GOMM Grab Bag

The Goochland Board of Supervisors will hold its regular monthly meeting on March 7 at the county administration building. The afternoon session begins at 2 p.m. The evening session and public hearings start at 6 p.m.( Go to https://goochlandcountyva.iqm2.com//Citizens/detail_meeting.aspx?ID=1433) to view the full agenda

Goochland Spring Town Hall meetings are as follows:

District 4 & 5

March 8, at the Residence Inn 1800 Wilkes Ridge Circle (roughly opposite Wawa on Broad Street Road)

District 1

March 23, at Byrd Elementary School, 2704 Hadensville Fife Road

Districts 2&3

March 30, at Central High School Cultural & Educational Center, 2748 Dogtown Road

All sessions begin at 6:30 p.m.

To watch and/or participate remotely go to https://www.goochlandva.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=935 for information about specific meetings.

 

Small area plans

Deputy County Administrator Krystal Onaitis announced at the March 2 Planning Commission meeting that Timmons Group of Richmond has been retained by the county to provide a “fresh perspective” on the small area plans for Centerville and Courthouse Village.

“Timmons will review all previous community and stakeholder input to build upon the work done to date to ensure that community input and feedback is prominently highlighted,” said Onaitis.

In its review process, Timmons will propose a framework for the plans  to identify appropriate development zones while balancing the unique character of each village, Onaitis explained.

The end product will be a guide for land use decisions with flexibility for development in acceptable guidelines. This will eliminate, or reduce  the “one offs” in land use changes that do not adhere to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Onaitis said that Timmons’ work will be presented to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in late spring to be used to amend the county’s comprehensive Land Use Plan.

No mention was made of Hill Studios, the consultant previously retained by the county for approximately $180K, who produced a series of incomprehensible and generic suggestions for this  initiative.

It would be nice if Timmons at least reviewed the Master’s Thesis offering suggestions for growth in the Centerville Village around the turn of the century. An update of this work to reflect the current reality of land use pressures on the ground could provide a useful template for development.

This is good news for the planning process. Stay tuned.