A new park on the West End? Wawa in Staunton? Updates, takeaways from Staunton City Council

Akhil Ganesh, Staunton News Leader
Updated ·5 min read

STAUNTON — When a city council goes without a meeting for a month, there's always plenty of work to do when they get back to chambers. That was the case on Thursday night, as Staunton City Council convened for the only time in July.

Including the work session, the meeting lasted for over 4 hours with plenty to discuss. Here's what we learned.

Potential historic park on West End has first conversation in front of council

At the request of councilor Alice Woods, resident Moonyene Jackson presented her idea for William A. and Queen Elizabeth Miller Heritage Park on Staunton's West End.

The proposed park would be on the site of a former orphanage run by the Millers which helped over 300 children throughout its history. Jackson, a granddaughter of the Millers, said the property has belonged to the family for over 100 years, and the idea is to turn the remaining four acres into a park that honors the legacy of the couple.

"It would be a proper fitting testimony not only to their humanitarian efforts but their contribution to the county and the city of Staunton," said Jackson.

The idea is to replicate what was on the property at that time, and to provide a reference point for a historical area in the city. The proposed park would include trails, signage detailing the history of the Millers, and a children's play area, along with a learning space for children to explore environmental issues. Jackson believes that the existing house on the property could be salvaged and turned into a museum of sorts.

Obviously, there are questions surrounding funding for the park and the ownership if it were to become a part of Staunton's parks system. Jackson said that she had been exploring grants that would not require a match from the locality, particularly through the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. Under one of their grants, the land would be conveyed to VOF, and then ultimately to the city.

There are no firm plans yet for the park, so it's undetermined how much money would be needed to complete the project if the city is interested. City council also had questions about the potential maintenance costs for the park, and directed city manager Leslie Beauregard and staff to explore the feasibility of the new park.

Staunton's legislative program could include utility forgiveness for Uniontown residents

Staunton City Council will have a couple asks of the Virginia General Assembly during their next legislative session, including special legislation which would allow the city to either waive or reduce utility connection fees for residents of the Uniontown neighborhood.

Uniontown is due for an overhaul of their water and sewage system, and city council is looking for a way to right a historical wrong in the area. When Uniontown was annexed, sewage service was not extended out to the area. Instead, Uniontown used septic tanks. When the National Avenue bridge was blown out near the turn of the century, the area lost its access to an adequate water supply as well.

According to city attorney John Blair, the city doesn't have the power to unilaterally waive the fees to connect Uniontown to the new water and sewage lines. Blair said that he would draft up potential legislation that would either waive or reduce those connection fees for Uniontown residents and their descendants who have endured the issues since the 1960s.

Another option to explore, according to Blair, is to see if council could redirect funds through the economic development authority for potential incentives to rebuild Uniontown. The fear with incentives, however, is that a developer could come in and buy up all the land and try to take advantage of the incentives.

Along with that ask, Blair asked council about their feelings for a code amendment that would allow for special elections to be held on primary election days. The idea came in the aftermath of former mayor Andrea Oakes resignation, when a special election could not be held until November to fill the seat.

By holding a standalone special election, the city will have to spend upwards of $19,000. The other downside, according to Blair, is that a standalone special election is likely to have a fraction of the voter turnout as a regular election cycle.

Wawa, Micah's Coffee, Cookout coming to Staunton

Staunton's director of community and economic development Billy Vaughn gave a presentation updating economic development in the city.

Amongst the list of new businesses coming to the city include:

  • Wawa - 1031 Richmond Avenue

  • Cookout - 109 George Cochran Parkway

  • Firestone - 1012 Richmond Avenue

  • Planet Fitness - 1106-D Greenville Avenue

  • Micah's Coffee - 704 Richmond Avenue

Vaughn also provided an update on the development of Staunton Crossing. The Crossing Way road project is on track to be completed by 2024. When finished, development will include a 100-space Park and Ride carpooling area.

As far as the actual Staunton Crossing site itself, Vaughn said that the economic development authoirty had finished all reports and tasks for design work. The city did not receive funding for the water portion of the site, but did receive money for the sewer lines. Vaughn said the hope is to put the project out for bids in September or October, with a goal of having the sewer lines and pump station done by May 2024.

The marketing plan for Staunton Crossing has also driven an uptick in interest in Staunton Crossing, as Vaughn said the site is getting inquiries monthly. He said that the EDA would have several highly-confidential prospects and information shared with them, and that they would share information with council in a closed session once that meeting happens.

Quick hitters

  • City council received a presentation from Frazier and Associates on an update for the city's entrance corridor overlay district guidelines. A full version of the proposed guidelines can be found on the city's website.

  • Staunton's first budget amendment for fiscal year 2024 will be voted on at city council's August meeting.

  • Staunton passed a resolution approving their Community Development Block Grant annual action plan for the current fiscal year. One note: Staunton is behind on spending CDBG funds due to issues like supply chain, and will likely need to work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on a plan to catch up on their spending.

On a personal note, I want to thank Staunton's city council and staff for the incredibly kind words of recognition at last Thursday's meeting. It is a privilege to serve Staunton, Augusta County, and Waynesboro as a journalist, and I hope I've aided this community in the best ways that I could. My last day with The News Leader will be Friday, August 4. — Akhil Ganesh is the Government Reporter at The News Leader. You can contact him at aganesh@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter or Threads @akhildoesthings.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: A new park on the West End? Wawa in Staunton? Updates, takeaways from Staunton City Council