HMK sues over permit
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Developer Jonathan Perel continues to face hurdles in building a mixed use development bordered by Powhite and Chippenham parkways and Jahnke Road.

The developer who wants to build Galleria Mall on 160 acres near Powhite and Chippenham parkways is suing the State Water Control Board and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) after the board denied its permit to disturb wetlands to build the mixed use development.

In September, the board rejected DEQ's recommendations that HMK be allowed to fill in 3.5 acres of wetlands and 2,026 feet of stream channels, and offset environmental impact by making improvements at Mid-Lothian Mines Park in western Chesterfield.

"We have taken the steps to protect HMK's rights," said John Lain, a wetlands attorney from McGuireWoods. "The board's action was arbitrary, capricious and not in accordance with a permit application. There's no reason to deny the permit because it was valid and [exceeded] the mitigation [required]."

In its filing in Chesterfield Circuit Court, attorneys for HMK wrote that the Water Control Board "is a citizen board, composed primarily of individuals with little or no professional expertise in the area of environmental permitting," who disregarded "the professional expertise of staff from DEQ." The suit seeks a reversal of the board's denial and reimbursement of attorney's fees and court costs.

Asked if it was unusual for the board to go against a DEQ recommendation, DEQ spokesperson Bill Hayden said, "It's not unheard of, but it is unusual."

Should developer Jonathan Perel prevail in the suit, HMK will still need to get approval of water protection permits from the Army Corps of Engineers. Spokesman Patrick Bloodgood said, "The decision about a permit has not yet been made."

The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning for Galleria Mall in 1992, but to develop the site, HMK needs state and federal regulatory approval to change the wetlands. "It could have become our Stony Point [Fashion Park]," Beverly Rogers, Chesterfield's assistant director for planning and special projects, has said.

She believes the development, as first proposed, will require a major connection to the Powhite Parkway, which would be expensive. Less intensive development is possible with a road off Jahnke Road.

Asked if it was too late for the retail envisioned by the Galleria concept, Lain said, "That's an economic decision Mr. Perel would have to make."

Dan Gecker, one of the citizen organizers against the retail, office and residential redevelopment then and now Midlothian planning commissioner, said the argument offered by HMK was that "the Water Control Board doesn't have the expertise to make the decision. If that prevails, they might just as well do away with the board and let staff make all decisions. It's like saying that Chesterfield should do away with its planning commission and simply rely on the planning staff's recommendation [for rezonings]."