Public Hearings & Notices

The City of Harrisonburg is required to publicly advertise and provide notice for upcoming public hearings. This webpage will provide an additional resource for the public to be notified of upcoming public hearings.

Notice of Intent to Comply with Americans With Disabilities Act

Special assistance is available for disabled persons addressing City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals. Efforts will be made to provide adaptations or accommodations based on individual needs of qualified individuals with disabilities, provided that notification at least five (5) business days prior to the date of the meeting has been received by the City Clerk's Office. For assistance, please contact the City Clerk's Office, 409 S. Main Street City Hall, at 540-432-7701.

Language Interpretation Services Available

Language interpretation service in Spanish is available for City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals meetings. To ensure that interpreters are available at the meeting, interested persons must request the accommodation at least four (4) calendar days in advance of the meeting by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at 540-432-7701 or by submitting a request online.

Upcoming Public Hearings
All files are in PDF format, unless otherwise noted.

City Council Meeting - December 9, 2025:

1. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Sidewalks Project: Waterman ES and Keister ES

• This will be a formal Public Hearing where citizens will be able to offer their thoughts on the project to the City Council and City staff. This project will construct three separate segments of new five foot (5’) wide sidewalk to fill gaps between existing sidewalks and improve safe pedestrian access to two different schools:
  • Gay Street at Waterman Elementary School to fill a gap in the sidewalks along Gay Street and to create a safe and direct sidewalk and crosswalk to the school building.
  • The south side of 1st Street between the sidewalk on Lee Avenue and the crosswalk across Chicago Avenue.
  • Along Central Avenue adjacent to Keister Elementary School’s parking lot.
• This project is funded by a VDOT Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant. Additional information about the proposed project is available at https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/transportation-projects
• Written or oral comments may be submitted to Maya Waid by emailing Maya.Waid@harrisonburgva.gov or calling 540-434-5928, before or after the Public Hearing.
• In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800, information concerning the potential effects of the proposed project on properties listed in, or eligible for listing in, the National Register of Historic Places is provided in the environmental documentation.
• The City of Harrisonburg ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you have questions or concerns about your civil rights in regard to this project, or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact the Outreach and Communications Specialist listed above.

2. Proposed Disposition of City of Harrisonburg Property Interest

• Public hearing to receive public comment on the conveyance to the JMU Foundation of a strip of land containing 1,278 square feet located at 1078 Virginia Avenue, Harrisonburg, Virginia and adjoining other property of the JMU Foundation.
• Copies of the plats or plans showing the proposed interests to be transferred are available on the city’s website and are available in the City Manager’s Office, 409 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.

3. Disposition of Real Estate Owned by the City of Harrisonburg at 2421 and 2425 Reservoir Street in the City of Harrisonburg

• Public hearing concerning the disposition of two parcels of real estate at 2421 Reservoir Street, designated on the City Block Map as Tax Map Parcel 81-A-5, and 2425 Reservoir Street, designated on the City Block Map as Tax Map Parcel 81-A-4, to Central Valley Habitat for Humanity as per a Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement.
• Copies of the Agreement are available in the City Manager’s Office, 409 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.  Please call 540-432-7701 to obtain a copy via email or by appointment.

These public hearings will be held during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, which meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:00pm. This meeting will take place in City Hall, 409 South Main Street. Use the ground-level entrance, closest to Main Street in the front of the building to enter Council Chambers. Community members can also watch the meeting on Local Access Programming Channel 1072 or on the City’s website at harrisonburg-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

Any person requiring auxiliary aids, including signers, in connection with this public hearing shall notify the City Manager at least five (5) days prior to the time of the hearing.

Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) - No November 2025 Meeting
 

The BZA meets as needed on the first Monday of the month at 4:00pm at the City Council Chambers (409 South Main Street). Use the ground-level entrance, closest to Main Street in the front of the building to enter Council Chambers. Community members can also watch the meeting on the Local Access Programming Channel 1072 or on the City’s website. A phone line will also be live where individuals can call in and to speak during public hearings. The telephone number to call is 540-437-2687. Community members may also express their views electronically prior to the meeting by emailing Tyler.Blanks@harrisonburgva.gov.

Staff reports are posted at harrisonburg-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx approximately one week prior to the Board meeting. 

Planning Commission Meeting - December 10, 2025

The Harrisonburg Planning Commission will hold public hearings in the City Council Chambers, 409 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at 6:00pm, to consider the following:

• Zoning Ordinance Amendment – To modify special use permit requirements to reduce required side yard setbacks in the R-8 district
  • A request from AM Yoder & Co to amend Zoning Ordinance Section 10-3-59.4, Uses permitted by only by special use permit in the R-8, Small Lot Residential District. Specifically, the applicant requests to amend subsection (11) which currently allows with an approved special use permit to reduce required side yard setbacks to zero feet where such buildings are single-family detached dwellings, duplex dwellings, or town homes when specified fire suppression or construction standards are met. The current ordinance does not allow openings in the exterior walls of buildings adjacent to the reduced side yard setback. Proposed is an amendment to allow exterior walls of buildings adjacent to the reduced side yard setbacks to have openings and penetrations that have a minimum 1-hour fire resistance rating in accordance with a fire resistant assembly documented by a nationally recognized testing agency and where the bottom of the opening is equal to or less than 10' above exterior finished grade and located only on the first floor of the dwelling. Additionally, the special use permit may be superseded by building regulations.
• Rezoning – 797 Chicago Avenue (R-5C/B-2C to R-5C/B-2, Proffer Amendments) (Sunshine Apartments)
  • A request from Turkey Properties LLC to rezone a parcel zoned R-5C, High Density Residential District Conditional and B-2C, General Business District Conditional to R-5C, High Density Residential District Conditional and B-2, General Business District. The request includes proffer amendments for the R-5C proffers approved in 2022. The property is addressed as 797 Chicago Avenue and is identified as tax map parcel 39-P-1.
• Rezoning – 1110 N Liberty Street (M-1 to R-3/M-1C)
  • A request from Valley Corner LLC to rezone a +/- 0.38-acre portion of a +/- 0.59-acre parcel zoned M-1, General Industrial District to R-3, Medium Density Residential District and the remaining +/- 0.21-acre portion to M-1C, General Industrial District Conditional. The property is addressed as 1110 North Liberty Street and is identified as tax map parcel 45-A-1.
• Zoning Ordinance Amendment – To Allow Meat Processing and Storage by Special Use Permit in M-1
  • A request from Honest Meats LLC to amend Section 10-3-24 of the Zoning Ordinance to add a new term and definition for “meat processing and storage facility” and to add the use to Section 10-3-97 as a use permitted by special use permit in the M-1, General Industrial District. Additionally, to codify the current interpretation that poultry processing and storage is a by right use, a new term and definition for “poultry processing and storage facility” is proposed to be added to Section 10-3-24 of the Zoning Ordinance and listed in Section 10-3-96 as a use permitted by right in the M-1 district.

Applications and other information are available for review by contacting the Department of Community Development, 409 South Main Street, Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Please call 540-432-7700 to obtain a copy by email or by appointment. More information is available at www.harrisonburgva.gov/public-hearings. Interested parties will be able to attend the meeting and to watch the meeting on the Local Access Programming Channel 1072, and the City’s website at www.harrisonburg-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

Community members may also express their views electronically prior to the meeting by emailing CDPlanning@harrisonburgva.gov. 

Meeting agendas and staff reports are posted at harrisonburg-va.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx approximately 5 days prior to the Planning Commission meeting. 

Planning Commission meetings normally take place on the second Wednesday of every month and may include the third Tuesday of every month. The meetings begin at 6:00pm in City Council Chambers at 409 South Main Street, Harrisonburg. Use the ground-level entrance, closest to Main Street in the front of the building to enter Council Chambers.

Harrisonburg City Council must take action on many issues which require public notice under state law or city ordinances. Ordinances imposing or changing fees, levies, and taxes, land use actions (rezoning and special use permits), budget approvals or amendments, sale of city real estate, and many other issues require a public hearing that must be advertised in a newspaper having general circulation in the city.

While the Code of Virginia is very specific as to the notices required for specific actions, as a general rule, a public hearing must be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks. There must be at least seven days between the first and second advertisements and the second advertisement shall not be more than ten days before the public hearing.