Phase II of Strawberry Street Station Approved for 200 Mason Ave

The Town of Cape Charles Harbor District Review Board approved an application for a Harbor Development Certificate for a mixed-use development in the Harbor District. The project is Phase 2 of the Strawberry Street Station development at 300 Mason Avenue.

The next phase is on the south side of Mason Avenue, in the 200-block. Plans are also for a residential\commercial mixed-use building.

The parcel currently resides in a parking lot west of the Strawberry Street plaza pedestrian mall.

According to the staff report, the “proposed use conforms to the zoning ordinance. Each commercial use unit will likewise have to conform before a certificate of occupancy can be awarded, but each individual commercial unit is not the subject of this design review for Harbor Development Certificate.”

The staff report indicated that the parcel received the following variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals: setback from VDOT right of way to be four (4) feet, rather than eight (8) feet; off-street parking of thirty-seven (37) vehicles, including an allowance for up to eight-hundred (800) square feet of restaurant use within that approved number of parking stalls; above the first-floor balcony encroachment into the setback to the property line; and twenty (20) percent open space, rather than twenty-five (25) percent.

Planner Larry DiRe told the Mirror, the “Board recommended approval with a few modifications to the plan as submitted. An exterior stairway will need to be enclosed; the area adjacent to the handicap parking stalls shown as gravel will have to be concrete of pavers; much discussion about the willow oaks shown and the potential future damage to sidewalks from root growth over time; and property owner needs to determine if any permeable surface is necessary at the rear of the parking lot adjacent to the swale.”

A summary report will be going to the Town Council for informational purposes at the November 9 work session; action on the application for the Harbor Development Certificate is scheduled for the November 16 Town Council regular monthly meeting.