Chesterfield planners back rezoning at Iron Bridge and Jessup roads

Chesterfield County

“The Chesterfield County Planning Commission voted Thursday to rezone 11 acres for commercial development at Iron Bridge Road and Jessup Road despite opposition from many nearby residents concerned about increased traffic and crime.

Balzer & Associates requested a zoning change from residential to community business for the site. The developer’s plans call for 9,000 square feet of retail space, a bank, a sit-down restaurant, a fast-food restaurant and a 14-pump gas station, but specific businesses have not been identified…

The county’s planning staff recommended approving the zoning change, noting that the project would support recently developed tourism and recreation facilities nearby, including the Collegiate School Aquatics Center, Ukrop Park and Mary B. Stratton Park Sports Fields. But residents who spoke at a public hearing said they oppose the plans, especially if they include fast food and a gas station.”
~Writes John Ramsey of the Richmond Times Dispatch

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Commission Greenlights Proffers Exception for Harper’s Mill

Chesterfield County

“A request to change the terms of a major subdivision’s zoning conditions got speedy backing from the Planning Commission despite county staff’s recommendation to deny the request over the issue of cash proffers.

The developers of the 1,100- acre, 2,400-home Harper’s Mill community off Otterdale Road south of U.S. Route 360 have applied to change the conditions included in the original 2003 zoning case. The vast majority of the subdivision, 993 acres, has yet to be developed. Developer Mark Sowers and a company he’s affiliated with, HMG Investments, are attempting to change the timing and terms of some road improvements and to make some technical changes regarding setbacks and other conditions.

Planning Department staff indicated in a report that they had no opposition to those requests. But Sowers was also asking to keep the project’s cash proffers at the level set in 2003, and planning staffers said that request went against county policy. While the other changes are acceptable, according to the staff report, the proffer request ‘exceeds the Board [of Supervisors’] five-year time limitation to consider such requests.’”

~Writes Michael Buettner Chesterfield Observer

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VSU Unveils New-Look Chesterfield Avenue

Chesterfield County

“Virginia State University has formally unveiled its first project aimed at transforming a long-depressed commercial corridor at the county’s southeast corner, and the Planning Commission has given the plan its immediate support. A company owned by the university’s real estate foundation, VSU Trojan Development, is proposing to build a four-story building almost a full block long on the east side of Chesterfield Avenue in Ettrick.

The project would be totally unlike anything that the quiet former mill village has previously seen on its main commercial street, which currently is lined by old houses and a scattering of storefronts, many of which are vacant. Robert Turner, the university’s top economic development official, said the plan presented to the commission last week was the result of a year-and-a-half of work between university and county officials.”

~Writes Michael Buettner of the Chesterfield Observer

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