Henrico Planning Commission rejects Varina Dollar Tree proposal

The Henrico Planning Commission issued a rare denial recommendation at its June 13 meeting, unanimously objecting to a proposal that would permit construction of a Dollar Tree store at the southeast intersection of New Market Road (Virginia Route 5) and Strath Road in Varina.

Commission Chair and Varina District Commissioner William Mackey told planning staff members not to even bother presenting their report about the proposal, moving instead to recommend denial of the case on the grounds that “it will set an adverse zoning precedent for the area and would be inconsistent with numerous goals and objectives of the 2026 Comprehensive Plan.”

In their report, planning staffers also had recommended denial to preserve the neighboring residential areas, concluding that the wooded site was “not well-suited to commercial operations beyond smaller, carefully designed, neighborhood-level uses with minimal impacts.”

The applicant, JSN Development LLC, had sought a deferral of the case to July 11 but the commission opted not to consider that request. Unless the applicant withdraws its request, the case will proceed to the Henrico Board of Supervisors for final consideration.

The site sits across New Market Road from the former site of a Walgreens store. The same applicant had proposed to build a Rite Aid store on the site in question as part of a successful rezoning case in 2007. In that case, the applicant proffered that most B-2 (business district) and some B-1 uses would not be permitted and had committed to building a colonial-style brick building to complement nearby structures, among a series of other commitments.

The Rite Aid, though, never took shape on the site, and subsequently the county completed, and the board of supervisors adopted, the Route 5 Corridor Study in 2018 and a zoning ordinance with neighborhood compatibility standards four years later, outlining updated goals and standards for development in the area.

As part of its new proposal, the applicant is seeking to make 11 changes to the 2007 rezoning standards, including allowing all B-2 uses [typically shopping, recreation and service activities] on the property, changing the building style and eliminating proffered sidewalks in favor of potential sidewalk areas, among others.

Planners concluded in their report that it would be impossible for the applicant to meet the “competing design considerations between a scenic byway on one side and a neighborhood on the other.

“Collectively, the proposed amendments detailed above would weaken the development’s visual contribution to the Route 5 corridor, reduce the extent of previous quality assurances, and increase impacts on the adjacent neighborhood.”

Commercial development exists on the other three corners of the intersection (a medical office sits next to the former Walgreens to the north; a Food Lion, bank and other shops sit across Strath Road from the site; and a Valero gas station is located on the northwest corner of the intersection. But the site in question also is surrounded by homes, including the Presquile subdivision.

– Citizen Editor Tom Lappas contributed to this article