New Urbanism proposal in Hanover raises old issues

One of the defining principles of new urbanism is that its design should celebrate local history.

Providence Creek, a proposed 64-acre development off state Route 54 just east of Interstate 95, would cut off access to a historic Hanover County community.

The development would result in the closing of nearby Providence Church Road at state Route 54 -- a move that would seal off direct access to Providence Baptist Church.

The original church was built in 1880 on land donated by Lucy Penn Taylor Wickham from her family's plantation. An educated former slave, Andrew Moore, was its first preacher. Descendants of slaves populate its congregation.

Church member Jean Folly, 75, has lived most of her life on the Providence Church Road property purchased by her family after emancipation. Her great, great grandmother was a house slave for the Wickhams.

"It kind of caught us off guard," Folly said of plans to close the road. "I'm beginning to wonder if it's simply because the church wasn't even considered."

Providence Creek would contain 80 single-family homes, 90 town houses and 58 loft-style apartments or condominiums along with 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial space -- a smaller version of West Broad Village.

The price range of the housing -- from the mid-$200s for town homes to up to $500,000 for a single-family home -- doesn't suggest new urbanism-style diversity. And if jobs and mass transit aren't available in Providence Creek, it will become yet another commuter community instead of an eco-friendly hamlet.

Providence Creek would be built just east of the corporate limits of Ashland, a pedestrian-friendly railroad town that embodies old-school urbanism.

Ashland was unsuccessful in warding off the encroachment of Wal-Mart in a high-profile battle that was the subject of a PBS documentary. Kay Landry, co-owner of Ashland Coffee & Tea, sees another potential fight brewing over Providence Creek. She's unhappy with its proposed density and said its commercial focus would threaten an already shaky Ashland retail core.

"It appears to me a closed community is set up so you don't have to go out of your neighborhood and support your town," she said. "There are too many small towns that have been wiped out because of the development around them." (Anyone recall the old Short Pump community?)

"I would think a lot of folks would like to keep the face of small-town America alive," she said. "I'm sure they're not happy about it either."

Folly isn't opposed to Providence Creek but wonders why it can't be built without closing Providence Church Road. Under the current plan, church members and residents would have to drive through adjacent Woodside Road and the new development.

"This road has been here for ages and ages," she said of Providence Church.

So had her old church, before its condition became unsalvageable and it had to be demolished in 2007. Members are worshiping in the church's fellowship hall as a new sanctuary nears completion at the site of the old one. Nearby sits the old one-room Wickham schoolhouse, a slice of rural Americana that may become easier to miss.

Hanover can follow Henrico and Chesterfield in pursuit of fake urbanism. Or it can embrace realism by preserving its history instead of sealing it off.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .