HRAB 02-18-14 Meeting AgendaFrederick County Historic Resources Advisory Board (HRAB)
December 17, 2013
Board of Supervisors Executive Session Room of the County
Administrative building
107 North Kent Street Winchester, VA
Members Present: Lauren Murphy, Elizabeth Fravel, Mary Turner, Denny Perry, Stacey Yost, Chris
Oldham , Gary Oates, Maral Kalbian
Members Absent: Claus Bader, Clint Jones, David O’Neil
Staff Present: Candice Perkins
Applicants Present: Gary Oates on behalf of the McCann Slaughter Family
Agenda Items: May 2013 Minutes, Historic Plaque application for the Carr-Brumback-Owens House and
review of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment request for the McCann Slaughter Properties
Call to order at 6:30 PM.
Item One: The May 2013 minutes were adopted as presented.
Item Two: Planner Perkins introduced the plaque application for the Carr-Brumback-Owens House
owned by David Holliday. The HRAB stated that this was a well preserved property and recommended
approval of the plaque application. The plaque application will be scheduled for the Board of
Supervisors.
Item Three: The Historic Resources Advisory Board (HRAB) has been asked to provide a comment
pertaining to a requested Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the McCann-Slaughter property. These
parcels are identified by Property Identification Numbers 44-A-40 and 44-A-25B, in the Stonewall
Magisterial District. The McCann-Slaughter parcels contain approximately 160 acres, near the
intersection of Martinsburg Pike and Old Charlestown Road, on both sides of McCann Road, and
adjacent to the CSX Railroad. The properties are collectively designated in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan
for various types of land uses, including Developmentally Sensitive Areas and Industrial.
The Study of Civil War Sites in the Shenandoah Valley published by the National Park Service identifies
these properties as core battlefield area for the Battle of Third Winchester (Opequon) with retained
integrity.
The applicant’s representative presented a sketch of the proposed layout for a potential industrial park.
The HRAB questioned if the requested industrial park could be laid out in a sensitive way, preserving the
viewsheds and the significant portions of the property. The location of the existing historic markers was
also considered and the impact the land use change would have on the viewsheds associated with the
markers. The HRAB also inquired if the use of tax credits and the preservation of the property would be
worth as much as the potential industrial land. The applicant responded that it would not.
After further discussion, the HRAB questioned why the DSA needed to be removed. The DSA was
originally created and shown on this property because of its historic nature and the HRAB wanted to
know what had changed and why the Board should consider a change in land use. The HRAB was
concerned with the removal of the DSA because this is the last bit of core battlefield within this area.
The battlefield areas keep being eroded, first with the rezoning of Stephenson’s Village and then
Graystone. The group also discussed the recently adopted 2030 Comprehensive Plan and the fact that
one goal was to preserve battlefield areas. There are policies in place that support the preservation of
core battlefield areas. The HRAB also wanted comments from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield
Foundation regarding the scale of the project and the impact it would have; it was rested that the
foundation be invited to the next HRAB meeting.
After the discussion, the HRAB requested that the applicant consider retaining DSA on the most
significant portions of the property and consider office land use on the balance. The HRAB ultimately
was comfortable with the requested land (low impact/sensitive industrial) use change so long as the
discussed trail network was included and the most significant part of the battlefield remains in DSA. The
HRAB then requested to see the text that is formulated by the CPPC that will be forwarded to the Board
of Supervisors for their review.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:15p.m.
FREDERICK COUNTY
HISTORIC RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD (HRAB)
2014 TENTATIVE MEETING DATES
January 21, 2014 – cancelled
February 18, 2014
March 18, 2014
April 15, 2014
May 20, 2014
June 17, 2014
July 15, 2014
August 19, 2014
September 16, 2014
October 21, 2014
November 18, 2014
December 16, 2014
HRAB meetings are tentatively scheduled for the third Tuesday of each month and begin at
6:00p.m. For further information, please call Candice Perkins at 540-665-5651.
Item # 3
Discussion – Comprehensive Plan Amendment
The Historic Resources Advisory Board (HRAB) has been asked to provide a comment pertaining
to a requested Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the McCann-Slaughter property. These
parcels are identified by Property Identification Numbers 44-A-40 and 44-A-25B, in the
Stonewall Magisterial District. The McCann-Slaughter parcels contain approximately 160 acres,
near the intersection of Martinsburg Pike and Old Charlestown Road, on both sides of McCann
Road, and adjacent to the CSX Railroad. The properties are collectively designated in the 2030
Comprehensive Plan for various types of land uses, including Developmentally Sensitive Areas
and Industrial.
The Study of Civil War Sites in the Shenandoah Valley published by the National Park Service
identifies these properties as core battlefield area for the Battle of Third Winchester (Opequon)
with retained integrity.
The HRAB first discussed this proposal at the December 2013 meeting and continued discussion
to the next scheduled meeting. Please see the December minutes for an overview of the
meeting.
The Comprehensive Plans and Programs Committee (CPPC) discussed this amendment at heir
January and February meetings. The CPPC discussions were as follows:
CPPC December 16, 2013 Meeting:
The CPPC discussed this request and proposed the study be coordinated with the HRAB, given
the historical context of the Developmentally Sensitive Areas (DSA’s) in this area. It is believed
that the HRAB would be able to provide the appropriate guidance and input on the land use in
this area from a historical perspective. Notwithstanding the historical background associated
with Stephenson’s Depot, the site also contains a significant amount of environmental features
that are protected within the DSA designation. The floodplain and its associated issues were
discussed. The location of the environmental features also creates a barrier to Martinsburg
Pike, Route 11, and Old Charlestown Road.
The Applicant’s representative presented a sketch of the proposed layout for a potential
commercial/industrial development with access being provided from the north and from the
south via a new north/south road connecting with adjacent projects and minimizing the impact
on the Milburn Road corridor and McCann’s Road. An O.M. land use designation was proposed
by the Applicant’s representative as being the most acceptable land use designation along with
recognition that those DSA’s identified on the site could be incorporated into the land use plan.
Any update to the Northeast Land Use Plan should consider the following points as the basis for
the narrative:
• The recommendations of the HRAB.
• Protection of the environmental features of the site.
• Preservation of those areas identified with DSA’s and development limited to
those areas to the south of the DSA’s and south of McCann’s Road.
• Utilizing McCann’s Road and other historical features, such as Milburn Road, as
features to be protected and potentially used in a manner that promotes their
historical context (an extension of the historical trail system in the area).
• An O.M. (Mixed Use Office/Industrial) land use designation (if appropriate).
• If an alternative land use designation is deemed to be appropriate, access to be
provided via a new north south road that would generally be parallel to the west
side of the existing railroad. This road would connect into proposed
development to the south. No access would be permitted to McCanns Lane for
vehicular access to Martinsburg Pike or Milburn Road.
The CPPC approached this as an amendment to the Northeast Land Use Plan. It was recognized
that the Northeast Land Use Plan is a series of four detailed land use maps that do not contain a
descriptive narrative. The CPPC felt that if the land use were to change in this location, it should
be accompanied by a descriptive narrative that is clear on what the future land uses should be,
where they should be, and that any performance conditions, such as areas of preservation and
methods of access, should be stated.
The CPPC were very eager to receive the recommendations of the HRAB before they finalized
their recommendations for a change in the land use. In addition, the CPPC wanted to see some
of the points discussed at their December meeting listed in bullet form to provide a summary of
the potential
The CPPC also identified several approaches to update the Northeast Land Use Plan for this
area; 1) updating the four land use maps, 2) updating the four land use maps and adding a
narrative specific to this proposed change, and 3) updating the four land use maps and
reinstating text describing the Northeast Land Use Plan as a whole. The CPPC’s initial
preference was option 2. Recent proposed amendments to the North East Land Use Plan could
be consolidated into this update.
Staff will be seeking comments from the HRAB on the historical elements possibly impacted by
proposed Comprehensive Plan Change. The comments will be forwarded to the Board of
Supervisors.
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