Roseland's outlook may not be all rosy
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The above watercolor rendering is what Roseland, a 1,395-acre mixed-use development at the intersection of Route 288 and Woolridge Road, might look like. As proposed, Roseland would create a mini-city with 5,140 homes and 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space at build-out.

The largest planned community ever proposed in Chesterfield County may be in jeopardy because it won't meet tough new phosphorus runoff standards now being recommended by the county's planning department.

"The .16 standard destroys Roseland," said Dave Anderson, a partner with the Roseland Development Company (RDC). "We can't meet it in our commercial area, and it's difficult in our residential area." He said RDC has written the supervisors notifying them the water standard cannot be met.

The county's proposed amendments now before the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors would set a standard of "no net increase in phosphorous runoff" from undeveloped land, and all new development would be required not to exceed .16 pounds of phosphorous runoff per acre annually - the amount of phosphorous that is estimated to be generated from undeveloped land. The planning commission recommended against the plan, saying the .16 standard is unattainable, particularly for commercial development.

Roseland, a proposed 1,395-acre mixed-use development with 5,140 homes and at least 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space, is seeking rezoning for the site at the intersection of Woolridge Road and Route 288. Roseland is not in the Upper Swift Creek Plan area, but all of the development would drain into the Swift Creek Reservoir, which supplies 25 percent of Chesterfield's water. The Roseland zoning case is expected to be deferred this week by the commission until October because the planning department wants more time for study.

County planners proposed the higher water runoff standards because the county is 4,000 pounds over its self-imposed phosphorous limit of 25,000 pounds annually when already approved zoning is built out. About 10 years ago, the county enacted an ordinance that requires developers to limit development to .22 pounds of phosphorous per acre per year for residential and .45 pounds for commercial development to keep the in-lake phosphorous level below .05 milligrams per liter.

The board last month deferred the controversial plan until its Oct. 10 meeting and also agreed to defer all rezoning cases impacting the reservoir until no earlier than its Oct. 24 meeting

Last month, County Administrator Jay Stegmaier endorsed the New Urbanism development, which encourages people to work, live and play in the same community and cited Roseland as an example for attracting "young professionals and empty-nesters." New Urbanism integrates uses within planned communities, reducing the need for driving.

The Upper Swift Creek Plan has been over four years in the making, delayed largely because of slow water quality data. The proposed plan also sets aside 4,900 acres as a deferred growth area - meaning no development can occur until sometime in the future. Some property owners in that area are strenuously objecting, saying the plan violates their property rights.

Anderson and RDC's President Casey Sowers have been tirelessly making presentations, explaining Roseland to just about every group who will listen. Last week, they met with members of Hands Across the Lake (HAL) and the Responsible Growth Alliance for Chesterfield.

"It's good for environmentalists and developers to be in the same room, talking to each other," Anderson told the group.

But while HAL leaders were sympathetic and generally supportive of Roseland's goals, Tom Pakurar called for "passing the watershed ordinance now with a sunset of 3-5 years. That will give us time to see how it's working."

"I don't know much about Roseland, but it certainly has merit," added HAL's co-chairman Betty Hunter Clapp. She and Pakurar liked RDC's sensitivity to water runoff issues.

HAL is considering recommending that Chesterfield "hire an outside expert to tie all the ingredients of good planning in the county together," said Clapp.

"We should be looking outside the county for advice," agreed Sowers.

Anderson said about 40 percent of the housing in Roseland would be multifamily with 11 different styles to choose from. "When the market has choices, people will choose Roseland," he predicted.