Fredericksburg Planners To Consider Dixon Street/Mayfield Rezoning Plan

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The Fredericksburg Planning Commission is scheduled Wednesday to consider whether to recommend City Council approval of a Dixon Street/Mayfield planning package that would adopt a small area plan for Area 8 and rezone 44 parcels totaling about 33.14 acres.

The rezoning would move land now zoned Residential-4, I-1 Light Industrial and Commercial Highway into the Creative Maker District and apply form-based regulations, according to the meeting agenda.

The May 27 meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne St. The meeting also can be viewed on Cox Channel 84, Verizon Channel 42 and online through the city’s Planning Commission stream.

City staff is recommending that commissioners hold the public hearing and recommend approval of the comprehensive plan amendment and zoning map amendment to City Council, Senior Planner Bailey Thompson and Planning and Historic Resources Division Manager Kate Schwartz wrote in a staff memo. The Planning Commission’s action would be a recommendation; City Council would decide whether to adopt the package.

Area 8 is on Fredericksburg’s southeast border and includes Mayfield, Dixon Park and the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. The draft plan describes Mayfield as a historically African American neighborhood and says the area is bounded by Route 3, Dixon Street and a rail corridor, with wetlands to the west and the Rappahannock River to the east.

The proposal would amend Chapters 10 and 11 of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan to adopt the Area 8 Dixon Street/Mayfield Small Area Plan. The plan identifies challenges including housing insecurity, conflicts between residential areas and nearby industrial parcels, vacant or aging commercial properties, incomplete pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, crash concerns along Dixon Street, protection of historic character and impacts from the railroad corridor.

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The plan also outlines opportunities for housing rehabilitation, sensitive infill, adaptive reuse, mixed-use redevelopment, pedestrian and bicycle improvements, historic protections and continued efforts related to rail impacts.

Staff said the plan includes a transect plan to guide future development intensity and a regulating plan for transportation, open space and infrastructure improvements.

The Creative Maker rezoning is tied to the T-4M General-Urban Maker transect, which the draft plan describes as allowing medium-density residential uses, mixed-use development and production spaces. The draft plan identifies areas such as the Frackelton Block property and the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds as places where future redevelopment could support creative and urban economic uses.

Transportation elements in the plan include the VDOT Dixon Street widening project, Dixon Street and Lansdowne Road intersection improvements, sidewalk and lighting upgrades, traffic calming and work on pedestrian connections between Mayfield, Dixon Park and downtown. The draft plan says construction on the Dixon Street widening and related Lansdowne Road intersection improvements is expected to begin in late 2026.

The staff memo says the Area 8 planning process began in summer 2024 and included work by the city’s land-use planning consultant, Rhodeside & Harwell, Inc. Community meetings were held at the Mayfield Civic Association building on Sept. 4, 2024; Nov. 9, 2024; and Feb. 5, 2025, according to the memo.

The memo also says the Architectural Review Board adopted 21 buildings into the local inventory of historic structures at its May 11 meeting and recommended including them as Area 8 character structures. The draft plan calls for continued work on a possible Mayfield National Register Historic District listing and exploration of a Neighborhood Conservation District if requested and supported by the neighborhood and property owners.

Commissioners previously discussed the Area 8 plan at their March 11 meeting. Draft minutes say Thompson reviewed the plan timeline, community meetings, transect areas, the proposed T-4M Maker redevelopment areas and pedestrian and vehicle mobility improvements. Commissioners discussed traffic, housing, incentives, the Dixon Park Connector, e-bike speed limits, pedestrian crosswalks and character structures, according to the minutes. No vote count was listed for that Area 8 discussion because it was handled as a transmittal item.

The commission’s agenda also includes a University of Mary Washington presentation titled “From Restriction to Resilience: Mapping the History of Racial Boundaries in Fredericksburg,” prepared by Maggie Alt and Natalie Lee. The presentation materials address racially restrictive covenants, Black property ownership in Fredericksburg between 1930 and 1964 and Mayfield’s role in that history

Other business includes a transportation project overview presentation, approval of March 11 regular meeting minutes and April 3 CIP Committee minutes, legislative updates and a reminder about a William Street Corridor public meeting scheduled for June 17 at the Dorothy Hart Community Center.

Residents may speak at the Area 8 public hearing for up to five minutes. Written comments on hearing items must include the commenter’s name, address and ZIP code and be submitted by 2:30 p.m. the day of the meeting by email, mail or delivery to the Community Planning and Building office, according to the agenda. General public comment is available for matters related to Planning Commission business that are not listed for a public hearing.