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Friends and Supporters,
Henrico is updating its comprehensive plan, the guiding document for how they intend to grow and addresses land use, transportation, housing, and environmental issues. Initial public comments and feedback are available to view on the project website, and overwhelmingly supported preserving rural and open areas, providing more and safer bike and pedestrian infrastructure, addressing the need for affordable housing, and infill development and revitalization in older communities.
Opportunity to Weigh in:
The County is now asking for more comments from the public, here’s how you can have a say on Henrico’s future:
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An interactive map that allows residents and stakeholders to submit comments about specific locations within the County
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Meeting in a Box - A new tool that allows community groups to meet on their own terms without planning officials to discuss the County’s future growth, challenges, and opportunities for the new comprehensive plan which can then be submitted to the planning department
This update to Henrico’s Comprehensive Plan is critically important and will determine if Henrico goes the direction of Northern Virginia sprawl and traffic or adopts a more sustainable direction. So, we hope you will weigh in today and will consider supporting a smart growth future with less auto-dependent sprawl, and more walkable, inclusive, and transit-accessible communities.
Use the links above to weigh in. You can also send emails with your thoughts to planning@henrico.us.
Our Vision:
Our vision for a sustainable future for Henrico is one which revitalizes aging and declining older, inner suburban neighborhoods, and converts old strip commercial development and parking lots into vibrant, walkable, communities with frequent transit along major arterial roads, while preserving scenic, historic, and environmental resources, including farms, forests, and streams, particularly along the historic Route 5 corridor. Our specific recommendations are:
Land Use
- Prioritize revitalization and infill development of the County’s inner suburbs and encourage transit-oriented development along existing corridors such as Broad Street, Staples Mill Road, Williamsburg Road, and Mechanicsville Turnpike.
- Protect rural areas, greenspace and sensitive environmental areas. Fifty-one percent (51%) of respondents from the first round of community engagement identified preserving open space and sensitive environmental areas as one of the top priority planning topics! Henrico, particularly in the Varina area, has huge potential for agribusiness, agritourism, and historic and recreational tourism that would provide sustainable economic investment while reducing taxpayer funded infrastructure costs.
- Encourage a mix of land uses for future developments in infill locations including along commercial corridors, that will enhance economic vitality, attract the next generation workforce, increase property values, and provide opportunities for increased walking and bicycling
- Create a Small Area Plan for the Varina community that allows for modest growth in a historic town configuration, while ensuring rural conservation in the surrounding areas.
- The County should discourage ‘leapfrog’ development that is disconnected from existing communities, retail, and services, increases driving and traffic, and is more costly in terms of public infrastructure.
Transportation
- Create frequent bus corridors with dedicated lanes, including full bus rapid transit, along the county’s existing commercial arterial roads, and tie to mixed-use, walkable development and retrofitted local street grids.
- Provide more convenient and safe pedestrian and bicycling facilities/infrastructure, such as wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and curb bump-outs, throughout the County. Multi-modal transportation should ensure connectivity between pedestrian, bike, transit, and road facilities.
- Support the expansion of GRTC’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), including a western expansion towards Short Pump, a north-south route along Route 1, service on Staples Mill Road, Mechanicsville Turnpike, and Williamsburg Road.
- Reduce car dependency by adding more frequent bus service – every 15 minutes or better – on more routes, and ensure that it connects where it’s needed.
Housing
The community expects to set a standard of affordable housing within developments for developers to uphold. The comprehensive plan should include a chapter or section dedicated to housing availability and affordability with strategies to address issues and challenges in this comprehensive plan update and to identify specific implementation measures.
- Set numeric Goals and Targets
- Target level for the percentage of area median income (AMI)
- Geographic locations
- Size of units
- Affordability period
- Policies
- Creation, funding goals, and purposes of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund
- Adoption of a policy for public land for affordable housing opportunities – using county facilities like community centers and fire stations, but not parks
- Inclusionary zoning for new development, setting density bonus levels and goals for percentage of units and income levels
- Rent Supplement program
- Funding for Legal Support for Eviction Defense
- Create a Housing Commission
Thank you for your interest in helping to shape the future of our region!
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