DEQ denies permit for Galleria
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has denied a permit for HMK to disrupt wetlands and streams to build Galleria Mall on a 160-acre site bounded by Powhite Parkway, Jahnke Road and Chippenham Parkway. The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors approved zoning for retail, office and residential on the site in 1992, but developer Jonathan Perel needs state and federal regulatory approval to change the wetlands.

On Jan. 20 this year, DEQ recommended to the state Water Control Board that HMK be allowed to fill in 3.5 acres of wetlands and 2,026 feet of stream channels. DEQ had also recommended that HMK mitigate its stream impact at Galleria by making improvements at the Mid-Lothian Mines Park in western Chesterfield. Following the Water Control Board rejection of DEQ's infill recommendation, 40 residents of Crestwood Farms and about six surrounding neighborhoods met last Wednesday to assess the decision.

"We have to keep mobilized and stay organized," said Crestwood Farms Vice President Ferd Sanderson of the Crestwood Farms Residents Association. On June 28 this year, about 114 people attended a public hearing on the development. Many of them opposed the Galleria Mall project.

HMK now has three options if it wants to continue pursuing the development: reapply, ask for a formal hearing before the Water Control Board or file suit.

HMK will also need permit approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.

"This site will be developed one day...within natural constraints," Midlothian Planning Commissioner Dan Gecker predicted. "The problem is the developer wouldn't tell us his plans."

A Crestwood Farms resident, Gecker helped organize the community's response to HMK,

which started him on the path to become a planning commissioner in 2000. He is now the Democratic candidate for supervisor from Midlothian District this November.

"Potentially, it could have become our Stony Point [Fashion Park]," said Beverly Rogers, assistant director for planning and special projects. But, most observers believe there are not enough major retailers now for a mall there.

To develop the site to its maximum potential, added Rogers, the zoning requires a connection to the Powhite Parkway, which would be expensive. "Limited development could occur by building a roadway off Jahnke Road," she said.