The monthly agendas of the Goochland County Board of
Supervisors contain a wide array of matters that require board action. Many of
these are addressed in the afternoon session, but public hearings on subjects
including budget amendments; conditional use applications; and ordinance amendments
take place in the evening beginning at 6 p.m.
At its November 4 meeting—held on a Wednesday to avoid
interfering with election day—the board held seven hearings with only a few “members
of the public” present. The meeting was livestreamed. Sadly, people seem to attend these
opportunities to weigh in on local government actions only when they oppose an
agenda item.
FY 2021 budget amendments
The first hearing on November 4 dealt with amendments to the
FY2021 county budget. Virginia law requires a locality to hold a public hearing
if the amount of proposed changes to the budget for its current fiscal year
exceed one percent of total expenditures in the currently adopted budget.
Anticipating a serious decline in revenues due to Covid, the
supervisors revised the FY2021 proposed budget downward last spring. Since
March, Director of Finance Barbra Horlacher has presented updates on the
county’s financial condition. The proposed budget amendments total $3,237,475,
representing approximately 3.5% of the current Fiscal Year 2021 amended
$91,051,548 budget. (See page 71 of the November 4 board packet available on the
county website at http://goochlandcountyva.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1276&Inline=True)
This amount includes $63,734 for a transportation engineer
funded with FY21 real estate taxes; $49,480 from CARES act funds for extraordinary
expenses incurred by the registrar; $733,280 for east end trails from cash
proffers, a VDOT federal grant, and fund balance; $700k from fund balance to
purchase one new and replace chassis on two ambulances,; $873,325 for assorted
school expenditures and $616, 556 turnback to schools from the general fund
balance. The supervisors unanimously approved the amendments and appropriated
the requested funds.
Update of parks and recreation master plan
An amended parks and recreation master plan was added to the
county 2035 comprehensive land use plan after a unanimous vote by the board. (See
the 2035 comp plan at https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan)
Jessica Kronberg, Recreation Services Director, explained
that the amendment will allow the next update to coincide with the next comp
plan update and use this year’s census data. Goochland has received many awards
for excellence in recreational and cultural facilities from state, and national
organizations.
The report card, needs assessment, inventory of existing
facilities, and needs assessment were updated in the newly adopted master plan.
The inventory includes diversified amenities; top quality athletic facilities;
and multi-use trail systems. Partnerships with local groups, grant funding, in
kind services, and creativity saved the county $1.4 million in parks and facility
development costs over the last eight years.
Land donation for Courthouse Village roundabout
The board voted 4-1, with Board Chair Susan Lascolette District
1 in dissent, to donate land for rights of way to build a roundabout at the
intersection of Fairground and Sandy Hook Roads in Courthouse Village. Todd
Kilduff, Deputy County Administrator for Community and Economic Development
said that the projects is scheduled for advertisement in early 2022. Rights of
way from private land owners have been secured.
Ken Peterson,
District 5, expressed concern about storm water outfalls being place in what he
considered prime economic development areas impinging the ability to build there.
Kilduff said those areas are strategically placed in low lying areas, some of
which are swampy and unsuitable for building. VDOT engineers said that “drain
fields” were placed in low spots but that other options were not considered. VDOT
will have its hydraulic engineers take another look to determine if the drainage
areas could be moved.
Lascolette asked about the value of the 1.6 acres I
question. That information was not available. VDOT does not value land if it
will be donated. Most of the land, said the VDOT rep, is already roadway with
little value.
Peterson said he was not comfortable donating the land
without more information about alternatives for drainage areas. The VDOT
engineer was confident that hydraulic specialist could explore other storm
water locations in a short time.
John Lumpkins, District 3 drafted a new motion to approve
the donation of land with all related easements except those dealing with drainage
to allow VDOT to move forward on the project while obtaining more detailed
hydraulic information about the site. Lascolette said she was opposed to the roundabout
since it was first discussed, and voted no accordingly.
Hilltop Distillery
The board unanimously approved an amendment to the Hilltop
Distillery conditional use permit to allow them to be open from 1 to 7 p.m. on
Sundays. The initial CUP included operating hours on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday.
CUP for detached accessory family housing unit
An application filed by Jorge Mendoza to build a free-standing
garage with living quarters above at 691 Manakin Road was unanimously approved.
Mendoza intends to renovate the main residence on the property and live in the
accessory space during construction.
Bellview Gardens Medical, LLC
In order to develop property on the east side of Mills Road
north of Broad Street Road, fill must be added to eliminate a flood plain,
that, thanks to a change in environmental regulations, was not identified as
such when the land was rezoned in 2012. Tom Kinter, applicant and owner
explained that all technical approvals to add the fill have been obtained from
FEMA, which requires approval from local government. Kinter said that the
property falls off to the south, so if any drainage problems should occur,
there will be no impact on the residential properties to the north. The board
approved the CUP unanimously.
HHHunt Mosaic
HHHunt Mosaic, the 55-plus restricted age community under
construction in West Creek, filed a request to amend a county ordinance to
change when street trees and sidewalks must be installed.
The existing law requires sidewalks and streets trees to be
installed when building permits have been issued for 50 percent of the approved
dwelling units. The amendment would change the timing to prior to issuance of a
certificate of occupancy for each home and apply county wide.
Counsel for HHHunt contended that installing sidewalks and
trees under the existing rules results in sidewalks being damaged during
construction requiring them to be repaired with concrete that might be a
different color from adjacent sidewalks. He also contended that street trees
die of neglect if planted before homes are occupied. The current rules would
generate additional costs, which would increase the price of homes. Under the
proposed amendment, a third-party inspector, unaffiliated with the developer, would
be responsible for proper installation of the sidewalks and relieve the county
of additional inspections. The third-party inspector would be liable for any
errors.
Lascolette asked Director of Community Development Jo Ann
Hunter if sidewalks installed in a patchwork manner recommended by the amendment
would be also be different color. Hunter said no.
Jonathan Lyle, a regular attendee of board meetings, wondered
if the amendment was proposed for the benefit of the county or convenience of the
developer. He asked if HHHunt knew about this provision in the ordinance when Mosaic
was approved in 2018. He opposed the change contending that costs generated by contractors
should not be passed on to the county. “I don’t see what the rules have to be
changed, they knew what they were when they came here.”
Neil Spoonhower, District 2, moved to deny the application.
Peterson could see no county wide benefit of the proposed
change.
Don Sharpe, District 4 pointed out that small lot subdivisions
with sidewalks and curbs are new to the county. “I don’t know that it’s that
bad a concept.” He asked how neighboring jurisdictions handle this.
Hunter explained that larger counties have more staff to
handle these tasks. She also reported that the number of certificates of
occupancy issued by Goochland have almost doubled since 2019.
Spoonhower said that the citizens expect the supervisors to
hold developers to the rules in place when their projects were approved. “I get
calls from developers all the time about a lot of things, they have never
mentioned this.”
Hunter contended that the county’s existing ordinance works.
The application was unanimously denied.