TD Previews Henrico's Comprehensive Plan

As a prelude to this evening's public hearing on the draft Vision 2026 Comprehensive Plan for Henrico, the Times-Dispatch provides a bit of a preview of one of the core issues confronting the region:

From the edge of Richmond to Short Pump, there are 110 acres of buildings but 1,440 acres of parking lots along West Broad Street in Henrico County.

That shows how space in already-developed areas of the county is not being used to its fullest potential, said Sheila Sheppard, coordinator of the Richmond-based Partnership for Smarter Growth.

"Given our current economic climate, to continue to sprawl outward is extremely costly. We can barely afford to fix our current roads, so expanding into new communities isn't something we can really afford right now," Sheppard said.

Sheppard has been working with Henrico residents concerned about the impact of a proposed land-use plan on the county's remaining farmland and open space and on their quality of life.

"We're concerned the plan opens up a vast amount of acreage in historically rural Varina to growth," Sheppard said.

Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson disagrees with that assessment. He said only 7 percent, or about 5,000 acres, in the eastern end of Henrico is designated for more intense land uses.

The way I read the above exchange, Henrico's planning director may be competent but he's about a decade or two behind the times. I've leafed through the draft plan. It's a reasonable planning document. If this was 1983.

One reality facing Henrico is an aging infrastructure. Another is a slowing economy. A third is a rapidly shifting demographic tide. Business as usual is not going to cut it in Henrico, and the draft Comprehensive Plan is nothing but a business as usual document.

There was another telling quote from the county's planning director in the TD article:

"Unfortunately, you don't hear from a lot of people until development occurs right next door to them," Emerson said.

That's particularly true when your planning and development process take place behind closed doors with minimal public dialogue. It's a shame no one has taken the Dover Kohl/Rachel Flynn approach to public engagement since Richmond's Downtown Master Plan was (sort of) put to bed.