Va. 45 between New York Avenue and the exit for South Queen Street would remain zoned as community business. Collier has said commercial development is a key to the project.