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| When you see this sign,changes are in the works! |
The Goochland Board of Supervisors held public hearings on
several items at its October 5 meeting.
The board amended Chapter 13 of the County Code dealing with
a transient occupancy tax to bring it into compliance with a change in state
law made earlier this year. As amended, the ordinance provides for tax
reporting and collection when a room is booked through a, intermediary third party
(Expedia) rather than directly through the hotel. The tax is two percent of the
total price paid for continuous occupancy for fewer than 30 days.
Several land use matters were addressed.
A conditional use permit (CUP) issued to Kindle Rayfield to
operate Furr Kingdom, an animal boarding and commercial kennel on Briggs
Drive in Centerville, issued in 2016 was renewed for 10 years. No complaints
about the business were filed with the County since the issuance of the CUP, and
no one spoke in opposition to the renewal. It is the Board’s practice to extend
the term of renewed CUPs.
An application filed by H&S Development Group, LLC for a
CUP to locate a 154-foot communications tower on 4.02 acres at 2385 Lanier Road
was approved. The tower will be used to train people to climb towers for
installation and maintenance. It also has the potential for communications co-location
at a future time. The CUP gives the county a perpetual right of first refusal to
place public safety communications equipment on the structure. The facility
will adhere to the county’s tower regulations.
A revised application to rezone 65.227 acres on Songbird
Lane and Hockett Road from A-2 to Residential Planned Unit Development (RPUD)
was approved following a deferral from the board’s July meeting. The final plan
is for 65 single family detached homes with proffers. As originally filed, the rezoning
application requested 130 homes, a density far greater than that indicted in the
county’s 2035 Comprehensive Land Use Plan (see https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan
for details)
The applicants Towne & Country Realty Partners, LLC, and
Joy-Scott, LLC responded to objections raised by staff and citizens with fewer
homes to better harmonize with surrounding development density. The final application
included increased buffers, berms, and fencing to mitigate the impact of neighboring
properties.
The approved Songbird application resolved an easement issue
with an adjacent landowner.
The supervisors unanimously approved the addition of parcels
along Ashland Road and those included in the Songbird Lane project to the
Tuckahoe Creek Service District. The Ashland Road parcels were rezoned last
month for RPUD, B-1, and M-2 uses with proffers. The Songbird parcels need
public utility access to support the zoning
Objections to the final Songbird application included failure
to comply with the low density recommended by the Comp Plan. This was characterized
as a slippery slope compromise that will lead to further erosion of the county’s
balanced growth strategy.
The supervisors approval of the final, far less dense Songbird
proposal should send a clear signal to developers, for whom time is money, that
closer adherence to the comp plan can streamline rezoning applications.
Both the Ashland Road parcels—the final build out of
Parkside Village—and Songbird Lane are square peg in round hold interpretations
of the Comp Plan, which was last reviewed in 2015. At that time, development in
the county was pretty much non-existent as the economy recovered from the Great
Recession. Its review must set clear density guidelines for land outside the
villages—Centerville and Courthouse—to ensure that growth is graceful, not
greedy.
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