The City of Salem Planning Commission voted 4-1 to recommend approval of the rezoning of 62 acres of HopeTree Family Services to Salem City Council after a joint public hearing with the council on Wednesday where 29 residents spoke out on the issue. Nine people spoke in favor of the rezoning approval, 20 spoke against during the two-hour-long hearing.
Of the planning commission, Denise King, Reid Garst, Jackson Beamer and Nathan Routt voted in favor of the recommendation, and Mark Hendrickson was the vote in opposition. All members of the planning commission were present, and only Jim Wallace, who had a long-standing appointment, was absent from the council.
Only the planning commission voted Wednesday night on the plan. Salem City Council adjourned after the public hearing ended. No members of the planning commission made any comment prior to or after the vote.
Jon Morris, CEO of HopeTree Family Services, spoke before the hearing explaining HopeTree’s reasoning behind the rezoning application. He said these changes will benefit HopeTree’s future, and “provides a win” for both HopeTree and the City of Salem. He said if the rezoning is not approved, HopeTree will build as many single-family homes as is possible.
Those who spoke in approval of the rezoning mentioned that those on council currently have been studying this issue for years now, and they should be the ones to make the decision. They also spoke on the transparency that they felt was practiced from council during this process.
“There has been more transparency in this decision than I have ever seen in the Salem City government,” Terry LaRocco said.
She said the election acted as a referendum in that HopeTree was a controversial issue leading right up to the election. Turk was reelected for another term on council despite her vote for HopeTree, which was unpopular with many Salem residents.
“You have your answers to what people want, it was clearly spelled out in the election,” LaRocco said.
Mike Elmore, who grew up at Virginia Baptist Children’s Home, told the city officials to “stick to [their] facts” and approve it again.
Will Long lives close to the proposed development, but is in approval of it, and argued it would be a “great change” for the city.
“Everyone in this room would like Salem to be a place where they can live, work and play,” he said. “Thank you for the decision you already made.”
Those in opposition spoke largely on traffic, and on inaccuracies they felt were in a traffic study conducted by Balzer and Associates that determined 4,000 extra car trips per day as a result of the development. They indicated the process was being rushed and that the plans were still too unclear. Some said a planned unit development would be appropriate elsewhere, on the edges of town, but not here.
“This process has not been open, collaborative or transparent,” Susan Bentley said. “The rushed vote is politically motivated.”
One spoke about his daughter who hit a mailbox trying to dodge a car on the narrow road leading into HopeTree, arguing that the roads in the neighborhood won’t be able to handle more cars.
Sandra Camp, who lives near the development, said “builders are nice people when they’re not doing their job,” and the plan is a “crazy, not common sense idea.” She cited addiction issues in the city, and how this needs to remain a space for the children of Salem.
This joint hearing comes after a resubmitted zoning application from HopeTree in August — their response to litigation filed after the rezoning was approved in June. Five plaintiffs sued the city over the rezoning, mostly on grounds of improper procedure taken in accepting the rezoning.
On June 24, Salem City Council approved a rezoning from residential single-family zoning to a planned unit development — allowing for the construction of up to 28 more commercial uses on 62 acres of HopeTree’s land. They are looking to retain about 22 acres of this land, and sell the rest.
“HopeTree is now aware of allegations of procedural concerns with the rezoning approval process from the previous rezoning application that HopeTree filed on December 1, 2023…HopeTree does not wish for any uncertainties surrounding the procedural processes to detract from its efforts on behalf of those HopeTree serves,” the document reads. The new application is “substantially similar” to the original.
The original HopeTree rezoning application was submitted in November 2023. The hearings were continued until the matter was finally approved in April with a 3-2 vote in the planning commission.
