Moving to Goochland

 

 

Goochland County is a land of contrasts. The parable of the blind men and the elephant—each described the entire animal according to the part they touched insisting that their view was correct. Newcomers often believe that the entire county is the same. It’s not.

Thinking about moving to Goochland? To help you make an informed decision before signing on the dotted line, here are some tools and suggestions to help you research Goochland.

State law limits what localites can require realtors and developers, who tend to omit or gloss over details that might deter sales, to disclose when marketing and selling property.

A lot of heartache and buyer remorse can be avoided by doing some homework. Take glowing sales pitches with a grain of salt. One realtor touts the quaint shops on the tree lined streets of the charming village of Manakin Sabot. Another contends that it looks like something lifted from a fairy tale. There is no village of Manakin Sabot, it’s a zip code that includes horse farms in “Deep Run Hunt Country”, and both the Centerville and Manakin Villages. Neither have tree lined streets. Resemblance to fairy tales is in the eye of the beholder.

Speaking of zip codes, some parts of Goochland have Richmond, Louisa, or Rockville (Hanover) zip codes but are geographically in Goochland. The US Postal Service is responsible for this.

Be wary of realtors and developers who try to convince you that living on a sliver of an acre in a house with all suburban conveniences, or a townhouse in a business park is rural living. It’s not.

Refugees from Long Island, northern Virginia, or even Short Pump bizarrely believe that eastern Goochland’s designated growth area is rural. Those who settle in the truly rural parts of the county can also have rude awakenings. These folks arrive with unrealistic expectations and throw tantrums when they learn about things they do not like.

Be prepared to drive more. Stores, schools, restaurants, and other amenities are not on every corner. “Easy access to I64” can depend on your definition of easy.

There are lots of resources on the internet.

 

·         Check out the county’s comprehensive land use plan https://www.goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan  to see what kind of development is  expected around your potential new home. A wooded area might be a timber stand, which is periodically harvested, essentially clear cut. Trees are a crop, an agricultural land use.

·         Do not assume that undeveloped land will stay that way. Chances are good that a high-density new subdivision was recently farmland, and those shiny new homes have degraded rural character and displaced wildlife.

·         Is the home you’re considering located inside the Tuckahoe Creek Service District (go to https://www.goochlandva.us/Faq.aspx?QID=288 for details)? If so, you’ll pay 32 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in ad valorem tax, which generates revenue to service the debt that built that public utility system. This is on top of the 53 cent per $100 real estate tax, making your total tax rate 85 cents. This supplemental tax bill can be an unpleasant surprise after you move in. Sellers are not required to mention this tax, which buried in closing documents under the heading of “town tax”. This is expected to go away by 2030.

·         Rates for water and sewer are higher in Goochland than in neighboring counties because our system has fewer customers. These rates are expected to increase annually to cover operating and other ongoing expenses. Take this into account when estimating recurring expenses for your new home.

·         If you are considering a house whose water is supplied by a private well, be aware that during power failures, you will have no water without a generator. This requires a connection to the home’s electric panel. There is no way to “plug” a well into a portable generator.

·         If used properly, septic systems will operate for years with little maintenance. Be very careful what is “flushed” or put down the drain, and plan to have it pumped out every few years.

·         When buying raw land on which to build a house, be wary of smaller lots and demand a “perc” test before you buy to ensure that the soil hydraulics will support a septic system. If you’re looking at a resale, make sure that existing septic systems are in working order and always get a whole house inspection. Deep, drilled wells tend to be less prone to going dry during droughts, but there are no guarantees.

·         Radon testing is also a good idea.

·         Don’t expect new schools to pop out of the ground. There are no immediate plans to build an elementary school in the eastern part of the county. The need for the new elementary school that opened in Courthouse Village in 2024 was identified as far back as 1996. Goochland is far smaller (population 28k versus Henrico at more than 300k) and poorer than our neighbors who can afford to build new schools every few years. East end demographics indicate that newcomers tend to be empty nesters or send their kids to private schools. This could change, but probably not in the next few years.

·         Our public schools have an excellent reputation, especially the career and technical education (CTE) program, which exposes students to a wide range of career options to help them prepare for successful and satisfying futures. Go to https://www.goochlandschools.org/ for more information. If you have questions about a particular school, please contact its principal.

·         There are several private schools in the county including Adams International School https://adamsinternationalschool.org/ in Maidens; Salem Christian School https://www.salemchristianschool.com/ in Gum Spring; Benedictine College Preparatory https://www.benedictinecollegeprep.org/ and St. Gertrude High School https://www.saintgertrude.org/ have a Richmond address but are located on River Road in Goochland.

·         The county has several active rock quarries where periodic blasting occurs. Check out Google earth to see how far your home is from one of these before you sign on the dotted line.

·         The availability of high-speed internet and even good cell phone service can be spotty, especially in the western portion of Goochland. Broadband access is expanding, but slowly. Assume at your peril that high speed internet is available in the entire county. Check before you sign any papers if this is important to you. Go to (https://www.goochlandva.us/1025/Broadband-Internet) to double check.

·         Farms have a way of morphing into other uses including housing and commercial uses. People have a right to sell and develop their land and farmers, who do not have 401ks, sell land to finance their retirement. It’s easy to check the zoning of adjacent land, go to the county website goochlandva.us, and click on “parcel viewer” then select either E911 address or map. Locate the area you’re interested in and click on specific parcels. A summary of property information that includes the size of the parcel, its current assessed valuation, and how it is zoned will appear, as will surrounding parcels.  Go the community development tab under “government” then to planning and zoning and click on zoning ordinances and scroll down to select the zoning that applies to the parcels you want to learn about and their permitted uses. If you’re interested in farming, there are three agricultural zoning districts. Each describes what uses are allowed “by right” and which require conditional use permits. By right uses in each zoning district were approved after public hearings and stay that way unless changed, which would require public hearings and a vote by the board of supervisors in open session.

·         Farming, a vital component of “rural,” can be noisy, smelly, and messy. Some farmers spread manure or biosolids, processed residue from wastewater treatment plants ( go to https://www.goochlandva.us/162/Biosolids-Program for details), on their land to increase fertility. This is legal but can be fragrant. If this bothers you, look elsewhere.

·         Do not assume that two lane roads will be widened any time soon. There are no plans, for instance, to four lane Hockett Road, or Fairground Road, or Rt. 6 in the foreseeable future.

·         Make a real time. dry run of your daily commute, both morning and evening. Rush hour traffic is far different than that on weekends. Several spots, including the westbound Oilville exit on I64, and Fairground Road can be dangerously congested, especially in the afternoon/evening rush. Crashes on I-64, which are becoming more frequent, divert traffic onto Broad Street Road. See how many alternate routes you can find. It only takes a single wreck or tree across a road to cause long delays.

·         Improvements to the Ashland Road corridor north of I-64 are currently under construction. A portion of Rockville Road just south of I-64 will be closed for several months to facilitate significant road improvements, but not to the intersection with Ashland Road. Before purchasing property in this area, ask lots of questions about this project and prepare for inconvenience.

·         If you have children, ask where the school bus stops for your new home are. Do not assume that provisions have been made for this in newly built subdivisions.  Developers often downplay the number of school aged children a residential project will bring leading to heartburn when families move in.

·         In the less densely populated areas of the county, Goochlanders own and fire weapons and hunt on their land. The fall festival of firearms starts after Labor Day as hunters hone their shooting skills to prepare for opening day.

·         Goochland’s long narrow shape has relatively few roads, which adds to its rural charm, but also adds precious minutes to emergency response. We have outstanding fire-rescue service, but the distance between stations, homes, and hospitals is greater than in more densely populated areas. If health issues are a concern, do not move to an isolated area.

·         Be very careful about trespassing, just because land seems unoccupied, doesn’t mean it’s a park for your enjoyment.

·         Look carefully at “maps” of new subdivisions to see if they include “stub roads” that connect to adjoining parcels of undeveloped land. These could bring additional traffic to what may be marketed as a “cul-de-sac” neighborhood. Ask lots of questions about this and do not be afraid to walk away if the answers are vague.

·         Realtors and developers put the best face on property they are trying to sell, and there is nothing wrong with this. Buyer beware, especially if a realtor based outside of Goochland is involved. Too often “foreign” realtors are unfamiliar with Goochland and make unfounded assumptions that buyers sometimes take as gospel.

·         Visit Goochland social media sites to ask about the area you are considering. This is a good way to gain insights, perhaps about things you never considered.

·         Talk to people who already live here.

·         If you move to western Goochland, especially, do not expect suburban amenities to pop up near you. Be prepared to drive a lot and get used to planning your trips. The county does not “put” things like grocery stores in lightly populated areas. Businesses locate where their customers are. If you want a certain kind of business near you, please start one.

·         Goochland has many excellent local realtors who work hard to educate buyers not only about the property they buy, but the community.

Goochland is a special place filled with wonderful people with a variety of world views that enrich our community.