Townhomes Proposed at Traffic-Congested Intersection
BLYTHEWOOD – Great Southern Homes made its third appearance Monday night before the Blythewood Architectural Review Board in a bid to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness for 104 single-family attached townhomes.
That bid was deferred.
The project first came before the Architectural Review Board on Oct. 17, 2022.
The townhomes along with a walking trail were proposed on 12.55 acres zoned Town Center (TC) district at 158 Langford Road. The townhomes are to be located at the northern end of the new Blythewood Farms subdivision with 600+ homes, also developed by Great Southern Homes. The townhomes would sit across from the intersection of Sandfield Road and Langford Road, with the entrance to the south of that intersection.
At the initial ARB (Oct. 17, 2022) meeting, it was explained that the two-unit and five-unit town homes will be connected by traditional roof lines.
The Town’s architectural consultant, Ralph Walden, pointed out that the shared roof with multiple height levels gives the townhouses a lot of character.
But Walden and some board members had lots of questions about other issues – the roof drip line, overhangs, parking spaces, sidewalks, windows and more. They had so many concerns that Board Member Jim McLean questioned whether the board should deny the request for a Certificate of Appropriateness altogether or defer it with contingencies to a later time.
The motion was made to defer the issue and for Great Southern Homes to come back to the board later with more details about nine requirements that the board asked them to meet.
On Dec. 12, 2022, Great Southern Homes came before the ARB a second time and was awarded a COA with a list of items that needed to be refined. But that COA expired before those refinements could be cleared up.
The project then went before the Blythewood Planning Commission on Aug. 29, 2023, seeking approval of the townhome’s site plan.
But some planning commissioners noted that the site was located at one of the most traffic-congested intersections in Blythewood, prompting two of the commissioners – Marcus Taylor and Erica Page (now a town councilwoman) – to vote against recommending the project to council. Still, the proposal passed 3-2, with Commissioners Malcolm Gordge, Ed Kesser and Ken Coleman voting to recommend it to council for approval.
On Monday night, Sept. 9, Great Southern Homes came before the Architectural Review Board, represented by Josh Rabon, a third time, this time to seek a renewal of their expired proposal which was to comply with Section 155.182 (Town Center Zoning District Design Standards) and Sections 155.495-155.503 in the Town’s architectural overlay district.
After reviewing the proposal, the Board had many questions and voted unanimously to defer action until board members had more time to review the particulars of the proposal. Great Southern Homes will come before the board again at the regular October meeting or possibly a special called meeting prior to the regular meeting.
Next, a traffic study, access and site design for the project will go before the Planning Commission a second time for review.
