Summer is on the way

Of Gooch dogs and fireworks

Kudos go to John and Kristina Heidel for their display of American sprit. As the rest of the country whines about hard times, this couple rolled up their sleeves to figure out how to bring a family-oriented drive in theater to the Hadensville area. The drive-in will be located on the west side of Rt. 629 between Rt. 250 and Interstate 64.
The Goochland Drive-In will enhance the rural character that sets our county apart from its neighbors and add another layer of richness to living in Goochland.

The Heidels' optimism about the possibility of success for a small local business provides much-needed contrast to the forecast of economic doom and gloom spewed by the mainstream media.

Small business is the lifeblood of our economy and deserves our support.

A delicacy called “Gooch Dogs” will be on the menu. If half the people in the county eat just one, the Heidels will be off to a good start.

Paul Costello and Citizens Concerned with Goochland Growth (CCGG) also deserve praise for holding the feet of the developer of the land behind Satterwhites’ Restaurant in Centerville to the fire.

A second public hearing on the rezoning application to pave the way for a shopping center there, was deferred for 60 days at the request of the developer following a CCGG public meeting.

Thanks to all who pay attention, study a problem and raise thoughtful and specific objections. Keep up the good work.

The reason for this parcel’s inclusion in the Centerville Village has been lost in the mists of time. Located on the sensitive western edge of both the Village and the Tuckahoe Creek Service District public utility lines, this land should only be zoned transitional residential.

Making this property commercial is akin to jamming a square peg into a round hole. Should it ever be developed as a shopping center, a long shot given the over supply of retail space in Short Pump, there is way too much potential for it to become a derelict property.
It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

The board of supervisors seems to have taken the first steps to move the Fourth of July fireworks out of Hidden Rock Park. The Independence Day celebration there has gone off without a hitch for the past several years. The configuration of the park, essentially a hollow at the bottom of the large hill formed by the closed landfill, has always been a concern for public safety officials.

With only one access point to the area where folks gather to watch fireworks, the possibility of calamity is great. The road to the parking lot is narrow, winding and downhill. Due to the large number of people attending the fireworks, parking at field level has been restricted in past years. Most people park offsite and are transported by school bus to the field. (The supervisors are considered to be VIPs and get special permits to park at the bottom of the hill.)

So far, this has worked fairly well. Except for the time that a thunderstorm broke just after the fireworks ended. At that time, parking was allowed on what are now the ill-fated soccer fields at the top of the hill. People made it to their cars and waited in relative safety to leave the parking area.
The specter of thousands of people anxiously waiting to board buses in a thunderstorm is scary.
A new site, on the property roughly behind the high school, that the county bought last year for soccer fields, is under serious consideration as a fireworks site.
The board agreed to obtain bids to clear enough of the property to meet safety requirements for the fireworks at its March 17 meeting.
This is not a done deal by any means, but at least they are moving, albeit glacially, in the right direction.

Not only will this location provide multiple access points, it offers the opportunity for people to view the fireworks sitting in or near their cars at the high school, parking lot behind the administration building or other places in Courthouse Village.

It would be interesting to know how many people do not attend the fireworks because they are unable or unwilling to ride the bus. Some folks have trouble climbing onto the school bus. For young families burdened with strollers, chairs, children and other impedimenta, the event may be a logistical nightmare.

A creative proposal, currently in the thinking stage, to use the HRP location for a bus garage, county fueling station and other municipal uses makes a lot of sense. This would require land elsewhere for athletic fields, which are sorely needed for all sports, and other recreational use.

The county badly needs a new perspective on challenges both simple and profound. In the few short weeks that Lane Ramsey has been at the county tiller, the local government boat is on a true course instead of floundering around in circles. May this be the way of the future!