Amended Henrico plan will keep Varina rural

Henrico County's path to the future will not follow Interstate 295 south all the way to the river with suburban development.

Supervisors unanimously voted tonight to adopt the 2026 Comprehensive Plan, with amendments to mollify concerns of Varina residents who want to keep their end of the county rural.

Varina Farm will remain a farm in 2026, instead of a Suburban Mixed Use development, according to the final version of the plan. The county also will retain separate designations for rural residential and prime agricultural land.

"What we did was sidestep a disaster," said Nicole Anderson Ellis, who has been a vocal proponent for open space as a member of Envision Henrico.

"It's not about who won or lost. It's not about who shouts the loudest," Varina Supervisor James B. Donati Jr. said. "It's a good example of our public democracy."

After the decision was final, Ellis said: "Sometimes when you voice public opinion, you've got to shout."

Gatewood Stoneman and members of her family, who own the 2,250-acre Varina Farm, had no comment.

As recommended by the county planning department, the board voted also to add agriculture to the list of county economic objectives, with rural keystone policies to include maintaining rural character.

Almost 23 percent of the Varina District is protected from development because of wetlands, floodplain, steep slopes, parkland and easements. Prime agricultural land increased by more than 4,000 acres from the 2010 plan, to include almost 20,000 acres. About 55,000 acres of the district's 81,000 acres are rural, agricultural or conserved.

The amount of open space required in two new zoning categories was increased to 15 percent in Suburban Mixed Use and 20 percent in Traditional Neighborhood Development.

Comments about the plan at the public hearing in June and by e-mails since then have focused on Varina Farm, which sits on the James River at the Varina-Enon Bridge. Tonight's meeting, however, did not have a public comment period, so the only discussion was by the supervisors.

Donati has been juggling the landowners' desire to change the farm's designation and the wishes of others to keep it agricultural.

Under the current agricultural designation, the property still could be divided into 1-acre lots if it were developed. Suburban Mixed Use would provide smaller lots and a business district but more community open space. Under either designation, any development still would have to go through the county zoning process.

Groups such as Envision Henrico, the Partnership for Smarter Growth, Scenic Virginia and the Varina Beautification Committee have favored keeping the land as open space.

"What citizens are asking for is to protect and preserve as much rural character as you can," said Leighton Powell, executive director of Scenic Virginia. "It's not following the citizens' wishes to make development such an easy option."

"I think the ideal is to find a situation where it's developed best for the family and for the community," Ellis said before the meeting. "There are lots of options available. Some kind of park would be fantastic" because of the site's ecological and historic importance, she said.

Conservation development options also are possible, Ellis said. "That what needs to be explored. I hope that is the next step in this dialogue."

Jack Nelson voiced a landowner's point of view at the previous public hearing, saying that his land is his retirement account but he can't cash it in if too many restrictions are placed on land use.

In other parts of the county, the land-use plan caused little comment.

"Not one person has said do it differently in Brookland District," Brookland Supervisor Richard W. Glover said.

Ellis, holding a "Farms not Sprawl" sign, said she and others will begin efforts to involve county residents more forcefully in planning matters, developing citizen input toward a plan and then voting on it.

"For us, it's been a whirlwind process where we were presented with a plan and then having to fight it."

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or kcalos@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.