Honda coming to eastern Goochland

What the Honda dealership might look like (Board packet photo)

Goochland supervisors unanimously approved applications for rezoning and conditional use to locate a Honda dealership on the south side of Broad Street Road just west of the Henrico County line at their October 3 meeting. The site is well east of Rt. 288 in an area that is attitudinally Short Pump. It is separated from Wilkes Ridge Parkway to the west by wetlands that will not be developed.

The 6.93-acre parcel had been approved for use as a memory care facility in 2015, which never materialized. The site also contains the Centerville booster station, a component of the Tuckahoe Creek Service District utility infrastructure. This is in the prime economic development area of Centerville Village and subject to village overlay rules. A certificate of approval (COA) must be obtained to ensure that the look and feel, including building materials, comply with the overlay district.

Filed by SP Real Estate Holdings, LLC on behalf of Ohio based Great Lakes Auto Group, whose president Joey Huang was at the meeting, the proposed facility is estimated to add $30 million to the county’s real estate tax base. Located in the TCSD, it will pay ad valorem tax.

The site, staff and applicant agreed, is challenging. It is narrow, sloping, adjacent to wetlands, and close to a condo community just over the Henrico line. The proposed design, which includes a three-story parking deck instead of a sea of vehicles, takes much of that into account.

From the community meeting held earlier this year to the final vote by the supervisors, this project could serve as a template for the development process. Huang introduced himself at the community meeting, shared his story, and explained what he wanted to do and why in that location.

Objections to traffic issues at the site, raised at the planning commission were taken into account and addressed. Realistic renderings included in the presentation clearly illustrated how the proposed facility would fit into the landscape giving decision makers a clear picture of the proposal. Images like this should be required of all major land use applications alongside one-dimensional plans of development.

Crozier resident Larry Page, whose beautiful Audi dealership on the opposite side of Broad Street Road set a high standards for development, contended that, as presented at the planning commission, trucks accessing the site from east bound Broad Street Road would pose traffic hazards. He also raised concerns that large car carrier trucks would have difficulty moving in and around the narrow site.

According to the applicant, after meetings with the Goochland Fire-Rescue Department, interior roads were widened to ensure that fire trucks could access all parts of the site. A similar exercise was done at the behest of VDOT with a low boy trailer. Car carriers will typically enter the site and unload at the front of the site. Frequency of large trucks visiting the site was estimated at fewer than one truck per day.

The building is setback back at least 100 feet from a “proposed” property line, which leaves room for the necessary right-of-way should another lane be added on Broad Street Road. The plan has been modified after extensive meetings with VDOT about site access.

As the site contains an easement for a Henrico sewer line, the dealership will obtain sewer from Henrico and get its water from the TCSD.

Honda has corporate design templates for its dealerships. This project will need to jump through the same hoops required of Page when establishing the Audi dealer under similar restraints. Should there be an impasse between the Design Review Committee and the applicant, the matter will be appealed to the supervisors.

There will be a retaining wall between the mixed-use development at the Henrico line and the dealership.

A representative of Page contended that large car carrier trucks turning into the site would pose a safety issue as they would need to cross several lanes of traffic to access the sit.

Page contended that a Honda dealership generates a lot of traffic. He said that Centerville overlay standards are applied some rows vehicle parking in front of the building would be eliminated and asked if that would trigger a fourth level on the parking deck. The applicant said there is no intention to add a fourth level.

The applicant’s traffic engineer, who prepared the exhibits, said that the widening of Broad Street Road is currently unfunded and not on any immediate VDOT plan. He explained that when roads are widened, existing commercial driveways are reconfigured to maintain proper turn radii.

Only personal use automobiles weighing up to ten thousand pounds will be sold at the facility. Routine service, but no body work, will be performed there.

Ken Peterson, District 5 pointed out that Page worked through a similarly rigorous approval process for his Audi dealership and has been a great business partner for Goochland. He welcomed Huang to the county and hoped he will emulate Page’s support for the community.

Goochland needs businesses to bolster our tax base and provide jobs and services for our residents. This is exactly the kind of economic development we need in the right place.