July 11, 2002
As the repercussions of the budget cuts come to fruition, Virginia Department of Transportation's decision to shelve the widening of Telegraph Road doesn't stop development from trying to continue in that corridor.
During rush hour, traffic backs up on Telegraph from I-495 to Beulah Street, and sections of land along that stretch are being rezoned for additional housing beyond the current density of one to two houses per acre. These pieces of land are just south of Hayfield Secondary School, from the Hayfield Animal Hospital to the Hilltop Driving Range.
Luther Mannis lives in a house on Old Telegraph Road right across from a rural-looking piece of land that is being planned for 20 houses.
"I know they're going to put a whole slew of houses over there, traffic-wise it's going to kill us. I bought it because it's nice and quiet, but that's soon to change," he said.
Mannis lives there with his wife, Sharon, and they have received notices and maps about the proposal. The Board of Supervisors is hearing the application by Equity Homes to rezone it from R-1, which is the current zoning of one to two houses per acre, to PDH-3,4, which is three, possibly four houses per acre. Twenty houses in the 6-acre plot were first suggested. The hearing is scheduled for July 18, as indicated on the yellow placard sign on the roadside.
"We want to go to the hearing," Sharon Mannis said.
The Centex land, further south, was under some of the same scrutiny when it went before the professional zoning staff, which recommended "denial," according to Jeff McKay, the chief of staff in supervisor Dana Kauffman's (D-Lee) office. There were 22 homes slated for that property. It was scheduled to go before the Board on July 11. Now the decision will be referred, according to McKay, but that does not cancel it out completely. The staff recommendation reads, "However, if it is the intent of the Board of Supervisors to approve RZ 2001-LE-048, staff recommends that such approval be subject to the execution of proffers consistent with those contained in Appendix 1," which included the elimination of driveways on Telegraph Road, energy-efficient homes, tree preservation, limits on clearing and grading, conservation easement, recreational facilities, rights of way on Telegraph, space for Telegraph expansion, establishing a homeowners association, storm-water management pond, landscaping, noise attenuation, affordable housing contribution, and school contribution.
According to McKay, Kauffman usually votes consistently with the recommendations.
PRESENTLY, there are five houses on the other tract, owned by Janet Bahr who rents three, lives in one and just had the tenants in the other move out. It has not been re-rented.
Bahr has been on the property for 50 years and is caught between the desire to stay in her home, encroaching development, and time. The houses on that land are on a sump and not county sewage. Hooking up to county sewage is an expense she cannot afford. She has reached an agreement with the builders if the zoning goes through, but she thought the zoning was to build less on it, not more.
"I was under the idea they were zoning it down," she said.
She has fought the surrounding development through the years and is ready to give up.
"If I sell it, that's what's going to happen, and it bothers me. I've talked to these guys, and I've agreed on a price. It's enough to take care of me," she said.
She's been retired for years, has sons and daughters that moved away from the area, and now she's ready to move. Although she's not sure where she wants to go, Florida or a retirement center isn't in the plans.
"Really, there's no need for me to stay here," she said.
John Moore and Kevin Crist live in one of the houses and have spoken to Bahr about the plans but say nothing has been finalized. Moore grew up in the area and has lived along Telegraph Road for 35 years. They have rented Bahr's house for the past nine years.
"The landlord hasn't said anything to us. The same lady owns all five houses. She doesn't want to see it go," Moore said.
Crist looks at all the pavement closing in on the green space.
"We love this place, privacy. It's not a concrete jungle. I'd like to see it all fall through. They're going to have to do something with Telegraph," he said.
The land that has been denied has a creek going through it, which protects it somewhat. Bahr's land does not.
"They've got a flood plain going through it. There will be a transportation analysis in the staff report," he said.
Bahr lived on the land for years. The house she now lives in was formerly a school she ran, called the "Three Bears" school, while she lived in the house that Crist and Moore now rent. Her next-door neighbor, who chose not to give her name, knows the move was inevitable.
"Everyone knows she's eventually going to sell. If I was her, I would probably do the same thing," she said.
THE TRANSPORTATION analysis might include turn lanes, sidewalks and frontage improvements, but it will not widen Telegraph Road. That was removed from the six-year plan.
"Telegraph Road's definitely taken off. The soonest any part of it could get funded is 2008," McKay said.
Mannis works in Baltimore and has to leave at 6 a.m., partly because of getting out on Telegraph Road. He gave up trying to take a left from Old Telegraph onto Telegraph and is getting discouraged on Sunday mornings when he tries to take a left from Old Telegraph to Hayfield Road, which is the other way.
"It could get worse. I leave for work right before 6 a.m. If it keeps up, I'll have to leave at 5 a.m." he said.
Traffic lights at Old Telegraph and Telegraph as well as another light at Old Telegraph and Hayfield Road are his solution, but he knows it's not a lasting solution.
"And that's a Band-Aid, he said.
Bahr has experienced the traffic as well but noted the architectural drawings with entrances to Old Telegraph and not Telegraph Road.
"I totally understand the traffic," she said.