Chesterfield plans for renewed development

As Chesterfield County launches its first attempt to comprehensively shape countywide growth, the full force of decades of liberal development has yet to be felt.

With development slowed to a crawl in the recession, leaders have some breathing room to catch up in a community that long ago outgrew its roads and public facilities in many areas. But the cash-strapped county is finding it difficult to make progress on billions of dollars worth of improvements, despite favorable costs.

"A slowdown in growth does give us an opportunity to catch up," County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier said. "On the other hand, unlike previous slowdowns that I've experienced, this one is hitting our revenues unusually hard, which has made it difficult to play catch-up."

There are about 120,000 homes in Chesterfield. As the county develops, the number could soar to 227,000 under current land-use guidelines. The county population of about 314,000 could grow to 370,000 by 2020, the Planning Department has projected.

A 2003 growth analysis report served as a wake-up call for the county, revealing among other things that nearly half the land in the county was already zoned for development.

Marleen K. Durfee, the Matoaca District supervisor elected in 2007, says progress must be made sooner rather than later.

"I'm encouraged that we have this opportunity," she said. "We need to prioritize and strategically work toward serving the population that is being underserved and identify other areas of need."

As an example, Durfee pointed to the under-construction Swift Creek Reservoir causeway, where a half-mile stretch of Woolridge Road is being widened from two to four lanes and a new bridge built over a piece of the reservoir. It is the first of many phases of building significant road infrastructure in the fastest-growing part of the county, a link between Hull Street Road and state Route 288.

The county saved $2 million on the $10 million project by taking bids when the economy was down, Durfee said.

"We're getting the best prices we've seen for work in a long, long time," said county Planning Director Kirkland A. Turner.

But there's a long way to go. Chesterfield's current road needs amount to nearly $1.5 billion, said John McCracken, the county's transportation director.

He said he recently received word that the county would receive about $1.5 million for its secondary road budget from the Virginia Department of Transportation for fiscal 2010.

"That's about the same we had in the 1970s, and the road costs have probably at least doubled, if not quadrupled. There's just no way you're going to keep up under that scenario," McCracken said. "It's really impossible to do any true planning when that's the kind of revenue you're talking about. You really have no construction program -- that's what it boils down to."

Schools, too, are behind. Of 64 public schools in the county, 27 are above student capacity and 27 are more than 40 years old. In western Chesterfield, there also is a growing need for fire and police stations.

As the county struggles to make up ground in the short term, it is launching the first detailed countywide plan for growth, with an emphasis on providing infrastructure with development, rather than behind it.

The process, to be conducted over the next 18 months, will be led by a 32-member steering committee working with the public and planners. The comprehensive plan would replace the current 21 individual area plans.

One of the many goals of the new document will be to establish countywide levels of service for schools, roads, fire departments and libraries. The levels will limit growth based on infrastructure already available.

Another focus, Stegmaier said, will be encouraging economic development to help diversify the tax base and create revenue for infrastructure.

"We don't want the future to look like the past," he said. "If we're willing to exercise a little bit more control over our future, we can, for example, create a tighter connection between residential growth and job growth, which by itself will facilitate advancing infrastructure."

In the meantime, tighter controls on growth have been established by the Board of Supervisors, of which four members took office last year on promises to change the patterns of the past.

New projects have been focused in areas with existing infrastructure, and an effort has been made to prevent leapfrog development. Last year, Durfee led an effort that saw new land-use and watershed plans adopted for the county's most environmentally sensitive area, Upper Swift Creek.

Cash proffers -- money collected by the county from developers to mitigate the impact of development on public facilities -- are now the highest in the region, at $18,080 per home.

But last year also saw the largest development in county history approved. Roseland, in 10 to 20 years, will mean an additional 5,540 homes in northwest Chesterfield. The immediate fate of other giants such as Branner Station (4,988 homes) and Magnolia Green (3,550 homes) remains uncertain due to economic conditions, but there is little doubt the land will be developed in time.

"There will always be debate around growth," Durfee said, noting that stopping it entirely was not the answer. "We need to encourage growth that is prosperous to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the county."

Mike Harton, a resident and member of the comprehensive-plan steering committee, said Chesterfield appears headed in the right direction but needs to brace for development's resurgence.

"I think the county can accomplish a great deal in this time," he said. "It's just going to require a reshuffling of priorities. It's going to require citizens of the county pulling together and recognizing they can't be just concerned with their little corner of the world -- we're one county."

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .