Tall order: Occoquan wrangles with 88 planned homes in a 5-story building

Town residents sounded off Tuesday in front of the Planning Commission about the proposed Mill at Occoquan.

At five-stories tall,  the new building would be the tallest in town.

• Its development would be set on an assemblage of five parcels.
• It would replace an old boat drydock on Mill Street, on the Occoquan River, the town officials say needs to be redeveloped.

The developer, Mid-Atlantic Real Estate Investments, with multiple properties in Manassas, has requested a waiver to build the complex at 64-feet tall, 28 feet taller than what’s allowed.

• It’s also asked to build it abutting Mill Street, requesting the town also waive a requirement that new buildings be set back from the street at least five feet.

If it’s built, a total of 133 new residents will call Mill at Occoquan home.

• The building will feature 88 condos on floors two through five, and 6,600 square feet of retail space on the first floor.

Mid-Atlantic asked for a public hearing about its development, originally scheduled for Tuesday night, be pushed back to October 22.

• The Occoquan Planning Commission (PC) agreed but held a meeting Tuesday and solicited public comment on the project.
• They’ll have another chance to be heard again October 22 at the town hall.

“My main concern that it was designed by an engineer, not an architect,” said Lance Houghton, owner of Occoquan’s Rockledge Mansion.

• He supports the project but wants the building’s facade to mimic others in the town.

“Engineers are wonderful people but they’re more concerned about what can be built, not how it will look,” he added.

Some residents worried about overcrowding at the nearby Occoquan Elementary School, and about how buses would pick up children on the narrow, one-lane Mill Street.

• Others said the worried the tall building would create a wall effect, making one side of Mill Street feel different the other.
• While others feared the new residents may not be in favor the town’s annual craft show. “These are new residents. They’re changing our history,” one resident told the PC.
• Another asked, “and what happens if the 88 units don’t sell? Does it become an apartment building? A low-income apartment building?”

Former Occoquan Mayor Liz Quist reminded the PC that the developer may choose to build by-right, without input from the town.

• If it did, a new commercial building — most likely retail shops — would be built with no homes, up to 35 feet tall, said Mayor Earnie Porta.

Over the weekend, the developer raised a balloon tied to show residents how high the building would look when completed.

However, it only showed the front of the building height, not the back, which is a bit higher, said PC Chairman Eliot Perkins.

• Compounding the problem: Those balloons blew away in the wind, he said.