The Gloucester County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a proffer amendment for the Coleman’s Crossing development at Hayes.

Applicant Zandler Coleman’s Crossing, LLC, asked to remove the workforce housing proffer because the buyers were still required by a lending institution to qualify for the full purchase price of a housing unit, planning director Anne Ducey-Ortiz said. Six units were identified as workforce housing to be sold at $160,000, or 65 percent of the applicable Virginia Housing Development Authority’s maximum mortgage for first-time homebuyers.

"At the time of our original rezoning request discussions in early 2009, workforce housing was determined to be a needed facet of any rezoning plans within the county that incorporated residential units," said Charles B. Records, a principal of Zandler’s. However, Records said in a letter to Ducey-Ortiz that "we have found through practice, over the last two years, that the original intention is achieving limited fruition due to current lending practices. All workforce housing buyers are required to qualify for the fair market value of the home, instead of the workforce price, which nullifies the original intent."

Also, the commission recommended a change to the proffer concerning cash proffers for Coleman’s Crossing, which is under construction off Crewe Road. As revised, the section of the proffers deletes reference to workforce housing units.

The revision states that a contribution of $1,200 per dwelling unit for each unit over the by-right density of 25 units shall be made to the county in order to mitigate impacts on the county from the physical development and operation of the property, which will include townhouses as well as a proposed commercial area.

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