Norfolk Notes

Departures

Two veterans of Norfolk’s Planning Commission are stepping down after more than a decade on the board.  

Mark Warlick, vice president of real estate firm S.L. Nusbaum, was appointed 1998 and Syble Stone, a retired Norfolk school system teacher and administrator, was appointed in 2000.

The two of them, while representing at times opposing philosophies about the direction of Norfolk’s development, served during one of Norfolk’s most prolific and ambitious building eras.

Warlick served as chairman and Stone as vice chairperson before their departure.  

Their replacements haven’t been announced yet, though, supposedly, Mayor Paul Fraim will choose two new members in a week.

Whoever is chosen will be emblematic of how the mayor and the rest of Norfolk City Council will want the city to grow over the next decade.

The Marathoner

Call Buddy Gadams the comeback kid. 

Despite the failure of Granby Tower, a high-profile and controversial development pitched by Mayor Fraim and other city council members, Gadams has plans – big plans.

He’s behind the renovation of the Wainwright building into apartments.

He also plans to build a five-story apartment complex at the corner of Granby and East Freemason Street, which is now a collection of vacant store fronts.

But he isn’t stopping there.

He plans to build another five-story apartment complex on a now surface parking lot on Boush Street, between the School of Rock and Epworth United Methodist Church.

Traffic…What Traffic?

Expect future traffic on Granby Street between 18th Street and 21st Street to get worse.

Norfolk City Council approved unanimously a change in the design and an increase in the number of apartments for the proposed Green at Ghent on a 1.5 acre parcel bounded by Monticello Ave. on the east, Granby Street on the west, between 17^th and 18^th Street.

A downtown development certificate and a conditional rezoning for 130 units were approved Aug., 2011.

The applicant, Andrew Basham, asked city council to approve an increase to 164 units and a change in design to include an outdoor pool, courtyard, club house and exercise area.

 Parking will be accessed from 18^th Street.

The additional units will mean an increase of 238 new vehicle trips. This is the only reference to a traffic count in the ordinance.