In push to limit future development, Henrico proposes preservation of one-fourth of county land

In a new proposal from Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson, about 26% of Henrico’s landmass and almost half of the Varina District would be classified as rural or conservation land, potentially limiting future urban development in those areas.

At a Henrico Board of Supervisors work session Sept. 23, Emerson presented the idea for a new zoning designation – Prime Agriculture/Rural Conservation (PA/RC) – that would cover 23,000 acres of land in Varina, or about 27% of the district. Another 17,000 acres in Varina would be designated as Rural Residential, Environmental Protection Areas, Open Space/Recreation, or Government.

By attaching these future land-use designations to about 40,000 acres of land east of I-295 – or about 47% of the Varina District – county officials would be attempting to restrict more intense development, a change that was inspired by community feedback gathered by the Henrico Planning Department this past spring, Emerson said.

During input sessions for Henrico NEXT (the county's comprehensive plan update), more than half of comments pushed the county to limit new development, preserve rural character, and protect open space and farming land.

“We started thinking larger and bigger in the overall process, something along the lines of, what change could show that we truly heard the community's voice?” Emerson said. “And while I don't think it would necessarily affect the overall development rate of the county right now, certainly in the future it would. It preserves a large area, basically.”

The change would not affect current zoning classifications on any land but would serve as guide for county officials, the planning commission and the board of supervisors when considering future rezoning cases.

"This doesn't stop you from rezoning a piece of property at all," Emerson told supervisors Tuesday. "Even if you were to move forward [with the proposal]."

Emerson also proposed changing the minimum lot size for residential subdivisions from one acre per unit to five acres per unit for areas under the new PA/RC designation. Other counties in the region have similar restrictions, he said, with Chesterfield having a five-acre minimum, Hanover having a four-acre or 10-acre minimum depending on the district, and Goochland having a three-acre minimum in rural areas and a five-acre minimum in agricultural areas.

Along with larger residential lots, Emerson also recommended that the county not extend sewer and water services into PA/RC areas and conserve more land through conservation easements.

The new land-use vision would recognize that land east of I-295 and south of White Oak Swamp is “not particularly suitable for more intense development,” said Emerson. The number of residential units that land could accommodate would drop from 9,300 units to 4,300 units with this change, although the new zoning would not impact residential projects already approved in the area.

But with Henrico County having an average 1% growth rate each year – about 3,000 additional people annually – development “would have to go somewhere,” Emerson said, either in the county’s redevelopment areas or in other districts.

“It’s a little like squeezing a balloon,” Emerson said. “The demand will still be there. Henrico is a very attractive community to live, work, and play…but if [the board of supervisors] want to designate less land for growth, when a developer comes in and wants to rezone a piece of property, you just don’t approve it.”

With almost all of the county’s remaining non-developed land now in the Varina District, the district’s residents have expressed considerable concern about losing rural and agricultural land to new residential developments, said Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson. 

“People are concerned about growth. And I just overheard [Brookland District Supervisor Dan Schmitt] say, ‘growth is good.’ It is good. I wish it could grow in y’all’s districts and not mine, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Nelson said. “But we do want to be sensitive to the persons that live out there…knowing that if there is going to be substantial growth – if, which is the keyword – it’s going to be in Varina.”

But supervisors also expressed worries that limiting development in certain areas – while a win for land conservation – would only make housing in the county less affordable and accessible.

“To be clear, I think this is great work. I know it is something that Varina probably is very much going to support,” said Three Chopt District Supervisor Misty Roundtree. “My concern is that not continuing to build housing is not going to alleviate demand for folks living in Henrico County, it’s going to just make it more expensive.”

The proposed changes will be included in the draft of the county’s comprehensive plan for 2045, which will be released to the public next year to gather feedback. With land use and development being two of the biggest concerns among county residents, Nelson said he hopes to hear from community members on whether they support the proposal.

“I’m interested to go out and see where this conversation lands us,” he said. “I want to really hear whether or not Varinians are good with this new [PA/RC] designation and is this something they really want to do.”

The conversation should also not just be with Varina residents but should be countywide, Nelson said, because the proposal impacts all of Henrico.

“It’s really bigger than just Varina. You can’t have a Varina conversation without having a Henrico conversation, even though there are some who only want me to focus on Varina,” he said. “I want us to have a community conversation about this, because this decision will impact Henrico County.”

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.