Back to what passes for normal

 

Things seem are getting back to normal as we enter June. Masks were few and far between at the monthly meetings of both the supervisors and planning commission. As the pandemic winds down and the frantic housing market rolls along, applications for zoning changes are back in full force. Developers and their land use attorneys arrogantly barked explanations of the county’s 2035 comprehensive plan at the planning commissioners and supervisors, who crafted and approved it.

(A word on the Comp Plan—available for your viewing pleasure at https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan. It is a little like the Bible, skilled practitioners can use it to support or refute a point of view.)

Somewhere along the line, the supervisors seem to have decided to get as much land as possible into the Tuckahoe Creek Service District (TCSD), which will bring zoning changes to flood eastern Goochland with new homes.

The rationale for this is that “higher density housing will take development pressure off of the rest of the county to meet the goal of keeping 85 percent of Goochland rural”. Sounds good until you think about it. Folks move to Goochland—the country—for privacy, and a bit of elbow room. How will homes on small lots, even with the communal “open space” touted by the high-density subdivisions, fill that bill?

Higher density was also touted to offer new homes in a price range that could be afforded by young families, deputies, teachers, and fire-rescue providers. (See GOMM A home for everyone for more information about this issue.) This too seems logical. The more dwelling units per acre, the more homes that share the cost of infrastructure like roads and public utilities.

If memory serves, the last time this rationale was included in a rezoning request was when the number of lots in Swann’s Inn Estates near the water tower in Courthouse Village was doubled as public water and sewer became available. At the time of rezoning the developer suggested that increasing the number of homes would make it possible to build homes affordable by teachers and deputies. Those homes are currently advertised at “starting in the upper $400’s”.

A few years back, the state tried to mandate that all fast-growing localities, which included Goochland, establish “urban density areas” to absorb several decades of future housing demand to prevent the dreaded urban sprawl. The UDA mandate went away, but recent development is a close facsimile.

The ordinance creating the TCSD included pages of parcel numbers that “could” join. If they did, ad valorem tax—which was initially as high as 50 cents per $100 of assessed valuation—would be levied on the land. Many property owners, with justified skepticism, declined unconvinced that the TCSD would be the economic engine for the county as it was touted to be at its inception. The property owners who did put their land into the TCSD when it was formed in 2002 and have paid the extra tax in the ensuing years, should be a little miffed.

There may have been a penalty requiring payment of several years’ worth of back ad valorem tax to join after the fact, but that seems to never have been codified. The penalty now is a 20 percent upcharge on connection fees, about $2k per home, depending on the size of the line, which will be passed along to buyers.

At their June 1 meeting, the supervisors voted unanimously to add parcels of land in the northeast corner of the county to the TCSD because the landowner thought it was “time to join” without any specific use for the property. One of those parcels, with frontage along Pouncey Tract Road, according to county land records, was assessed at $71k when the ad valorem tax was first levied, and $350k in 2021. It’s hard to fault that landowner for gaming the system, another indication of the glaring dysfunction that created the TCSD.

A comment made by District 5 Planning Commissioner Tom Rockecharlie at the June 3 meeting of that body, “one of the key points of the Comprehensive Plan was to have a high-density area in the eastern end of the county to pay for the TCSD,” sums up the approach to development.

The supervisors deferred a vote on another rezoning case which was predicated on pending inclusion in the TCSD to their July 6 meeting. “This is putting the cart before the horse,” Don Sharpe, District 4 said.

The application Sharpe referred to is an extension of the Parkside Village community behind the Aw Shucks near the intersection of Pouncey Tract and Ashland Roads. The property being rezoned is at the corner of Johnson and Ashland Roads. The proposal would add 31 age- restricted homes to Parkside Village and rezone for industrial and commercial uses on parcels  bordering Ashland and Johnson Road. There were a number of concerns about the condition of Johnson Road, which leads to the Vulcan Material quarry and is regularly traversed by dump trucks loaded with gravel.

Ben Johnson, a lifelong resident of the area, explained that the Vulcan Quarry is an important member of the Goochland  business community and its interests should be considered.

Once again, no specific uses were identified and concerns about the height of the industrial structure was also a concern. There is a critical shortage of light industrial space in Goochland but placing it adjacent to homes must be done with great care. A vegetative buffer does little to screen a nearby tall building.

Two other cases heard at the June 3 Planning Commission put the density issue front and center.

Songbird Lane

An application to rezone 65.22 acres at Songbird Land and Hockett Road from A-2 agricultural to RPUD (residential planned unit development) to build 130 homes. The subject property will need public utilities to support this density, but its application to join the TCSD will not be heard by the supervisors until July 6. It lies south of a parcel owned by the county.

The executive summary of the application notes that there no one supported the application at a March 16 community meeting.

Representatives of the applicant, Towne and Country Realty Partners, LLC and Joy-Scott LLC contended that, as the subject property is in the designated growth area and designated “flex” on the Comp Plan, the density, just under two units per acre, is appropriate. Home prices were anticipated to start around $500k.

The 2035 Comp Plan in fact indicates that the property in question, located outside the Centerville Village, is designated residential low density, which permits one dwelling unit per two acres.

Owners of a parcel to the west of the subject  property, who currently have an easement along Songbird Lane to access Hockett Road, were represented by an attorney who raised concerns that his client, whose business uses large vehicles, would have difficulty navigating the streets of a subdivision.

A representative of owners of the eight properties on Hamlet Road, which lies to the south of the subject property, said that group does not oppose the development. The sewer line, needed to support the density, will go under Hamlet Road, she explained. Individual property owners have made agreements with the developer for compensation for land their will lose to the sewer line.

Several people spoke in opposition to the plan.

Development will happen in this area. Instead of 130 homes, use residential medium density, with 65 homes to harmonize with existing use.

The planning commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the Songbird Lane proposal.

Rural Hill

An application filed by Yellowstone Communities, LLC, to rezone 265.612 acres from A2 to Residential General R3 on Rural Hill and Gathright Drive in Courthouse Village to build up to 190 homes met with even more opposition from neighbors.

The presentation both by staff and the applicant included the usual details. However, there was no mention of the CSX Railroad tracks that run between the James River, which forms the western boundary of the subject property. (River Road West runs north-south through Courthouse Village.)

Minimum lot size in R-3 zoning is 20k square feet if served by both public water and sewer. This zoning category, as one person, who opposed the project stated, allows two and three family dwellings with a conditional use permit.

Lots along the eastern edge of the project will be served by public sewer, the remainder by septic system. All homes would have public water.

The applicant did a lot of verbal tap dancing around road access, provided by Gathright Drive, Scott Road and Reed Marsh Drive, contending that they cannot do anything to improve roads that would be used by the new residents. Currently, Gathright Drive, which runs behind Venice Heights, a neighborhood of charming homes around Lake Lido, is narrow, winding and unimproved. Two cars need to perform a porcupine mating dance maneuver to pass each other.

Gathright Drive cannot handle 400 vehicles

There is a sharp fall off to the south side of Scott Road. Traffic on River Road West, the main drag through Courthouse Village, is getting heavier by the day without dumping traffic from 190 homes—close to 400 vehicles—into the mix. Residents of Venice Heights were adamantly opposed to the project. A woman said that her parents recently bought a home in Reed March because it was a relatively small, self-contained residential enclave. They were very unhappy about the prospect of cars from 190 homes driving by their new home.

Scott Road has no shoulders, or capacity for 400 vehicles.

Courthouse Village is accessed via River Road West (Rt. 6), Fairground and Sandy Hook Roads, all of which are two lanes. Presumably, people who would live in the proposed homes would work in either Richmond or Charlottesville via Interstate 64, adding even more daily travelers to existing rush hour congestion.

Minimum homes sizes are 1,800 for single story, 2,500 for two story, but an average size of 3,200 square feet up to 6,000 square feet are anticipated. Prices will range from $600k to $2 million with an average of $650k to $750k. (See justifications for density. Our deputies just got a raise, but not enough to afford these homes.)

The presentation included lots of discussion of landscaping, trails, and a party pavilion located overlooking Venice Heights. Elevations of homes were presented, but only the front. Perhaps future residential rezoning application should include elevations from all side of a project to give decision makers a better idea of the total visual impact of new homes.

The applicant will pay full cash proffers of $13,781 per lot. This is a drop in the bucket to fund capital impacts of the new homes.

The planning commission voted 4-1with Chair Carter Duke, District 3, in dissent, to deny recommendation of approval of Rural Hill. Duke contended that residential density belongs in the villages served by water and sewer.

A better plan for this site, while not as profitable for landowner and developer, would be to carve it up into large river view estate lots, perhaps with an equestrian theme. It would allow development and not, as one opponent said, turn Courthouse Village into Chesterfield County.

Landowners have a right to petition local government for zoning changes to develop their property within reason. Both the Songbird Lane and Rural Hill rezoning applications defy reason.