Henrico supervisors approve new Short Pump townhomes despite continued resistance from some local residents
The Henrico Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a rezoning case July 28 that will allow 74 new condos to be built in Short Pump, although nearby residents say they still have concerns about overcrowding in the area.
The 10-acre development, located right across the street from the Pouncey Tract Park pickleball courts, would include at least 20 condos price-matched for families making about the median household income (roughly $89,000) in Henrico.
Initially, condos in the development were expected to be priced starting at $800,000, but after encouragement from Three Chopt District Supervisor Misty Roundtree, Richmond-based developer Robert Babcock said that he revised the initial proposal to add more affordable condo units. Babcock hopes that the new condos will provide more housing options for people struggling to move into the Henrico area.
“I took that to heart, and I hope that we’re able to vastly surpass the 20 units that are in the affordable housing range,” he said.
Roundtree said that she hopes the affordable housing units will be priced at about $300,000 and that the other units will start around $400,000.
The case was deferred twice by the board after a months-long dispute with residents of the nearby 55-plus Bacova Village community, many of whom opposed Babcock's plan to create a new road connecting the village to the new development. However, just before the meeting on Tuesday, Babcock removed the road from the design plan.
More than a dozen Bacova Village residents came to hear the outcome of the case, and several thanked the developer for removing the new road connection, but others said they still opposed the case because it would add more families to an already congested area.
Village resident Laura Fetter said that pedestrian safety is already a major issue on Pouncey Tract Road, with children crossing the busy 45-mile-per-hour road to Short Pump Middle School and Pouncey Tract Park without any crosswalks.
“I have seen students try to cross Pouncey Tract [Road] to get home on the opposite side without any assistance to ensure their safety. During the summer, I have witnessed groups of middle school students, sometimes up to a dozen teenagers, trying to cross Kain Road,” Fetter said. “The new townhouse development documents I have reviewed do not appear to include improvements that would address pedestrian safety here.”
Other residents also expressed concerns about crowded schools in the area. The new development is expected to add 24 or 25 new school-aged children, which would place Colonial Trail Elementary School overcapacity and crowd an already overcapacity Deep Run High School.
But Roundtree said that unlike other larger projects proposed in Three Chopt, the Bacova development would have less of an impact on schools and other amenities.
“I know not everybody is 100% on board with this project. . . but this is a relatively small project compared to some of the other ones that have been proposed with hundreds of homes,” she said. “This one is certainly going to tax already crowded schools, but not to the extent that other projects that I have denied for that reason would.”
In other matters, the board approved a rezoning case to conserve about 0.05 acres of land southeast of the intersection between Woodman and Winfrey roads and deferred a case that would rezone 9 acres near East Highland Park for Richmond-area private school Imago Dei School.
Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.
