Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

I want to, on behalf of my colleagues personally, welcome everyone to the Henrico County Board of Supervisors July 28th, 2026 meeting. Public comments will be given from the lectern in the back. For everyone who's watching the live stream of tonight's meeting on the county website, you can participate remotely in the public comment portion of the meeting. Speakers, you will see a timer located at the back dais. Once you begin speaking, the timer will begin. You will see a yellow light alerting you to the remaining time. Once the timer turns red, you'll hear a beeping sound letting you know that your time has expired. Speakers on WebEx, the timer will begin when you begin speaking. You will hear a beeping sound when your time has expired. Go to the Board of Supervisors webpage at henrico.us slash supervisors. Click on Guidance for the Board of Supervisors Meeting. Scroll down and click on the WebEx event. A moderator will let you know when it's your turn to speak. Thank you so much in advance. We will begin this evening. with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the invocation. We ask that you remain standing until the invocation has been given. And tonight our invocation will be given by Dr. Janetta Lee, Chaplain for the Henrico County Police Division. I pledge allegiance.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the gift of today and the 24 hours that you have given us and every minute in it. We thank you, Lord God, for how you have brought us thus far in this day. We ask you now, God, to bless this agenda. By your Holy Spirit, lead, guide, and direct all that is to be done today. We ask you to be with our leaders, touch their hearts, their minds, their souls, and their spirits. Give them the wisdom you know they need to execute the agenda and to carry out the duties that they are charged with. We pray, Lord God, for everyone who makes Henrico better for today and even greater for tomorrow. We ask your blessings as we move forward. In your holy name we pray, amen.

Colleagues, I will call for a motion to approve the regular and special meeting minutes from the Tuesday, June 23, 2026 regular and special meeting and the March 16 and 18, 2026 special meeting minutes.

Second.

It's been moved by Ms. Roundtree, seconded by Reverend Nelson. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed, the ayes have it. The minutes are approved. Mr. Manager, do you have any comments tonight? Mr. Chair, I have no comments this evening. Thank you, sir. Colleagues, do any of you have any comments tonight? Thank you so much. I see Liana Harvey from the Citizen. Thank you for being here, Hardy, for being here tonight. Mr. Manager.

Mr. Chair, as you begin this evening, we have a presentation for the Keep Henrico Land Lover and Clean Business Awards. This is a annual recognition for those of you that are attending a board meeting for the first time of the Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee Land Lover and Clean Business Awards. I'm gonna ask Bland Godden to come forward of the beautification subcommittee with the recognitions. Scott?

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, members of the community. My name is Bland Godden. I'm on the Beautification Subcommittee of Keep Enrique Beautiful, and it's a program with the Department of Public Utilities. The Keep Enrique Beautiful Committee is comprised of appointed volunteers from each managerial district. The committee educates the public about litter prevention, recycling, and caring for our environment. And I would like to introduce the members that are here tonight. Nicole Bridge is our chairperson. Would you stand up? Thank you. She is with the Three Chop District. Stewart Klayman. I believe you're with the Tuckahoe District? OK, got that right. Theresa Harris with Brooklyn District. And Lynn Urchak with Brooklyn.

Have I got everybody here? I think so. Thank you all for coming.

We present our Land Lover and Clean Business Awards annually. These awards are based on criteria set forth by the committee. The following individuals and businesses exemplify pride in their properties as well as a commitment to recycling. They employ best management practices for soil and water conservation and habitat protection. They are an asset to our community and these properties truly keep Henrico beautiful. The awards will be presented in alphabetical order by district and pictures of the properties will be shown on the screens before you. So at this time I would like to ask Mr. Daniel Schmidt to come forward to present the Land Lever Award for the Brooklyn District. The Land Lover Award for the Brooklyn District is presented to Lily and John Weber. Both certified master naturalists, Lily and John, have made a concerted effort to reduce the amount of non-native turf grass in their yard. They have planted swaths of native perennials, including milkweed, which has contributed to their designated monarch way station. Conservation of stormwater is also a priority with three rain barrels, including one that holds 250 gallons. And I bet they're full now. Their dedication is evident as you step onto the property and are surrounded by dozens of pollinators dropping in for a visit. So Lily and John, can you all come forward? All right, I would like to ask Mr. Roscoe Cooper to come forward and present the Land Lover Award for the Fairfield District. The Land Lover Award for the Fairfield District is presented to the Anthony family. As members of the Virginia Herpetological Society, they understand the important role that reptiles and amphibians play in our ecosystem. The Anthony family practices selective mowing and maintains area with natural brush to leave spaces for wildlife to thrive in their yard. Never once to forget our arthropods, the family also has a sizable pollinator garden full of native plants and do not use pesticides or herbicides in their yard. Their efforts have also earned their yard the title of Certified Wildlife Habitat from the National Wildlife Federation. Is the Anthony family here? And I hope you all are looking at these pictures of these places. They're just absolutely beautiful. I would like to ask Ms. Roundtree to come forward and present the Land Lover Award for the Three Chop District. The Land Lover Award for the Three Chop District is presented to Colleen M. Watson. Nominated by a previous Land Lover Award winner, Colleen has spent the last year reducing her lawn to make room for more sustainable options. Where she previously had grass, now there is a plethora of native trees, shrubs, and perennials. A whimsical frog spa is a standout feature of her garden. And not to speak for the frogs, but it's riveting. You can thank Megan for that.

Is Ms. Watson here?

Oh, Teresa. Teresa, would you come present this one? I'm sorry. I would like to ask Mr. Jody Rogish to come forward and present the Land Lover Award for the Tuckahoe District. The Land Lover Award for the Tuckahoe District is presented to Nancy Frawer. One thing you can be sure to notice about Nancy's yard is that she takes joy in caring for it. Her choices to insert sustainable practices into the landscape are beautiful and intentional. Distinct raised and in-ground beds full of native plants burst with color. Behind the scenes, the same is true. Nancy uses a no-till method of gardening to avoid disrupting the soil structure. And Nancy can't be with us tonight, so Stuart?

like to come, except you weren't claiming it.

So next, I would like to ask Mr. Tyrone Nelson to come forward and present the Land Lover Award for the Varina District. And to please remain for the Clean Business Award.

There you go.

The Land Lover Award for the Varina District is presented to Rob Whitehead and Cornelia Corbett. If you're a Purple Martin and you live in Varina, you might be on the waiting list to get a spot at Rob and Cornelia's house. Not only do you have special gourds to nest in, but you have ample bird baths and water features to take a drink. Native plants and artwork throughout the landscape make this a nice place for humans too. Rob and Cornelia, will you all come forward for your award? I would like to ask Mr. Nelson to present the Clean Business Award. The Clean Business Award for the county has been awarded to Fleur de Lis Farms. Don't put all your eggs in one basket is a timeless farmer saying that Fleur de Lis Farms has embraced wholeheartedly. Their sustainable practices encompass a variety of approaches. The Montgomery family ensures that pollinators on their farm have plenty of options by implementing a cover crop system that features flowers. Additionally, they safeguard their soil through a rotational grazing system and by composting garden waste. They effectively minimize runoff and conserve water by using drip irrigation techniques. They use solar power for much of their farm and solarize their weeds to avoid pesticides. And I just want to say, not only are John and Cappy fantastic stewards of their farm, but they have worked tirelessly bringing the Dory Park Farmer's Market to us in Eastern Henrico for many years, and participating as partners in our annual Plant-Navid Festival. Thank you for all you have done. These awards represent a commitment to keeping Henrico beautiful and a dedication to sustainability that this committee commends. We recognize all their hard work and thank them for being an example to other homes and businesses in the county. They deserve our recognition and applause. And before we leave, I have one final recognition. We would like to honor Lynn Yurchak for her dedicated years of service that span over 25 years. For many of these, Lynn has served as chairperson or vice chairperson of the committee. I have served on this committee with Lynn for many years. You have probably seen her at a Keep Henrico Beautiful table at an event in the county. She has always been the first to volunteer for whatever is needed and can be counted on to work hard and get the job done. I feel honored to recognize you, Lynn, for all of your service to this committee and to Henrico County.

Good evening, Mr. County Manager, Mr. Board. I wasn't expecting this tonight, so I'm a little caught off guard. But now, Mr. Schmidt, I guess you have no choice but to reappoint me for next year. So I will continue my good work. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, moving on to the agenda, the first item is an appointment. Agenda item 154-26 is a resolution for appointment of member to the J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College Board. This board paper appoints at large Jada E. Brooks to the J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College Board for a term that expires June 30, 2030. Mr. Chair?

All right, thank you so much. Is there a motion? I make the motion to accept that and to appoint Dr. Brooks. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Dr. Brooks is appointed. Can you come forward, Dr. Brooks?

Ms. Chair, with your indulgence, you move into your public hearing rezoning cases. You have three items on this portion of the agenda before you get into public hearing other items. First case before you is Agenda Item 97-26, the COVID Development Company, LLC, with a conditional rezoning request from A1 Agricultural District to R6C. General Residence District several parcels containing 9.9 acres located at the west line of Pouncey Track Road near its intersection with Kane Road. Ms. Casey applicant is proposing townhomes. Ms. Moore.

Thank you, Mr. Manager, members of the board. As stated, this request is to rezone 9.9 acres from A1 to R6C to allow up to 74 condominium units as part of the overall Bacova community. The site is located on the east line of Pouncey Track Road between Kane and North Gaten Road. This case was deferred from your May 12th and your June 9th public hearing at the applicant's request. And before you tonight, you receive revised proffers dated July 27th, changes of which I will touch upon in my presentation. So the 2026 comprehensive plan recommends suburban mixed use for the site and the surrounding area. And this designation encourages master plan communities with a mixture of residential types and an average gross density of up to four units per acre. The conceptual plan, let me rotate. The concept plan shows the proposed 74 units, and this would result in 7.44 units per acre on this property, on this site alone. So while higher than the SMX designation or recommendation, it would be below the maximum 12 units for townhomes allowed under the R6, and in the aggregate would bring the average gross density of about 4.91 units. for the community, Bacova community overall. So as shown, access would be provided from Pouncey Track Road, and the concept plan shows future connectivity to properties to the west. However, this connection would be contingent upon mutual agreement with the property owners of those properties, as noted on the concept plan and the revisions to Proctor 24. I will note right now on Proctor 24, On those proffers date at July 27th, we do have a correction that came in or revision that came in at 5.59 p.m. This simply states from the applicant that at least two stub road connections in total serving adjacent property to the west would be from as denoted as roads A and C here on the concept plans. Of the property shall be provided on the plans. The intended connection to the north has been struck and is no longer proposed. And that is for the record and that is for your deliberation or acceptance tonight. Additional features shown on the concept plan shows two pocket parks on the south, southern, and northern ends, landscape buffers around the entire site with additional landscaping and berms and fencing along Pouncey Trek Road, and this is consistent with more recent developments along Pouncey Track Road. There will also be sidewalks along one side of the streets throughout the development, in addition to a five-foot-wide sidewalk along Pouncey Track Road. Guest parking will be distributed throughout the development, and the units, just a note, also to be consistent with other developments that front Pouncey Track, or along Pouncey Track, but also front Pouncey Track. The applicant has committed to these elevations, which be similar. One revision that's occurred since your last board date is that the applicant has reduced the proposed square footage from a minimum of 1600 to a minimum of 1200 to add more variety and price points of the home within this community. In addition, I will note that the applicant has committed by letter to reserve a minimum of 20 units to be reserved for households with an annual median income between 80% and 120% in the Henrico area. The revised proffers further address that you've received, just to clarify the very minor nature of foundations, and as we noted, the recent change to proffer 24, eliminating connection to the property to Copa Village to the north. Overall, staff believes that the proposed development would be consistent with the area's SMX designation and would add a good variety of home options in the area. Staff believes this request could be strengthened by including the almost one acre parcel to the north here to allow more cohesive development. But overall, staff supports this request as proposed. And the Planning Commission recommended approval of this request after April 9th meeting. This concludes our presentation. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you have.

Thank you so much, Ms. Moore. Colleagues, Ms. Raunchy, do you want to start or anyone else?

So, yes, you all heard that correctly. I saw you looking at each other. We have heard your concerns about the road connection, and so we have taken that off. That connection will not be made because I hear you all saying that despite the connection perhaps making it easier to turn in. That is not something that you believe fits with your community. And so that will be honored. That request will be honored. Now, I'm going to hold you to it. I don't want to hear Henrico police saying that people are turning into this neighborhood illegally because that was a concern that we had about having that access point, perhaps eliminating that. So I'm going to take you all at your word that we're going to conform with traffic laws and not have that road there. But yes, that is something that I know a lot of you were here to speak on. I think 12 of you, if I'm not mistaken, were signed up to speak to that point specifically. So I'm certainly not going to cut off public comment if you have other thoughts about this project. But if that was the gist of what you were going to say, then you have been heard and that has been taken care of. I'll leave it at that for now until for a little bit furthermore. Yes, ma'am. Anyone else right now?

Mr. Chair, I just want to clarify one point on that. So Road F will not connect. Is that my understanding?

Yes, sir.

And just from my understanding, there would only be one ingress-egress into this community?

Yes, it would be right here from Pouncey Track Road. In the future, it would stub to potential to the west, and there is a Ongoing access to an existing residence of the minor family.

Gotcha. So 74 units is okay with one in-out in this scenario?

It's deemed to be, yes. We'll work that out at POD and subdivision. With this type of entrance, it's been done before.

Thank you. Reverend Elst, I see that you want to say something. Okay. Ms. Smith.

And if I say I'm only correct myself. So, um, up to 80 units, I think it's, it's the parameter to have the second.

Thank you.

So, um, if African like to speak right now, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, thank you for your time tonight. I am Jennifer Mullen on behalf of the applicant, Andy Conlon, is out of town this evening. With me tonight, I have Kate Lafayette, also with Roth Jackson, and Bob Babcock with the Bacova Development Company, as well as Andrew Browning, our engineer. Appreciate your time this evening and Ms. Moore's presentation. Is there a clicker available? Sorry. I'll just highlight a few key provisions. Ms. Moore did a very thorough presentation, but again, with the location, it is adjacent to Bacova Village, which is zoned RTH up in the top in orange, as well as Fry's Landing, which is zoned R5AC. You can see the blue arrow or the blue star is generally where this is located. It is identified in the comp plan, which Ms. Moore It's consistent with that designation, particularly based on it being part of the overall Bacova development, as you can see here, which is a larger development that includes multiple housing types, open spaces, recreation. And this property provides an additional housing type, again, with an affordable component, as Ms. Moore noted. Throughout the course of the discussions with neighbors and staff, the layout seen here, as noted, was revised not only to rearrange the layout So we created two pocket parks within the development with over four, about four and a half acres of open space, as well as orienting the units along Pouncey Track to front Pouncey Track. And then you can see there is a buffer along Pouncey Track Road that'll be planted at the transitional 35 foot buffer, as well as a transitional 10 foot buffer along the rear and the side of the development. That's all consistent with the overall Vukova community. The architecture of the units, as was noted, is high-quality materials on all sides. It has a minimum number of windows proffered, a maximum number of units per building proffered, no two buildings with the same front elevation. Sequence is also proffered, as well as the foundation plantings have been enhanced since the Planning Commission to require the entire front, rear, and side corners to be a minimum of four feet of foundation plantings designed to soften the corners and complement the architecture. which you can just see sort of a down view of the plantings there. The architectural layout, landscaping are all the same, but this development all includes, does include the restriction with respect to having affordable units within it. And that is again, making 80 to 120% of the area median income in Henrico with no difference in the units, except that the units would be restricted to require that affordability. and that number has increased from 10 to 20, and we would work with the Partnership for Housing Affordability to help identify those qualified buyers. Now, again, the proffers were ... I just want to highlight the proffers were modified for the cross-connection, but as was noted, we did remove the cross connection to the north, which is Road F, and struck that within the proffers. And as was noted with the parcel, I'm not sure if I can highlight, but the sort of missing tooth there on the right, we have tried to acquire that parcel, but the property owner is not willing to sell, but we did provide a stub to that parcel just in case it is ultimately developed to provide the overall cross connection that would be desired. In fact, if that is developed and cross access is agreed to with that property owner at the time. With that, I believe we have addressed the staff comments as well as hopefully the neighborhood concerns come before you with Planning Commission recommendation of approval and staff support. Respectfully would request your approval of this request. Be happy to answer any questions and would like to reserve any time for rebuttal as necessary.

Thank you so much. Well, this is a public hearing. If there are any persons present that would like to speak to this issue, please go to the back podium.

Good evening. Mr. Chairman, Vice Chair Roundtree, members of the board. My name is David Pezzenti. I reside at 12-101 Bingo Way in Bacova Village. And I'm the president of the Bacova Village Unit Owners Association speaking here tonight representing our association. I'm very pleased at the findings of your initial announcement. But I would like to mention something a little bit further because it has been a major concern to us and that is this minimum access requirement at our entrance. I would like to just mention that our board has been in extensive communication with VDOT for the past several months which they have primary responsibility over the maintenance of Poncey Track Road. And in researching the regulations of VDOT, we were informed that, sure enough, Bacova Village qualifies for full access, that they require a minimum of 270 feet to a major drive, and we have 290 feet. So we do qualify. So we're in the process now of trying to attempt or obtain a limited use permit from VDOT to alter our entrance so that we're able to go full access left and right, in and out. I want to thank you very much for your efforts. It's quite a rewarding evening. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is David Fetter. I live at 4837 Bacova Village Trail in Bacova Village. I want to give you four numbers from the county's own report. 486, the new weekday vehicle trips this project generates. 26 feet, the width of its private streets which the proffers exempt from county road standards for pavement widths and turning radii. 22, the guest parking spaces for 74 homes. 20 feet, the clear width a fire engine needs. Do the arithmetic. With the cars parked along 26-foot street, it does not work. And nothing in the record analyzes this, because police and fire filed no comments. Bacova Village's streets are the same kind, private, narrow, sidewalks one side, children walking to the pool and a bus stop If the connection on this concept plan is ever built, some meaningful share of those 486 daily trips will cut through our neighborhood on streets our homeowners pay to maintain that were never designed for through traffic. That is not planning. That is shifting a public burden onto private property. Please deny the application. Thank you.

Stephanie Seibert Good evening Mr. Chairman and members of the board. My name is Stephanie Seibert and I reside at 4841 Bacova Village Trail in Bacova Village. I am here as a former teacher and a 40 year resident of Henrico County. We are concerned with the developers numbers regarding the impact it will have on the schools in our area. A Colonial Trail Elementary 99.5 percent of functional capacity with a learning college already scheduled for next school year. Deep Run High School, 101.2 percent at or over capacity for years. This project alone is projected to add 24.5 students, and your staff report says plainly that this development and others in the three CHOP district will require more relief measures, redistricting, more learning colleges, cottages, and capital projects. Virginia law makes adequate schools one of the purposes for zoning to exist. The plan for this land recommends four units an acre, as you heard. The application asks for seven and a half with these children from this development funneled into two schools that are already full. This order of operations is wrong. We ask that you please develop the capacity first or size the project to the plan. Until then, please vote no. We appreciate the additions in terms of the revisions in terms of the proffers. Thank you.

Hey, good evening, and appreciate the time. My name is Rick Wenta. I'm also in the adjacent 55 community. You know, you've heard a lot about the density and the traffic and all that. You have a lot in front of you, and some of the notes I had, you've already heard, so no reason to be redundant. But on behalf of the community in front of me at the Bacova Village, we want to thank you for stopping the connection in our neighborhood. That is a big deal, and we appreciate it.

Good evening. I'm Marcy Barton. I'm a resident and board secretary. I also live in Bacova Village, on Bacova Village Place. I just have two short points. First one has to do with water. This site holds about three-quarters of an acre of wetlands, part of which will be impacted by this project. And it drains toward the neighborhoods around it. The planning staff report tells the applicant to analyze and minimize downstream drainage impacts, but nothing in the proffer that we were given earlier commits to more than the bare minimum. The people living downstream from these three ponds reside both in Fry's Landing and Bacova Village. The second and final point is our ask, of course. Bacova Village asks you to deny this application because, as you've heard, The density is nearly double the county's master plan. Averaging the density across an entire 400 family project, it just doesn't seem to make sense when you grab those folks and put them all in one area. The schools, as you heard, are full. And we thank you so much for the interconnectivity. that you've struck. We would like to know, though, however, if you choose to accept the proffer as it was changed at 5.59 this evening, that you would accept the proffer with the stipulation that no vehicular connection to Bokova Village may ever be constructed or shown on a plat without our association's written consent and recorded. We also were concerned, and it's unclear if this was changed also at 559 today, the affordable housing promise. Earlier today, it was in an unenforceable side letter. So if the project is approved, we'd like to see that it be made as a real proffer or set aside. We forwarded our petition, and we've had lots of conversation with you Ms. Rountree, and your office. We appreciate all that you've done for us. We thank you for your time, your consideration this evening, and all of your service to Enrico County. Thank you.

Sure. Hi, I'm Laura Fetter. I live at 4837 Pacova Village Trail. I'm asking the Henrico County Board of Supervisors to review pedestrian safety conditions on Ponce Track Road between Pacova Village, Kane Road, and Short Pump Middle School, and to consider adding safer pedestrian crossings or other traffic calming measures to this area. I want to bring to the attention of the Henrico County Board of Supervisors the pedestrian safety concerns I have observed while traveling on Ponce Track Road between Bacova Village and Short Pump Middle School. During the school year, when Short Pump Middle School dismisses, I have seen students try to cross Ponce Track to get home on the opposite side without any assistance to ensure their safety. During the summer, I have witnessed groups of middle school students, sometimes up to a dozen teenagers, trying to cross from Kane Road to the opposite side so they could reach the grass area and the pickleball courts. I am bringing this to your attention because there are no pedestrian crosswalks in this area where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. The new townhouse development documents I have reviewed do not appear to include improvements that would address pedestrian safety here. This issue is personal to me. More than 50 years ago, I ran across this road with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour and was hit by a car. I am fortunate to have survived and that experience is why I'm especially concerned when I see students trying to cross a 45 mile per hour road without safe pedestrian crossing. I respectfully ask the Board to prioritize the safety concern and work with the appropriate county departments to evaluate this stretch of Ponce Track Road for pedestrian crossing, signage, traffic calming measures, or other improvements that would help protect students, families, and residents. Taking action now could prevent a serious injury and make this safe area safer for everyone who lives, walks, drives, or attends school nearby. Thank you for your consideration.

Before you speak, is there anyone on WebEx?

There's no one to speak to this item.

Thank you so much.

Now you're fine. Hi, my name is Jennifer Lieberman. This speech is titled a cacophony of irritants that stumbles on the desecrated remains of the unheard. I first want to express my gratitude to the applicant who have repeatedly deferred this agenda item so that I am able to repeat the message that Ryko County hates old growth trees. But with that said, I want to further enamor my views on trees by merely referencing the destruction that happened in British Columbia and Northwest Territories within the past month. With that said, Henrico County has a rich history with so much life at play, whether it be animals like deer and foxes that have been pushed out as human existence has flourished, insects like lightning bugs or dragonflies that have been poisoned out of our circular view, or plants like flowering dogwood and white oaks that we have paved over so that the coppers of Henrico County can be maintained. As Henrico has grown specifically in the area that this proposal is in, a lot of similar family homes that are very similar to each other have gone up. While I do appreciate the density aspect of these developments, I have one huge concern. There's not a lot of plant life around. The only plant I see an abundance of is something like Kentucky bluegrass, which isn't useful for very much, save for holding poison and to keep it green and to keep insects away, which, if you did not know, can help bolster the power that a fire has, causing more damage over a short period of time. Furthermore, there are so many concerns when we get rid of all the plants that survived decades if not centuries, without human interaction. One is their ability to consume carbon dioxide, which we recently had a lot of in the area given the fires in Canada. Another is a tree's ability to slow down fires when you have a bunch of trees that are really old. A third point is their ability to hold on moisture, which in addition to helping reduce a fire's ability to grow, they are in tangent able to hold it in moisture that helps with droughts. Lastly, given that I've talked ad nauseum about so much regarding county governance and regarding the importance of environmental regulations, I have to wonder, is there some sort of disconnect between what the average Henrik Owen sees as important and the views of the overseers of the budget of this county? If for some reason, anyway.

Is there anyone else to like to speak this item? If not, this public hearing is closed. Colleagues, you can stay right there for a moment. Colleagues, any more questions for staff?

I just have one on the school side. This will add elementary school kids to Colonial Trail and If I understand, there's already a cottage planned. Is there room on site for another one, or would this be a redistribution? I mean, I know Cackley, it kind of borders Cackley Elementary, and Cackley has plenty of room. Well, I think it has plenty of room, but is there room on site for another cottage?

That's a question I can't answer. I don't know if anyone from schools is here this evening, but I can try to find follow-up on that.

Thank you. All right, Madam Applicant.

Thank you. Again, Jennifer Mullen with Roth Jackson. Appreciate the comments this evening. I will note just as part of the plan of development that we will be required to comply with all state code requirements with respect to stormwater regulations as well as any wetland mitigations that occur. You can see the wetlands are in the center to limit any disturbance of those. The affordable housing component will be a deed restriction, which I understand is the preference, and that would run with the land for 30 years. I'm not sure if I mentioned that previously. So that is a 30-year deed restriction with respect to affordability. And then as noted in the staff report, this is consistent with the comprehensive plan as the designation encourages master plan communities which is part of the kova community and this is part of that so that is why you're able to aggregate those numbers so again we'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have respectfully request your approval thank you so much miss roundtree

Good evening. My name is Robert Babcock. I am the applicant.

Mr. Babcock had a few sleepless nights over this project, huh?

Pardon me?

Had a few sleepless nights over this project, huh? Have you had a few sleepless nights over this project?

I'm sorry. I'm not. Okay. Oh, yes. Many, many, many.

Okay.

Thank you.

Well, I wanted to just call you to the podium because I have spoken with you a lot since you brought this project, the idea of this project to my attention. And I think that, you know, I was pretty clear with you from the very beginning about some of the concerns that I would have with a project located here with the density that you're proposing.

Yes.

And one of the things that you were adamant about and insistent upon coming into it was recognizing that you couldn't do a whole lot about the school piece necessarily. You could do something about the affordability aspect that you know is something that I have been hoping to bring to Three Chopped. since I took office. And so I just wanted to give you the opportunity to put on record because, again, this is, you know, when we talk about proffers, it's not something that there's a lot of contingencies or a lot of unknowns, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to go on record with what your intention is with being able to honor this commitment to the 20 homes in an affordable posture.

Yes, thank you, Misty, or... A few things. First of all, dating back sometime last fall when we first started speaking about this concept, you had expressed the concern of townhomes starting at $800,000. And with that, I keenly started to look into the Affordable Housing Trust. And with that, I dug deeper into many articles that have been published by the National Association of Home Builders, which the numbers are glaring. The first-time homebuyer is average age is 40 years old. And this is across the country. There are over 70 million Americans across the country that cannot afford a home in the above $300,000. So with all that, I, I kind of rethought things to your guidance and I do appreciate that very much because I've been working in Henrico County for about the better part of four decades now. And it was in the early 2000s that our industry made some very serious mistakes. It involved the subprime lending and meaning in the poor credit, anybody could qualify for a home. And so what that led to was, it's commonly known as McMansions or whatever. And so With that, I kind of took to heart. I really have. And I hope that we're able to vastly surpass the 20 units that are in the affordable housing range. You know, this is a, in my opinion, it's one of the nation's largest crisis. And if we don't address it as an industry, we're going to have some serious, you know, serious negative consequences. And we're beyond that time. And so, Supervisor Roundtree, I do appreciate your effort and your guidance towards this, towards the cost of providing for the affordable housing component. And I thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Babcock. And I didn't ask him to speak to thank me for that, but I did think it was important because this has been a journey for those of you, and I know that not everybody is 100% on board with this project because, you know, some people, there are some that just don't want anything anymore to be built in an already pretty congested area. off of Pouncey Tract. I live off of Pouncey Tract. I deal with this traffic every day with our speaker. My son goes to Short Pump Middle School, and I have had numerous conversations with him about crossing over Pouncey Tract Road when school gets out. He likes to go to that convenience store right across the street, and it is a dangerous road. And I certainly hear the concern that as we build more housing, if we put more housing on Pouncey Tract, that that gets exacerbated. Ironically enough, or coincidentally enough, I should say, we had during our work session today a presentation dealing explicitly with improving pedestrian safety, particularly around school zones and some of the things that we're looking at. And it ranges from structures, things like pedestrian hybrid beacons, where even on busy roads, and we're doing this on Three Chopped Road, which is a very busy road, where there's a signal that can be activated. It doesn't stay on all the time, but can be signaled. so that students or people can cross over and traffic will be stopped. We're also, you know, looking at speed cameras specifically in school zones. And so I hear the concerns and we hear the concerns all of the time about how to keep our kids safe in particular when school gets out and when they're going to school. So that is a legitimate concern. The density, it's interesting. Anytime we have a project, you hear folks that say, I hate this project because of the density. And then somebody else will stand up and say, I love this project because it's got density. And it really is a balancing act of trying to Make the right fit somebody said when the speaker said size the project, right? So this particular project compared to a lot of other projects that I've had in three chop This is a relatively relatively a small project compared to some of the other ones that have been proposed with hundreds of homes which have a I mean, I certainly have denied a project or more based on concerns about the school capacity issue. This one is certainly going to tax already crowded schools, but not to the extent that other projects that I have denied for that reason would. And candidly, if some of these units are two bedrooms, certainly don't negate the fact that because three chopped is a desirable district that you're gonna have some folks that move there regardless but my hope honestly would be that some of these homes would be for you know a young young couple starting out a young married couple that maybe doesn't have children and they're looking to get into that first starter home and can afford it and then as their situation improves and they have children they're looking for a bigger unit and can move up and then free this up for another starter home for perhaps somebody without kids so there I say that to say that there are we really worked this project and we met with folks I joke with mr. Babcock because you know I have given him a real tough time with this project because I wanted it to meet a lot of the concerns that I had about all of the things that have been raised here. But I do think that eliminating that connector road, which caused so much consternation for so many of you guys, thank you for your vocality about that. It really does help me make decisions when I know how strongly you all feel about that. So taking that out, making sure that we're locked in on the affordability aspect on it. I hear the concerns about the pedestrian safety. We will continue to look at that piece of it And I think that's mostly where we are with it. Again, relatively speaking for projects, I think this is the right size development for this. And, you know, this is a piece of the Bacova project, which is a much larger project. And I think it just makes sense compared to some of the other projects that I've had before me that I've had some issues with. So thank you for everything that, Mr. Babcock, you have done to make this project work. Thank you for the residents for speaking out about it. With that being said, is it appropriate for me to make the motion?

Before you make your motion, colleagues, anything you want to add? Ms. Rountree.

Mr. Chair, I move that we follow the recommendations of the Planning Commission and approve REZ 2025-103169, Bacova Development Company, LLC, with the revised proffers dated July 28, 2026. It's been moved by Ms. Rountree. Is there a second?

Second.

Second by Reverend Nelson. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. It's been approved.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, your next item on the agenda is from the Fairfield District. Agenda item 155-26 is Imago Dei School with a conditional rezoning request from M2 General Industrial District to R4C One Family Residence District on part of a parcel containing nearly 8.9 acres of located near the intersection of Dill Road and Vaughter Avenue. In this case, the applicant is proposing a private school. Ms. Moore.

Thank you again. As mentioned, this is a request to conditionally rezone approximately nine acres from M2 to R4C to allow a private school. The overall parcel is improved with Life Church RVA, the north campus. The proposed rezoning would eliminate unconditional industrial zoning and would be more consistent with the remainder of the site surrounding area including the Dillon Place and Brentwood subdivisions. There's also First Union Baptist Church and then the residential uses in the city of Richmond to the west. Shown before you is an unprofer conceptual plan, so it has not been proffered, which shows The proposed existing church is here and then currently the Imago school operates in the city of Richmond. However, they do plan and expand their operations to the subject site at the final build out. Initially, the proposed school would operate out of a modular classroom pending future expansion of the church with offices in the meantime and a gym within the church that they would use. proposed module classroom be located on the southern portion of the subject site and also should be noted a temporary use permit would need to be approved by the Planning Department for the module classroom and it would have a validity period of 12 months or less and maybe extend it three times for a maximum of four years total but that's also another process where we would make sure it meets all the requirements The 2026 Conference of Plan recommends suburban residential to an environmental protection area for the property. The use is compatible with this designation. It would be a logical extension of the semi-public uses on the site. For these reasons, staff supports this request and the Planning Commission recommended approval after June 11th meeting. This concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much. College, any questions for me? I will hold mine. Is the applicant present?

Yes, good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Anne Neal Cosby. I'm an attorney at McGuire Woods representing the applicant. We appreciate all of staff's work with us on the application. We don't have a separate presentation. We're here to answer any questions that you may have. And the principal of the school is here as well. So happy to answer any questions and would appreciate your approval of our application tonight. Thank you.

Thank you so much. This is a public hearing. Anyone here to speak to this item? Is there anyone on WebEx to speak to this item?

There's no one to speak to this item.

Thank you. Ms. Moff, some questions. So a plan of staff recommended preserving mature tree canopy where feasible. Can you describe how much of the existing tree canopy will be preserved during both the temporary module phase and the permanent campus build-out?

Actually, not at this phase. I could not tell you for certainty. That would be examined with our temporary use permit.

The report identifies a flood plan, possible wetlands, and environmentally sensitive areas on the property. Have those areas been fully delineated, and how do we intend to permanently protect them from future disturbance?

There's some... Initial preliminary that we saw that it would be outside these areas, and certainly that would be examined again at those details with the temporary use permit.

What measures can we implement to reduce the heat on the campus?

I'm sorry?

The heat on the campus, particularly around student players, parking lots, building entrances.

Those have certainly been enhanced with more vegetation and placement of, I guess, siding and some landscaping to improve that. Those are not been clarified.

The proposal indicates the school will initially operate from larger classrooms. What's our anticipated timeline for transitioning from, I'm actually going to ask the applicant.

Yes, I would. just reiterate that we'd be required to obtain a temporary permit for that modular unit. And I would ask Jeff Andre. He's the principal of the school and can maybe give a little bit more insight on the plans for use of the modular building.

Good evening, Councilman. Good evening, members of the community. I'm here representing the Mago Day neighborhood school as principal in addition to our executive director, Sarah Kennedy, who is currently out of town. And essentially we plan to be good neighbors and partner well with the Henrico Public Schools and surrounding districts and also with the Life Church to ensure that we comply with all regulations. The modular plan is still kind of in discovery phases, but we fully intend on building a permanent property so that we remove the modulars so that they are in compliance with all regulations. That's something that we will continue to communicate and work alongside county representatives for.

Thank you. What you're saying is you cannot tell me the timeframe from temporary to permanent?

The timeframe is currently being assessed with a capital campaign, so we are determining exactly how much funding we would need for that to happen, but it will be within the three years that we are allotted. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Martin, in looking at the plans, I don't actually see a visual of what the module might look like, how it would look in the context of, because that entrance is close to that entrance, right there, the entrance, so it's not kind of hidden away behind the property order, but it's right there when you pull in, am I correct?

Right. Well, the entrance is here, but you're correct. There's very limited details with that. As you can see with the proffers, it really just addresses uses. Staff did kind of lean on, we'll have a second pass at this with the TUP, but certainly those questions could be fleshed out here if you want it.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Kyle, anything else? So that being said, I move that the RZ2026-1000676 Mago Day be deferred to the August 11, 2026 meeting at my request. Second. It's been moved by myself, seconded by Ms. Rovers, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Aye. As had, we're going to go ahead and defer. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, your next item on the agenda is agenda item 156-26 out of the Fairfield District. This is Winfrey Road LLC with a conditional rezoning from RTHC Residence Townhouse District to C1 Conservation District. This is a small parcel at the intersection of Woodman and Winfrey Road, and the applicant is proposing a conservation area. Ms. Moore.

Thank you again. And you mentioned the request for the conservation area. This is because the environmental, the 2026 comprehensive plan recommends suburban residential two for a portion, but you can see this area is recommended for environmental protection area for the majority. The subject site is part of a larger parcel rezoned to RTHC by rezoning case REZ 2024-100572. And the proffer nine of that case that was accepted specifically requires the applicant to rezone to C1 for portions of the development within the floodplain prior to the recordation of the subdivision plat. So this request before you today would fulfill that requirement with the submitted proffers and would carry for the conservation area restrictions accepted with the 2024 rezoning case. Based on these factors, staff recommends approval of this request. The Planning Commission recommends approval of this request after June 11th hearing. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Ms. Moore. I really appreciate that. Colleagues, any questions right now for Ms. Moore? That being said, is the applicant present? All right. This is a public hearing. Is anyone present to speak to this item? Is anyone online to speak to this item?

There's no one to speak to this item.

Thank you so much, Madam. That being said, the public hearing is closed. I move that we follow the recommendation of Planning Commission to approve RZ-226-100739, Winfrey Road, LOC, with revised proffers dated May 27, 2026. Second. Moved by myself, seconded by Ms. Roundtree. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Ayes have it. It's passed. Approved.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, you move into public hearings. Other items? First item on your agenda, 157-26, is a resolution for adoption of the 2045 Henrico Next Comprehensive Plan. That item and the next two ordinances are all related, as is the first item on your general agenda. I'm going to ask our county attorney, Andrew Newby, to introduce this item, and then Mr. Emerson, our planning director, has a presentation.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Chair, members of the board, As the manager mentioned, you have four items on your agenda this evening that are all related to the comprehensive plan. As we go through these items, I'll be glad at any time to answer questions so we keep on track with the different items and their relation to one another. The first item you'll consider is the comprehensive plan itself. That item requires a public hearing and then a vote of the board. As always, the board will have an opportunity to approve the item, deny the item, defer the item, even amend the item if you have amendments you'd like to make after hearing public hearing. That item is labeled 157-26, and it includes all of the recommendations that the planning commission had when they sent it up to you at their July 9th meeting. Now, the second item is the zoning ordinance amendments that are related to the comprehensive plan. That item also requires a public hearing and a vote, and same thing is true. You can approve, deny, defer, or even amend. Now, for ease of reference, there are two versions of this item. The first is the version that was presented to the Planning Commission. The second follows the recommendation of the Planning Commission and removes the A2 Agricultural District, which was a lot of the discussion at the Planning Commission meeting in June. So the first version includes the A2 district, that's 158-26, but the second follows the recommendation of the Planning Commission and removes the A2 district and makes some adjustments to the form-based overlay district. And that second version will be labeled 158A-26. And again, I'll help keep track of everything as we go through the items. The third item is the subdivision ordinance amendment. And that item will also require public hearing, and the same thing is true. There are two versions there, one that includes A2 and one that does not include A2. The one that includes A2 is 159-26, and the one without A2 will be labeled 159A-26. Finally, there's a resolution on your general agenda to initiate a study and report for the environmental justice strategy portion of the comprehensive plan. But that item would only be considered if you were to approve the comprehensive plan this evening because it's an add-on to the comprehensive plan. That's labeled 165-26 and does not require public hearing, but staff would recommend the chair that you call it up with the related items. So to recap, and then I'll pass it to Mr. Emerson if it's the chair's pleasure, there are four related items. Three require public hearings. Two have alternate versions depending on whether you want to go with A2 or not. and you can always make amendments based on feedback you hear this evening. Again, happy to provide guidance at any point, and Mr. Emerson's presentation will include more details on each item. So, Mr. Chair, if it's your pleasure, I think Mr. Emerson will present.

Before we present, colleagues, any questions for Mr. Newby?

Did you draw that out?

No, I know it is a bit of a mouthful, and I'm here at any point to help provide guidance.

Thank you, Mr. Newby. It is my pleasure that Mr. Emerson proceed with his presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Manager, members of the board. I may be confused now as well, but we'll see. I'm certainly happy to be here tonight. Hopefully, we're closing out what has been a long project for staff. I would just like to, at the beginning, thank the planning department staff. I'm here this evening really representing them. This has been a huge effort on the part of the staff of my department, in particular Rosemary Deamer, our project manager, my two assistant directors, Jean Moore and Ben Seal, and then Ben Blankenship with all the code work that has been done. But I don't want to understate the amount of effort, and you'll see it as we go through the presentation. My entire staff has been out in the community. They have supported all these listening sessions. It took a great deal of manpower and explanation and people learning the entire process in order to pull off and inform the public and do everything appropriately as we needed to and as thoroughly as we did. And honestly, I had our computer technician was out helping us. Our receptionist came and worked with us. Our office assistants were there. This was truly a top-to-bottom effort to get this plan to where it is tonight. So I do want to express my gratitude to all of their effort. Now with that said, Henrico Next, the county's comprehensive plan update, serves an important role in determining the future of the county. It is the first phase of the planning cycle that looks 20 years out and answers three critical questions. What is Henrico County today? What is the county's vision for the future? And how will we achieve that future vision? As the primary long-range policy document for the fiscal planning of the county, the comprehensive plan includes goals, objectives, policies, and actions that guide the operations and work priorities for the county, decision-making on development and conservation activity. It sets the stage for future public investments that are determined through annual budgeting and capital improvement planning processes. The planning department began work on updating the comprehensive plan in 2020. Delayed by COVID, the process started in earnest in 2021 with the creation of Henrico Next, our plan to inform and engage the public. Following the analysis of existing conditions and including population growth, land development patterns, natural resources in our transportation network, plan before you this evening for your consideration this has been a multi-year effort again by the Planning Department as I noted earlier with assistance from numerous county agencies outside the Planning Department with assistance from our consultants sub consultants and of course the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors have played a big role as well throughout this initiative The county provided several meaningful opportunities for residents to share their ideas to help shape development of the new comprehensive plan, identified and evaluated new issues and opportunities to be addressed in the plan, established a cohesive vision to guide Henrico County land use and infrastructure decision making over the next 20 years, updated goals and policies to assure they reflect both countywide and area specific priorities, and developed an actionable implementation strategy to achieve the vision. The process was designed to ensure that every resident interested in being involved in the planning process had an opportunity to share their voice and contribute ideas and opinions. Numerous opportunities were planned and conducted to encourage residents and other stakeholders to participate in safe and informative ways. We've engaged the community via kickoff meetings, community events, listening and suggestion sessions, and in March of this year, a Varina-specific community meeting. A web presence has also been provided throughout the process, so everyone could follow the process from the computer or phone. Surveys, polls, and interactive maps allowed residents to share comments about specific areas of the county and react to various draft materials. We also held two charrettes that had very large participation, intensive multi-day workshops, both for Lakeside Avenue and the Best Products Reimagined site in Brook Road Corridor, where stakeholders participated in planning and design formulation, including land use ideas and streetscape designs. Those were week-long processes. The Lakeside effort was held at Lewis-Ginner Botanical Garden. And the best products we imagined was a J. Sargent Rentals. So there was quite a bit of effort went into those. Residents were also given the opportunity to review a draft of the plan and provide feedback at two public input sessions held in June. Comments were provided via an online engagement form or email. The feedback from these meetings, as well as comments from review agencies, such as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Department of Transportation, was evaluated and shared with the Planning Commission for consideration at their public hearing. Today, we've engaged approximately 9,000 residents through surveys, 1,950 people in our community visioning exercises, 270 during our 2024 listening sessions on visions and goals, 131 people at our 2025 future land use suggestion sessions, 540 attendees at the Lakeside Avenue and Best Products Reimagined Brook Road Charettes, and an additional 400 people at our June 2026 public input sessions and planning commission public hearings. Through outreach at community events such as Glen Allen Day, Earth Day, Plant Native Day, countywide farmers markets and other thousand people heard about our planning efforts. We've held 14 information sessions, sent out over 9,400 emails and mailed over 5,000 individually addressed notice letters. We sent out 29,000 postcards for the Varina meeting in March. In our last community meetings, we sent mailers to every residential and business address in the county, notifying close to 209,000 people. Using the county's Facebook, Instagram, X, and Nextdoor platforms, we've informed an additional 300,000 people. We've also held over 30 work sessions, and I know this will resonate with those of you on the board, between the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. So you've been right there with us, not only out in the community, but also in numerous work sessions in the evening. During the month of May, we posted the various draft chapters of the plan to our project website so interested individuals could review them. Prior to the Planning Commission's June public hearing, we'd received 113 online comments, 97 emails, and 22 phone calls. Approximately 85 people attended the June public hearing during which 27 speakers provided comments in person or via WebEx. Of those, two suggested additional time to review and discuss the plan. Two were opposed to the Cox Road connection to Church Road on the MTP. One commented on the need to revise the zoning ordinance regarding fencing. And the remaining 22 speakers were opposed or raised concerns to the specifics of the A2 zoning amendment. Since then, we've received an additional 61 comments. At their July 9th meeting, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the plan with modifications to the Board of Supervisors. You've received all this information and you've received spreadsheets with the comments. Yesterday and today, we have received several additional comments. I don't have the numbers on those regarding concerns over the A2 zoning category, some concerns regarding Lakeside and the potential transportation changes on Lakeside Avenue, and also delaying the decision on the plan. We did receive a couple that I read today requesting that you further delay for more public input. Framework of the plan contains components that address the intended policy direction, and implementation of the plan. It's organized in a hierarchy that moves from broad, far-reaching issues to more specific, topical items. In addition to an introduction and a summary of key planning influences and how they informed our community vision, the plan has four major components. Our environment, managed and sustainable growth, safe and connected spaces, and high-quality, livable places. They each contain goals that create a link between the vision, and more specific policies within each chapter. They will cover natural resources and environmental considerations, future land use, public facilities and services, transportation and mobility, recreation parks, open space and cultural resources, and community character. Finally, the document will include strategies aimed at executing the plan and an implementation matrix identifying responsible departments. The key planning influences and community vision chapter documents the various factors that influence the overall direction of the plan. Resident and stakeholder input is necessary so the plan reflects the long-term vision of the community. It's also vital that we address other realities many maturing communities across the country are facing. These include changing real estate markets and a shift from greenfield development to infill and redevelopment. We also look to expand mobility options for our residents while maintaining the county's fiscal help and prosperity. These planning influences guided development of the plan's community vision focused on our environment managed in sustainable growth, safe and connected spaces, and high quality livable places. Our environment referred to as natural resources in the 2026 comprehensive plan outlines the policies and strategies to responsibly manage Henrico's natural resources so that all residents and visitors can continue to enjoy clean water and air, healthy soils, forest and open spaces, and productive farms now and for future generations. We believe that population growth and economic development can and should occur without diminishing environmental quality. The chapter provides an overview of the community's vision, Inventory's key natural assets outlines resilience and sustainability practices and identifies the regulations, programs, and strategies that advance environmental stewardship countywide. Enrico County is advancing a wide range of initiatives that strengthen environmental stewardship, promote clean energy, and enhance community resilience. These efforts include expanding green buildings, investing in renewable energy, improving community access to solar, and enhancing natural resource management. Examples are Henrico has 25 LEED-certified buildings and launched a solar renewable program in 2019 featuring 11 rooftop arrays and two ground-mounted installations. Henrico County Public Schools is advancing a living building challenge facility at the Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainability in Verona. Through solar access and RICO and Dominion Energy, approximately 250 low-income households are expected to receive rooftop solar panels. The county also is installing eight electric vehicle charging stations across libraries, parks, and government centers and recreation sites. You know about the Henrico County Public Schools and Capital Trees efforts to expand tree coverage, adding additional trees across the county. Residents have recycled more than 40,000 tons of discarded trash through CVWMA. And then, of course, the HART team works to coordinate sustainability, conservation, and stewardship across the county. Managed and sustainable growth is the second component of the plan and has two subchapters. future land use and public facilities and services. The future land use element frames how Henrico will guide growth through 2045. The document emphasizes infill, redevelopment, and protection of natural assets, aligning it with the community vision for managed and sustainable development. It includes the future land use map and classifications, visions and policies for special focus areas, urban and development areas and includes legacy area plans that will continue to provide land use planning guidance for specific areas in the county. The special focus areas and legacy area plans are used in addition to future land use classifications, allowing for a more defined vision for land use and development in each sub-area. The future land use map reflects the long-range community vision for development across the county. It serves as the foundation for policy and zoning decisions. Land uses depicted on the map were evaluated by residents during a series of meetings last summer. Outside of some specific areas in the eastern portion of the county, and factoring in our redevelopment areas, the changes to this map are relatively minor, impacting less than 12% of the county land area. The map also reflects changes related to portions of Verona where a new land use designation is proposed. In the resident survey, 66% of residents felt the county should restrict the amount of new development that occurs in rural areas not served by county utilities. The plan proposes the area east of I-295 and south of Williamsburg Road to be classified as prime agricultural rural conservation. In addition to the various land use designations on the future land use map, special focus areas have been identified across the county. As previously mentioned, much of the county is already developed, and the plan focuses on targeting reinvestment to enhance functionality, aesthetics, and economic development in established areas of Henrico. Redevelopment areas are primarily non-residential corridors targeted for revitalization and reinvestment opportunities that could benefit from a strategic approach to redevelopment. Also included are the multiple small area plans created since the adoption of the Vision 2026 plan that are still used as guidance for future growth and development in these sub-areas. Another element of the special focus areas are form-based overlays, which are areas where planning and design initiatives provide alternatives to base zoning regulations and encourage mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development. These areas include the existing form-based areas of Short Pump Town Center, Virginia Center Commons, the former Genworth site, as well as our most recent studies of Lakeside Avenue, Best Products Reimagined, and Brook Road. The 2045 plan strengthens mixed-use guidance, urban development areas and redevelopment corridors, and environmental justice considerations. It also expands strategies for infill, adaptive reuse, and right-size development patterns that respond to aging commercial areas and market conditions. The second portion of the chapter introduces the key public facilities and essential services that support Henrico County's quality of life. Core service areas contribute to safety, livability, and long-term community wellbeing. This includes schools, fire and police services, libraries, and utilities. Specific policies have been established to provide guidance for capital infrastructure and operations decision-making. Corresponding strategies have been developed to set the policies into action. The third component is Chapter 5, Safe and Connected Spaces, and is the transportation and mobility element of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. The goal of the chapter is to identify how to create a safe, efficient, a connected multimodal network that supports residents, business, and visitors. It integrates community feedback, safety priorities, and multimodal investments. This is inclusive of all modes of travel and moving goods and services, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, transit roads, interregional service such as the airport, railroad, intercity buses, and freight. The major thoroughfare plan is Henrico's long-range map for the road network through 2045. It assists in planning for growth by identifying where new connections, extensions, and corridor improvements may be needed over time. A core purpose of the MTP is to support an interconnected network that spreads traffic across multiple routes, shortened trips, and improves overall reliability. The map is conceptual. It shows where additional roadway connectivity could be beneficial, but it does not prescribe exact alignments for future roads. When identifying potential corridors, the county focused on areas expected to develop and worked to avoid or minimize impacts to environmentally, historically, or culturally sensitive areas. Where practical, the plan emphasizes improvements to existing corridors and highlights opportunities to use the current network through more efficiently through strategic extensions and new connections. Chapter six, high quality livable places, is the fourth key component of the plan and has two subchapters, recreation parks, open space and cultural resources and community character. The first element is dedicated to recreation parks, open space and cultural resources. The subchapter identifies the division's fiscal assets and summarizes the historic and cultural resources of the county. It also provides specific policies and strategies to ensure Henrico continues its high-quality service in the decades to come. This chapter was developed in support of the recently adopted 2024 Recreation Parks and Open Space Master Plan. In addition to highlighting how this element relates to other topics in the plan, the subchapter reviews and identifies how community members rated elements of quality of life through the residents and recreation and parks survey conducted early in the process. 78% of the respondents gave positive ratings for the current quality of life, and 52% indicated that it has improved over the last 10 years. 92% of respondents said recreation and parks were equally or more important, and other priority services provided by the county. Trails, playgrounds, and picnic shelters were most used or frequented facilities. When asked about what the county should provide more of, most answers focused on exercise at 68%, paved and unpaved trails at 46% and 41% respectively, as well as neighborhood parks, playgrounds, and dog parks. The second component addressed in high quality livable places chapter is community character. The plan primarily focuses on infill and redevelopment, and the section provides tangible guidance for future development. The vision and goals created through community input demonstrates clear support for development patterns that prioritize connectivity, accessibility, and open space as essential components of high quality livable places. This subchapter identifies five components of character common to each of the 12 different character categories. It concludes with a series of policies intended to facilitate countywide cohesiveness and enhance quality of life in ways that are universal to all areas. There are five elements that help define the character of a place. The first, development pattern or refers to the general layout of streets, blocks, buildings throughout an area rather than an individual parcel. Massing and orientation refers to building size and shape and includes height and width as well as placement on a site and its relationship to streets and neighboring buildings. Open space includes undeveloped, natural and park spaces as well as yards, landscaping, and permeable surfaces. Connections and transitions focus primarily on street and pathway design for pedestrians, bicyclists, personal vehicles, and transit. Parking describes the design of the spaces where automobiles are stored on a site, including on-street structured decks in varied lot sizes. Chapter 7, Implementation, pulls together the strategies identified in the previous chapters into a common approach for planned implementation. It identifies the tools such as the zoning ordinance that will be leveraged to implement the vision and goals of the plan, the matrices of identifying all the strategies and responsible departments, and the approach for monitoring and updating the plan in the future. Planning is a continuous process, which I'm sure you realize. The completion of the comprehensive plan is just the beginning or the start of the cycle. Most of the implementation of the plan will occur on a day-to-day basis as the county departments and elected and appointed officials use the goals and policies to guide decisions regarding rezoning requests, as you did earlier this evening, subdivision developments, proposed site plans, and the provision of public improvements and facilities. It is a series of decisions that are made over time. not just at one time. This is your guide. It's a suggestion and guideline document. The plan also identifies specific projects to be initiated over time as resources and staff capacity are available. Over time, the progress of the plan can be tracked to ensure that the policy direction and community vision is being achieved. The existing implementation tools leveraged by the county include the capital improvement plan, small area plans, major thoroughfare plan, and regulatory methods such as zoning and subdivision ordinance, levels of service standards, stormwater and environmental ordinances, energy management plan, all help ensure development is consistent with county policies and environmental stewardship goals. Additional documents include the 2024 Recreation and Parks Open Space Master Plan, Climate Action and Adaptation Strategy, Regional Climate Action Plan, other tools such as a Public Facilities and Services Handbook, Design Guidelines Manual, and Fiscal Impact Model will be developed following the adoption of the plan. They will help guide capital investment decisions and coordinate development with public infrastructure needs They all work together to ensure facilities and services keep pace with projected growth. And, of course, that does include the water plan that I know that you see mentioned that some people are confused as to when that comes. That follows this plan once it's adopted.

I hate to interrupt, but I literally just asked Bentley about that. So there is a plan for water, sewer facilities, and all of that that falls under public utilities. But it is triggered after the comp plan is approved and it comes 9 to 12 months later. That's correct. And Mr. Chan has assured me that he will come and make a presentation to the board and there will be public discussion around it.

Yes, sir. That's correct. It follows the plan. We have one currently in place that follows the 2026 plan. So I know that did confuse some people. But that is one that follows, along with public facilities, design guidelines, and plans such as that. You have to have your land uses in place before you can create those plans. An implementation matrix has been developed to direct growth and public investments in the county for the next 20 years. It identifies the key planning actions, initiatives, ordinance and code changes, public improvements and other programs, projects the county should pursue to achieve the plan goals. During a July work session before the Planning Commission, staff reviewed comments and identified potential changes to the document. Staff received fewer than 40 comments related to the context of the text, most of which were stylistic in nature. State code requires that both the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality review the plan, and they requested some additional information be added to the plan. Several departments internal to the county also offered revised comments and planning identified some minor revisions. All of these were presented to the Planning Commission with the understanding that revisions would be made prior to the Board of Supervisors hearing. At their July 9th meeting, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the plan with modifications to the Board of Supervisors. The modifications include revising and removing segments of six concept roads from the draft major thoroughfare plan, changing the density of the prime agricultural rural conservation land use category from one unit to five acres to a range of one to five units per five acres, and directing staff to conduct further study for the A2 zoning district as an implementation action of the plan. The county's 2024 population was estimated at 353,770, and we know it grows approximately 1% a year. That means we need to plan for roughly 3,500 new residents a year. The Henrico Next comprehensive plan attempts to balance growth with environmental concerns, economic development, and public facility and service provision. The plan has been a major work item for the department since 2021. with substantial public engagement. Its major focus is on infill and redevelopment, as evidenced by the fact that, exclusive of the PARC designation, again, only 12% of the land in the county is being recommended for change. The inclusion of redevelopment corridors and form-based overlay districts will help direct future growth and redevelopment while a new section of the plan addressing sustainability and resilience will help protect the community against natural disasters and economic shifts, meet the growing demand from residents for environmental responsibility, and reduce long-term operating costs. A review of the acreage in the open space, recreation, and environmental protection areas, county parks, and preserved and conserved land indicates approximately 32% of the county would be used to protect our natural resources and open space. document advocates a strong multimodal transportation network with avenues to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips affordable housing is promoted through a mix of housing types in locations and environmental justice will be studied to include initiatives and land use decision making as a result of our market and housing assessments and fiscal analyses the 2045 assumed growth scenario results in a 58% residential to a 42% non-residential split. When the existing tax base is added to new growth, the tax base ratio by 2045 is 67% residential to 33% non-residential. This preserves our strong fiscal stewardship for the citizens of Henrico. It maintains the balance. that we always work towards and have historically worked towards with our land use and our overall budgetary balance. I'll now transition into the zoning ordinance amendments and the subdivision ordinance amendments. These, of course, as I noted, are among the tools we use to implement the comprehensive plan. So when we adopt a new plan, we need to ensure the ordinances are in sync with it. The draft before you tonight combines amendments that were developed for three purposes. First, there are changes required to implement the new plan. In addition, there are several amendments brought about by the General Assembly. And finally, there are some minor changes that are housekeeping items for staff. As the county attorney explained, there are two versions of each of the ordinance amendments this evening. The original board papers include the drafts that were advertised for the Planning Commission public hearing, which included the creation of a new zoning district designated A2 Agricultural District. The purpose of that district was to implement the new PARC land use designation in the comprehensive plan. At the Planning Commission public hearing In June, several property owners spoke in favor of the A2 district, as I noted earlier, but many more spoke in opposition to it. Everyone agreed on the importance of protecting the rural character of the county, but they disagreed over how to best accomplish that goal. On July 9th, after further consideration, the Planning Commission recommended removing the proposed A2 district from the ordinance changes to allow further study. That is why we prepared a substitute board paper. The original papers include the A2 district and the substitute papers do not. The draft amendments to the zoning ordinance also include three new sub-districts of the form-based alternative overlay district. At the time of the planning commission public hearing, our consultant was putting the finishing touches on the best products reimagined sub-district. Between June 11 and July 9, we proposed a few minor changes to that sub-district. which were discussed with the Planning Commission and are included in both board papers. The substitute board paper also includes four minor adjustments that came to our attention after the Planning Commission's recommendation on July 9th. First, there was a very small change to the regulating plan for the sub-district. Secondly, we suggest adding provision to allow the board to improve increased height on a case-by-case basis through the provisional use process, which you do in other zoning districts now. Third, we would like to clarify the relationship between the new design for green streets and the frontage requirements. And finally, we recommend removing one paragraph that had no practical effect, and we felt it was unnecessary. As I mentioned, the drafts also include changes that are necessary to keep the county code aligned with recent changes to the state code. The most significant of those are listed in front of you. First, as part of their efforts towards housing affordability, the General Assembly now requires all localities to allow manufactured homes in all districts where site-built single-family dwellings are allowed. Second, the General Assembly now requires all localities to allow religious organizations and certain other nonprofit organizations to build affordable housing on land they have owned for five years or more. They will still be required to go through POD and subdivision review, but we cannot require rezoning or provisional use permits of those organizations. Third, the General Assembly now requires all localities to apply reduced parking standards to multifamily dwellings in certain areas. And finally, there are some changes to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. The drafts include ideas that have been brought to our attention by citizens as well as the people who work with these codes every day, particularly my staff in the planning department, the permit center, and community revitalization. In the interest of time, I will summarize by just saying we propose adding flexibility to the affordable dwelling unit ordinance, clarifying the difference between inpatient and outpatient medical treatment facilities, allowing administrative approval of minor variances from the rear yard setback and adjusting the way we measure lot widths. There are also a number of housekeeping items, such as connecting footnotes and cross-references within the code. Again, to reiterate what the county attorney said earlier, the Planning Commission recommended removing the A2 district from these ordinances, so we have prepared the Substitute Board papers that represent that change. They also include four minor adjustments to the best products reimagined overlay. In conclusion of these items, and I do have one other board paper after this, and I promise I'll sit down and be quiet. Staff supports the Planning Commission's recommendation to the board regarding the 2045 comprehensive plan. Staff advises the board to approve the comprehensive plan with modifications proposed by the commission. Additionally, staff recommends the approval of the two amended board papers. These papers incorporate the suggested implementation language in both the zoning and subdivision codes as advised by the commission. And I will go ahead and in anticipation of your consideration of the environmental justice strategy. This board paper would authorize and direct the county manager to commission a study and report to aid the planning commission in the development of the environmental justice strategy called for in the 2045 comprehensive plan. The board paper requires the report to be completed and made available to the planning commission in public within 12 months of the engagement of the consultants who will perform the work. The study and report will develop the seven critical components of the environmental justice strategy, including in summary, identification of environmental justice and fence line communities, identification of major sources of pollution in the county, Identification of objectives and policies to reduce health risks and environmental justice in fence-line communities. Identification of objectives and policies to promote civic engagement and environmental justice in fence-line communities. Identification of objectives and policies that prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of environmental justice in fence-line communities. Identification of objectives and policies to ensure convenient access to community and health services for all community members, an establishment of baseline environmental and health conditions, and any other information needed to characterize any disproportionate public health conditions in the identified fence line communities. Upon receipt of this report, the Planning Commission will prepare a comprehensive plan amendment incorporating the environmental justice strategy for recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The director of planning recommends approval of this board paper. The county manager concurs. And that, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Manager, members of the board, concludes my comments. If you have any questions, we'll be happy to try to answer them. I've got my staff behind me, so hopefully we can handle those questions. And I believe that that wraps it up. You do have four items. You have comprehensive plan. Subdivision ordinance zoning code and environmental justice strategy.

Thank you, sir My assumption is when I public comments after the board speaks to That's correct, mr.

Chair, so at this time the board could ask questions or make comments about mr Emerson's presentation and then we would begin the public hearing on the first item Which is the comprehensive plan.

Thank you so much colleagues. You've heard our attorney At this point, do you have any questions for Mr. Emerson?

I have a lot, so you might want to do me last.

I was handed this document, this change.org petition, say no to the Cox Road cut-through. My understanding is that this is one of the roads that we've been addressing. Yes, ma'am.

It is one of the ones that was removed. Okay.

No, sir. I'm all set. I'm on the planning commission this year as well, so this is in-depth stuff right now for me. Mr. Emerson, Mr. Phillips, and I have spent a lot of time together.

All right. Well, I'll take everybody's time.

All right.

Go ahead. No, Rogis, no. Rogis, go ahead, man. Don't have me out here by myself. Go ahead.

All right. Well, so just I'll be very, very brief, but I do want to say thank you. Can you go back to page two? No, I'm just kidding.

Yeah, absolutely.

No, I just want to say, I mean, for those that listened to that presentation, there was a lot of work by you, I mean, the entire staff. And so I know that this started prior to some of us being even elected to this position in the last, since 2024, as I've been on the board, I know there have been at least two meetings at Tuckahoe library, one at Freeman and one at deep run rec center, just in my district alone. And so just thank you for everything on that. And, um, I know that on page 27, you guys got the updates that I were given to me. So thank you.

All right, Mr. Emerson. So this will be a combination of comments, questions, recommendations and they all jumbled in together as you can see. Um, so let me start, let me start first by, um, 2021, Dan here where Dan and I were here. Um, even before then, I think some of the CE conversations started by the comp plan. We generally like to start like five or more years before the current one runs out. Yes, sir. Right. So, um, I want to thank you for the years of work on this, you and Rosemary, and the entire team. Everybody in planning has something to do with this. Rosemary is out front most of the time, so we call her name because we saw her, but I know there's other people who are working on this. And so I do want to let you know we greatly appreciated all of your effort. So I'll jump around. First of all, thank you for mentioning the public utilities plan. I don't know if you can go back to that so they can come back up. If you can just talk real quickly again about what happens. There's certain things that we cannot put out until after the land use plans and the zoning and the land use part of the comp plan is done. And then there are other things that are triggered because I know I received a few emails, some today, a few before, about the comp plan not being complete until the water, until we talk about water. But the water part doesn't start until we vote on this. And then Department of Utilities has a water sewer facilities plan that it will put out Sometimes after yes, sir.

That's correct. It always follows the plan and Previously after 2026 that was our Petrini and Bill Moyer they put together that plan along with utilities and It addresses water to dress a sewer it addresses supply. I mean you would find Cobbs Creek in that plan it actually I want to say they take a 50-year look at it. So they go further than we do and then of course I They update it and refresh it when we do this process. So it'll probably be another 50-year look into the utilities and water supply future.

All right, thank you. So, Mr. Manager, just noted, I can't remember. Well, I wasn't here for 2026, so I don't know. This will be my first time going through the comp plan. But if you can make sure that we really do have, you know, public conversation about that, that that comes to us. you know, publicly so that if persons have concerns, they can bring them at that time. Absolutely. All right. Thank you. Also, we started a comp plan in 20, 2021, but did you list all of the meeting numbers we've had? I know you missed how many. Yes, sir. I know you missed the engagement, but if you can bring that up again, you don't have to go through it, but there's a number that is, floating that says only 3% of the residents participated. And maybe that's true if you go 365,000. I think some of us have been talking about this. We wish that we had more participation as well. And I think with snail mail, with using engagement tools that the planning department had, using all of our social media mechanisms and our website and all of us sharing and whether they were huge public events or individual town hall meetings, I think we try to reach as many people as possible. I know that there are some who would wish that we would have extended it until September for some stated reasons, which I will list in a second. Um, but I, I feel pretty confident that five year discussion that started, and I know in Verona, we've had, we've had several public meetings about this. Um, I, I, I really feel like we, the, the nomer that we are rushing this, um, um, don't really, I don't fully understand now. I do. I, we read line for the first time. Right. So I know in the book that we have is redlined, online is redlined. And so whenever we tried to make, if we cut out something or made an addition, we redlined it so that people can see what we added or took out. Whatever was altered after the planning commission meeting were either DEQ, VDOT, or was it planning commission recommendations?

Well, the Planning Commission made their recommendations, and we had advised them because we received the VDOT and DEQ comments late, but they were mostly stylistic and some minor changes, and we did make a few changes in regards to things that we found and other departments and agencies of the county found, but they're all minor in nature.

All right, but it wasn't because it was redlined, meaning, for those of you who may not know, I'm sure all of you in here know what redlined is, but if there is a change made, then you can see what the change made was because of the color differentiation, et cetera. So it wasn't like we made a change and then you had to reread the whole chapter to see what the change was. We were indicating what those changes were. Again, I thank you for the water conservation. I mean, I thank you for the water update information. So it's not that we are not including it. It just was never in the zoning comp plan piece of it. It came as a separate plan after. So I want to thank you for that. I wish there was a way that we can, and maybe we get with our public relations and media department to figure out what other localities are doing as it relates to reaching out and getting engagement. and getting people involved in these type of processes. I'm just not sure what more we could have done. There are unresolved zoning concerns. I think we have heard some of the concerns from citizens. If none of the five of us bring it forward, then it doesn't go with the plan. So I've got some recommendations that will come. I'm not sure whether or not to take care of all the zoning concerns, but a couple of them, I am going to ask that we make some changes. One that I do want you to speak to, either you or Rosemary, is that there was a recommendation that came in about from Wilton to the city. And I want to read it directly. And I think Rosemary responded, it had entitlements on it. So I don't know if you can remember, Joe, if you remember. The recommendation was that we tried to preserve that land. And I don't know if it was, I think it was added to the PRAC recommendation, which would have been the unit every five acres. But the recommendation of not doing that was why. It had something to do with entitlement.

Well, much of the property in that area is already entitled. It is served by water and sewer, and it's in smaller parcels. I believe you were speaking specifically, or the person that inquired was speaking specifically to the large piece of property, I guess Tree Hill Farms. in regards to trying to get some additional.

Not just Tree Hill Farm. Well, there are. Started at the 895 interchange. Yes, sir. And it went all the way.

It went all the way down to Tree Hill, to the city. Right. And it would include many, many entitled properties. And we do also have to have some places to grow and accommodate those additional 3,500 residents a year that we're growing by.

so that but that would be the reason we wouldn't extend it but the entitlements on the property is the legal that's the legal legal thing and much because it would require it would require a board of supervisors to rezone that property for it to have those units and so right now there's not there's no appetite um for any of that um i actually mr newby um so one of the recommendations i don't know if anybody writing these down so it's going to get confusing later but one of the recommendations is i want to bring back i do want us to do a special focus um study on um the scenic corridors of osborne turnpike and james river i do want to add that into the recommendation for this so i do want to do that study The only problem is Mr. Newby, Tree Hill, which has an entitlement on it, I don't think can be included in that, if that is correct. I mean, plans have been filed already, so we're going to hear about those soon from BizSense or somebody. So I don't think we could – we can't stop – Treehill for moving forward just because of a special focus study. That is correct, sir.

Okay.

All right. So, but I do want to do a special focus study on the rest of it. Osborne, Turnpike, James River. So let's make sure that we include that in the, in the recommendation. Proposed data center expansions and zoning policies that could get data center expansions. And anything about data centers, not, is not in the comprehensive plan because it's an industry use under a particular zoning category. Correct. So we don't have a particular – I mean, there is – we don't – there's no industry focus in the comp plan.

No, sir, but we did do a special study last summer, I know you recall it, where we looked in depth at data centers in the county, and we did come out with recommendations in regards to how the board may want to deal with them in regards to the zoning code, and you did adopt changes to the zoning code.

The huge one, which was hyperscale data centers had to come to the Board of Supervisors for...

Rezoning I mean for for approval regardless of The zoning on the land. That's correct. We do have guidelines within that study And of course we can add more and we can go back and refine and revisit that study when needed Currently, I don't anticipate any data center proposals in the county Nobody's darkened my door with a data center anytime recently, right?

All right, so I'll run through these I want to recommend that we take A2 out so that we do not include A2 zoning in the comp plan at all. But I do ask that we create a committee to get together and to study this over the next 12 to 18 months. Not A2 exclusively, but, and I want to take a minute to thank those who worked with the, um, with our planning team to make recommendations for the, for the prac, um, piece that we did suggest. And so our team worked on it and, um, made some suggestions and, um, we rolled them out last, like last fall or something.

I can't remember whenever it was.

And so after we rolled it out, um, You know, and I see John Montgomery here, so he stands out as one of the ones. He and Becky Lakin and some others who got together with some groups of residents who were concerned, and they worked on some recommendations that were either supported the PRAC piece, and PRAC stood for, what was it again? Prime Agricultural Rural Conservation. All right, Prime Agricultural Rural Conservation. P-A-R-C, Park. Yes, P-A-R-C. Prime Agriculture, Rural Conservation. So some great things that came out of that, and I don't want them to feel like that work was in vain. And so one thing that out of that, and it was seven sections of recommendations, and some of the things we're already doing, but some of the things we need to study. I really would like... Supervisor Roundtree and I have been, we met with the manager about this and you, Joe, about agritourism district. And so I know we're going to be giving you guys a lot to do, but hopefully in the next 12 to 18 months as well, you guys can come back to planning department with some recommendations on how we can create an agro tourism districts across the county. I think we're headed in that direction. So a committee to study conservation, conserving. I know we want to conserve, we want to protect, we want to encourage more productive green space. So if we can put together a stakeholders group group, and I'm just throwing this out here, colleagues, fresh, sorry I didn't share this with you guys, but whether it's, you know, that would include large landowners, somebody from Henrykopolis, farmers, foresters, local food system representatives, maybe somebody from Capital Region Land Conservancy, the Battlefield Trust, and just some community members, like a 12-member group. And we can talk about who to put on it, but if we can go forward tonight with some good faith, then we can report back to the community soon, maybe in the next two months, some stakeholders, and create a group that can really look at conservation and preservation while respecting, because we are heard loudly. And it's one of the things that I've always tried to respect somebody who has family Who's been in Verona for over 200 years Land ownership and I and I respect that for those of you who? Who have sent in a to opposition emails do know that we we have heard you we're not trying to impede what you do with your property. And I know some of you have reminded us that that land that you have has been passed down from generation to generation and generation. And some have held it to serve the value for families to be on it. And so do know that we have heard it. Go home and rest. If you're watching tonight, that we're not trying to do anything to impede what you do on the land that you own. But I do think there's some opportunities that we have, whether it's easements where people can take advantage of it and let's get together and come up with a plan. So I guess, Mr. Newby, it will be the recommendation without A2, if my colleagues agree with it. Because I know you brought two of them. You gave us two options, right?

Yes, sir. Mr. Chair, members of the board, you have an option to approve the comp plan as recommended by the Planning Commission, which would not include A2. It would change that recommendation of the PARC to go back to essentially one to five acres, one to five units per five acres. That would accomplish the A2 component. And then to do the additional items you've talked about, which I'm hearing, create a committee or stakeholder group to get together and study conservation, preservation of rural character, Creation of an agritourism district or districts. We could append that to the motion. All right.

Thank you. I'm almost done Name for major thoroughfare roads the roads that we eliminated. Do you guys have that with you tonight? All right, we're just if you can find okay, thank you gene. Thank you What were those roads? That were a lemon. These are the ones that were eliminated

These are the ones that were eliminated. The connection... Here, Jean, why don't you come up and go through these. This is your paperwork, just so I don't mess that up. You've got it straight. You go ahead and go over those.

So they go through some areas of the other county, but we do have one. There are two minor arterial roads identified in the old plan 2026-26, which is parallel... to the Janes River from Hickory Avenue to the connection in Mill Road is one, and then remove the minor connector we call 202634 on our current plan as a major collector in their entirety, and that's within that 895 interchange.

All right, so that's like the bridge over or something like that? Did we have like a bridge or something over there we took off?

Well, we have that intersection at 895. These are just parallel roads around that, so not the bridge.

And was it a piece up near Meadow? I think the Wilson's and then that would be pinnock drive to remove that.

And it's, um, and remove that in its entirety from that section.

All right. I just want to make sure that we say that publicly.

Yes. And so that was presented and that's what the planning commission recommended for. There's a removal too.

So that's what we're proposing. Thank you. Oh yeah.

So we have environmental justice piece that'll come up in a second. I had a good conversation with one of our advocates in Verona about the coastal resilience and flood plains maps and looking at that. And I'm not sure if that, I think that is there. I think the ask of us was to expand C1. I'm not sure that's what we are doing. doing all the way, but I do want us to add that to the list of something that we study. Coastal resilience, floodplain maps, and if there is opportunity to expand the C1 opportunities in the district for individuals, I want us to look at that.

You asked, I want to go back to the MTP real quick we do still have the connection across the James River but it doesn't go down to 895 we've established a new connection that goes across the river that one is still there okay I thought I actually had to be going though why is that there well not the one it not the one connecting to 895 but the one further north that one remains further and that's that's to connect the city has a similar connection on the opposite side of the river So I don't want that to be confused because you didn't mention it.

All right, well, let me come back to that in a second. All right. The... I already said some of the planning commission, public use plan, water, blah, blah, blah, engagement, whatever. Okay. So I think that's it right now. I think that was a lot, but I did try to do it in less than a half hour. So... You know, we want to protect the eastern part of the county, the green of it as much as possible. And I think that's what the park recommendation was trying to do. I think it conserved like 25% of the county and like over 50% of the Verona district. So though we are taking the A2 out, I do want us to be aggressive in looking at ways that we can preserve and conserve as much as we can.

Mr.

Chair.

Yes, sir. Ms. Nelson, thank you so much. How about we've been going for two hours and 20 minutes. Let's take a five-minute break. Please be back at 825.

All right, so I'm going to see if we have people sign up and speak also.

Reverend Nelson, as we reconvene, you were asking specifically about the road. I think we have some clarity from the manager. Yes, sir.

Mr. Chair, members of the board, as we were going through the process, we had indeed removed any semblance of a bridge over the James River. In speaking with Mr. Hughes, you think about a comp plan and the duration of how long it lasts for Practically building a bridge over the James River. We have been Working on the Northgate and interchange for the better part of 12 plus years And we're still not there. We are Actually meeting with the Secretary of Transportation tomorrow So if it gives you any indication you're talking about a 20 25 year project so to answer your question, mr. Nelson There is no need for any kind of reference to a crossing over the James River. And so with your concurrence and the board's concurrence, we can make absolutely certain in that final motion that that is also removed.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to make sure that I clear up. Mr. Emerson, this is a five-second question. I know the Planning Commission with the A1 think their recommendation recommendation was one to five acres or something like that that's confusing people so when we say a one going forward can it just be a one like it was before yes sir in the zoning code it'll still be a was one to one one to one yes sir one unit to one acre all right thank you that's all I need thank you

You know it's a priority of this board in regards to the explicit inclusion and importance of environmental justice, which I personally feel should be a chapter in the entire comp plan. And I want to ensure that the comp plan has the environmental justice piece in regards to high priority. Can you speak to that process? Because I want to make sure that we have a study and we're going to group together and it gets added to the complex. Can you speak to that?

Make sure you mention what is there.

Oh, no, I'm speaking of what you all did, the conversation, no doubt, but I just want to speak to that part as well.

Well, so absolutely. In the comprehensive plan, this whole discussion started before, what, three members of the board were on it. And with this new board, the term environmental justice came forward. And so staff started looking at it. Agenda item 165-26 would actually initiate a study and require the county manager to come back with a report 12 months after the consultant is procured for that study with a report to the Board of Supervisors. That report is not just a glossy. It would be a very detailed report that then would require really an amendment to the comprehensive plan. And so, you know, it takes 12 months because, again, it's not a glossy when we do things, we do things right, but it's also the conviction that the Board of Supervisors has brought forward. I've had conversations with, Reverend Nelson, all of you really on this whole topic, but Reverend Nelson, Ms. Roundtree, Mr. Cooper have been very vocal and we have to do this and we have to make sure that we just don't include language that comes from state code in the comp plan, but that we actually put teeth behind any action that comes forward. And that's the intent of agenda item 165-26. Mr. Chair, does that answer your question?

No, it does. I mean, again, I just want our constituents to know the importance that we're placing on this and the proactive approach we're taking to ensure that amendment to the comp plan that speaks specifically to environmental justice will be added in the future once we do the study and make a decision. All right. Thank you, sir. All right, colleagues, before we go to public comment, any comments, questions from you all? Seeing none, it is now public comment time. The manager has a list of some names. He's going to go through those as they have been presented to him.

Okay, and as I do, I think the folks that are speaking, you've heard the board make changes to what is being considered. So we have Ray Weinstein with Pool Boy Enterprises. Yes, sir, I saw you. So this is public comments on agenda item 157-26, the adoption of the comprehensive plan.

Board members, as you said, my name is Ray Weinstein. I'm Ray Swim Pool and Supply on Lakeside Avenue. Between me and my father, we have had a business on Lakeside 40-plus years. And I just want to say I'm excited about this plan in the future going forward I'm hoping the planning department will reach out to the landowners and the business owners along Lakeside maybe in small groups of five or so at a time to hear concerns and questions and stuff like that that's about all I have to say Mr. Weinstein

Thank you. Ms. Weinstein. Um, we'll be speaking to that tonight.

We have, uh, Virginia and sharp sharp. Are you here? I think some people signed up and based on the conversations that have occurred, uh, may have, um, may have heard what they came to speak to. We have Elaine Eberly, Ms. Eberly. Are you here or on Webex? She left. Okay. Robert Shaw bell. Sir bell. Are you here? All right, Melanie Leavitt. Ms. Leavitt, are you here? Patrick Openham. Let's say that Oxenham. I'm sorry, I can't read.

Good evening. My name is Patrick Oxenham and I'm proudly called Lakeside Home since 2004. I want to start by saying something that may surprise you. I actually like much of this plan. I can see the vision. I'm a native plant enthusiast and habitat manager, so the idea of expanding our tree canopy, embracing native landscaping, celebrating our connections to Lewiskenner, and making Lakeside an even more beautiful place is genuinely appealing to me. I support the destination. I don't support skipping the journey. This community has more than a century of history. Historic homes, local businesses, the farmer's market, neighborhood streets, alleyways, the character the generations of residents have built together. That identity isn't something that government creates. It's something government protects. What concerns me is this. It feels like the county has planned what Lakeside should become before listening to what Lakeside needs. We are trying to build a second-story house before we finish the foundation. This is a vision for 2045, and I appreciate long-term vision. But what I don't hear is how we get there. The families you're asking to support this plan are raising their children in Lakeside today. By 2045, those children will be grown. So before we talk about where Lakeside will be in 20 years from now, tell us what we are going to do tomorrow. How are we going to start preparing for the Lakeside for that future that you see? Because we have real needs today that have gone unmet for years. We still have sidewalks that simply end instead of connecting neighborhoods. We still don't have safe pedestrian crossings where residents walk every day. We need to protect our children walking to Lakeside Elementary and bring back the crossing guard that was removed. And our historic alleyways are one of the greatest missed opportunities in Lakeside. Today, many are overgrown with invasive plants, littered with trash, and have fallen far from the purpose they once served. I encourage the county to take back the responsibility of maintaining these alleyways and restore them to their historic role, not just as service corridors, but as community assets. Imagine alleyways that are clean, safe, and connected. Green corridors filled with native plants, walking and biking connections between neighborhoods. Opportunities to modernize infrastructure such as burying power lines. Over time, Spaces that improve quality of life while preserving the lakeside historic character. That could be the first real glimpse of this garden district that you're asking us to imagine. Plant the seeds there first. Invest in the farmer's market. Partner with the residents to plant native trees, gardens, and pollinator habitats throughout our neighborhoods and public spaces. I have an idea for Lakeside Day that I believe could become a wonderful county-supported event to celebrate the community while bringing residents together around the vision that we're even discussing today. Be happy to talk to any of you about that idea. Show us what tomorrow looks like before asking us to believe in what 20 years will look like. Right now, it feels like we're talking about flowers before we've even prepared the garden. If you want a thriving garden district, you can't begin with the harvest. You have to prepare the soil. You have to strengthen the roots. and you have to care for what's already growing, and then the flowers will come naturally. I don't believe lakeside residents are afraid of change. I believe that they are tired of feeling ignored. Many of these needs have been discussed for years, yet today we're being asked to embrace a 20-year vision before those priorities have even been addressed or even acknowledged. That's why trust has become the issue. I truly believe that Lakeside can become something extraordinary, but it needs to stay Lakeside. Embrace its quirky charm. Preserve its history. Keep it a little funky, because that's exactly why many of us chose to call it home in the first place. I welcome a conversation with any member on this board. Let's take a walk around Lakeside. Let's talk about it. But I believe the board needs to spend more time walking beside the community before it's asking us to follow it. Listen to the people who call Lakeside home. Help us build the Lakeside that we've been asking for. Build the bridge between today and 2045. Because the future of Lakeside won't be built by a plan. It will be built by the community. Help us strengthen that community first. And I believe the vision that you're presenting today will become something that we can build together tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Oxenham. We have Stephen Salpukas. Are you here online? No. Bruce Woodson. Mr. Woodson.

Good evening, and thank you for allowing me to speak. A very much echo his last comments. I'm a Henrico citizen born and raised in Henrico and worked in Henrico my entire life. My business is Mercer and Woodson Automotive, a small automotive repair and restoration facility on Lakeside Avenue. I've been there since 1989, so I've made quite a stake in Virginia, and I think I've still got a few more years left in working. So my concerns in addition to where he is, and I'll work with his buildup that, yes, let's take it a day at a time and plan the future properly so that we can all grow together and not just have it forced upon us to where things don't fit Lakeside. Lakeside is not Scott's edition. It's not Short Pump. We don't want to be those places. We have a jewel in our own community from Brian Park to Lewis Genter. We have a wonderful array of businesses, mostly private, small businesses, independent. I think the only real corporate may be Hardee's along the corridor. Everything else is locally owned and independent, and that brings a special character to Lakeside as well. My concern is just jumping into changing the whole streetscape and the traffic patterns. I, again, being right next to the fire department and the rescue squad, I'm very aware that Timberlake and Lakeside the traffic that impedes the rescue and such, even with four lanes, if you drop it to one lane in each direction, that's going to become a problem for rescue. Please consider the implications of that. Not only just like this evening rush hour traffic, but roughly about a quarter of the year, meaning from early November through January, LewisGinner has their lights show. And every Thursday night through the summer, they have big concerts and have police out there to direct traffic at Lewis Skinner entrance. So you're all familiar with that. I'll watch the traffic build up starting at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, backing up from Hilliard Road all the way past my shop, past Timberlake. And that's with two lanes of traffic going. If you cut that down to one, you've really got a long backup of traffic. That will also impede the residents from leaving their neighborhood on the lakeside to try to find an opening in traffic. So the traffic is really going to be affected. Also, I see we have a UPS service driver here. Maybe he can confirm. If you drop it to one lane, when he stops to deliver packages, there's no way for cars to get around him if you've got one lane going through there. And it's not just him. It's mail service. For me, I get deliveries from big tractor trailers, antique automobiles being delivered. So the traffic is definitely an issue. The backups for emergency vehicles is a concern for me. We have a wonderful fall line trail that's just been built. And to me, that is a perfect place for bicycle vehicular traffic and pedestrians to enjoy. And it connects from Bryan Park right on down to Lewis-Ginner. So I don't see a need for a bicycle lane on Lakeside, especially not on each side. And I would love, as the others have said, to work with the board to find common ground in how to grow this area. You're talking about adding housing, which would bring more residents and more traffic. So please don't take away the lanes. Thank you.

Next is Gabrielle Kirby. Miss Kirby, are you here? No. Eileen Rivera. Miss Rivera, are you here? Are you online?

She is online. Oh, okay. She's online, and she is...

Okay, Ms. Rivera, can you hear us?

Yes, I can hear you. Can you hear me?

Yes, the floor is yours.

Okay. Good evening. My name is Aileen Rivera. I'm a resident of Aurina. I first want to thank our supervisor, Nelson. He has been... really great about meeting with the community members throughout the years. He's correct. Since 2021, many of our community members that have advocated with the calm plan, I don't think that we're right there with you. We want to see this over as soon as possible. Nevertheless, we want to make sure that all this time that has been spent working on it, that it has a good outcome. I do want to thank Joe, Rosemary, Ben, and the team, because throughout the years, they have been very kind. We're kind of like one big dysfunctional family. We might not agree and fight and then disagree, but we still appreciate and we're grateful for all the work that you all do. I do want to ask the Board of Supervisors to please consider extending or delaying the vote on the comp plan based on the last, the information that was provided since May. Yes, we've been working on this for five years and we've been working to, and it has delayed for a year and and because COVID and all that stuff. But the last information is hundreds of pages and a lot of information. And there has been for that portion alone, only two meetings. A lot of people, when I was at the East End meeting where we're coming at the recreation center, we're coming out and they were more confused. There was more and more questions. And so being that it's summertime is like the worst time to try to get this information to the community members. I realize, and kudos to the planning department, yes, they have tried their best to do outreach, but I think that we didn't think Outside the box, I know that we have given many suggestions, but we still needed to try something more, something like once this information went out, there should have been a meeting at each district so that way that district had opportunity to have their comments, you know, not just to to just make it possible for people to to show up and to participate. I know that for us, we try to have community meetings and and help get the information out, but that's impossible to get everybody. While I appreciate the release of the draft for the environmental justice section, it's still the 2045 comprehensive plan remains incomplete based on important elements that were not addressed, including a strategy for water conservation distribution, long-term usage, and the county's commitments to the region regarding water resources. These are critical issues that deserve careful analysis and public discussion before the plan is adopted. I know that Mr. Newby said that a lot of sections require public hearing, but it's like more than public hearing, it requires discussion too. It feels like it's just unfinished. Moving forward with adoption of the 2045 comprehensive plan in its current form without allowing sufficient public engagement, undermines public confidence in the process. I'm talking about the section that was presented from May on. Many residents have already expressed concerns about transparency, accountability, and whether their voices are truly being heard. Those concerns are only amplified by programs that streamline permitting processes that appear to favor corporations over the priorities of the community, raising legitimate questions, about whose interests are driving these decisions. Good governance requires transparency, public participation, and thoughtful deliberation, not an accelerated process on a plan that will affect future generation. I urge the board to slow the process, fully consider public input, and ensure the final comprehensive plan reflects the needs and values of the residents it is intending to serve. I want to, again, thank you all for your time. Thank you for your work. I know it's not easy. I know there's a lot and again, grateful to Mr. Nelson for all the work you have done with the community and hope that you would consider that this last portion, the one that was presented from May on that will be given consideration for people to be able to look and discuss. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right. And we have Chris Gadricks. Chris, are you here? Online? Okay. No, sir.

All right.

Is there anyone else that wishes to speak on the comprehensive plan? All right. If you all would start lining up. And then do we have anybody on WebEx that wishes to speak to the comprehensive plan?

Yes, sir. I have one more to speak on the plan.

All right. Mr. Montgomery?

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Board of Supervisors. I'm John Montgomery. I live at 2666 Kingsland Road in Ryko. And I want to tell you how encouraged I am by the conversation you had tonight and what's been presented. particularly the Environmental Justice Committee with Reverend Cooper led the conversation about and those things with Mr. Nelson brought forward regarding, you know, what we have come to believe and understand and the energy that's kind of behind this demonstrates that conservation and preservation is bigger than a land use designation. And the stakeholders that Mr. Nelson listed, I think, are the ones that need to come together so that there's a vision and a plan for implementation, and we look forward to being part of that. So thank you again for all the attention, and we look forward to working together. Thank you.

Evening, guys. My name's Tom Gardner. I am the owner of the Lakeside Professional Building on Lakeside Avenue, and just wanted to echo some of the stuff that we've heard here this evening already. I'm not a huge fan of the reduction in lanes and traffic there. Lakeside Professional Building is a multi-tenant commercial office building. We have a lot of small businesses there. We've had guys that have just started out their businesses and grown them to the point where they have left our building and gone on to bigger and brighter things. But I think... I kind of have to agree with the other gentleman that was speaking earlier about the fact that we're getting a little bit ahead of our skis, I think. Because, I mean, I see on a regular basis that we can't even seem to keep the medians mode on Lakeside Avenue. And now we're talking about a comprehensive plan. So I just, I like the idea of, I've always loved Lakeside. I've been a 50 plus year resident of Lakeside and had my businesses in there for all that time as well. And I just think, as I said, we're getting a little bit ahead of our skis on the comprehensive plan when I see the stuff that we did on Dumbarton and the bike lanes and things that we're not able to keep those maintained or clean. There's debris in them all the time. I just don't want to see that on Lakeside Avenue. I think the expanded sidewalks and good walking area and pedestrian things was a great idea, but I just think it's not a wise plan to reduce that to one lane, reduce that Lakeside Avenue down to one lane in each direction. I have had a good balance. My building is directly butting up against residential housing. And whenever there's been some issues in the building with tenants in the building, the community is very quick to let me know about that. And I have had a good relationship with a number of the people that live there on Oakwood. My building is on the corner of Lakeside and Oakwood. And we've been able to get down there and talk with them and resolve those issues. And that's, I think, the biggest thing is just a good solid open line of communication between commercial, residential, and pedestrian stuff throughout the lakeside area. It's a great little area. I've loved it. I think it's got huge potential. And I think we're moving in the right direction by having the discussion. I just, again, don't want to see us get out in front of our skis too far on planning this grand plan. Let's see if we can keep the medians mode consistently for a time, and then maybe we can talk about some grand future for Lakeside. But I think it's got, again, great potential, and thank you so much for hearing me.

Good evening again to all of you. Thank you for taking our comments. I would like to say that many of the longtime large landowners in the Varina area spoke at the Planning Commission meeting about their desire to put their land in conservation easements. And so I believe that protecting the land in Verina and keeping it rural is important to everyone. And I support your recommendations, Supervisor Nelson, to form a group of stakeholders and experts to look into this over the next year or so because I think we could come up with some solutions that are favorable for everybody. And I would also like to thank you for your recommendation of designating Osborne Turnpike and the James River Corridors as special focus areas. They were special focus areas in the 2026 Comprehensive Plan, but have yet to be studied, but they still deserve the attention, I believe. So thank you very much for your support for all of our work.

Hello, Mr. Chair and members of the board. Thank you for having us here to speak about this comprehensive plan. My name is Melissa Thomas. I live in the Fairfield District in the Lakeside area. I'm actually here to talk about water and not asking for a delay in the comprehensive plan. But I do want to say I've heard a lot of people from Lakeside where I live talk about the comprehensive plan. And I think the charrette that was done just as feedback was done really well as a visioning session. And I think that's exactly what we need to see with these things. I think the confusion might be that people weren't aware that this was going to shape a comprehensive plan or be something that was, I know it's not stuck and that it's a vision and that it'll lay things out for the future, but I think there's a disconnect between the understanding of what the intentions were with how that plan worked out. But I'm here to talk about the water or the lack of water information in the comprehensive plan. And again, not to ask for a delay, but there's a lack of information about how water resources will be used in Henrico and across the region. And I think there's an oversight there. I'm going to pull this up because I'm speaking in my personal capacity and also in my professional role of a state policy director with the Climate Equity Working Group, so I can phone a friend. So I want to say on the water issues, I was able to text some folks to find out if it's accurate that we don't have to include a water plan in the comprehensive plan. This seems like it's a choice or a preference of how we approach this. So there's some things that other localities include in their comprehensive plan in regards to water usage. So things like describing major reservoirs and water sources and the public utilities or natural resource chapters, mapping reservoirs and sources waters alongside land use and environmental constraints, setting their regional water supply plan as part of the planning context. That's all permitted under state law and it's commonly done, also identifying areas of key water demand from new development in order to plan for expanded low growth. So we can include that. It's just a decision whether or not we do so. And then the reason that I'm coming to speak is because in my paid role, I connect with people across the state who are facing environmental justice issues. So I do want to also thank you for pushing forward the environmental justice work in Henrico. It's been really significant and you've listened to us. In this case, there's a community in Cumberland County which is 4,500 households, 10,000 people, and they're about to face what would be the second largest gas plant in the entire country. It would be the largest in Dominion's fleet entirely, and it would be resourced by Henrico County's Cobbs Creek Reservoir. So there were NDAs between the vice chair that is a part of their Board of Supervisors and Dominion Energy going back to March of 2025 that name Copse Creek and essentially this would be the only tap in from any locality so we do for folks who aren't familiar with how it works usually we're putting water into the James River to make sure that you know in the conditions like right now where there's a drought we have sufficient water across the region to support us. And in this case, Cumberland County and Dominion Energy would like to tap into the reservoir to support their gas plant, which would need anywhere from 800,000 gallons of water per day to 2 million gallons of water per day. So I've looked at other comprehensive plans, and like I said, they do mention these water resources. They do lay out how we are going to use our water regionally. Henrico's plan, we heard for quite a long time how extensive different sections of it are, and we just are leaving out water, and it doesn't seem appropriate given how important this is to not be addressing some of that in our plan. So I did change everything that I wrote because it wasn't based on all the input that you guys and all the good work that you did thinking about things and questioning and moving things around. So just going to look real quick to see if I missed anything else. I also want to add that across the street from this gas plant is a historic black church, Pleasant Vue Baptist Church. So I've spent a lot of time with those communities over the past few months. Some of them have descendants who have moved to Henrico County that you may or may not hear from. But there are folks out there who are very worried about this and they're wondering why Henrico County is going to supply the water for a gas plant. And I understand we can't control what we give the resources to when we give it to a county.

but we do have the ability right now to think about what we're doing in henrico county and how that will impact us for generations thank you miss thomas just uh one correction and if you would i think um bentley raise your hand he's bentley's our utilities director i think there's a there's a misunderstanding about um what is in the comp plan or what will be in the comp plan regarding water and sewer But I need you to understand that there is no agreement between Henrico County and Cumberland County at this point.

That's true. I know that in October, both counties, the boards passed resolutions for the county staff to negotiate a deal. There's an MOU from 2011 that was never signed. It was never executed. Right. It was never signed, but we know that staff right now on both ends of the counties are working on developing the plan that they will sign. So the MOU from 2011 said 7 million gallons of water, and the 4,500 households are predominantly on wells. So those community members are wondering why we would give them 1 million, 2 million, 7 million, and what the county there hopes to develop.

Again, there is no agreement.

we are working on an agreement at Henrico County and that October, 2025, the board voted on a yes to, to pass a resolution to work on that agreement.

No, they, they voted to authorize the County manager to work on an agreement. What I'm telling you is there is no agreement. And at this, as I, as I say this today, I mean, Cumberland County has, they were part of a conversation in 2011, Um, they, quite frankly, couldn't afford to be part of the reservoir. And in 2026, I mean, I don't see how it's a tall order. So don't assume that Henrico, that they are going to tap into that reservoir. Okay.

Yeah. Thank you. Um, I have emailed and have gotten an email back from Mr. Chan and would appreciate continued conversations about that. Thank you for the extra information.

Another point. And I think it was you, Mr. Mercer, Woodson, that, sorry, that mentioned this and some others about the grass on Lakeside Avenue. So that has been a sore spot for us for years. Lakeside Avenue is owned by the state. We've actually had conversations going back to the prior administration where the county has really wanted to take over state roads and actually cut the grass and put in crosswalks on a weekend as opposed to a year. So we're actually continuing to work on that. We'll see what this new administration feels about us being able to do that, but we'd love to own Lakeside Avenue. So is there anyone else that wishes to speak on the comprehensive plan? Okay.

I have one more on WebEx. Okay. All right, Kenny. Chelsea, you're unmuted.

Yes. All right. Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

Okay. Thank you.

I appreciate it.

My name is Chelsea. I have been living in Lakeside for going on nine years. I want to echo the earlier comment that this process I feel like has been very confusing. For residents, it's been very confusing to understand what is being approved when, what will happen now versus what will happen 20 years from now. That comment that was just made that the county does not own Lakeside Avenue and yet we are providing a lot of comments about what is happening on Lakeside Avenue is very confusing. So I asked the board for help and helping us understand all the intricacies of this plan. But I originally moved to Richmond 12 years ago. The neighborhoods that led me to fall in love with Richmond were Carytown and areas like Short Pump. I love the shops and the restaurants there, and I still do. And yet Lakeside is not Carytown and is not Short Pump, and I would not wish to live in those areas. For those of you who vote or have influence in the future of Lakeside, I would ask you to visit Carytown at different hours of the day, including after dark. I have recently and it's now a rare occasion where I go an entire visit without feeling unsafe at some point. Homeless rates are on the rise in urban areas since COVID and these problems are larger than Lakeside and this well-intentioned project. Lakeside is filled with hardworking, close-knit residents who have lived here for many years. I am even in the minority in the nine years that I have lived here. In the introduction of Higher density housing will bring in short-term residents with no investment in the long-term future of our community. This, I think, along with more commercial spaces, will lose our community feel. My husband and I spend our weekends biking to Rebel Market, Hobnob, Bryant Park Bar and Grill, and the Farmer's Market. We've purchased many treasures from Vintage Glass and Pottery and Ray's. Ray, I saw you there. You're still there. You're the best pool store in the entire Richmond area. And these mom and pop businesses deserve a place in our neighborhood, and they're the reason why we love to call Lakeside home. That leads me to the second issue, the bike lanes. I live directly on Dumbarton Road, and as I mentioned, I actually do bike around the neighborhood. The bike lanes on Dumbarton are, in my opinion, a failure. Car traffic is regularly backed up with a full half a mile between my home and Staples Mill Road. The bike lanes are rarely used. They are filled with grit and debris, and they do not feel safe to use. The reality is that these roads do need to be used by vehicles, and Lakeside Avenue is no exception. Dunbarton Road was an interesting experiment, but let us not repeat our mistakes. To reduce the flow of traffic while also building additional housing are inverse initiatives that will work against each other. We are very fortunate to have a unique gem of a community And I beg of you to please allow us to keep our beloved community as it remains. Thank you.

All right, Mr. Chair, seeing no other speakers on the public hearing.

Mr. Manti point, the poll here is closed. I wanted to tell Mr. Oxen on Han oxen hand hand for left. He said three things really too. He said, lakeside doesn't feel seen. They don't feel hurt. Um, and I just want him and all of you all to know that you are all seen and you are all heard. Um, upon assuming office, uh, I've made an intentional effort to make sure that my town hall meetings were not just held at the Eastern rec center, but I've, I've made sure that every part of Fairfield, uh, has had, uh, one of my Fairfield, um, forums. And I've gone to Belmont twice, and it was very well attended. So that was one intentional effort. Mr. Woodson, so my wife and I last week walked four miles into Hanover on the Fall Line Trail. I can't wait until we finish the trailhead. As sports backers, I cut that ribbon. Can't wait to pick that part up. Mr. Gardner. Yes, sir. So, I eat at Hobnob and other restaurants. I've thrown the first pitch at Lakeside Little League for the last two years. Mrs. Zanino and I just met with the staff at Lakeside Little League. We're about to do some great improvements. We're excited about that. Lakeside Farmer's Market. I buy my pocket squares from Franco's. I take my cleaning to Henning's. I mean, Sweeney's. And all my flowers come from Coleman Brothers. I... I say all that to say that I've heard you all, I've seen you all, and what I'm gonna do tonight is I'm gonna pull out Lakeside from the comp plan. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna hold community meetings, town halls in Lakeside with business owners and community, so we can talk about this and figure out the best path forward. So you have my commitment to that, all right? That being said, is there a motion pertaining to the comp plan?

Yes, ma'am.

You could have said that 20 minutes ago, Mr. Henry Cooper.

No, no. I needed to hear my phone.

But, no, actually, I joke, but I love hearing folks come out and share your passions and your thoughts because it's really clear how much you guys love the parts of Henrico that you live in. Although, I don't know why people – I always joke short pump catches strays every time people from other districts talk. It's, you know, nobody wants to be short pump. She says she loves shopping in short pump. You know, but that's the beautiful thing about Henrico is that there are so many different parts of Henrico. And so that speaks to how challenging it is to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses all of the various different parts of, of Henrico and what some people want and what some people are deathly afraid of happening in the county. And so, um, as we prepare to vote on this, I echo the gratitude um, for the work. And, you know, you guys have taken a lot of heat, you know, and we, we, we get elected to take heat, you know, so we, we have to have that thick skin. It breaks my heart when you guys, when I see the emails and the way that, you know, sometimes folks come at you all and you're just getting up and coming to work every day and doing a job, um, and serving this County. So thank you for all that you do and all of the, you know, the shots that you guys, I shouldn't say shots, all of the heat that you guys get, for doing the work that you've done. I really think, you know, that this has been a responsive document. I am so grateful for the advocates. And I actually said this, something similar when we did the data center ordinance change. You know, advocates have shaped what we've been doing in this county. I can only speak for the time that I've been on the board, but advocates have really shaped what we've done here for the past few years. And sometimes it feels like a tense relationship, but you guys are appreciated because otherwise we're just kind of up here winging it without knowing all of your expertise, without knowing how you feel about things. And I hope that you guys can get a sense that this document that we're getting ready to vote on really is a product of how it's been shaped throughout all of this discourse and dialogue. I am incredibly proud of the environmental justice section and how that wasn't really a topic of discussion even a very short time ago and how now it is something that is at the forefront because it is so incredibly important that we acknowledge what damage has been done to so many areas of our county and, you know, the reckoning that we now have to deal with and more importantly, what we do now going forward. So I'm incredibly proud of the work that, that we have done with that and the public support that we have, um, for folks saying even, you know, mainstream folks all over the county saying, yes, we agree that this is an important part of, um, of what we talk about. The water issue, Melissa, I hear you a hundred, you know, a hundred percent water is, um, such an incredibly valuable resource. And, um, you know, we've got this great asset with the Cobb, Cobb's Creek reservoir. And first and foremost, we need to make sure that we've got it available for our residents to have and that we've got that reliability to keep our folks healthy and happy. And I don't want it to be used. You know, I'll go on record now saying that I do not support any use of our water being sold to support a gas plant in Cumberland or you know, other uses that are going to be detrimental for our environment. So we've got a very valuable asset there. And, you know, as long as I'm on the board and I know several of my colleagues on the board, we're going to act very proactively to try to protect that. I hear you when you say, you know, well, why not make it a part of the comprehensive plan? And I guess I say this with a little bit of please just, you know, just trust that even if we move forward with the comprehensive plan today without including that language in there, it by no means means that it's because we're neglecting that issue. I think we talked earlier this evening about the path that we intend to pursue with that, and that is going to produce a deliverable for everybody that wants to see something in writing that we are bound to that says, here is what we plan to do for our water resiliency and safety and all of that. So I say that to say that I hear you on that. I don't intend to ask that we hold up on the comp plan because of that, but we will continue having that dialogue. So, all in all, I am proud of the product that we have landed on. And again, it is by and large because of the work of our staff and the responsiveness that you all have had. We talk about the percentages of people that responded, and it may seem like a small number, but I don't choose to see it that way. I choose to see it as a lot of very passionate people who have taken time out of their very busy and stressful lives to let us know how they feel about it. And it doesn't feel like 3% of the county. It really feels like the heart of the county has spoken throughout this process. So thank you to all of you all. I know a lot of people have left, but to everybody that has participated.

Thank you so much. This round tree. I want to provide opportunities to my other colleagues to make comments. Um, before we take a vote in motion. Yes, sir. Hearing no other comments or questions. Is there a motion pertaining to the resolution one, five, seven, two, six.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we follow the recommendations of the planning commission and staff and approve the 2045. Comprehensive plan is presented with the amendments recommended by the Planning Commission, including amendments to the major thoroughfare plan to remove the six conceptual roads, amendments to the recommended density of the prime agricultural rural conservation land use category from one unit per five acres to one unit per, no. Okay, I'm confused. Land use category from one unit per five acres to one to five But we don't want to do it. We just want one to one. We don't want one to five.

Yes, sir. If that's your intent, you could say one unit per one acre. All right. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for confusing you, colleagues. Let me try it again. Amendments to the recommended density of prime agricultural rural conservation land use category from one unit per five acres to one unit per one acre.

Yes, sir. So you would still have a PARC category, but its density would reflect the A1 district. And you'll see when we get to the zoning amendments, you'll pull the A2 district and all that will be left is the A1. So if that's your intent, you've made the motion correctly, sir.

Okay. All right. But without references to the Lakeside Avenue form-based alternative overlay sub-district and the second and third special focus area strategies identified for the Lakeside Avenue corridor in Chapter 4... Managing sustainable growth. In addition, I recommend the board consider amendments discussed this evening, including conduct a special study on Osborne Turnpike and James River corridors. Creation of a committee of stakeholder group to study conservation and the preservation of rural character. Study coastal resiliency and study creation of agritourism districts and report back. remove the James River crossing from the major thoroughfare plan that will connect to Commerce Road in Richmond City.

Thank you so much, Reverend Nelson. Is there a second? Seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? The resolution is passed.

Next, Mr. Chair, Agenda Item 159-26. This is the zoning ordinance. I'm sorry, 158-26 is the zoning ordinance that would amend Chapter 24 of the Code of Henrico. So this is a public hearing, and you've gone through a public hearing on the comp plan. Is there anyone that wishes to speak on the zoning ordinance, just having heard what the board's intent is with the comp plan? Mr. Newby, can you summarize again what is up with the changes that were made Comprehensive plan how that will be changed how that will be reflected on this Yes, sir item yes, sir before you speak sir He's gonna speak before we do the public hearing correct. I think so. It would be all right.

That sounds good Yes, sir.

Mr. Chair members of the board. Mr. Manager considering your vote on the comprehensive plan I would expect that you will vote on the item that's labeled 158A, which removes the A2, and also I believe you have language in front of you that would remove the lakeside form-based overlay as well. So the item before you essentially would remove the A2, make some adjustments to form-based overlay, and remove the lakeside subdistrict.

Thank you so much, Mr. Newby. As the manager stated, this is a public hearing. Is there anyone here that would like to speak to this item? Is there anyone online that would like to speak to this item?

No, sir. Thank you so much.

That being said, the public hearing is closed. Colleagues, any questions, comments?

Mr.

Chair, I move that we follow the recommendations of staff and the Planning Commission and approve the zoning ordinance amendment labeled 158A-26, but without the provisions creating the Lakeside Avenue form-based alternative overlay subdistrict. If this motion is approved, the amendments will implement the recommendations of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan, create the best products reimagined, and Brook Road North form-based alternative overlay subdistricts conform the zoning ordinance to recent changes to state law and update, modify, and clarify certain provisions of the ordinance. In addition to providing clarification for the form-based alternative overlay districts, 158A-26 removes the references to the previously proposed A2 district which should be studied further as the comprehensive plan is implemented as recommended by the planning commission. I got to put in here all of this stuff. Okay. No, ma'am.

That's, that's the motion.

Thank you, Ms. Rountree. Motion to be made by Ms. Rountree, seconded by Mr. Rogers. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Thank you so much. The ordinance passes.

Next, Mr. Chair, members of the board, 159-26 is the subdivision ordinance. There is a substitute 159A-26. Mr. Newby, how is this substitute? What changes have been made tonight?

Yes, sir. Mr. Chair, members of the board, considering your vote so far, I would recommend approval of 159A-26, which simply removes the A2 district references from that ordinance. There's nothing about Lakeside or anything else in there of concern. It's simply the removal of the A2 district.

So moved.

Yeah, thank you so much By mr. Schmidt it's public hearing time is anyone here would like to speak this item Is there anyone alive that like to speak to this item?

No, sir. There is not.

Thank you so much So that being said the public hearing is closed colleagues. Are there any questions or comments? Hearing none, Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and also before the Lakeside residents leave, I'd like to thank you for the rollback in history. I got a chance to represent you all for just a year and a half or two years, and I was reminded of the beauty of Lakeside tonight. So thank you, and please share that with your colleagues that were here tonight.

I'm glad they're with me now.

Yeah, the census got me. So members of the board, Mr. Chair, members of the audience, with regard to the subdivision ordinance amendment, I move we follow the recommendation of the Staff and Planning Commission and we approve subdivision ordinance amendment label 159A-26 that will implement the recommendations of the 2045 comprehensive plan. It will clarify the relationship between a family subdivision and minor subdivision, conform the subdivision ordinance with recent changes to state law, improve consistency with the zoning ordinance as presented this evening. 159 a dash 26 also removes the references to the previously proposed a to district which should be studied further as the Comprehensive plan is implemented Thank you so much.

Mr. Smith. The motion has been made and seconded by miss rounds your own favorites I those opposed the ordinance has passed mr. Manager mr.

Chair next item you would move into your general agenda the first item that is related to this the three items that you just approved, is 165-26. This is the resolution for the environmental justice strategy, the initiation of the study and report. The board paper requires the report to be completed and made available to the Planning Commission in public within 12 months of the engagement of the consultant who will perform the work. Mr. Chair?

Thank you so much, Mr. Manager.

Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Ms. Raunchy, seconded by Mr. Nelts. Reverend Nelson, on face, aye. Aye. Opposed, opposed. The resolution is passed.

Okay. Now to some perfunctory county business. Agenda item 160-26 is a resolution for signatory authority. This is a utility agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company, 4301 East Parham Road, which is in the Brooklyn District. Mr. Anthony.

Hello, Mr. Manager, Mr. Chair, honorable members of the board, ladies and gentlemen. I was about to say good morning. Pressure, Mr. Anthony. Good evening. This board paper would authorize the chair to execute a 15-foot underground utility easement located at 4301 East Parham Road. The proposed underground utility easement would allow for BEPCO to provide power to electric vehicle charging stations, the Western Henrico Government Center. Directors of Real Property and Public Works recommends approval of the board paper. The county manager concurs. I'll be happy to address any questions.

Yes, sir. No problem at all. No, sir, there is not. Thank you so much. The public hearing is now closed. Is there a motion?

Mr. Anthony, before my motion, I have 26 questions for you on this item.

No problem at all.

Mr. Chair, move the resolution.

Second. Okay. Joint second by Rogus and Nelson. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed.

Thank you so much. Next, Mr. Chair, 161-26 is a resolution for condemnation. This is for easements for the Fall Line Trail on Mountain Road in the Fairfield District. Mr. Anthony.

Thank you once again, Mr. Manager, Mr. Chair, honorable members of the board. This would authorize condemnation proceedings for property associated with the Fall Line Trail. Longdale fades. The county needs to acquire easements from Leonard T. Harris, and based upon an independent appraisal, the county made an offer of $2,235. The board paper authorizes the county attorney to institute and conduct condemnation proceedings in accordance with the Code of Virginia. The board paper further authorizes and directs, excuse me, the county manager to continue to seek voluntary acquisition of these easements to take all necessary steps for the acquisition. Directors of Public Works and Real Property recommend approval of the board paper. The county manager concurs. I'll be happy to address any questions.

Thank you so much, Mr. Anthony. Colleagues, are there any questions for Mr. Anthony? If not, this is a public hearing. Is there anybody present that would like to speak to this item? Is there anybody online that would like to speak to this item?

No, sir, there is not.

Thank you, sir. The public hearing is closed. I move to approve the resolution. Second. Moved by myself. Seconded by Ms. Rauch. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. The resolution is approved.

162-26 is a resolution for signatory authority. This is a quick claim of vacated right-of-way abutting Favre Avenue in the Fairfield District. Mr. Anthony.

Thank you once again, Mr. Manager, Mr. Chair, members of the board. This would... Quick claim, former right-of-way along Favre Avenue to Major Lisco Landscaping LLC, who owns the abutting property. The board vacated the former right-of-way by resolution on December 16th of 2025. Director of the real property recommends approval of the poor vapor. County manager concurs. I'll be happy to address any questions.

Thank you again, Ms. Anthony. Colleagues, any questions? Seeing none, is there anybody present that would like to speak to this item? Anybody online?

No, sir. There's not.

Thank you, sir. This public hearing is closed. So moved. Second. Seconded by Mr. Schmidt. Moved by myself. All in favor say aye. Aye. Ayes have the resolution as approved.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. 163-26 is a resolution for signatory authority. Quick claim of a portion of existing utility easement. This is at 12159 West Broad Street, which is in the Three Chop District. Mr. Anthony.

Thank you once again, sir. This would authorize the chair to execute a quick plan D, releasing any interest the county may have in utility easement. This property is owned by M.E. Knuckles, LLC. The owner of the property encumbered by the easement has requested this action. The county does not need a portion of the utility easement, and there are no county facilities in the area. The Real Property Division has processed the request of the Deputy County Manager for Community Operations and the Department of Planning and Public Utilities without objection.

Thank you so much, mr. Anthony any questions from my colleagues saying none on this is a public hearing Is there any person present that would like to speak to this matter? Anybody on line hearing on this poster there's no one to speak to this item. Thank you sir hearing on this Move by mr. Rounds just like my Reverend Nelson on the paper side those opposed eyes have the resolutions proved

Next, Mr. Chair, 164-26 is a resolution for signatory authority. This is a quick claim of a permanent traffic maintenance easement on Nine Mile Road in the Verona District. Mr. Anthony.

Thank you once again, sir. This would authorize the chair to execute a quick claim deed located at 1212 East Nine Mile Road. The county does not need the easement. It has no facilities in the easement. Releasing the county's interest in the easement would allow the Virginia Department of Transportation... to obtain an easement in that area for traffic and maintenance. Director of Road Property recommends approval of the board paper. County management occurs. I'll be happy to address any questions.

Thank you so much, Mr. Anthony. Colleagues, any questions or comments? Hearing none, is there anybody present that would like to speak to this item? Seeing none, is there anyone online that would like to speak to this item?

No, sir, there is not.

Thank you, sir. That being the public hearings closed, the move by Reverend Nelson, seconded by Ms. Rogish. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, the resolution is moved. Thank you.

Next, Mr. Chair, members of the board, you move into public comments. Is there anyone here that wishes to address the Board of Supervisors this evening? Yes, if you would go to the podium. Apologies. Sorry, if you would begin your comments by stating your name and address for the record.

My name is Wesley Graham Hasper, and I live at 408 Terabee Drive, Sandston, Virginia. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, guests and neighbors, first of all, I would like to take the time to state my appreciation for the opportunity to speak with you. I stand before you today with the utmost respect for the Assembly's authority, and I know that you strive to do what is best for all of the citizens in our county. Reasonably, my demeanor today is the culmination of days spent in thought and carefully focused frustration at our currently idling state of affairs, which brings me to my topic for today. As you've already heard, my name is Wesley Hasmer. I'm a rising high school junior and resident of the Seven Pines area in the district of Verina. I attend classes at Verina High School, where I have been enrolled in the Center for Communications and Media Relations since 2024. My family and I, my younger brother, my younger sister, my mom, and my dad, who is currently right here with me, have lived in Henrico together our entire lives. And to say that it has such rife significance is an understatement. All the issues I'd like to present have minimal direct impact on my life as it stands today. It does leave a lasting impression on those around me, such as my parents. who have paid not only for my hobbies, my education, as well as my well-being, but they've also held a roof over my head and continue to do so currently despite the increasing cost, in no small part due to the recent construction of data centers in our community, something I would like to touch on tonight. While attending a summer class at my school, Henrico County Manager John Vitoulkas, is that correct? That's correct. thank you sir, told employees for HCBS County in a June 26 email that the rate paid for electricity will increase dramatically and that the county anticipates additional increases in the years ahead. This impacted me directly, as of course any driver today would know, practicing driver's ed isn't exactly the best idea in the dark. These growing costs are a result of the rapid rise in data center construction. and which is especially urgent considering my school, Verina High School, can really only afford very little in terms of extra expenditures. Further beyond their jobs, many of my teachers, many of the other employees at VHS have families themselves of whom they care for in a world that feels like it's weighing down on them more than ever. I'm aware that Governor Spanberger has stated her desire to put in place a number of precautions against such consequences. However, due to the fact that the bill hasn't been passed yet, it's not a complete assurance that nearby homeowners are safe from this kind of behavior from big tech companies building this kind of infrastructure nearby. While I support the bill, I'd like to suggest measures against building data centers on protected or previous land, such as graveyards, national monuments, public parks, or any other real estate utilized and owned by any number of tenants, including closing loopholes, such as the usage of eminent domain, as these buildings rarely benefit the public. To recount, and just to summarize... In an ideal future, AI shares a place among people who want to accelerate their own ventures while in full control of where those ventures lead. But to help achieve this kind of shining golden age of technology first, we must usher the laws in by which it should be governed. And finally, of course, I thank you for your time this evening, and I appreciate you giving me a space in which my voice can be heard as somebody who is probably younger than half the people in this room. So thank you.

Thank you so much for those comments, sir.

Can I make a quick comment? Um, I just want to thank you, Wesley. You, did you get here at six o'clock? Were you here before six o'clock?

Uh, I arrived like around six o'clock. It was a rush.

So you, you literally almost said through four hours of public meeting to make that comment. So we respect it. That is a, I mean, I wouldn't expect anything less from a Verona high school student. So, I'm going to come back there and give you my card so that we can converse back and forth with the email. I can get you some answers to your concerns. Thank you, sir.

Is there anyone else that wishes to address the board this evening? Okay, anyone on the web? Yes, sir. No, you can talk on any topic.

Mr. Chairman, board members, citizens, I would like to say good evening. My name is Joseph Ellsworth. I'm with the American Legion Post 233 out of Veranda, Virginia. On behalf of my commander, who is Kenneth Harvey, who is on vacation right now trying to get some much-needed rest and spend time with his family, I just want to say thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you briefly. The subject I want to speak on is, um, it's going to be board state, the board state program, the success and the farmer's market around a strong two, three, three fair in Dory park. So the board state program, um, was June 21 through 26 of this year. We had two students went from here, right from, um, around the JRTC program and one scout from troop 501 And they graduated the program successfully. Details are available on vaboysstate.org. For the girls, it's vagirlstate.org. But the young men who graduated, that program is rigorous. And they did an awesome job. And I just want Reverend Nelson to know how good of a job those young men did. I was there on the ground for the entire week, and to see how they just, it blew me out of the water. We even had one citizen from Veranda High School that won the citizenship award for his city, and that's remarkable. We have sponsors that have emphasized the growing importance of these programs, the Du Bois State program, and we are requesting increased support. from Henrico Management to assist the American Legion. Veranda Post 233 with our 2026-2027 program. The Montgomery Farm Market and American Legion Veranda Strong 233 Door Park Veranda Fair will take place on August 29th, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We're requesting guest speakers for the event from the American Legion Department Commander of the State of Virginia, the Henrico County Manager, John Vakowskis, Board Supervisor Tyrone Nelson, and Henrico County School Rep, Alisha Atkins, who has already committed to speak. So I'm sure Commander Harvey will be getting in contact with you all personally upon his return. We would like to acknowledge some of our VIP supporters standing with the American Legion of Post 233, including CNF Bank, Ace Hydro Seating, Kitchen 33, New York Life, and RICO Athletic Program, James River Scout Council, and RICO Citizens, and many other sponsors. Support for our cause will be addressed at the public through a network-covered story with assistance from Tom Lappas, founder, owner of Henrico Citizens. The story plan is scheduled to be announced in mid-August 2026. I wanted to keep this brief. It's been a long night. I thank y'all for even allowing me to speak, and I wish you Godspeed.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair, if you don't mind. Thank you, sir. Once the commander gets back, just tell him to hook up with us. You should have a check for the state. We sent some money for the state convention or whatever, but if you can check, you should have something from him right go for that.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you. Is there anyone else that wishes to address the board this evening in public comments? Yes, sir.

Good evening to the board and all in attendance. My name is Wesley Gregory, and I live at 4524 Summer Street in Ryko County. And I'll be brief as well. And it's a unique topic here, and that is I know we're concerned about our environment. And being a part of here in Ryko County, I'm going to introduce something to you all this evening. facts for the board to consider. And we have the different regulations in place that people, you know, you pick up after your pets and all. However, all the communities aren't designed the same. And I do notice that people that have the personal property and Maybe that's an assumption on my part, but it seems as if they say it's my personal property. I just let the pet dog do what it wants. I don't pick up after it. Now, some houses have the space, the yards, and all that. And I have no doubt that probably half the room of those of you in here, you have pets. Yes, what I did was send in some information I had gathered. It was about the impact of allowing dog waste to remain in place. and says that dog feces is a health hazard. Yes, dog feces is a significant health hazard. It is classified by the environmental agencies as raw sewage. And I'm speaking on this because there's health hazards, and there are children they're playing about. And again, it's not just long-term survival about the parasites. and the bacteria in the soil and the water contamination. And I spring this up because when your neighbor is doing that and you have children and you run a store and not all the properties are separated by fences and all, and we don't know how soon the next housing market is going to boom and You know, you've got people, families that are coming through. There's no... I looked through the county regulations. I didn't see it. But I'm hoping that when I introduce this information, it says the United States Environmental Protection Agency considers the pet waste a non-profit... I mean, a non-point source of pollutant. And again, it seems like it's an odd topic, but it's an environmental situation. And I noticed that as I walked down my street, my neighbors have doodled their dogs to go right to the curb and relieve themselves. They don't pick it up. And some of them wash it out the driveway right down to the curb, to the streets. We walk along the street taking a walk in the evening, and that's a problem with the smell and what they have washed out. There used to be a street sweeper in Henrico County. It doesn't come through the neighborhood anymore. I don't know if that's even part of the public service now. But what I am saying is that when I looked at this and I pulled up information and it says there's a bacteria, viruses, parasites can be there for up to four years in the soil and all. And again, it sounds like it's a unique topic. But if you live by someone who's doing this and you're saying is what they may wash over into your yard through the concrete, the gravel, even you cut your grass, these things are still in the soil. And if you're planning to either purchase or sell a home, you can see this nice grass, but you don't know what's in there. Your children running around through the yards. Henrico County can hopefully just, even if it's a public service, they ask people to be considerate of their neighbors in these issues. I don't know if you can do something as a TV ad or anything to just encourage people to be considerate because if it's not a state law, but what I'm just saying is, again, it sounds like it's a unique topic, but think about the health of your children and your grandchildren. So rather than just introduce a problem, I'm asking that you find a way to get the word out so that we can eliminate this hazard because, again, it can pass on It's lingering in the source, and ask them to be considerate. If Ryko County takes the lead, I'm sure other counties will jump on board to follow. So again, I'm asking the board to please share your thoughts because it is a unique topic. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Is there anyone else that wishes to address the board this evening? Is there anyone on WebEx?

No, sir. There's no one to speak.

All right, Ms. Chair, members of board, you have covered the first item on your general agenda. You would move to 166-26. This is a resolution. This is funding the salary increases for our schools. Mr. Crawford, you explain this paper?

Yes, sir. So this resolution is an amendment to the fiscal year 27 budget in accordance with the board's wishes at their last meeting on June 23rd. As the General Assembly included a 4% salary increase for SAQ-supported teachers, the $6.1 million would increase the approved salary increase from 3% to 4%. For all HCPS employees, at a total cost of $24.4 million of that total, $10 million is coming from the state for their share of the cost. So with that as an overview, I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you so much, Mr. Crawford. This is exciting news. Would you, would you agree?

I would absolutely agree. Even at this late of an hour.

Colleagues, any comments or questions for Mr. Crawford? Hearing none, is there a motion? Thank you, sir. Moved by Mr. Schmidt, seconded by Mr. Roegers on the fifth side. Opposed? Ayes have it. Resolution is approved.

Next, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Ms. Miner has an introduction of an ordinance. Sheila?

Good evening members of the board this paper requests a public hearing to round pennies and make language changes on return Payments to conform to state code. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

I recommend approval any questions If not, is there motion? Who my mrs. Rountree said my mr. Rogas on his eyes Next we have 168 26 resolution Comcast cable franchise new and proceedings

Yes, sir Thank You mr. Chair members of the board this authorizes the beginning of renewal proceedings with Comcast for their cable franchise I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you 169-26 is also an introduction of an ordinance

This is to amend and reordain Section 22-42. Chief, what are we doing here?

Public hearing on August 25th to propose ordinance to prohibit driving, stopping, standing, and parking on shared-use pathways, and also to discuss the Class 3 electric bicycles from being operated on county shared-use pathways. Those are the ones that go a certain speed? Eight miles per hour, yes, sir.

So moved. I guess there are no questions. I'll be moved by Reverend Nelson, seconded by Ms. Ronshaw on the first side. Aye. Opposed? The introduction order has been approved.

All right, 170-26, Mr. Lebo, signatory authority.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. This resolution authorizes the county manager to execute a grant agreement with Virginia Housing and Plan RVA for the MVA playbook. The grant's $50,000. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions for Mr. Lebo? If not, is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Moved by Ms. Roundtree, seconded by Reverend Nelson, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, the ayes have the resolutions approved.

And 171-26, Mr. Lebo, Enterprise Fund Amendment.

Yes, this resolution authorizes the county manager to execute a joint zone amendment agreement with the city of Richmond for its amendment of its portion of the Enterprise Zone. This has no impact on the county. Happy to answer any questions you all may have.

Any questions for Mr. Lebo? If not, is there a motion?

by Reverend Nelson second my miss Ron she all those I suppose the eyes have it the resolution is approved next 172-26 is a resolution approval and acquisition for condemnation for the fall line trail mr. Anthony thank you sir this item settled in court mr. Newby could provide a debriefing if you need does anybody want miss new to speak to this all right is there motion

So moved. Is there a second? Moved by Mr. Smith, seconded by Reverend Nelson, all on the fifth side. Aye. Opposed?

Ayes have resolution approved. 173-26, introduction of ordinance. Mr. Chan.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, this board paper introduces for advertisement and a public hearing tentatively scheduled for August 25th, proposed ordinance amendments to confirm two changes in state law. Amendments update the maximum discharge limits to align with state permitting requirements, establish requirements for PFAS discharge monitoring, and conform reporting requirements to federal regulations. With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you, Mr. Chan. Any questions?

So this is matching up state and county code?

Yes, sir, and updating our limits for wastewater.

Reverend Nelson? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Rogers. Good to have you back, sir. All those in favor say aye.

Those opposed? Next, Mr. Chair. 174-26 is a resolution. This is an award of contract for a sewer rehabilitation project in the Fairfield District. Mr. Chan.

Thank you again. This is an award of fixed price contract for $11,598,108 to Vortex Services for the East Highland Park Sewer Rehabilitation Phase 2 project. With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

So moved. Second. Moved by myself, second by Reverend Nelson. All in favor say aye. Aye.

Opposed, ayes have it. And 175-26 is a resolution. This is an award of contract for the Richmond-Henrico Turnpike Project.

Mr. Manager, this board paper awards a unit price contract for $40,320,000 to Abernathy Construction Corporation for Richmond-Henrico Turnpike Improvements Project. This widens the road out to four lanes, includes a sidewalk on one side, trail on the other, and then it also includes public water improvements, which includes the 42-inch water main that's going to help run water from the west side of the county to the east side of the county.

How long is this project expected to take? It'll be a two-year project. Are we starting at that?

Intersection on the burner where the city hits the county it's gonna depend we have to do a pre-construction But it's either gonna be with the Burnham at Richmond right go or it's gonna come the other way They're working on it now. No, you know that yeah, they're country. Yeah 40 million So it's got substantial improvements for water and the road improvement.

So would this be the first? Effort on our part to dig into the ground to start installing the pipe for Yes, sir, it is. All right. I move this on behalf of all of us. Second, second, second. Myself, move it. Everybody second. All in favor say aye. Those opposed, it's been approved.

Next, Mr. Chair, 176-26. This is an agreement with VDOT on the short pump area improvements for Northgate. Mr. Hughes. Yes, Mr. Manager.

Public Works is negotiating an agreement with CVTA or Central Virginia Transportation Authority under which the county will perform survey work for $709,000. This will get us started on the North Gaten Interchange project. The Director of Public Works recommends approval of the board paper, and the county manager concurs. Thank you, Mr. Hughes. Any questions or comments?

Mr. Hughes, short pump's a very important part of our county, no matter how others make it.

Yeah, we like short pump. Thank you. How much, go ahead, I'm sorry. That's the only question I have. How much money? I think I just talked to somebody. Out of the, this is round four money, right?

No, a lot of this is from round one. So how much was it? 700. Well, we received so far $65 million from CVTA. This is $709,000 that will be reimbursed. So this project is going to cost how much? The total project? Upwards of $150 million. So we're moving along. Yes.

Are there any other areas other than the short pump that's getting $150 million? Collectively, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Raunchy, madam, would you please make a motion?

I just built a school a couple years ago. Second.

No, Mr. Smith beat you up, Nelson. It's been moved by Ms. Raunchy, seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor sign. Opposed? Ayes have it. Resolution is approved.

And final item, 176-26, is a resolution for acceptance of roads.

So moved. Second. I move. Reverend Nelson moved. I second. All those in favor? Aye. Colleagues, any comments?

This was a long meeting.

Mr. Manager, any comments?

No, sir.

If not, meeting is adjourned. Thank you all.