One step closer to another Costco
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

A proposal to add more retail, including a 160,000-square-foot Costco with a tire store and 453 apartments, was passed unanimously by the Chesterfield Planning Commission last week. New tenants on the 70-acre parcel just northwest of Chesterfield Towne Center would bolster retail near the mall as competition from the Watkins Centre is gearing up.

Continental Properties, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based development company, owns the site, but attorney John Easter declined to identify any other tenants in the 360,000-squarefoot plus center that will include Costco. According to county documents, prospects would include a bank and fast food restaurants.

The commission was particulary interested in the rezoning because the developer has to pay for the four-lane, divided extension of Mall Drive northward to its intersection with Robious and Cranbeck roads. Continental would also pay for traffic lights to be installed at Mall Drive's intersections with Koger Center Boulevard and Robious Road.

Transportation Director John Mc- Cracken said the extension would improve traffic flow near the mall. With traffic counts now reported at 52,000 vehicles daily on nearby Huguenot Road, it could delay a painful decision to widen that major road, which would impact many residential neighborhoods and some businesses.

Costco already has a Chesterfield location off Hull Street Road, just west of Courthouse Road, and another in Henrico's West End. Costco currently operates 339 warehouse locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Last year, the company said it planned to open 28-30 new warehouses during its 2006 fiscal year.

For the apartments, Continental will pay proffers of $6,750 for the first 370 units and $10,000 each for the remaining apartments. County staff expects those apartments will add another 240 students to county schools.

No to 360 townhouses

The commission unanimously denied a request to build 74 townhouses on Route 360 adjacent to Hampton Park. Commissioners wanted more information on the development, and didn't want to allow private roads within the 16-acre community. The county strongly prefers that developers build internal roads according to Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) specifications and then turn them over to the state for maintenance.

"Some community associations don't adequately fund their [internal] roads," said Matoaca Planning Commissioner Wayne Bass.

Mike Dzaman, managing member of Hull Street Associates, LLC said the VDOT-required 12-foot driveways are not esthetically pleasing for an upscale neighborhood when each townhouse is only 20 feet wide.

The developer agreed to a $15,600 proffer per unit. If the county board approves the rezoning, it would add another 39 children to Chesterfield schools.

No chickens

It looks like Gary and Luann List will have to give up their chickens or move out of the River Ridge community. In spite of it being a zoning violation, they kept chickens in their yard until a neighbor complained about the noise.

The commission unanimously followed the recommendation of the planning department in rejecting the conditional use permit request for the 1.9-acre site.

"You may consider chickens to be pets," explained Bass, "but 27 of them is quite a lot."