A hard no

 

The south end of Hockett Road  needs massive improvement to support development

The rumor mill has been in overdrive about the technology overlay district/technology zone (TOD/TD) proposal making its way through the Goochland County land use change process. As currently written, the TOD/TZ would magically rezone all land in its proposed footprint from current zoning without going through the zoning process.

This magical rezoning should be a hard no for the supervisors to ensure that citizens know how particular parcels will be used. There has been much angst about existing by-right uses in West Creek, which were approved after the usual process including public hearings.

Changes in West Creek land use must still go through the public process. For example, the Honda dealer under construction on Broad Street Road has applied for a conditional use permit to operate a car wash on its site and must hold a community meeting and public hearings before both the planning commission and supervisors to get approval.

In response to an oral FOIA request, District 5 Supervisor Jonathan Lyle shared an email he sent to his fellow board members concerning the 900 acres roughly between Hockett Road and Mosaic north of Rt. 6, known as “the Hockett basin.”  This land was added to the TOD/TZ footprint after the initial community meeting in July.

Lyle’s email contends that there is a conceptual layout in an existing contract between the Hockett basin landowners and an unnamed developer, for an eight building, two million square foot data center contingent on their land being included in the TOD and presumably magically rezoned to M-1 from its current A-2.

Lyle said that while the possibility of locating data centers on those parcels is not a surprise, the “manner in which this seems to be unfolding is not in the best interest of Goochland County.”

Lyle contended that other supervisors had received “non-NDA” information about the proposal, which was not shared with him because he opposed adding the 900 acres to the TOD and that a representative of the landowners refused to discuss the matter because he knew that Lyle opposed it.

In his email, Lyle asked his fellow supervisors detailed questions about their knowledge of the alleged contract/proposal including the identity of the users of the data center. Should this be a financial service company, Lyle said, it would significantly reduce economic benefits to the county. Questions about setbacks, noise levels, cooling systems, noise suppression, and vital infrastructure improvements like road access and energy supply were also asked.

Lyle goes on to say “Beyond Board members knowing this, I believe this is important information for Goochland’s citizens to know as well. I can no longer say that I am not aware of any contracts or data center plans that exist for the 900+ acres.  Unless I am massively wrong, there is a contract, and there are conceptual plans for a data center campus. 

“None of us want the appearance of decisions being made out of the public’s purvey.  Rezoning decisions are always public.  The impact of every rezoning is in the open, and details are discussed. This TOD process short circuits that open, transparent process. And an applicant unwilling to share information with a Board member who will be voting on this TOD is seriously concerning.”

Lyle believes that the TOD/TZ strengthens existing West Creek regulations, however, he supports reverting to the July TOD/TZ map without the 900 acres, for the final TOD/TZ scheduled to be addressed by the supervisors on November 6.

At that time, the board will address only the version of the TOD/TZ proposal that, by state law, must be advertised weeks in advance of the hearing. They will not change any existing provisions of M-1 zoning. If the TOD goes away, the current by-right uses in West Creek remain unchanged.

Hockett basin landowners have been at odds with the various owners of West Creek and the county since the 1980s. Last year’s pushback to the creation of three lots in Mosaic was the latest skirmish.

At the very least, the final version of the TOD/TZ should remove the magical rezoning of all land in its footprint, including parcels along Hockett Road and between Broad Street Road and I64 that are currently zoned anything other than M-1.

 Reverting to the July map without the 900 acres would likely derail the alleged data center scheme, forcing those landowners to go through the normal zoning process like everyone else, and provide greater clarity for nearby residents and the county.  To date, these landowners seem to have been reluctant to take this route to development.

Far more restrictive standards about noise and vibration must be part of the TOD/TZ language. Data centers in the right place and of the right scale, preferably smaller ones in West Creek on the east side of Rt.288, could be beneficial to Goochland finances. If developers don’t like our rules, they won’t come.

The SMRs must require a CUP. They are still in the development stage, and any CUP process for them should include a robust educational component to dispel the massive amount of disinformation that is floating around.

If indeed other supervisors were aware of this backdoor zoning, they have obliterated any public trust that remains after the Centerville small area plan debacle. They have squandered the hard work of the “Revolution” board elected in 2011 that metaphorically held hands and walked through fire to rescue Goochland from massive dysfunction and the brink of bankruptcy.

Goochland needs to boost its commercial tax base, but not this way.