INSIDE Goochland Middle honors November Students of the Month > page 6
Volume 62, Number 50 • December 14, 2017
Goochland County Schools earns ‘Green School Division’ honor. See page 5 A white wedding indeed
Supervisors defer vote on 520-home development plan Project expected to bring $1.5 million in revenue, impact on county unclear By Roslyn Ryan Editor
Contributed photo
G
oochland natives Victoria Allen and Austin Goyne had initially worried that the impending winter weather might mar their wedding ceremony at Alturia Farm in Manquin last Saturday. In the end, however, the winter wonderland proved the perfect setting for the couple’s special day. For more area snow photos, see page 10.
Citing concerns over the potential impact of a planned 520-home age restricted-community in the county’s eastern end, Goochland County supervisors unanimously decided during their monthly public meeting on Dec. 5 to postpone making a decision on a rezoning request for the property until March. The project, brought forward by the Glen Allen-based HHH Land, would feature a mix of both single family dwellings and townhomes on 207 acres in the West Creek business development, which has thus far featured no residential development. To begin construction, the developer requires the land be rezoned from industrial to residential. The neighborhood would need to have at least 80 percent of its units occupied by those 55 and over, and no one under the age of 19 could reside in the development. Heading into last week’s meet-
ing, representatives from HHH Land had already requested a one-month deferral of the decision in order to address concerns raised by the county Planning Department. At issue are a number of what both department staff and those opposed to the project describe as unresolved questions, including the potential for sig nificantly increased trafPeterson fic at the intersection of Broad Branch Road and West Creek Parkway — already a challenging spot, according to both VDOT and residents who live nearby — and the project’s possible impact on the county’s emergency medical services. Also posing a challenge, according to several board members, is the fact that county officials simply don’t have the framework in place yet to accurately estimate the potential financial — and other — impacts such a project would have on the community. By March, the county expects to have at its disposal a new Capital Impact Model, a program that will see Rezoning > 2