Henrico Planning Commission to weigh 3 residential developments in Fairfield District, data center in Varina Aug. 14

The Henrico Planning Commission is scheduled to hear three residential rezoning cases in the Fairfield District and plans for a data center in the Varina District at its Aug. 14 meeting, among other proposals.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room of the Administration Building at the Western Government Center, 4301 East Parham Road.

Three townhome developments have been proposed in the Fairfield District. The first comes from HHHunt Land LLC, for 58 townhomes on 8.6 acres at the corner of Mountain Road and Woodman Road, next to the Townes at Woodman subdivision. The site is currently vacant with a stream and its floodplain on the western side that is environmentally sensitive and would need to be avoided. The development would have one entrance, on Mountain Road.

The plan includes the townhomes, a gathering park in the corner that would include at least one of these amenities: a gazebo, picnic table, park bench, or bench swing. It also would include a sidewalk along the south side of Mountain Road.

Henrico Planning Department staffers also have recommended a pedestrian trail to connect this development to the Townes. In a report, planners wrote that they would support the overall proposal if this change was made, if the park had more than one amenity, and if the developers make some adjustments to the internal sidewalks and buffers.

The second proposal, from Ridge Homes LLC, is for 21 townhomes on Brook Lake Drive, west of its intersection with Brook Road and bordering the Lakeside Landing development as well as a future portion of the Fall Line Trail. The development would have one entrance on Brook Lake and include a pocket park.

The proposal would include two groups of five units side by side, one group of eight units just to the north of those, and a group of three units in the northeast corner of the site.

Planners have recommended deferring the request because of concerns about the design being incompatible with the surrounding area and this development being too isolated and too small, preferring instead to see it added onto and connected with nearby Lakeside Landing.

The third proposal, from RJM Land LLC, is for 32 small-lot single-family homes on 7.7 acres along North Laburnum Avenue, south of its intersection with Creighton Road. The proposal would rezone the site to the county's newly introduced R-5BC (residential district) classification, which permits more densely-situated units as a way to provide new types of housing in the county.

There would be one entrance on Laburnum, with a sidewalk added along that road, and much of the eastern portion left as a floodplain. Planners wrote that they would support the proposal if more information were provided about the building materials and a community open space was included.

In the Varina District, Gem Capital LLC has submitted a proposal for a 95-home subdivision on about 66 acres along North Washington Street in Highland Springs, east of its intersection with Delbert Drive. The community would be known as Washington Park.

This is a revised version of a proposal made in June, with 25 fewer homes and more distance from the existing homes to the east. There would be two entrances on North Washington, along with a new emergency access point through Beckley Road to Beverstone Road but no entrance on Fairystone Road. A park also would be created along an existing stream.

The proposal now also includes a requirement for the future homeowners association to limit light pollution and removes a reference to "low-income" residences, instead referring to them as "workforce dwelling units."

At least 10 of the 95 units would be designated as workforce dwelling units and reserved for sale to households with annual income levels not greater than 80% of the area median income for Henrico County. That level would be determined by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development at the time of the first sale of that home, according to the developer's list of proffers (voluntary development standards to which it commits).

"The proposed development has positive aspects in that it would introduce different home choices, clustered in a manner that would be largely separate from established rural development," planners wrote in a report.

Planning Department staffers now are recommending approval of this revised proposal, though they also suggest additional traffic management measures for internal roads.

Finally, Wagner Urban Logistics LLC is requesting a provisional use permit to build a data center on 195 acres of land along Darbytown Road (just south of its intersection with Fergus Boulevard and just west of Laburnum Avenue), per the new county requirement that any data center proposed in the county receive a specific permit even in areas zoned for industry.

There are residential areas on the south side of Darbytown, and the center would be required to put all equipment within a building or enclose it with walls to muffle sound. Baker Elementary School also is located about half a mile south of the property. The proposal also includes a 150-foot buffer and two entrances on Darbytown, along with a service entrance on the north side.

Planning Department staffers are recommending approval, since the area on the north side of Darbytown already is used for industrial purposes, including power lines and a Dominion substation, a bakery, and several distribution centers. They also recommend a noise study and a plan to protect environmentally sensitive areas on the site.

Members of the public who wish to attend the Aug. 14 meeting in person or via livestream can find details online at https://henrico.gov/planning/meetings.