A community event to savor

 

One of the life savors of Goochland is the annual open house event at the historic Jackson Blacksmith Shop near Sandy Hook, held on June 14.

In days gone by, blacksmiths, who literally kept things together, were an important part of the community.

In days gone by simple tools and the skill of the blacksmith held things together

 

Henry Jackson, born around 1926 during slavery, began the family blacksmithing tradition opening his own shop near the current site in 1880. His son, G. Wilson Jackson, Sr. built a shop in the area and his son George W. Jackson, Jr., practiced his trade at the existing shop, built in 1932, until the early 1970’s.

The shop was restored in 1995 and registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1997. Visit https://jbshop.squarespace.com/ for details.

Jackson descendant Jeff Mabry shares history of the shop

Delightful toe tapping music floated on an early summer breeze as people perused exhibits, danced, enjoyed toothsome food offerings, and visited with friends old and new.

A beautiful afternoon

Bluebell the Fairy has magical talents

Bluebell the Fairy mystified with her magic. Representatives of the Second Union School and Museum (https://secondunionrosenwaldschool.org/); the Goochland Historical Society and 250^th Commission (https://www.goochlandhistory.org/); shop tours; and demonstrations by a farrier and members of the Central Virginia Blacksmith Guild (https://cvbg.org/) were among the interesting exhibits.

How wagon wheels were repaired

Farrier shoeing a horse

Blacksmithing demonstration

Jackson descendant Jeff Mabry explained how blacksmiths used their skill, ingenuity, and simple tools to build and repair equipment vital to local farms. He explained how his grandfather designed a hammer that was less likely to break than a typical claw hammer.

Jeff Mabry and special hammer designed by his grandfather

Goochland’s new county administrator Jeremy Raley, who started work on June 9, and District 2 Supervisor Neil Spoonhower were among those who enjoyed the event.

 

 

 

 

 

A cautionary tale

At its June 3 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution “requesting the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board consider restricting through truck traffic on Hemsby Road (Rte. 1246), Stradsett Road (Rte. 1247), Brandiston Street (Rte. 1248), Park Village Boulevard (Rte. 1251), Yare Street (Rte. 1253), and Village Trail (Rte. 1254) in the Parkside Village subdivision.”

Parkside Village, a 55+ residential community of single family detached homes, lies in the county’s northeast corner. It was rezoned from agricultural to residential and commercial use about 12 years ago. At that time, Goochland did not have mixed-use zoning, so the developer instead put different zoning options on adjoining tracts of land. The first iteration—there have been many—of land use here included building homes near M-1, industrial limited, and B-1, business general, zoning. The site included a convenience store/carwash that was in place before any homes were built. Parkside Village is near the active Vulcan Quarry on Johnson Road.

Parkside Village today (Pouncey Tract to left)

This was near the end of the Great Recession, a low point in economic activity in Goochland. The developer convinced the supervisors that, even though the subject property was in an area that had been designated for industrial use decades earlier, it was unlikely that would continue into the future. (See https://goochlandva.us/roc for details about the Rockville Road Opportunity Corridor) It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The first plat included a spine road, with no homes fronting it, between Ashland and Pouncey Tract Roads. Two access points are required for all subdivisions with more than 49 lots. The spine road was promoted at the time, as necessary to relieve pressure on the Ashland/Pouncey Tract intersection, which was, and remains a bottleneck and is in Hanover County. The June 3 staff report now contends that heavy truck traffic should use the signalized intersection at Ashland and Pouncey Tract Roads.

As people moved into Parkside Village, they discovered to their dismay that the spine road would be go behind their homes and protested to the county. It is unclear if the developer did not include a build out illustration of Parkside Village with all approved roads, in its marketing materials, or if homebuyers did not understand that a “through street” could attract vehicles, especially large dump trucks servicing area quarries.

Parkside Village at beginning. Blue line spine road, Pouncey Tract to left

In response to this concern, the Parkside Village internal roads were redesigned in a circuitous manner to thwart through traffic, which has not solved the problem. Residents have complained for more than a year that large vehicles use residential streets as a “cut through” creating dangerous conditions on internal roads not designed to accommodate them, hence the resolution to restrict through truck traffic. This applies only to trucks and tractor trailers driving through with no business in Parkside Village. It does not apply to pick-up or smaller trucks used to make deliveries or provide services to residents.

If the signage restrictions are not sufficient, further measures including traffic calming devices could be deployed.

In addition to the traffic issues, there has been rigorous opposition to several proposed business uses by residents of Parkside Village even though commercial uses were approved in the initial rezoning.

Parkside Village is not alone in this situation. GOMM predicts that when the parcels at the corner of Manakin and 250 in Centerville, currently a mulch yard, are developed, residents of the Parke at Saddle Creek will object, even though the zoning for commercial use and the subdivision were approved at the same time.

This is a cautionary tale going forward for our supervisors.  When they approve rezoning for a subdivision, they must remember that people will live in those homes, pay taxes, and vote. All too often, developers gloss over objections raised by current citizens, leading to unintended consequences for the county to sort out later. It would be helpful if, before voting, each supervisor would explain how they reached their decision, to help citizens better understand their vision for the county. It would also be nice to know if supervisors would like to live in the neighborhoods they approve.

While some opponents of rezoning applications can be classified as NIMBYs (not in my backyard), or BANANAs (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything) others raise legitimate concerns about the impact of land use changes on people who live nearby.

Developers should be required to begin commercial development in a mixed-use project before homes are built, or at least make those plans an obvious part of their marketing materials, so  residential buyers know what they are getting into at the outset.

While we hope people take the time to perform ample due diligence before buying property, especially given the gracious plenty of information available on the internet, that does not seem to be the case. All too often, buyers take the marketing fables spun by developers as gospel then whine “no one told us” when they discover things not to their liking after they move in and expect “the county” to fix them.

This leads to angry phone calls, emails, and other communications between citizens and supervisors that might have been avoided had better decisions been made earlier in the process.

Board members realize early in their term of elected office that, no matter how hard they work, they cannot please everyone. Decisions based on complete, detailed data about rezoning applications would go a long way to preventing some of this heartburn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the cusp of summer

 

The June 3 meeting of the Goochland Board of Supervisors on the cusp of summer was brief, perhaps in anticipation of the arrival of new County Administrator Jeremy Raley on June 9.

Board Chair Tom Winfree, District 3, and Jonathan Lyle, District 5, attended the Goochland High School graduation on June1. Winfree complimented 197 graduates on their many accomplishments and wished them success and happiness on life’s journey.

There will be a “meet and greet” with Raley in the board room on Thursday, June 12 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity to welcome Raley to his new role in county government.

Winfree profusely thanked the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, Jr., for stepping in, on February 24, as interim county administrator to keep the ship of local government going in the right direction and afloat to allow the supervisors to methodically and deliberately select a new county administrator.

County Administrator comments

Alvarez said that the deadline for the veteran tribute banner program has been extended to June 15^th.  The banners, featuring photos of local veterans, free of charge, will be displayed on light posts in Courthouse Village through Veterans’ Day, November 11. Go to https://militarytributebanners.org/virginia/goochland-va.html for details.

Independence Day fireworks will be held on Wednesday, July 3 at 9 p.m. at the Goochland Sports Complex, roughly behind the county administration building, rain date, July 5. The date was chosen due to an increase in costs.

The next Night at Tucker outdoor music event will be held at Tucker Park on Friday, June 27^th, featuring the band “Permanent Vacation”. Visit https://www.goochlandva.us/236/Parks-Recreation for more information.

Document shredding will be held on the Fairground lot near the intersection of Fairground and Sandy Hook Roads on Saturday, June 7 from 9-1. Visit the county website for details.

Alvarez congratulated the organizers of last month’s Goochland Day, the Goochland Day Foundation, for the wonderful job they did staging the event, which he said attracted approximately 7,500 people and was well done.

He explained that the county waived more than $4,000 in event associated fees; the parks and rec department donated a lot of time to the event; the Economic Development Authority  contributed $5,000; fire-rescue did not charge for its  participation; one part time and six full time county employees staffing the Friday night concert; there were two full-time county staff at both the parade and festival on Saturday; the county promoted the event; provided dumpsters; and all of the tables and chairs.

Alvarez explained, that contrary to some contentions, the county has never “run” Goochland Day. It was started by the Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association as a community event to raise funds to build fire-rescue stations. He said that he does not believe that the county could do as good a job as the Goochland Day Foundation does, attracting volunteers and energizing community support. He thanked the GDF for its fine work and hopes that next year’s Goochland Day will be even better.

 

VDOT

As June 3 was the last time that Marshall Winn, Director of the Ashland VDOT Residency, would speak to the board, the supervisors thanked and commended him for his 48 years of service with the agency.  Winn announced that he will be succeeded by Philip Frasier. Winn has overseen the daily operations of VDOT, including cutting grass, plowing snow, removing dead animals and fallen trees, fixing potholes, and a myriad of other road related maintenance tasks. The supervisors commended Winn for his role in maintaining a good relationship between Goochland County and VDOT. In addition to a letter of appreciation signed by each supervisor, Lyle presented Winn with a selection of baseball themed videos. Winn continues to follow the professional baseball career of his son, a former player with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. We wish Winn every happiness in his next chapter.

Board Chair Tom Winfree (r) congratulates Marshall Winn on his retirement

Reports on fire-rescue; broadband; and planning and zoning activity were in the board report. Although there have been new additions to county staff, their introduction was not part of the agenda.

Neil Spoonhower, District 2, who represents Goochland on regional transportation boards, reported that the Central Virginia Transportation Authority rotates leadership, and that Jody Rogesh from Henrico is its new chair, with John Hodge from the Town of Ashland is vice chair. Spoonhower said that the CVTA will be looking for a way to combine the disparate plans of all of the regional partners into a single 2050 long range plan.

He also represents Goochland on the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, which hopes to meet with Goochland to explore micro transit options in the county.

Spoonhower reported that three of the four applications made by Goochland for “smart scale” funding, including the roundabout at Fairground and Maidens Road were approved. He thanked our VDOT partners for their help in making Goochland’s applications as robust as possible to increase chances of success.

On Monday, June 2, Spoonhower and Lyle attended groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Goochland-Powhatan Community Services building in Powhatan County that attracted more than 100 people. A larger facility will enable the CBS to better serve its clients. The CSB provides a range of services to help with mental health, behavioral, developmental, and other concerns. Go to https://gpcsb.org/ for more information.

The consent agenda included items amending the school budget for FY26, which begins on July 1, due to approval of the state budget after the county budget, and for FY25. Both amendments resulted in additional funds being appropriated to the school division.