There is no drawbridge

 

No drawbridges in Goochland

When Goochland supervisors unanimously approved land use changes to pave the way for “Project Rocky,” they unleashed a fire storm of criticism. A rezoning application for land near the intersection of Fairground and Maidens Road at the far edge of Courthouse Village was recommended for denial by the planning commission 3-2 on August 4. The supervisors are expected to take the final vote on the Fairground application at their September meeting.

Citizens opposed to land use changes flood public hearings, the final steps in the rezoning process.  Many of them have little idea what the county’s comprehensive land use plan is or have ever bothered to read it. (Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan to see for yourself) They complain that the supervisors are ignoring “the will of the people” without bothering to define exactly what percentage of the county population they represent. Goochland has about 25,000 residents. (One percent or so attended the Project Rocky public hearing and otherwise commented on the matter.)

The comp plan spells growth strategies out in detail where specific land uses are considered appropriate. It is revisited every five years or so with community meetings and public hearings, which are not well attended.

Small area plan studies for both Courthouse and Centerville Villages are now underway to gather CITIZEN INPUT on development.

Note: growth will happen. Demanding that no new anything be allowed anywhere near anything is not realistic. While boutiques and farmers markets are charming, they do not generate enough revenue to fund core county services.

People move to Goochland allegedly because they want to live in the country. Rural may be one of those things that’s in the eye of the beholder. GOMM has heard newcomers who live on a sliver of an acre a metaphorical stone’s throw from Short Pump with water, sewer, and high-speed internet, claim that they love living so far out. However, when they get behind slow moving farm equipment, instead of marveling at the ingenuity of machines that enable a relative handful of farmers to feed the world, they whine about the delay.

For the record, farming can be messy, smelly, and noisy at inconvenient times of day. Trees are a crop with a decades long growing season. Newcomers tend to freak out when a parcel of land is timbered, claiming deforestation or some such. No mention of land cleared to build their new Edens, or all those trees that fell across roads and power lines in last January’s snowstorm causing misery for many.

 

All too often these same newcomers are horrified when another subdivision, or even single homes on by right “cuts” from parent tracts, spring up. “We’re here now, pull up the drawbridge and don’t let anyone else in” seems to be their mantra.

If geography is destiny, parts of Goochland are prime sites for economic development, bolstering the county’s tax base to reduce the burden on landowners. Interstate 64 forms the northern spine of the county and Rt. 288  connects to I 95 well south of Richmond, providing access to markets that serve much of the US population. Interchanges should be exploited for development. (The Gum Spring exit is in Louisa County.) So far, this has not happened.

The Oilville exit has a couple of gas/station convenience stores and a lot of vacant land with a big for sale sign that is changed when the paint fades. An initiative to partner with VDOT to upgrade the I64 rest area wastewater facility to provide a limited amount of sewer for the interchange, failed at the last minute a few years ago. Landowners felt betrayed, so don’t expect anything to happen there for a generation or so.

Attendees at the recent Centerville Small Area Plan study midway meeting were asked what kind of industry/development is appropriate for Centerville. There was no response other than restaurants, boutiques, and so forth. Several people mentioned the need for accessible housing but rejected high density residential development that reduces the cost per dwelling unit. Most decried the subdivisions sprouting around the county.

Then there’s the issue of property rights. We all want to tell our neighbors what they can do with their land but reserve the right to do as we please with ours. Finding the balance between those extremes is the goal of good land use and never easy.

The recent announcement that the now defunct Royal Virginia Golf Course near Hadensville was sold to an entity for a Covid memorial is the latest chapter in this story. Folks took to social media to complain that they were not consulted about the sale. How would they have felt if their neighbors wanted control over the sale of their land? Watching this matter unfold will be interesting.

Land use planning is tricky. It involves looking into the future without a crystal ball. Maybe what seems to be a cooling of the hot real estate market of the past couple of years will provide some breathing room for development.

The comp plan has the goal of keeping 85 percent of Goochland rural. The 15 percent, east of Manakin Road and north of Rt. 6, seems to be ground zero for growth.

People move here for rural then complain that restaurants and grocery stores are too far away. They contend that the supervisors prevent new business from locating in Goochland. It is unclear if any of these people have ever risked their own money to open a restaurant or other commercial enterprise, which could fail.

There is no drawbridge to keep growth out of Goochland. Participate in land use issues, especially comp plan revisions.