Young Henrico Scout holds supervisors accountable; new townhomes approved for Church Road

Emily Waterbury, a local Webelos Scout, came to the jan. 28 Henrico Board of Supervisors meeting with a mission.

Two years ago, she visited the board with her Troop as members worked on their Inside Government badge and spoke with Brookland Supervisor Dan Schmitt about getting a sidewalk installed to make it easier to reach her library.

Plans for that section of sidewalk now are well underway; it will run along Staples Mill Road and connect Glen Allen High School, the Glen Allen library, and the Richmond Mormon Temple.

“He told me that I had to bring it up again, and so here I am,” said Emily matter-of-factly to the amusement of the room.

“Great job!” responded Schmitt, adding that he wanted her to cut the ribbon when the sidewalk was completed. “One, I love that you remember that, and two, I don’t want you to let us forget that. That sidewalk’s coming.”

Schmitt then asked Public Works Director Terrell Hughes to provide her with an updated timetable for completion. A crosswalk recently been painted across Staples Mill Road as part of the project, Schmitt noted.

Also at the meeting, the board approved a townhome development on the north side of Church Road, west of its intersection with John Rolfe Parkway.

Main Street Homes will build 41 townhomes and a “pocket park” with benches and landscaping. The only entrance would be on Church Road, opposite Blandfield Street. The plan has been revised to move a block of townhomes on the west side to allow the possibility of extending the central road into the vacant property to the west, should it be developed.

Residents of the neighboring Keswick and Covey Run developments had expressed concerns that, with the only planned entrance located at Blandfield Street, drivers will cut through there and endanger pedestrians, as many already use Blandfield to bypass traffic lights at Pump Road and John Rolfe.

Traffic engineers from the Henrico Public Works Department held a public meeting to discuss options, though no plan has been finalized. One option would be to create a roundabout at the entrance to the development.

Additionally, the board approved a permanent outdoor seating area for Stella’s Grocery in the River Road II shopping center at the intersection of Huguenot Road and Kanawha Drive. This would be a patio capable of seating up to 18 people.