Land Use Patterns

Planning for the most accessible, pleasant, and economically effective trail must incorporate an understanding of the city’s land use patterns. For the trail to be widely used, it must be easily accessible to as many of the residential and tourist locations as possible. For the trail to be an economic benefit, it must be in close proximity to key commercial/retail areas. Along with Map 18 and Table 4 in the Appendix (both derived from the city’s GIS parcel database), this section provides an overview of Staunton’s land use designations as of January 2005. It also describes the recent pace and locations of residential development in Staunton – important in understanding what natural areas might be most susceptible to development in the near future.

Residential

As of January 2005, 90.7% of Staunton’s 12,731 acres are divided into 10,898 parcels. The remaining 9.3% of the city’s land area consists primarily of road right-of-way that is not segmented into parcels. Analysis of Staunton’s parcel data shows that most of the city’s land is currently used for residential purposes (57.1% of land area in 10,898 parcels). Single-family or low-density residential describes 49.0% of Staunton’s total land area. Two-family/medium-density residential and Multi-family/high-density residential comprise 4.6% and 3.5% of the total acreage respectively. Low-density residential parcels are distributed throughout the city although there are relatively few in the city’s southeastern quadrant. Most medium-density residential acreage is in the far northern and far southern sections of the city, and most high-density residential is in the northern third of the city.

Commercial/Office/Professional

The 1,410 acres used for Commercial/Office/Professional accounts for 11.1% of Staunton’s land area. Most parcels in this land use category are located along one of several corridors including:  two miles of Richmond Road, one mile of Frontier Drive, one and a half miles of Greenville Avenue, a third of a mile on Statler Boulevard, one mile of W. Beverley Street, and within two blocks on either side of a one mile section of N. Augusta Street. Also, a few larger Hotel/Motel and Professional District parcels are located near the intersection of Commerce Road and Woodrow Wilson Pkwy.

Industrial

Another 7.9% of Staunton’s land is used for industrial purposes (5.2% Light Industrial/Warehouse, and 2.7% Heavy Industrial/Fuel Distribution/Manufacturing). Most Light Industrial/Warehouse space is located in one of four areas in the eastern third of the city: Appomattox Lime Company’s 160-acre quarry operation between Statler Boulevard, National Avenue, and New Hope Road; 190 acres just north of Appomattox Lime; 75 acres along Statler Boulevard just south of Richmond Road; and the 47-acre Best Buy distribution center in the Green Hills Industry and Technology Center. Most parcels dedicated to Heavy Industrial/Fuel Distribution/Manufacturing are located in one of three areas:  184 acres in the Green Hills Industry and Technology Center east of Commerce Road and Route 275; 119 acres in the far western edge of the city bounded by Morris Mill Road, W. Beverley Street; and 20 acres on either side of the CSX rail line east of its intersection with Statler Boulevard.

Public

Public schools and various government institutional uses account for another 7.6% of Staunton’s land area. Augusta County, the Town of Verona, and the Federal Government own a few small parcels. But, of this land use grouping, the state holds about 74% of the land (former Staunton Correctional Center, Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, Western State Hospital, undeveloped Frontier Culture Museum land, state Highway Department, Virginia Electric Power Company) and Staunton owns the other 25% (city schools, city reservoir, Virginia Crossroads Business Park).

Parks & Recreation

Approximately 400 acres (3.2% of the city’s land area) are dedicated to parks and recreational uses. The majority of this land is owned by Staunton – Gypsy Hill Park, Montgomery Hall Park, Betsy Bell Park, Reservoir Hill Park, Woodrow Wilson Park, Men’s Green Thumb Park). The parcels labeled as Recreational land use are largely for indoor recreation such as bowling, theatre, swimming, racquet sports, roller skating.

Utility Corridors

Over seven miles of linear right-of-way stretch across the southern half of the city to accommodate high voltage electric power lines. These corridors cross roads, run through neighborhoods, extend across open fields, and cut through wooded areas. Many greenway projects have made use of corridors like these by negotiating right-of-way agreements with various utility companies. This greenway-utility relationship is often mutually beneficial to both parties. The greenway group can negotiate with one land owner rather than dozens and the utility company gets to take advantage of the improved path for their maintenance vehicles.  Although the utility lines are not attractive, these corridors might help resolve difficult trail routing problems in some areas of the city.

Land & Building Values

Measured as assessed value ($) per square foot, Map 19 shows that the highest valued structures are located predominantly in the low-density, single-family residential areas - neighborhoods like Overbrook, Hillcrest, and Highland Heights in the northwest; neighborhoods like Skymont, Springhill Road, Dogwood, Brae Burn, Ridgemont, Mountain View, Baldwin Acres, and Forest Hills in the north-central; and neighborhoods like Greenspring and Linden Heights in the south-central. Most lower-valued structures are located in a one to one-and-a-half-mile wide corridor starting from the CBD and stretching two and a half miles west to the city boundary. This section of the city mixes low-density residential with commercial and medium-to-high-density residential. Generally, the map also shows that structures closer to industrial and commercial uses are assessed at lower values per square foot.

Not surprisingly, as Map 20 shows, assessed land value per acre is highest along the primary commercial corridors (Richmond Road, Greenville Avenue) and in the CBD. While the low-density, single-family residential areas have a high per-acre land value, the medium-density and high-density residential areas do also – sometimes even higher. The general rule in this case is that distance from development results in decreased land value. As the trail route is planned, some consideration should be given to the value of the buildings by which and the land through which the trail will run. The more expensive the land around the proposed trail route, the more expensive it will be to acquire land right-of-way for the trail.

Pace of Development

The City’s 2003 Comprehensive Plan Update reports that about a third of the city’s developable land has been developed. Parks and cemeteries were considered as undeveloped. Open water, floodplains, and areas of excessive slope were not considered as part of the inventory of developable land. Most of this undeveloped land suitable for future growth is located in a mile to mile-and-a-half wide band that follows the city’s boundary counter-clockwise from the southeast corner to the north-central area (see Map 13). At first glance, these statistics do not seem to support calls for land conservation in Staunton, but the pace of new development (particularly residential) has picked up dramatically in recent years.

Looking at building permit data for Staunton from 2000 to 2004 (as provided in Table 5), one sees a dramatic increase in building activity in 2004 as compared to previous years. In 2000, Staunton had 10,403 housing units compared to Augusta County’s 26,738 and Virginia’s  2,904,192. From 2000 to 2003 Staunton averaged 61 new housing units per year compared to 522 for Augusta County and 54,206 for Virginia. This translates into a .5% - .7% annual increase in the number of housing units in Staunton compared to annual growth ranges of 1.8% - 2.2% for Augusta County and 1.8% - 2.0% for Virginia. The latest Cooper Center figures for 2004 only run through August but they clearly show a significant change as Staunton’s rate of adding new housing units is higher than both Augusta County and Virginia. After extrapolating the January – August 2004 numbers to estimated annual totals, the 2004 rates would be increases of 3.0% in Staunton, 2.4% in Augusta County, and 1.7% in Virginia.

In addition to the Cooper Center statistics, Staunton’s October 2004 New Residential Housing Report (see Table 6) shows an even higher potential increase in near-term housing construction.  This report shows city approval of 1,577 new housing units in 16 developments of various types and densities. A majority of 61.3% is single-family detached and most of these will be priced at $200,000 and above. The breakdown of the other units is: 11.9% single-family attached, 22.3% multi-family, and 4.6% elderly housing. As of October 2004, the projects were at different points in the development process, and some may have since been completed. The developments’ locations are shown on Map 13. This housing boom partially reflects Staunton’s increasing popularity as a retirement destination – particularly for Northern Virginia residents.

While this pace of development is welcome news for property-tax-dependent city revenues, there is also increasing concern about the impact this growth will have on the city’s unique rural character and natural resources. In 1997, Staunton designated three Agricultural and Forestal Districts in the northeast quadrant of the city, a total of 2,258 acres. This temporary four to ten-year designation is meant to reserve the areas for agricultural use, timber production, or open space protection. The three districts shown on Map 13 – Bell’s Lane, Merrifield, and M.O. Carr – have preserved rural land and restricted development in those areas. However, as the Carrsbrook project showed, it is still possible to rezone and make district land available for development.

Although the Agricultural and Forestal Districts can help conserve large sections of land (minimum of 200 contiguous acres) for a time, they are not useful in preserving smaller areas dispersed throughout the city. Interestingly, there is a zoning designation to preserve historic resources, but the city has no zoning code to use in setting aside smaller sections of land specifically for outdoor recreation or natural conservation purposes. In fact, as Map 21 shows, all three of Staunton’s largest city parks have an R4 zoning code (high-density residential).Several housing developments have been approved for the slopes of Staunton’s most notable natural landmarks, Mary Gray and Betsy Bell. This consumption of the city’s unique natural areas can easily continue unless natural conservation is approached in a well-planned, systematic way throughout the city. On a positive note, one developer actually donated to the city nearly 30 acres adjacent to Betsy Bell Park. City council accepted the stipulation that the land be held in a natural state.

The Staunton Frontier Trail will put more citizens in touch with more natural areas throughout the city. Both the community’s increased encounters with Staunton’s outdoor environment and the grassroots efforts required to build the trail will help solidify the importance of preserving open space and rural character in the city. This will only become more difficult as the pace of development and land consumption increases.