March 15 public hearings

 

            Aside from basketball, in Goochland, March sees many government meetings, mostly dealing with the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. On March 15, the Board of Supervisors held public hearings in the evening following an afternoon workshop on the capital improvement plan (CIP). The CIP is detailed and complicated.

Electoral Redistricting

            Following a public hearing, the board unanimously approved the final electoral redistricting map. It will become effective 30 days after adoption.

 Regardless of the non effective change in district boundaries, all elected officials will continue to represent the districts from which they were elected in 2019. (See the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ and select the redistricting for complete information.)

Director of Elections Ryan Mulligan will mail new election cards indicating voting precinct to all registered voters in Goochland County well in advance of 2022 elections.

Markel Eagle Rezoning

Whippoorwill Road and Broad intersection red lines indicate improvements

           A decision on this rezoning application was deferred from February 1 to allow residents neighboring the "Gilman Property," a 72.988 parcel of land to the east of Reader's Branch and south of Whippoorwill Road, to establish some common ground with the developer. The applicant proposed rezoning most of the land to residential planned unit development (RPUD), to permit the construction of 122 single family dwelling units including a maximum of 32 "attached" dwelling units, AKA townhomes.

            Access to the property in question would be through both Reader's Branch and Whippoorwill Drive, which connects to Broad Street Road. Construction traffic will access the site from Hockett Road.

            Most of the opposition to the application came from Whippoorwill Road residents, who lamented the loss of their rural enclave and contended that their narrow neighborhood street will become a "short cut to Short Pump". Whippoorwill Road is well east of the Hockett/Broad Street Road intersection, so it seems likely that residents of the proposed homes and Reader's Branch will use this connecting route to literally cut a corner.

            Traffic trips per day, contended Whippoorwill residents, would increase by nearly 700 percent if the proposed homes were built. They argued that using their road as access for the new enclave would be neither safe nor rural. The application includes improvements to Whippoorwill Road, including turn lanes at its terminus with Broad Street Road, but it will remain a two lane road.

            The applicant made overtures to the Whippoorwill residents to build sidewalks, but residents were not receptive to discussing the matter or granting easements on their land for this. A sum of $50,000 was proffered to build the sidewalk or be contributed to the county's east end trail system.

            Reader's Branch residents contended that they were told their community would consist of just 303 homes, but its HOA documents, perhaps received after closing, reference the Gilman property as the completion of Reader's Branch. Perhaps this is why the application lacked a name for the proposed residential enclave. Reader's Branch folk contended that townhomes would degrade the character of their community.

            Both Whippoorwill Road and Reader's Branch are located in the Centerville Village, which is designated by the comprehensive plan for higher density suburban residential growth, which can be supported by public utilities there.

            Land to the east of Gilman property is designated for commercial use, and to the south of Reader's Branch for light industrial use, neither of these parcels as yet have road access.

            The supervisors acknowledged concerns of the Whippoorwill residents, but said that, even though the area was rural when the homes there were built decades ago, now it is in an area destined for growth. They unanimously approved the application on March 15 after a second public hearing.

            Going forward, the county needs to find a way to encourage, if not demand, that developers indicate their long-term plans. If indeed the Gilman property was destined to be part of Reader's Branch, that should have been mentioned so that people buying homes there had a clear idea of what they were getting into.

            Another example of this is Reed Marsh in Courthouse Village, which was zoned for approximately 39 homes on cul-de-sacs. Soon thereafter, the same developer sought rezoning for Rural Hill, a more than 120 home subdivision between Reed Marsh and the James River, whose main outlet will be through Reed Marsh. People who, in good faith, bought homes in Reed Marsh believing they were in a self-contained enclave, now learn that they will living on the main route for all construction traffic to the new homes behind them for several years.

            Both Centerville and Courthouse Village are undergoing small area plan studies to grapple with growth pressures. These will give little comfort to those who have lived in these places for years and cringe at changes brought by growth.