Courthouse Road to get less intensive development
Board sides with residents and against staff and business community
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Portions of Courthouse Road frequently back up from heavy traffic, especially during rush hour.

The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously for the planning commission's version of the Northern Courthouse Road Plan, which will govern development along the roadway between Midlothian Turnpike and Hull Street Road. A previous version by the planning staff recommended 137 more acres of higher density zoning than the commission majority wanted.

Following the presentation by Senior Planner Steve Haasch, assuming a more advocate role, Planning Director Kirk Turner pitched the staff's version to a skeptical board. Most of the speakers during the public hearing and the business community wanted more retail and office development without having to aggregate parcels of land fronting on Courthouse Road. Years ago when the road was widened, many homes fronting on Courthouse Road lost part of their front yards, and those homes have mostly become rentals or vacant.

"Owners can't sell their homes, and property values will decline," predicted Turner.

"Aggregating land [for development] shows an agenda," said Jim Theobald, a development attorney who acknowledged he represents a site at the Reams Road intersection owned by 7-Eleven stores.

But Chairman Art Warren wasn't buying the argument for more retail and business. "There are plenty of existing business vacancies on Midlothian Turnpike that indicate additional ones aren't needed," he responded.

"You could argue for the staff's version if the [Courthouse Road] corridor was blank, but it is not," said Vice Chairman Dan Gecker.

Residents supported the commission version, saying Courthouse Road is congested already and driving there is "dangerous." Though Dale Totten, Chesterfield's residency engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation, and John McCracken, Chesterfield's transportation director, were present, neither was asked about the road's safety.

A representative of the 81-acre Moody Tract south of Midlothian Turnpike urged the board to adopt the staff's version that might allow the open space to be sold later for development. In 1976, the land was donated to the state by Mary Moody Northern. In the staff's version, Southlake Boulevard could be extended as a loop road through the property, which most residents seemed to oppose.

"The easement for the Moody Tract should not be violated," said resident Linda Pappas during the public hearing.

Assessments

During the public comment period, Beckenham resident Anthony Green asked the board "to set aside" the recent county property assessments "because the process is seriously flawed." Though current residential reevaluations showed an average increase of 11 percent based on 2006 values, he believes property values in the county have declined.

According to Jonathan Davis, director of the Real Estate Assessor's Office, the board does not have the legal authority to do that.