Proposed shopping center raises concerns
BY Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Edens & Avant and Reynolds Real Estate Ventures LLC propose to build a 200,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a grocery store at the intersection of Midlothian Turnpike and Charter Colony Parkway. Some citizens question if the center is needed, since it will require the destruction of wetlands.

A proposed 48-acre shopping center is raising concerns about how much, what type and where retail should locate in the Village of Midlothian. Edens & Avant (E & A) and Reynolds Real Estate Ventures LLC propose to build a 200,000square-foot shopping center anchored by a grocery store at the intersection of Midlothian Turnpike and Charter Colony Parkway.

"There is already retail and vacant retail in Midlothian. What's the economic payback to the county that justifies the destruction of an environmental resource?" asked Midlothian Planning Commissioner Dan Gecker at a community meeting last Wednesday to discuss E & A's proposal. "If you put in another grocery store, you won't have more net dollars spent on groceries."

"The property is already zoned commercial, so the question is: What kind of commercial [property] should go there?" responded Dan Sloan, an attorney for McGuireWoods representing the developers.

The land was zoned commercial years ago, and the current site plan requires eliminating eight acres of wetlands in order to layout the center as proposed. The developers need to get wetlands disturbance permits separately from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state's Department of Environmental Quality. To mitigate the wetlands replacement, the developers would have to purchase 16 acres offsite for wetlands. Those wetlands are likely to be outside of Chesterfield County.

The area's leading grocery chains-Ukrop's, Food Lion and Kroger-already have locations in the immediate area. One company official said the anchor prospects would include health food stores, boutique grocery stores and possibly a warehouse store with groceries.

The actual size of the center "will be determined by traffic counts [on nearby roads] and the number of parking spaces required," Sloan said. To aid water runoff, the developer will build underground water storage tanks beneath the parking lot to capture the runoff and release it more slowly into areas of vegetation. Most of the site drains to the James River.

About 35 percent of the center would remain wetlands and open space. There will be at least a 50-foot landscaped buffer around the site.

Last year, E & A bought half of the site from Reynolds. Earlier, Reynolds donated land from its larger property for Midlothian High School and John Tyler Community College. In 2002, it sold 525 acres of the land to HHHunt, which developed Charter Colony.

E&A is a privately held company that owns and operates 200 shopping centers, including 21 in Virginia.