Henrico plans 20-acre community farm in Varina

Responding to longstanding interest from residents in town hall meetings, Henrico officials have approved plans to host a community farm on 20 acres of county land in Varina.

Discussion about the farm stemmed from approval of the East West Communities’ Arcadia development on Jan. 24, said Varina Supervisor Tyrone Nelson. Local advocates had called for a five- or 10-acre farm in the middle of the development, an idea that Nelson struggled with because of zoning and logistical challenges that he thought made it an inappropriate location.

“But I like that idea of the farming,” Nelson said. “So, you know, I spoke to the county manager,  and we came up with the idea of taking a property and creating a farm that could be farmed by Varina residents.”

The chosen site on the county's 1,051-acre Runnymede tract is ideal for the county as well, said County Manager John Vithoulkas. Henrico already contracts with farmers to prevent the surrounding county-owned land from going fallow, and the new community farm carves out a piece of that land, he said.

Although officials are unsure about what the next steps would be or how the 20 acres will be divided, they expect to set criteria and open applications for residents who want to farm their own plots of land, Vithoulkas said. Depending upon the amount of interest from residents during the application process, officials may consider adding more acres to the farm.

“If the community is serious about farming, then we're trying to create the avenue to get some of that going,” Nelson said.

The farm will operate as a co-operative that the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District will be involved with, Nelson said. Officials don’t expect this to be a high-cost project, and the soil and water department should have enough flexibility in its budget to easily support it, Vithoulkas said.

“We're not trying to make money off of this,” he said. “So it'd be a minimum or low costs, you know, we are just really trying to get people who don't have their own land the ability to farm and build some community that way.”

There also may be other partners outside of local government, including Henrico Extension, Nelson said. Additionally, the Henrico Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainability will be involved in the project, Nelson said.

It’s the first time the county has tried this kind of project, Vithoulkas said.

“I'm not sure many other local governments are doing some of the things that we're doing,” Nelson said. “So, I mean, I am excited about what this will become.”

Duron Chavis, a leader in urban farming and community activism, praised Henrico officials for using their surplus property to create opportunities for the community.

“The City of Richmond has had a community garden program for several years,” Chavis said. “It’s very promising to see surrounding localities embrace the opportunity to use some of their land to drive increased access to healthy food and localization of food production.”

While Chavis encourages integration of community farms into neighborhood developments, there isn’t just one way of successful implementation, he said. Simply having more farms is what’s important.

“We need more farms,” he said. “We saw COVID expose the fragility of our food system. So, irrespective of where they're located, I feel like it's a good thing to see more municipal governments engaging and using land as assets for agricultural purposes.”

Not everyone is thrilled with the way the farm concept came about, though.

"Unfortunately, after a five hour 'public hearing' in which the Board of Supervisors debated a plan notably different from what citizens were shown, and then – despite overwhelming public opposition – went ahead and rezoned hundreds of acres of farmland on Scenic Route 5; the inclusion of this community garden feels like delicious frosting on a toxic cake,” wrote Nicole Anderson Ellis, former chair and co-founder of the Route 5 Corridor Coalition in an email to the Citizen.