Into focus?

 

The latest round of meetings on the small area plans being crafted by Hill Studios of Roanoke, consultants retained by the county for this project, were pretty much a rehash of previous sessions. Allegedly, they incorporated citizen feedback, but the changes from the summer drafts were hard to spot. However, final plans are somewhat less fuzzy.

Deputy County Administrator Krystal Onaitis did make it clear that the November drafts, are not the end product for an update the county comprehensive land use plan, even though invitations to the meetings state that it is the final version. If approved, four story residential buildings featured in the gauzy illustrations used in the presentation will not sprout in both villages next summer, but they will come.

The purpose of the comp plan is to guide orderly development that creates an environment attractive to private investment. How to do that is the tricky part. The old nostrum “rooftops bring retail” may no longer be true. Even before the pandemic changed the way we shop, bricks and mortar retail struggled. Malls are dying. Short Pump, where rooftops have been spreading like kudzu, has a lot of vacant retail space.

The focus of growth is residential density—how many “dwelling units” per acre should be allowed where. Ideally, the center of each village would have the highest density, decreasing to the edges. The village boundaries should, at least for the next few decades, be a clear and inviolable demarcation of higher density with no subtle hints, like road stubs leading out of the village, to encourage expansion.

We do not live in an ideal world. As it stands right now, the highest residential density in the Centerville Village is on its edges. The Parke at Saddle Creek, The Parke at Centerville, Reader’s Branch and the Retreat Apartments at the Notch, which is in both West Creek and the Centerville Village are densely developed, with cornfields in the village core. Manakin Towne, at the heart of Centerville’s core, was zoned for mixed use nearly three years ago, but remains undeveloped. The consultants suggest that area should be more densely developed.

Centerville Village

Little thought was given to overall density or its location in the village (see rooftops etc.) when these enclaves were zoned. Earlier “conceptual” plans for Centerville encouraged creation of a street grid to provide alternative routes through the village but were ignored. If the connector between Manakin and Hockett Roads, which has been on the land use map for most of this century, is built expect the residents of Saddle Creek to scream.

Both presentations included many head scratching comments.  For instance, population figures for Courthouse Village seem to have used only data from the Goochland zip code, whose territory extends to the Fluvanna line. A significant portion of Courthouse Village is in the Maidens zip code. Centerville has several zip codes, and is often called Manakin, which is on Rt. 6.

The Weldon Cooper center of the University of Virginia projects that Goochland’s population in 2050 will be 34,742, not quite ten thousand more than recorded by the 2020 census. The four-story residential concept for Centerville looks like all the new people will live there.

Rhetoric describing the courthouse as “the heart and soul of Goochland, the place for all county residents to come together, gather, and be active” seemed unaware that many people living east of Cardwell Road rarely, if ever, go to Courthouse Village for recreational reasons. Many residents of the River Road corridor do not realize that they live in Goochland County and have no interest in going to Courthouse Village for any reason.

Courthouse Village

Preservation of fields and forest inside the villages to preserve their rural character also seems counter to the reason for the village concept. Indeed, the Centerville presentation seemed to advocate keeping the cornfields on both side of the Ashland/Broad Street Road, which is an ideal spot for development.

Reversing the “leakage” of retail dollars to Short Pump was also discussed. A map showing the number of people within a 15-minute drive of Centerville illustrated the potential market for new businesses. With each new subdivision, Goochland becomes more of a bedroom community. How to encourage the residents who sleep here, but live their lives to the east, to shop in Goochland and engage with the greater community is a challenge.

It is hard to understand why branding, the use of catchy slogans and logos to “create a sense of place,” is part of this project. There was enough pushback when the county created a logo to complement the venerable Goochland seal. Do we need more?

The thousand-pound gorilla in the room was transportation. How are you going to put more cars generated by more homes on already crowded roads? That’s easy, the consultants suggested that the county put the main drags through both villages on a diet!

River Road West through Courthouse Village is wider than necessary for through traffic, the consultants contend. Broad Street Road should be a bit narrower through Centerville to enhance that elusive sense of place.

These suggestions ignore the practical reality that both River Road West (Rt 6) and Broad Street Road (Rt 250) are major thoroughfares, not local roads.

Someone needs to set up a camera in room 270 of the administration building to record the size of the vehicles that regularly move through Courthouse Village. The Sheriff’s Office already has data on the number of vehicles. Lowboys transporting enormous loads use that road as do very large tractor trailers. There is so little road access for Courthouse Village, that it takes little to cut the area off. Rember the ice storm and tornadoes earlier this year?

Broad Street Road runs roughly parallel to the interstate. When the I64 is closed by wrecks, which seem to occur more often these days, traffic is diverted onto Rt.250. Does making the stretch of 250 through Centerville narrower make sense?

The term “multimodal” transportation was tossed around a lot at both meetings. This means sidewalks, bike lanes, and ways of getting around that do not involve vehicles. Park once and walk everywhere in the village.  In Centerville, it suggests preparation for GRTC bus service.

Then there is the east west issue. A speaker at the Centerville meeting pointed out that a substantial portion of the county’s the residential real estate tax revenue is generated in the east end, but funds amenities elsewhere in the county. An eastern convenience center, or even a recycling center is long overdue. The first leg of the east end trail system is allegedly funded, but still not built. The draft plans seem to suggest incentives for developers creating public spaces or providing land for them, but will tax dollars maintain them?

A speaker at the Centerville meeting wanted to know when questions about the draft plans would be answered? These include does everyone who lives or owns land in the village realize it. If so, do they understand the advantages/ disadvantages of that. Why haven’t the size of the villages been reduced? Is there justification for keeping equestrian properties inside the Centerville Village when their inclusion in Deep Run Hunt Country seems more appropriate?

There were questions about how “greenways” using flood plains and low-lying areas for passive hiking trails close to existing home. Again, few details.  

Responses to many of the questions and comments contended that the plan was a guide. Complicated issues would be handled in the plan of development stage.  The devil is in the details and these plans seem to offer far too many opportunities for unintended consequences.

There was little comfort among the attendees that Centerville will not echo Short Pump. Concepts included in the latest draft of these plans seem fuzzy, which is appropriate for a “concept plan” and ripe for exploitation by developers anxious to build “dwelling units,” the more per acre the better.

If the deliverable for these plans is an updated land use map, there are too few details for clarity. Will enough people use the sidewalks, bike trails, and greenways to justify the expense of creating and maintaining them?

The current timeline for adoption of the small area plans is early next year. Stay tuned. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1201/Goochland-County-Village-Plans-2022 to see latest versions of the plans and videos of the presentation and draw your own conclusions.