Henrico supervisors approve new St. Mary’s Hospital parking lot, defer Short Pump townhouses again

On Tuesday, Henrico’s Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning case that will allow St. Mary’s Hospital to build a 362-space parking lot on formerly residential land in the Near West End.

The new parking lot is a part of the hospital’s $370-million expansion project and aims to limit parking overflow on nearby neighborhood streets. Bon Secours had acquired the 1.6-acre parcel over a period of 27 years. 

During the past year, the community discussion on the hospital’s expansion has primarily focused on how it will impact parking in the neighborhood, said Brookland District supervisor Dan Schmitt.

“This is just another piece of the puzzle to hopefully improve that area,” he said. “These parking spaces are critical, not only to folks who need to seek the health care that they need, but to get these vehicles out of the neighborhood jurisdictions.”

Losing the residential parcels, which would have accommodated around eight to 11 single-family homes, also will not significantly impact the area’s available housing supply, said Schmitt, because about 8,000 residential units already have been approved in the Near West End and are awaiting construction.

Supervisors again voted to defer a rezoning case that would allow a 74-unit townhouse complex to be built on 10 acres of agriculturally-zoned land north of Short Pump after receiving a deferral request from the developer, Bacova Development Company. The board is now set to vote on the case on July 28.

Several concerns have been raised by nearby residents of the 55-plus Bacova Village community, who say that initial plans by the developer to connect the townhouse complex to the senior living village via a cut-through road would pose many dangers to elderly pedestrians. 

Developers now say that the road will only be approved with the consent of the Bacova Village residents, but village resident Marcia Barton said that the community would “not now nor in the future” ever approve of the road.

“Aging in the village with the prospect of our roads becoming busier thoroughfares. . . has heightened worries about dodging vehicles when we are pedestrians, or more importantly, as drivers steering away from children playing in our roadways that we do not expect and cannot avoid,” Barton said. “We are pursuing every line of investigation open to us currently, and will take every step in our power to prevent any and every attempted penetration into our age-restricted community.”

Three Chopt District supervisor Misty Roundtree said she also had concerns about the townhouses being priced at about $800,000 apiece but that she believed the parcel is suitable for development as long as it is affordable and not disruptive to neighbors.

“We needed to be more intentional and not just approve housing for housing sake,” she said. “Getting folks to continue to support $800,000 townhomes is a really tough position for me to be in, because at some point, we have to draw the line.”

The board of supervisors approved another case that rezones 2.5 acres of agricultural land in Varina to allow for four new single-family homes to be built. 

The board also unanimously approved new rates for the county’s vacuum leaf collection services – increasing the first-stop rate from $30 to $50 and charging $50 for a second stop and $100 for any additional stop – and approved new hazardous duty benefits for full-time emergency medical technicians.

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.