Henrico Planning Commission endorses first development proposed in new small-lot residential zoning district

The first residential development proposed under a new small-lot zoning district in Henrico County earned the unanimous endorsement of the Henrico Planning Commission Aug. 14.

The proposal, which would allow for 32 small lots with varying detached single-family home designs on 7.713 acres on the east line of North Laburnum Avenue south of Creighton Road, follows Henrico County’s Design Guidelines for Small-Lot Single Family Residential Developments, which was created to facilitate development of smaller parcels of land and was adopted by the county’s board of supervisors Feb. 11.

The site is currently undeveloped and entirely wooded with a stream, wetlands, and flood area located on the eastern portion of the subject site. Those natural features will remain.

The houses that are to be built on the plots are “not large square footage homes. . . at around 1,200 square feet, but they are nicely designed homes” according to Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson.

“It's a more narrow lodge,” he said of the new zoning parcel dimensions. “You can go down to about 30 feet in width with the lot, which means you've got a house about 20 feet wide. These lots are just a little bit wider. Our next closest zoning category requires a 50-foot lot. So, it's 20 feet less than that width.”

The proposal, put forth by developer RJM Land LLC, would rezone the existing A-1 (agricultural district) and RTHC (residential townhouse district) site to the county’s new R-5BC (general residence district conditional) classification.

Each home would have the option of rear-loaded garages with alley access. The development would feed to Harvie Elementary, Fairfield Middle and Highland Springs High.

The new R-5B district is designed to allow developers to create denser single-family developments (amounting to about 10 homes per acre) than the county has previously permitted. Proponents also believe it could provide more affordable home ownership opportunities in the county, at a time when there is significant demand for them.

“They are a little bit smaller lots than we had allowed previously, you can see the layout is reasonably tight, but it's good for infill,” Emerson said. “It's good for parcels like this one because [part] is environmental. So, it allows this piece of property to be developed.”

The density of the Fairfield District plot is like Henrico’s urban residential designation in the current comprehensive plan, which is normally the designation for townhomes.

“I think it's great. The concept here is individual home ownership and very little yard work,” said Planning Commission Chair and Brookland District representative Robert H. Witte, Jr., eliciting laughter from his colleagues on the commission.

Henrico County’s 2045 Comprehensive Plan, currently in draft form, will designate areas for this level of density because there is demand for smaller homes spaced closer than what is typically found in the county, Emerson said.

“A townhome lot is 20 feet wide, and those have attached walls. This is a 30-foot-wide lot with five-foot setbacks on either side,” Emerson said. “So, the size of the unit is essentially a townhome sized unit, yet it's freestanding. It's a little bit more livable, maybe than a townhome but should fall maybe just a little bit above the cost of the townhome because you're getting a little more land, a little bit larger community.

“You always have smaller pieces of land scattered around that weren't included, say, in larger developments or other developments in the past, and they've sat there, and their time has come to be developed. The demand is there. And sometimes just the fact that they're smaller means it might be cost prohibitive to develop them with larger lots because an owner or developer can't get enough of a return to pay for extension of water and sewer to build the roads that you have to do for a development.

“So, this allows you to get a few more homes on. It should provide a little bit more affordable home for people and allow somebody to develop a piece of land that otherwise they might not be able to.”

The development proposal next will advance to be considered by the Henrico Board of Supervisors next month for a final vote.

“We're excited about this,” Emerson said. “It's our first one. It's going to be a learning process, just like with any other new zoning category. I think it'll be nice.”

Also at last week’s meeting, the planning commission agreed to defer until its Sept. 11 meeting a proposal for a data center on Darbytown Road in the Varina District and a proposed townhome development on 8.6 acres at the intersection of Mountain and Woodman roads in Glen Allen.

The commission also deferred consideration of a single-family subdivision on 65.9 acres in Highland Springs to its Oct. 9 meeting.

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.