Board wants more review on Courthouse Road Plan
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Once approved, the Northern Courthouse Road Plan will be used as a guideline for the type of development that will be allowed in the corridor. The plan area stretches from just south of Midlothian Turnpike to Hull Street Road.

The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors has sent the much studied Northern Courthouse Road Plan back to the Planning Commission for 90 days of additional study on traffic safety, land use, the Moody tract and alternatives for a loop road. The comprehensive plan covers Courthouse Road from just south of Midlothian Turnpike to Hull Street Road and has been under review since July 2003.

Both sides in the land use debate have charged politics is at play. Many residents in the plan area don't want increased commercial development, saying it will increase road congestion and create more traffic safety problems on the road that has four to six lanes. Business leaders, property owners fronting on Courthouse, and the Planning Department are calling for more retail and business uses because of an abundance of agricultural zoning on the divided highway.

Clover Hill Supervisor Art Warren and Midlothian Supervisor Don Sowder pushed for at least a 90-day delay so the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) could study the area again, this time including the intersection of Courthouse and Midlothian Turnpike which is slightly north of the plan area. They called the traffic corridor "dangerous," which was disputed by County Administrator Lane Ramsey.

VDOT Resident Engineer Dale Totten said another study was unlikely to report anything new. He acknowledged that accidents there are higher than average statewide, but added that a "high frequency of accidents is largely inaccurate." The VDOT study blamed most of the accidents on "driver inattention."

The 90-day review could push a board decision to next year when at least two new board members would be voting on the issue, and the review could be extended for more than 90 days. Planning Commission Chair Dan Gecker has predicted the current board will likely add more commercial development if it decides the matter this year.

During a recent public hearing, several residents complained that the land use plan revision is taking too long. The plan area includes some areas that haven't been updated for over 20 years.

Matoaca Supervisor Renny Humphrey wanted to know why the plan sent to the board by the commission didn't include the Planning Department's recommendations and why it required property owners to combine parcels to develop their land commercially. "Where else in the county do we do that?" she asked.

Many of the changes to the Planning Department's initial draft of the plan were made by Clover Hill Planning Commissioner Russ Gulley. Almost all of the plan area is in his district.

The plan includes 81 acres known as the Moody tract, located south of Midlothian Turnpike in the Midlothian District, which is privately-held open space. The state has set aside the land for conservation because it has historical significance. However, if the state allows the Moody tract to be sold, planners want it to be zoned for commercial mixed-use and office/residential.