The Farmville Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. to hear citizen comments on three conditional use permit requests from Robert and Sherry Martin.

The first conditional use permit request is to renovate an existing single-family structure into a multiple-family dwelling consisting of three dwelling units with each having no more than three bedrooms on 504 High Street.

The second is for the Martins to construct a multiple-family dwelling on an existing vacant lot consisting of three dwelling units with each having no more than three bedrooms.

The third is for the renovation of an existing single-family structure on 510 High Street into a multiple-family dwelling consisting of three dwelling units with each having no more than three bedrooms.

This is the third time the Martins have sought conditional use permits to renovate and or construct a dwelling in the Town of Farmville.

In July 2017, the Martin’s requested to rezone their just more than an acre of property they own at the intersection of High, Oak and Appomattox streets for a proposed five-story, 95,000-square-foot student apartment complex from R-3 Residential to R-3A Residential.

That project met objection when 27 people spoke against the permits during a planning commission public hearing — citing quality-of-life issues, noise, the historic nature of the area, parking, trash, traffic, the precedent the rezoning could set and density levels.

As reported in the Oct. 6, 2017, edition of The Farmville Herald, the recommendation to table the requests came from Town Manager Gerald Spates following a public comment portion of the meeting, where planners were poised to vote to hold public hearings on the requests.

In March 2018, the Martin’s were again seeking approval this time, for 10 apartments that would collectively house up to 30 people, presumably college students.

During the public hearing with the Farmville Planning Commission, opponents to the Martins’ project made their case on two levels again siting the historical value of the homes and area and noise from college students.