Henrico supervisors approve controversial Arcadia development in Varina

Following nearly four hours of comments and discussion, the Henrico Board of Supervisors unanimously approved rezoning plans for a proposed 253.7-acre community in Varina to be known as Arcadia.

For weeks, the proposal had stirred much debate in the community, prompting citizens to rehash a discussion that is an ever-present reckoning in Varina: to develop or not develop? Opponents of the development cited its location (at Pocahontas Parkway and Route 5, just across from the Varina Area Library in the heart of Varina) as one unfit for a large residential community that could approach 1,000 homes in total. Proponents cited the need for housing – and late commitments by developer East West Communities to reduce the total number of planned homes and to build at least 20 affordable housing units – as positive elements.

Nearly 30 people addressed the board in person and remotely during the meeting, many making impassioned pleas for the board to deny the proposal to rezone the land from agricultural to residential but several arguing in favor of the plan.

In the end, Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson told them that he was struggling with what to do, because although he empathized with those who preferred to see the land remain in its natural state, he also respected the rights of the land owners, farmer Bill Nelson (no relation to the supervisor) and his family.

He conceded that he had considered whether recommending approval of the case ultimately could jeopardize his ability to win re-election in November.

“If a decision that I make alters my further service, can I be ok with myself?” Nelson asked. “And the answer is yes I can.”

He said he’d considered suggesting a deferment of the case but decided that it would merely lead to another four- or five-hour period of public comment in two weeks, with pleas from many of the same people who spoke Tuesday.

“If I defer this case, for what? What is going to change?” he asked.

Nelson told those in attendance that attempting to balance the desires of a huge district (the Varina District is one of five districts in the county but has about half of Henrico’s land mass) with a wide variety of characteristics – from urban to rural to suburban – was an impossible task.

But before making the motion to endorse the proposal, he reminded citizens that the county’s purchase of the Wilton Farm site deeper in Varina several years ago took some 3,200 planned residences off the books there, while a more recent residential proposal (The Ridings) fell apart last year and now is unlikely ever to produce the 600-plus homes it once might have.

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Arcadia's developers originally had proposed as many as 1,000 total residences (a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums), but this week, they amended that proposal downward to request the right to build 500 total homes west of Willson Road and no more than 295 east of Willson Road – but with the caveat that none of those latter residences would be built before Jan. 24, 2030.

The western half, to be known as Arcadia West, would feature two entrances to Willson Road. Arcadia East also would have an entrance to Willson Road but none onto Route 5 (another late change that developers said was designed to reflect community desires. No more than 50 homes could be built in that section until the construction of a second point of entry, which would require the developers to acquire additional land, according to Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson.

Arcadia West would be centered around a community center, while Arcadia East would fan out generally around a central park. In total, the two sections would feature a minimum of 84 acres of open community space.

The development was the first to be proposed, and approved, under a new zoning classification known as suburban residential mixed planned development district. The district is similar to the county's urban mixed-use classification, in that both require an overall master plan and a voluntary set of proffers (effectively specific promises from a developer) to be submitted initially.

Overall, the development could include as many as 500 total single-family townhomes and condominiums (with a cap of 192 on the latter) and no fewer than 295 detached single family homes, according to the developer's revised proffers.

The developer would set aside some land for the development of affordable housing units by a nonprofit partner, Maggie Walker Land Trust, and would contribute more than $500,000 in total value toward that effort, Emerson said. Those homes would be developed during the Arcadia West phase.

“Our region needs more housing of all types, in all locations, at all price points,” said Maggie Walker Land Trust CEO Erica Sims. “For my organization, this project represents the first time a private developer will donate properties for our affordable Henrico home-ownership program.”

The 20 affordable homes to be built on the site would sell for about $200,000 apiece, according to today’s numbers.

“There are no quality homes in Henrico selling at that price point, and there haven’t been in a long time,” Sims said.

Even at its original proposed level of 1,000 residences, the development was anticipated only to yield a maximum of 588 elementary, middle and high school students – totals that Emerson said easily could be accommodated by Mehfoud and Varina elementary schools (which combined are at just 45% capacity), Rolfe Middle School (which is at 55% capacity) and Varina High School (67% capacity).

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Comments from the public about the proposal ranged from staunch opposition to strong support. Opponents gathered more than 900 signatures on a petition, and those who spoke in opposition Tuesday night often reflected the thoughts expressed by one man who addressed the board virtually.

"This proposed development of Arcadia is sort of the first step of turning Varina into a Short Pump," he said, suggesting that dense development was better suited for a more urban part of the district like Rocketts Landing on the city-county line. Building a large community deeper in the rural part of the district, he said, would require residents to rely upon travel by personal vehicles at a time when, he suggested, the county should be encouraging more public transit or active transportation options instead.

But supporters of the plan often echoed the thoughts of a Sandston woman, who told the board that not only would the development bring needed housing to the region but ultimately "it will bring shopping. Sometimes we don’t want to drive to Short Pump every time we want to go shopping, someplace of value.”

Longtime Varina resident Vickie Dowdy Mullins, whose family has lived in the area for six generations, told supervisors that the county should focus first on improving conditions for existing residents before approving developments like Arcadia. She cited the low achievement ratings for Mehfoud and Varina elementaries, Rolfe Middle and Varina High, which coupled with their low student populations, "leads me to believe that maybe the reason that our school enrollment is down is because people are leaving, and they’re taking their children with them. So what makes us think that we’re going to get seven [hundred] or 800 families coming in here that want to put their children in our schools?”

Several speakers, like Lynn Wilson of Sandston, urged supervisors to delay a vote given that some of the revised proffers were not formally submitted until hours before Tuesday's meeting.

"To do a vote would be terribly unfair to a community that has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in shaping Varina," Wilson said. "We are the people who live in Varina today, and what we have to say and what our ideas are should matter.

Tyrone Nelson later said that although some proffers didn't formally arrive until late in the process, he felt well-informed about what they would be.

"I knew that we were still working on fine-tuning some things," he said. "I don’t feel like I don’t have the information."

Bill Nelson, whose family owns the land and has farmed it for years, told supervisors that when the family determined that it was time to sell the land several years ago, it worked diligently to identify a quality developer and provided it with the names of various Varina environmental groups and others with whom to discuss its plans, which he said it did on a number of occasions.

"I am the end of the line in my family [as a farmer]," Nelson said. "While farmland is nice to view, there is an increase in demand for homes in our community. I believe Arcadia is a well-planned community and it will be an asset to our county."