Residents support town center project

Gerry Kennedy said he got hammered with phone calls when he pulled out of the Haymarket Old Towne Center deal.

People wanted him to get back into it.

“I can tell you that the amount of reaction that we’re getting and the amount of people that are asking us to move forward and to get this thing back on again really stunned me,” Kennedy said. “All of the businesses in town have approached us and said this is a good thing for business in the town.”

Kennedy said he recently backed away from the project to build two buildings to house 15 to 18 new businesses at Washington and Jefferson streets because of planning commission delays.
“In protection of the investors I had to pull back,” said Kennedy, who had hoped to hold the project’s grand opening during Haymarket Day on Sept. 20.

Haymarket Planning Commission Chairwoman Linda Landwehr said the planning commission decided against approving Kennedy’s proposal because it lacked crucial information about how much traffic would be using Jefferson Street.

A Virginia Department of Transportation study showed that a proposed 138-space parking lot needed a taper, or turn lane, from Jefferson Street into the lot.

Kennedy’s proposal didn’t include a clear traffic study, so the planning commission voted unanimously to return the application, Landwehr said.

“The issue was the traffic count seemed to indicate that we would need a taper lane into the parking lot,” Landwehr said. 

Kennedy said the delay until the next planning commission meeting would have destroyed his timetable.

Landwehr said the planning commission was willing to schedule a special meeting to accommodate Kennedy’s schedule.

Indeed, the planning commission previously held several special meetings to expedite Kennedy’s application, Landwehr said.

Town attorney John Bennett said things were sailing along as far as he could tell.

“The town was moving as fast as I’ve ever seen government move,” Bennett told the Haymarket Town Council during the March 7 council meeting when the issue came up during citizens time.

Robert B. Weir, the town council’s appointee to the planning commission, agreed with Landwehr and said the planning commission was simply doing its job of promoting “the health, safety and general welfare of the public.”

“It was a legitimate question by the planning commission,” Weir said. “There was no intentional delay. Mr. Kennedy’s plan had a significant issue that needed to be addressed before we passed it on.”

“That it doesn’t fit his particular time frame or business schedule is unfortunate, but it’s part of the process,” Weir said.

Landwehr said the taper would have changed too many things about the project including the number of parking spaces and landscaping.

The town center project would have moved four historic buildings from across Washington Street to the town center property in addition to renovating the the Haymarket Town Hall with gables, refacing and a metal roof.

Kennedy said he would reconsider getting back into the deal especially after hearing from so many who want the project to go forward.

Kennedy said he had commitments to fill 30 percent of the retail and office space in the project that included a 37,000-square-foot walking plaza with a fountain. 

The calls to continue the project have gotten his attention.

“They’re saying, ‘Please, is there any way you can get this thing back on the table,’ ” Kennedy said. “I’m trying not to overreact to that, but I am hearing it.”

Melanie Ruiz, who owns Melanie’s Florist, said the project could only be good.

“I thought if it brought people here, it would be a nice thing,” Ruiz said. “You would think it would help to get people in here and that’s what we need to survive.”

Jennifer Jenkins, who owns Blackberry’s, a furniture store with a cafe, said the project would have added to Haymarket.

“I think it’s really crucial that there are additional attractive, unique businesses that come to town if the rest of the tenants in the town are going to be successful,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins fears that people will overlook Haymarket.

“My concern is that Haymarket is going to be passed over and that people are going to be patronizing the shopping centers that surround the area instead of supporting the local historic district. When you have a historic district, it feels like it belongs to everybody,” Jenkins said.

The Haymarket-Gainesville Business Association, a 45-member organization of area businesses, recently sent a letter to Haymarket residents urging them to attend a Town Council meeting Thursday to support Kennedy’s project.

The meeting was scheduled to discuss the town’s comprehensive plan.
 
Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751 or .