Staunton apartment construction underway with rock-breaking explosives

Staunton residents around Moore Street heard several booming cracks Wednesday as work crews broke stone in order to bring more affordable housing to the area.

Similar to most construction projects, the first thing workers check when using explosives to break rock is the weather. Perry Weller, the Staunton Fire Marshal’s Deputy Chief of Community Risk Reduction, explained the explosives are limited by both air blast decibel limits and ground vibration limits.

“[M&J Explosives, the blasting contractor,] try to conduct business when the weather is good, but [this is] not always possible. They will not blast in the rain or a chance of rain to move in," Weller said. "Weather plays a part in how much vibrations are felt. If the sky is overcast, this tends to deflect the air blast back down and makes the blast seem stronger than one conducted during a clear sky day.”

The marshal’s office had representatives on site, but “in the absence of an egregious or eminently harmful violation, [the marshal’s office] does not have the authority to stop or suspend a blasting operation,” reads the city’s press release.

On scene for the first blast

By 9 a.m., nothing appears to have gone wrong and the weather is clear.

One man shoves gravel onto the blasting site as the excavators start bringing in the final element to go in place.

“This particular project will utilize blasting mats — large, heavy rubber mats that are placed over the loaded holes to prevent rock from flying into the air,” Weller explained. “This is typically only done when blasting is conducted in close proximity of buildings or other items that may need protected.”

These mats took nearly an hour to get into place, with crews using excavators to lift them on top of the stone. Each stood two or three times higher than the worker nudging them into place as the excavators lowered their buckets.

Before the blast, a coordinator noted there would be “three horns” before the flash. On top of the hill at the intersection of Mineola St. and Moore St., about 400 feet away, the coordinator stood by to stop any Moore St. traffic from getting closer than the intersection. He waves down a tractor trailer, and the driver gets out to watch.

The distance and the noise of the truck obscured the horns, but the lack of anyone at the site, full of people just minutes before, served as enough of a warning. It’s 10:26 a.m.

The blast cuts through the noise of the truck, sounding like a louder version of a living tree trunk bending, bending, then snapping all at once. It was over in an instant, the distinct sound leaving more of an impression than the brief flash of light.

No one walks out of their front door to see what’s going on. The locals might be at work, or they might be aware of what’s happening — residents on Florida Avenue, Gordon Street, Moore Street, Mineola Street and Hilltop Drive should have been notified last week, according to the press release from Staunton.

That’s one blast down. Another is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Staunton City Council supports more housing, thus supports the project

The project on 805 Moore St. is bringing more housing to the area. According to Staunton City Council’s minutes in Feb. 2022, the Middlebrook Trace project will result in apartment complexes serving low-and-moderate-income families.

This is following a similar Middlebrook Trace I project approved in March 2021. Construction on the first project is underway, visible in the background of several photos in this article.

“The need for low and moderate income housing has been well established in various city plans and quality affordable housing benefits the city,” reads the minutes. “Ms. [Jen] Surber, [a consultant for the project], replied that all of the units at Middlebrook Trace are designated for incomes below 80 percent of the [area median income]. The initial compliance period is 15 years, but it is their intent to keep them in service to that community for the life of the property.”

According to the most recent census, Staunton's median household income was $59,731.

Surbur also explained that Phase II consists of 48 units, a mix of two-and-three-bedroom apartments. When asked, she noted Phase I, Middlebrook Trace I, consisted of 82 units, but the 82 units described in the council minutes for Phase II was incorrect. Rodney Rhodes, Staunton's senior planner, confirmed "the second phase has been scaled back from the original proposal."

The city assessor estimated the project would generate $145,000 in additional tax revenue and be worth approximately $15.8 million. The council approved the project and gave it a $2,000 real estate tax rebate for the first three years after the “date of final completion” of the current development.

At the time, there were no plans to connect the project to downtown with sidewalks, but the Staunton Bike and Pedestrian Committee is currently reviewing the plan for making the city more open to pedestrians overall. Currently, sidewalk follows Middlebrook Avenue away from downtown until coming to an end at Bridge Street.

The need for affordable housing is growing in Staunton. The difficulties that arise when housing isn't available, or when local people can't afford what is available, was featured in This is Home, an interactive photo exhibit about local housing insecurity that just found a permanent home at Mary Baldwin University.

Who is developing the site?

The Staunton City Council also voted to support the allocation of federal housing tax credits toward the Middlebrook development. This came through in March, with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development awarding Taft-Mills Group just under $2.5 million for Middlebrook Trace II.

“Taft-Mills Group (Taft-Mills), a subsidiary of Taft Family Ventures, is responsible for executing the Taft family’s vision of becoming one of the Southeast’s preeminent leaders in the development, construction, and management of affordable housing,” reads Taft Family Ventures website. "Taft-Mills' primary focus is delivering high-quality, affordable rental housing developments that blend seamlessly into the communities in which they are located.  Possessing a specialized knowledge of Housing Tax Credits, Tax-Exempt Bonds, State and Federal Housing Programs, and various other forms of debt/equity structures, Taft-Mills develops communities that are attractive, safe, and affordable to both families and seniors of modest means.”

The group is developing several other sites in several other states, such as The Residences at Railroad Square, a 45-unit income-restricted housing development in downtown Brunswick, MD. As reported by the Frederick News-Post, the project was approved by Frederick County Council in March this year. The Taft-Mills' website lists seven more projects in North Carolina, the location of the business's primary address listed with Virginia's State Corporation Commission.

Developer Taft-Mills Group is joined on the project by general contractor Peacock Holland and Construction and several subcontractors.

Middlebrook felt blasting earlier in 2023

This is not the first set of blasting coming with Middlebrook housing projects. Last time, several concerns were raised about caves under the construction site, potentially referencing Staunton Caverns. According to the city’s press release at the time, two surveys were conducted by two different companies that brought back the same conclusion – “no underground cavern exists under the [March] blasting site.”

“There are no caves in this area to our knowledge,” Webber said. “That was brought up during the last blasting at the same site, but closer to Middlebrook. This is not the case and there was a study conducted to show the cave was not under the previous site and this current site is further up the hill.”

As reported by Akhil Ganesh for The News Leader in March, Virginia Caves Board member and Virginia Speleological Survey (VSS) director at large, Rick Lambert, visited the first Middlebrook Trace site. He observed the blast holes on the site were 400 feet away from the nearby cave entrance. When combined with the knowledge that there was once a quarry operating near the cave, Lambert said in an email, "I am not concerned about the cave."

“We don’t expect nearly as much blasting in Phase II as we had in Phase I," explained Surbur. "In Phase I, we encountered a lot of rock. I just don’t want folks to worry. Folks were concerned and I don’t want them to be. [The project] started to use sound mats towards the end of Phase I because of the level of concern. … We are paying attention to [locals] concerns with the mats we used.”

The reporting also raised concerns about property damage. Anyone with complaints or concerns should call Deputy Fire Marshal Perry Weller at 540-332-3720, and provide the following information:

• Name, full address, and phone number

• The location of the blasting operation causing complaint

• The name of the company causing the complaint, including address, phone number, license numbers, etc. or any other identifying information.

• A description of the complaint with dates and times of incidents as best as residents can determine

On scene, round two

Just after 1:00 p.m., the fire marshal returned to the site for the second blast. Once again, workers blocked off the road, but this time there were no passing trucks visible or audible. The excavator has stopped. Everything is silent.

Three horns sound, “fire in the hole,” and the crack clearly echoes. From the second of two safety zones, the event is easily visible. The mats, and some debris, flew into the air. The News Leader's reporter did not feel any vibrations in the ground during the blast, though her shoes had decent padding.

The mats landed back down in a smoky pile, waiting for crews to remove them and look at the rock underneath.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Construction of 48 apartment units in Staunton underway with blasting