The Planning Commission on Thursday night unanimously recommended approval of a rezoning of 41 acres for the Ladysmith Crossing project, which would bring a Walmart Supercenter, a gas station and up to nine other businesses to the Ladysmith area.
“We’re pleased Walmart has selected Caroline,” Commission chairman Les Stanley told the auditorium of citizens and black-suited businessmen associated with the project after the vote.
A public hearing on the rezoning of six parcels at the southwestern corner of Ladysmith Road (Route 639) and Green Road from rural preservation and business to the planned shopping center designation sparked comments from only three citizens, all of whom supported the project.
“This plan, if you’re familiar with the Comprehensive Plan and the Ladysmith Plan, fits it to the T,” said Frank Hammon, chairman of the 2006–08 Ladysmith Sub-Area Planning Committee. “This is where big box needs to be.”
Much interest has surrounded the development, which altogether is expected to bring some 500 jobs to Caroline, as well as increased tax revenue.
Development is expected to occur in several phases, with “full build out” projected by 2017 and completion of the full slate of road improvements associated with the project expected by 2023.
The first phase will see the construction of a 157,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter, a gas station, 20,000 square feet of retail space, a fast food restaurant with a drive through, and a “high turnover sit down restaurant,” according to a Planning Department staff report.
One of the most significant components of the project is the road improvements that will accompany it. In keeping with recommendations outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, the existing Green Road will be relocated to the west to serve as the primary access point to the site, with a new traffic signal erected at the intersection of the new Green Road and Ladysmith Road.
This relocation will allow the construction of dual left-turn lanes into the site for drivers traveling west on Ladysmith Road and is intended to facilitate traffic flow on that artery, which currently has an average daily traffic load of 10,300 vehicles.
At the anticipated peak, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily, 437 cars are expected to turn left into the site from Ladysmith Road, the project’s traffic engineer Carl Hultgren reported.
Other exit and entrance points to the site will include right-in, right-out-only driveways to the east and west of new Green Road, and three secondary access points from the existing Green Road.
A median barrier will prevent drivers from turning left onto the existing Green Road from Ladysmith Road.
Eventually, the new Green Road will be extended north to connect to Route 1 near Durrette Road, but this expansion will not be conducted as part of the Ladysmith Crossing project.
Additional improvements connected with the project include the widening of Route 639 to a four-lane divided highway between Interstate 95 and Route 1. At a cost of $26 million, these upgrades are expected to be funded through $12 million in revenue sharing by the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation, and a potential $14 million in state funding obtained through Virginia’s new HB2 process.
To accommodate traffic changes, the Ladysmith Road bridge over Interstate 95 will be restriped, and traffic signals will be added at both ramps to the interstate.
VDOT Fredericksburg residency administrator Sean Nelson described the Ladysmith Crossing plan as “a very viable project that will help this community in the long term.”
According to Hammon, Walmart first expressed interest in the Ladysmith area in 2007, when it reached out to the Ladysmith Sub-Area Planning Committee, but after the recession hit, the company backed off.
As the economy began to improve, however, the project was revived.
“Caroline is a very attractive market,” a spokesman for Walmart told the Progress at the Oct. 15 meeting. “It’s a growing area, and there are a number of people in the area who today have to drive a distance” to reach a Walmart.
“This we think is going to serve a need and provide better service to our customers,” he said.
The rezoning will now go to the Board of Supervisors for a second public hearing and approval.
-CP Reporter Sarah Vogelsong
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