Village People

On June 18, Scott Gaeser held yet another community meeting to discuss the latest iteration of Manakin Towne, a proposed mixed-use development on approximately 22 acres behind Essex Bank in the Centerville Village. 

Manikin Towne master plan. Rt. 250 at the bottom, yellow are dwelling units, blue commercial uses.

Since the early days of the 21^st century, Gaeser has been searching for the best way to develop this property. An early version included a handful of two-story buildings around the existing grove of trees that would have had commercial uses on the ground floor and dwelling units above. Horrified at the very notion of multifamily housing, the former board pretty much refused to consider this. Then came the great recession and not much of anything was built. In recent years, Gaeser has tinkered with various options for development.  

The standing room only crowd in the Centerville Company 3 fire-rescue station meeting room listened as Gaeser described the mixed-use enclave that will need to be rezoned from its current designation B-1 to mixed use planned development (MPUD) and obtain a conditional use permit to proceed.  The county requires at east one community meeting to introduce propose land use changes to immediate neighbors and the public.

Using the existing grove of trees would make it easier to  see the height of the proposed buildings.

This will be the first submission under the MPUD zoning. As the rezoning includes a residential component, it is eligible for cash proffers, computed by the county capital impact model. “We are happy to pay $1.4 million in proffers to support our schools, fire-rescue and other county service,” Gaeser said. “We live here, we want to create something nice.”

Gaeser explained the 2035 comprehensive land use plan’s goal of keeping 85 percent of Goochland rural. “That means that the other 15 percent, mostly in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District, will be developed.” He said that, as currently zoned B-1, the land could support up to 200,000 square feet of “big box” retail, car dealerships, or similar businesses with no open space, or cash proffers. The site of Manakin Towne is in the heart of the core of the Centerville Village, with public utilities. This is where the denser development is appropriate, he said.

He used a “big town” versus “small town” illustration to get his point across. Gaeser likened the Wegman’s shopping center with huge buildings surrounded by acres of parking lot as big town. Small town, he contended, is more like Greengate on the opposite side of Broad Street where smaller commercial spaces are intertwined with homes and office buildings. Parking is distributed around the commercial space.

Parking is distributed around Manakin Towne, not acres in front of buildings

Manakin Towne, which Gaeser said is one fifth the size of Greengate, is planned with a variety of housing types including townhouses, lofts, and “flats,” which he described as single floor living spaces in three story buildings accessed by elevators. The town houses will have garages on their first floor as well as off-street parking. The “flats” buildings will have underground parking.

The structures will be no higher than three stories—the town homes near Aldi in Short Pump are four and one-half stories. It would have been helpful to have shown the existing grove of tall trees on the elevations to gauge the scale of the proposed structures. The homes, offices, and stores will, contended Gaeser, look like old Richmond neighborhoods with brick and siding. Some will have roof terraces.  The master plan—a requirement for MPUD zoning—shows 39 townhomes, 150 flats, and eight lofts over retail space. He estimated that 500 residents would occupy the different housing options. Gaeser said that he is still in discussion with builders as to whether the flats would be rental, or owner occupied.

Citizens objected to 500 people on the 12 acres designated for residential use. They had concerns about the transient nature of renters even in upscale, high rent areas. People who stay for a short time, they contended, have no interest in the community and that can lead to problems.

Gaeser touted the walkable nature of Manakin Towne, which will include its own dog park at the rear of the property.

“Who’s going to do all this walking?” one woman asked after Gaeser explained that residents will be able to walk to shops and restaurants. He said that as the area has a higher median income than Short Pump. He is seeking out high end shops, retailers, and boutique fitness establishments who want small square footage shops close to affluent populations. He also hopes to attract unique restaurants, including, perhaps, a farm to table eatery to showcase local food. There will be no fast food or drive throughs, he pledged, but hedged a bit in response to a question about what would happen if the high-end commercial tenants do not materialize.

Changing the zoning, Gaeser and traffic engineer Eric Strohhacker contended, will lessen the traffic impact from its current B-1 designation. Gaeser proposed adding a second southbound left (east) turn lane onto Broad Street Road from entrance to Sycamore Creek Golf Course, which will be upgraded to a public thoroughfare. A new addition to this proposal is an access road behind Company 3 to Plaza Drive. This is still in the discussion stage, said Gaeser, but would provide another outlet for eastbound traffic.

Gaeser said that the density is necessary to make the project economically feasible, but he hopes to set the bar for development quality high enough that it will encourage other property owners to follow suit.

Citizens were, for the most part, not impressed. They opposed the residential density and traffic it will dump into a corridor already almost gridlocked at certain times during the day. Strohhacker conceded that the Broad Street Road corridor, especially at the Hockett Road and Rt. 288 intersectional choke points, has issues. A proposed connection of Hockett and Ashland Roads through the field on the south side of Broad Street Road ‘is the ultimate fix” said Strohhacker, but other mitigation is expensive and a long way off.

Citizens contended that Manakin Towne is little more than an extension of Short Pump congestion and want no part of it.

Gaeser expects to present the rezoning and CUP applications to the Goochland Planning Commission at its August meeting and perhaps to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision in September.