On February 22 by a vote of 4-3, the Board of Supervisors denied the application of 7147 Mechanicsville Turnpike, LLC for its 144-unit “Summerlyn at Cambridge Square” apartment complex.

A dwelling unit (DU) density calculation on acreage containing Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area acres resulted in a buildable density in excess of the allowable maximum of 15 DU/acre.

Applicant and Planning staff justified the 16.86 DU/acre by including the adjacent Cambridge Square acreage with that of the proposed Summerlyn and treating the developments as Phase 1 and Phase 2. Applicant owns both parcels. But no such phasing was ever proposed when the applicant commenced building the Cambridge Square apartments.

Cambridge Square was completed, bond-released and compliant with the density ordinance as a project in 2019.

In September 2022, Supervisors remanded the case to the Planning Commission, who took it up again in January of this year, sending it back to the Board on a 7-0 vote.

Supervisors denied the application, 4-3.

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