Community engagement

 

Land on the left is subject of proposed proffer amendment

The clubhouse at Mosaic—a 500-ish dwelling unit 55+ community in West Creek, east of Hockett Road—was SRO at a community meeting on Monday, August 5 to discuss a proffer amendment.  

Hans Klinger, HHHunt VP for real estate development, explained that the community meeting is the first step in the land use process for Goochland County. The proffer amendment, filed with Goochland County last month, would allow approximately seven acres near the intersection of Mosaic Creek Boulevard, the main drag through the community, and Broad Branch Drive, to be subdivided into three residential lots.

When Mosaic was created, it included development “proffers”, which Klinger explained are codified promises that the community would be developed in substantial conformance to a conceptual plan, included in the proffer. A previous proffer amendment, for instance, allowed Mosaic to have a greater percentage of town homes, but overall, fewer than the 508 dwelling units initially approved. For some reason, the parcel in question was never included in the conceptual plan.

Klinger said that as development progressed, HHHunt realized that the best way to develop the area in question would be to create three lots facing Mosaic Creek Boulevard because development is more cost effective when there are homes on both sides of a street. An initial plan to build a small eight lot cul-de-sac there was deemed impractical because of the topography.

As with all new developments, residents complained about traffic, especially when Capital One, the county’s largest employer and taxpayer, gets out.

Klinger mentioned Mosaic sections under construction and explained that they are required, by VDOT, to build stub roads that provide for future connection to undeveloped parcels outside of Mosaic.

This introduced the elephant in the room, a decades long ongoing quest for access from the 1,000 or so acres of undeveloped land to the south and west of Mosaic, for road access to Broad Branch Drive or Rt. 288. The end of the subject parcel could link a landlocked parcel to Borad Banc Drive using a

Several Mosaic residents expressed dismay that the land between Mosaic and Hockett Road has been considered “prime economic development” by the county for a long time. This means that at some point, the property will be the site of businesses to bolster the county’s tax base.

The stub roads, which can lead to bizarre overloading of residential streets, like that proposed for Highfield on Rockville Road and Reed Marsh in Courthouse Village, by funneling traffic through neighborhoods. Little thought about unintended consequences seems to have been given to the stub road mandate by VDOT—the state agency whose motto is “Oops!”—about how to make these roads work in a safe manner.

Property owners of the thousand acres contend that some their parcels are land-locked, and they should be given an access point to Broad Branch Drive.

Tommy Pruitt, an owner of the West Creek explained that West Creek, which extends from Rt. 6 on the south to Broad Street Road on the north, is about 3,000 acres and was created as a business park to attract corporate headquarters. Over the years, uses have changed, including Mosaic and three apartment complexes. Roads were designed to manage only the traffic capacity generated inside West Creek. The internal 288 cloverleafs, contended Pruitt, cannot accommodate added traffic from the thousand acres outside West Creek. Acknowledging sympathy for their situation, he suggested that they pursue connections to Rt 6 near the Richmond Country Club.

Mosaic residents indicated that they had no idea that the parcels behind them would be developed, or about VDOT mandated stub roads connecting that land to Mosaic.

Ray Cash, assistant director of community development for Goochland County, explained that a study is underway to figure out what infrastructure is available or needed to encourage economic development in the area between Tuckahoe Creek Parkway south to the James River, and the Henrico County line west to Hockett Road. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1280/Southeastern-Infrastructure-Study-SIS for details.

Next steps in the process are public hearings at the county administration building before both the planning commission, which is an advisory body, and the Board of Supervisors, which has the final say. The application could not reach the planning commission agenda before its September 19 meeting and the supervisors in November.

The interest in this proposed proffer amendment expressed by Mosaic residents is commendable. Let’s hope this group continues its community engagement in a constructive manner.