We are joining with Henrico County conservation leaders, the Route 5 Coalition, and other local advocates in urging the county to deny the project. Our reasons are as follows:
- The county is currently reviewing and updating its Comprehensive Plan and this project is jumping ahead of that process.
- The number of units is 60% higher than permitted by the current Comprehensive Plan, which itself went beyond what many local residents wanted to see for this rural and historic corridor. It is also nearly four times what is permitted by the current Agricultural Zoning.
- The county has never completed the Small Area Plan for Varina that was called for in the last Comprehensive Plan and is not addressing the preservation goals and strategies in the Route 5 Corridor Plan.
- The significant increase in zoning and conversion of a large farm about 7 miles from downtown will create a precedent for levels of growth that would lead the county to convert scenic Route 5 into a four-lane, divided highway, forcing potential closures and reconstruction of the Capital Trail, as well as degrading the cycling experience and tourism value of the trail.