Clevenger’s Corner: Building 
Neighborhood Consensus 

Location: Culpeper County, Virginia  

Issues: “village center” commercial development

Tools Used:  public meeting, stakeholder group, collaboration, use of the media

Result: citizen supported rezoning and first phase commercial development proposal

Process:

Clevenger's Corner is the name given to an area surrounding the intersection of primary Routes 211 and 229 located in the northern tip of Culpeper County. In the southwestern quadrant of this intersection lies a parcel of land ripe for development. The owner of the property, primarily through his own efforts, has demonstrated the clear advantages of promoting public awareness and building community consensus.

The northern portion of Culpeper County has been attractive in recent years for residential development due largely to the fact that it is convenient for commuters working in Northern Virginia. The significant number of subdivisions which have developed in the area, combined with the pass-through traffic on Route 211 have combined to make Clevenger's Corner a viable location for commercial development. The corner is already home to a tremendously successful gasoline/convenience store. In 1995 a local entity obtained a contract on ten acres (of a parcel containing a total of 125 acres) on the corner of Routes 211 and 229 with the hopes of developing it commercially. Although the corner is designated in the Comprehensive Plan for commercial land use, the application for “village center” commercial zoning was closely scrutinized There were many concerns raised in the community regarding the quality of any development at this location. An unsightly mini-warehouse project which was constructed earlier had made residents way of any proposal. despite the fact that they seemed to desire commercial services. Although ultimately approved, this ten acre request never came to fruition, and the property was again under control of the owner of the entire 125 acre tract.

 Mr. Epstein used buzzwords such as “neo-traditional” to describe his vision of a village in which people could live and work walk easily from place to place, and know their neighbors. The first action Epstein took was to schedule an open meeting at the community center in the area He did so without encouragement or participation (other than attendance) by the local government. At this point, no land use applications had yet been filed. During this first community meeting, Mr. Epstein presented his vision for the property, employing a slide show which depicted some of the ideas he hoped to incorporate into his development. The meeting drew a standing room only crowd. The reaction was at times hostile, as Mr. Epstein was told that the community did not wish to see dense residential development, or a strip shopping center highlighted by a gas station/convenience store on the corner.

Undeterred, Mr. Epstein continued to employ top consultants to help him develop a plan for the property. Mr. Epstein kept his plans for development visible and available to all who were interested. He established a volunteer group of citizens to study his plans and give him their ideas. He kept the press informed so that newspaper articles ran periodically reporting on his progress. All of this effort continued without any formal applications pending before the local government. 

Next, Mr. Epstein set up a two day design charrette at a local conference facility and invited any interested citizen to participate. He had all of his consultants on hand to consider the citizen input. Citizens looked not only at the property in question, but at roads in the area and how they might be improved. All of these efforts resulted in a vision for this 125 acre tract that much of the community could support, and that they felt some ownership of. 

To date, the commercial corner has gone through a rezoning process and the first phase (daycare, office/retail space) has been site planned but no construction has begun. There is still some opposition to the plan for the property. especially with regard to the as yet unapproved residential portions. However. the extra efforts made by this particular property owner to seek community involvement and to maximize public input ultimately resulted in a better plan and a smoother rezoning process.