It ain't broke

 

The much maligned, convoluted, and, sometimes bizarre, proposed Centerville small area plan is on life support, if not dead. It appears that the Goochland Board of Supervisors will soon in essence decide that the 2035 comp plan “ain’t broke and won’t fix it” leaving the existing plan unchanged.

District 4 Supervisor Charlie Vaughters released the following statement this morning:

Residents,  

As we have gone through the Centerville Village Plan process over the last several months, it has become clear to me as District 4 Supervisor that my constituents do not want a plan like this in place at this time. This past month’s amendment and comment process after the Board of Supervisor’s deferral of the plan in August has brought to light numerous concerns from residents in District 4 and from all across Goochland County. Listening to these concerns is my primary responsibility as a Goochland Supervisor. I want everyone to know that I will be a “NO” vote to the Centerville Village Plan when it again comes before the Board of Supervisors. Accordingly, eliminating the planned October work session and moving up the public hearing and vote on the Plan to as soon as possible will be responsive to the citizens’ concerns. 

In the coming days, I will be working with my fellow Supervisors and County staff to see if we can move the vote forward from the current plan of voting in December. This will allow our hard working and dedicated County staff to move attention away from the Centerville Village Plan and on to other important projects and responsibilities we have in serving our Goochland County residents. I think it is best for the plan to be voted down and go away. We will certainly take what we’ve learned from this process and put it to good use in future endeavors to support Goochland County.  

I want to thank all our residents who reached out to me, my fellow Supervisors, and County staff with comments and amendment requests over these last several months. I’ve read every comment that has been received and have taken them to heart in making this decision. I wasn’t a part of the Centerville Village Plan process until last November when I was appointed to the Board of Supervisors, and I have been working hard over the last year to understand everything the Plan entails. These citizen comments will be top of mind for me as I continue to serve District 4 and all our Goochland County residents, hopefully for years to come.  

Again, I want to let you all know that I will be a “NO” vote on the Centerville Village Plan when it comes to a vote. In the meantime, I will be working closely with my fellow Supervisors to make sure they hear my decision and the voices of our District 4 residents loud and clear.  

Thank you all for letting me serve you! 

God Bless, 

Charlie Vaughters 

Goochland County District 4 Supervisor 

 

State statute requires that each jurisdiction review—not amend—its comp plan every five years. Given the intense scrutiny of various iterations of proposed changes to the plan since early 2022, that threshold has been met and exceeded.

 

Since early 2022, Goochland County spent at least $300k on consultants to update and revise the plan. Lessons were learned by everyone who engaged in this excruciating discussion of land use and growth.

 

The county learned that requests for citizen input will generate a robust and detailed response. Proposing drastic changes to land use must be explained. Since the latest proposed plan was dropped on citizens in May, there has been no justification, or even explanation, for the inclusion of “lodging” all over the village among other things.

 

The core of citizen feedback from the start of the process was “do not Short Pump Centerville,” yet every iteration included elevations that echoed what is happening east of us.

 

Citizens learned that thoughtful and constructive criticism with specific suggestions for modification, gets traction. Many paid attention to local issues for the first time and hopefully, will remain engaged.

 

Going forward, the BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything) and the drawbridge folks (I’m here, don’t let anyone else in) need to understand that there will be new construction and economic development. This will not stop. Land owners and developers, who seem to have been salivating over the prospect of higher permitted density, need to work within the framework of the 2035 comp plan.

 

It also became clear that newcomers to the county do little research before buying homes and whine that “no one told them” about things like a quarry behind their neighborhood, the ad valorem tax, traffic, and so forth.

 

Citizens and staff have spent a great deal of time and energy on this initiative. It’s time to move on.