Henrico Planning Commission to consider Church Road townhouse development, Willow Lawn-area residential complex
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A developer has proposed to build 41 townhomes on the north side of Church Road, west of its intersection with John Rolfe Parkway, in Henrico's Far West End, and the case is scheduled to be heard by the Henrico Planning Commission Nov. 14.
The land in question is 6.5 acres, and the development would leave space for a proposed “pocket park.” County planners have endorsed the proposal but written in a report that it needs to include more details, such as information about internal sidewalks, landscape, the buffer along the edge of the community, parking, and protective covenants. They also have encouraged the developer to include two smaller parcels to the west or set out plans to add them in the future. Staffers have recommended the case be deferred to allow more time to add this information.
The commission’s agenda also includes a request, deferred from October, to revise a 2022 proposal for an eight-story building on Augusta Avenue, between Willow Lawn and Staples Mill Road.
The original proposal included commercial space on the first floor, but the developer is now proposing four additional residential units, as well as an increase to the overall building’s height and reducing the space between the building and surrounding sidewalks. Planning staffers are concerned about the height change and the precedent of removing the commercial uses, and so they have recommended another deferral.
Other proposals scheduled on the commission’s agenda include:
• A proposed Sheetz on the north side West Broad between Pine Grove Drive and Hollybrook Avenue that was deferred from the October agenda. Planning staffers have recommended denial even though the plans were revised, due to the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods.
• A truck rental and maintenance facility in Fairfield at the intersection of Mechanicsville Turnpike (U.S. 360) and St. Claire Lane. Planning staff members have recommended approval with some changes to how trucks would enter the facility.
• A flex office and warehouse facility in the Varina District, at the west end of Portugee Place, the east side of the Richmond Airport and near I-295. Planning staffers have recommended deferral so the developer can provide more information.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room at the Western Government Center, 4301 East Parham Road and is open to the public. It also will be streamed live online.
