Developments near Ashland stir concerns

Four developments totaling more than 1,300 residential units and at least 850,000 square feet of commercial space could dramatically alter the landscape of Ashland's fringes.

But some Hanover County residents worry that their rural community is on the verge of becoming congested, overdeveloped and indistinguishable from other suburban areas.

The state Route 54 corridor that lies east of Interstate 95 is ripe for development. There's one residential community under construction, Woodside Estates, which will have 158 homes. Farther east, Hickory Hill has been approved for 277 homes, but no work has begun.

Developers for the county's first mixed-use project, Providence Creek, await the green light from the Board of Supervisors this month.

Lastly, there's East Ashland, a controversial development that would be inside and outside Ashland's town limits. It would include residential spaces, two hotels, restaurants and a retail shopping center. Though the town approved its plans for East Ashland, county officials say they don't yet have an application.

Mitchell Bode, project manager for Wilton Development Company, East Ashland's developer, said they plan to present an application to the county by May 1.

Residents who live in the area worry that their community is changing too quickly and without enough thought about traffic and the impact on current residents.

Russell Buchanan lives on Mount Hermon Road, near where East Ashland would be built. He anticipates that the Route 54-Interstate 95 interchange will become insufficient to handle the increased traffic. He said the same thing happened at the Atlee/Elmont interchange before a new interchange was constructed in 1999.

"History is going to repeat itself," he said. "Despite the best efforts of our elected officials, we always end up with the cart before the horse."

Martha Wingfield lives along Route 54 east of the developments. She said she drives through that area daily to get to Ashland and elsewhere.

"I know this area is going to develop, but does this kind of density make sense?" she asked, comparing East Ashland and Providence Creek with Short Pump's West Broad Village, all mixed-use communities.

The idea behind mixed-use areas is that you can walk to destinations, Wingfield said, but she still would have to drive between East Ashland and Providence Creek because of the distance between the communities and the traffic on Route 54.She said county officials need to find a way to connect those communities, but "I'd hate for the solution to be what they did on West Broad Street -- 10 lanes wide, straight and fast."

David Maloney, Hanover's deputy planning director, said the area around the interchange is part of the county's suburban service area, which means it's designated to have public utilities in the future. Being in the service district also makes the area a target for growth.

He emphasized, however, that "the eastern edge of what would be East Ashland and the Providence Creek project really form the extent of development that we would expect along [Route] 54 in accordance with our . . . comprehensive plan."

George E. "Ed" Via III, vice chairman and Ashland District representative on the Hanover Board of Supervisors, said the town and the county are working together to make the East Ashland project, especially, fit into the vision of both jurisdictions.

"It's not going to be the same feeling that's in the existing town," Via said. He said county and town officials are working with the developer to create a town atmosphere, with a gridlike street pattern that resembles Ashland, rather then cul-de-sacs.

"I think it's going to come together well," he said.

Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or .