Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening to everyone. I'd like to call to order the August 13th, 2026 zoning meeting of the Planning Commission. I'd like to thank each of you for joining us this evening. First, I would like to ask you to check your cell phones. Make sure that they're either turned off or that you have them on vibrate. And with that being said, if you're able, would you please join us for the standing of the Pledge of Allegiance? Also, at this time, I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome any news media, if they're in the room. It appears we have all the members present this evening, with the exception of Mr. Schmidt. All right, so Mr. Schmidt from the Board of Supervisors won't be joining us this evening, but we do have every member here from the Planning Commission itself. With that, I'd like to turn the meeting over to our Secretary, Mr. Joe Emerson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will join with you in welcoming everyone to the Enrico County Planning Commission meeting public hearing for August the 13th, 2026. This evening, it's requested all public comments be provided from the lectern to the rear of the room. For everyone who's watching us live stream on the county website, you can participate remotely in the public hearings by following these guidelines. Go to the Planning Department's meeting webpage at henrico.gov backslash planning backslash meetings. Scroll down under Planning Commission and click on WebEx event. Once you have joined the WebEx event, please click the chat button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Staff will send a message asking if anyone would like to sign up to speak on an upcoming case. To respond, select Molly Mallow from the drop-down menu and send her a message. She will place you in the queue to speak. And just so everybody is aware, as we move into the public hearing portion of the meeting, the Commission does have guidelines for its public hearings. The applicant or their representative will have 10 minutes to present testimony. A portion of that time can be saved for rebuttal of opposition statements. Individual speakers in support and not part of an applicant's presentation will have up to two minutes to present their testimony. and collectively will not exceed 10 minutes unless the chair extends the time. Individual speakers in opposition will have up to two minutes to present their testimony and will not exceed a total of 10 minutes, again, unless the chair extends the time. A group representative may speak for support or opposition for up to 10 minutes if at least four other citizens appear at the podium, identify themselves, and each cede two minutes of their time. Time to respond to questions of the commission will not be included in the allotted time for public participation. The commission maintains verbatim minutes of the meeting. Commenters must provide their name and address prior to the meeting for the record. One thing I will note as well, there is a timer that you will see on the lectern. There are three lights on it that I think are very straightforward. Green, yellow, and red. Green means go. Yellow means your time's almost up. And of course, red means your time is up. With that said, thank you again for your interest in your community this evening and being here with us. With that said, Mr. Chairman, we move into the request for withdrawals and deferrals. And we have one withdrawal and one deferral. And Ms. Jean Moore will go over those with you.

Thank you so much. The first is a withdrawal that's on page one of your agenda. This is Provisional Use Permit-2026-100178. The applicant is Crown Castle USA Incorporated. This was a request to replace and extend a wireless communication tower at the southeast intersection of Gaskin Road and Stone Ridge Lane. Again, this has been withdrawn, so no action is required by the Commission.

Now the deferrals.

Oh, okay. For the deferrals, go right into that. The first is on page two of your agenda. This is rezoning case in the Varina District. This is rezoning case 2026-100434. This is Ace Investments, LLC. This is a request to conditionally rezone from A1 and M2C to M2C General Industrial District. located at the north line of Pocahontas Parkway, approximately 410 feet east of Monaghan Road. The applicant proposes outdoor storage, office, and uses. The applicant is requesting a deferral to your September 10, 2026 meeting.

All right. Thank you. Is there anyone present on WebEx who is opposed to the deferral of case number REZ-2026-100434?

Mr. Chairman, there is nobody on WebEx for this case.

Okay, thank you.

Mr. Chairman, seeing and hearing there is no opposition to the deferral, I move that RAZ-2026-100434 Ace Investments LLC be deferred to the September 10, 2026 meeting at the request of the applicant.

Second. I have a motion by Mr. Mackey, second by Mr. Winterhoff. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, that And that completes our withdrawals and deferrals for the evening. There are no expedited items. So we move into the cases to be heard on your main agenda, with the first case being REZ 2026-100916, Imperial Investment Group, LLC. This is a request to conditionally rezone from R6C General Residence District and B3 Business District to B3C Business District. 2.202 acres located at the intersection of Magellan Parkway and Brook Road. Use will be controlled by zoning ordinance regulations and proffered conditions. The 2026 comprehensive plan recommends government and environmental protection area. Staff report will be presented by Mr. Livingston Lewis. Hi, Mr. Lewis. How are you now?

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the commission. This is a request to rezone 2.2 acres at the northeast intersection of Magellan Parkway and Brook Road. from R6C and B3 to B3C for commercial access and related commercial uses. The comprehensive plan designates the site as government and environmental protection area, reflecting the former use as a DMV branch office. Surrounding uses include residential to the north, east, and south, as well as a future dentist office. The subject property lies at the entrance to the newly developed retreat at 1 residential community, in an area undergoing significant revitalization and investment. The R6C portion of the site was rezoned in 2019 as part of a retreat at one, but was ultimately not needed to achieve that development's final layout. During the construction of Magellan Parkway in 2021, the remnant frontage parcel was created and the DMV access was shifted eastward to avoid queuing at the planned traffic signal on Brook Road. This placed the access on the R6 zone portion. The DMV office was closed in April, 2023, and the applicant purchased the two adjoining parcels in August of that year with the current access and zoning scenario in place. Because the applicant now wishes to sell or lease the vacant property for commercial use, this presents a couple of technical hurdles. First, the current zoning code does not allow commercial uses to be accessed through residentially zoned property, whereas this was a matter of policy prior to the September 2021 Zoning Ordinance Amendment. Additionally, because the previous office use ceased operations for a period exceeding 24 months, the site no longer retains its nonconforming status, thereby disallowing the nonconforming access. The subject case aims to address both of these issues. The code's access restriction is in place to avoid negative impacts from potentially incompatible uses, particularly in scenarios similar to this, with a site changing from a 9 to 5 office operation to something that could potentially involve extended hours and a wider range of activities. During the time the case has been deferred, staff continued discussing these concerns with the applicant, and they have since responded with several important revisions. The request now includes the larger parcel with the building and proffers have been submitted with a list of principal use restrictions and limits on the hours of operation. That would be the essentially matching B2 hours of operation, which are 6 a.m. to midnight. With these assurances in place, staff is able to support the request as it will achieve greater compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods and better support for this area's broader revitalization goals. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

All right, Mr. Lewis, thank you for that report. Before we have any questions, I just want to make sure, is there anyone on the WebEx or in the audience that would like to speak to this particular case?

Mr. Chairman, there's nobody on WebEx for this case.

All right, thank you. Anybody from the Commission have any questions? All right. Well, I'll just have a statement. I'd just like to thank Mr. Lewis for his work on this case. working with the applicant to get to a point kind of where we are now. Thank you, sir. Absolutely. With the applicant, I'd like to come forward at this time.

Good evening. Kate Lafayette here with Andy Conlon from Roth Jackson representing Imperial Investments Group, LLC. We'll take any questions that you have about this case.

At this time, I really don't have any questions about this case, but I also, too, would like to thank the applicant for coming forward and being willing to meet and make the necessary changes that took place so that we could get to the point where we are right now, where staff really was looking forward to moving forward and supporting the work that you have done.

And thank you for your time as well.

All right. So with that said, at this time, I'd like to make a motion for REZ2026100916, Imperial Investment Group, LLC. Be approved?

Second.

All right. Motion by myself. Second by Mr. Mackey. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, we now move on to the next case on your agenda, which also appears on page one. This is REZ 2025-102340, DRB3 Trucking LLC. Request to conditionally rezone from A1 Agricultural District and B3 Business District to M2C General Industrial District. Approximately 5.938 acres located at the intersection of Darby Town Road and Miller Road. The applicant proposes outdoor storage and trailer parking. And the 2026 comprehensive plan recommends planned industry. This staff report will be presented by Ms. Kelly Drash. Ms. Drash, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you recall, staff previously presented this case at the commission's June 11th meeting. To summarize, it is approximately six acres at the intersection of Darbytown Road and Miller Road. where an existing business is requesting to rezone to M2C General Industrial to address violations from community maintenance and to further expand outdoor storage on the property. The Commission deferred the case twice to allow additional time to research questions related to the applicant's initial operation on the site, DP requirements for connecting to public sewer, and to evaluate possible solutions. On July 17th, staff met with the applicant to review the findings of their research and to present an alternative layout for consideration that would meet code requirements and would have a reduced impact on the site and its surroundings. During that meeting, the applicant was made aware the site does not retain any non-conforming status from prior operations and the business would need to connect to public utilities as required by code. Since the meeting in July, discussions have continued with the applicant and a couple proffer revisions have been submitted as seen in your handouts, including a commitment to connect to public sewer. However, the extent of the request and basic layout remains the same. Should the Commission choose to accept the recently submitted proffers, time limits would need to be waived. While the applicant has made positive changes and has taken steps to clean up the property, staff continues to believe the request does not reflect the planned industry land use designation. and should be scaled back to reduce potential impacts. For these reasons, staff cannot support the proposed use. This concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions or provide additional detail for particular points of interest.

Thank you, Mrs. Drash. Is there anyone in the audience on WebEx that would like to speak to this case?

Mr. Chairman, there is nobody on WebEx for this case.

All right. Thank you. Anyone on the commission have any questions for Mrs. Drash? Yeah, I do.

I know we spoke earlier, Ms. Drash, I forgot to ask you about our findings on the height of the screening fence. That's still 14 feet?

So that is something that would be addressed at the time of plan of development. Okay.

All right.

Okay.

Thank you. And I know we have an agreement to connect to sewer, but we don't have anything as far as the water?

I believe water already has a line.

Water? Okay, I'll find out from them. All right, thank you. I don't have anything else.

Mr. Mackey, would you like to hear from the applicant? Yes, please.

All right.

Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the commission. First, I'd like to thank you, Mr. Mackey, for your assistance in getting us hooked up with staff to get past some hurdles such as the sanitary sewer line and defense concerns and such. So I greatly appreciate that. I just want to start off again by saying Donnie operates a small business. His business has scaled back over the past few years. Donnie would like to grow his business back to what it was or potentially a little bit more. We understand that the 2026 plan as well as the upcoming RICO Next plan both call out for this property to be planned industrial. The concern I see is Land industrial calls for large tracts of land. This piece of property is landlocked. You've got Darbytown Road to the north. You've got 895 to the east. You've got state-owned property adjacent to the south. It's drainage easement for 895 and Miller Road. So this site could not meet the large tract of land development scenario I suggested to Donnie in the beginning stormwater and regulations in general do not really get any easier as time goes on and that's why we show what we show on the plan as far as you know storage area also the storage could be revenue for Donnie to offset the expenses of missed what you said the storage could be what revenue okay for for donnie because of the expense incurred of rezoning the property the development of the property and then now extending that sanitary sewer is going to be a significant expense it's going to require traffic control sewers in the road so you have to close the road or at least half of it for a period of time to put that sewer line in. So that's why we are where we are today. The other thing, too, is that staff had asked us to look at just rezoning the B3 piece to M2C. But that site is so small that it wouldn't meet his needs. It doesn't meet his needs today. That's why some of the gravel was put down that encroaches onto the A1 piece.

How much do you plan, how much growth are you looking to do?

I guess only the future can tell. At one time I had like 30 trailers and seven trucks now i got three trucks and 15 trailers at the current moment um you know up until this i have a couple contracts i could have could have had but you know i've decided not to pursue them due to you know my situation with the county um i mean i hope to you know grow you know more money more contracts more more stuff more you know revenue i understand i

Um, part of the, um, part of the problem is, um, the location of it and what the comprehensive plan says about it, uh, plan industrial is not just about large tracts of land. It also brings with it a certain standard for the elevations there. I mean, and no disrespect to you, it is, it's a, it's a, it's an eyesore now. Um, I do think that it needs to be upgraded more. Um, You have come some of the way with some of the proffers that you spoke about doing it, but I don't know that it meets all the needs that we have. Also, I understand what you're saying about future growth and everything. We did look into some of scaling it down, and I understand what you're saying about the type of business you're doing, but I mean, you have those big trucks coming out of there, and if you grow and you have more trucks, that's just more and more big truck traffic that's going to be right there at that intersection. It's just a bad location, in my opinion, for that. But, I mean, that's just my opinion on that. Again, I didn't mean to cut you off. I just wanted to state that aspect of it when you was talking about the plant industrial and everything. You can continue.

I've pretty much covered my talking points. As far as redevelopment per se and making changes to existing structures, Donnie doesn't have a major need for the building there on the corner other than it's just used for storage. Fluids, tires, whatever.

Do you have any, now the existing building, that's going to remain? That's the one you're going to put some siding or something on?

Yes, any areas that were deficient would be addressed to match other existing elements that are there. Other than tearing down and starting over, again, that building really is not his major need. It's just used because it's there.

I know we also had some issues and some questions about, you know, you're restoring large trucks there and everything, and then, you know, we're just putting gravel out there. I mean, what are we going to do about leaks and, you know, stuff like that?

It's going to be asphalt behind the buildings. That's where the trucks and stuff will be parked at. Pretty much the only thing that will be in the back will be the trailers. they don't really leak no fluid um so i mean the asphalt is definitely going to be in the back that's the thing that's required anyways behind the building and that's a about a one acre lot if i am mistaken right there and the gravel in the back like i said it would be trailers that's pretty much all that's going to be back there is trailers maybe a couple of my boats

And the storage?

It's really no storage. That's just how they classified it, I guess. I'm not really storing nothing outside. I don't know why it's classified like that, but that's how they classified in the county, I guess. It's nothing going to be stored outside. No tires, no oil, no parts. Nothing will be stored. I don't know why that's listed like that, but that's just the way they're in the ordinance here. I'm not sure about all that yet. Ask Randy or Kelly, I guess. But nothing's going to be stored outside. No kind of materials or nothing like that. It's going to be just trailer parking. I got some commercial trailers. I think I got about 15 of them. And then like six or seven smaller trailers that you hook to pickup trucks.

And you spoke about it earlier. What do you use? Did you say you haul water?

Yes, sir. At the moment, my biggest contract is on water, pallet tiles water. And it's very, very low traffic in and out of my place. I mean, you might have – right now I got two drivers and myself, but we probably come in and out maybe three or four times a week at the most.

And how much of the area – Is there any other area where the trucks are going to be that isn't that covered by asphalt or gravel? No.

Nowhere whatsoever. The trucks would definitely be on the asphalt area. It's just the trailers are so big. They're 53 foot. It takes 100 foot to turn them around pretty much. That's what would be in the back. It's trailers. That's it.

And up to this point, how long had you been operating your business?

I've been in business since 2017, and I've been there since 2019. I started with one truck and one trailer. You know, we grew the seven trucks and, like, 30 trailers. But, you know, after COVID, things went bad, and things are still bad with the fuel prices right now. So, you know, we forced a downsize.

Mr. Emerson, how far are we away from him being in total compliance?

He has quite a bit of work to do on the site. He will have to connect two utilities. If he's approved, he has to make those connections. He has to make the improvements to the site. He's going to have to screen and buffer the entire rear area.

That's what we were talking about, the fence, but that will come in there.

Yes, sir. We come in at POD, and you can do it with the fence or you can do it with the fence and landscaping in combination, but you do have to screen those trailers from view. So there's a substantial amount of work that has to be done on the site.

Are you familiar with everything that has to be done?

Yes, sir. We actually went over it multiple times with staff, too. Just our last meeting, they proposed about the whole area I think it was like 140 trees that had to be planted. I've already planted like 30 or 40 evergreens.

How long do you think it'll take you to get into compliance?

Probably less than a year, I would guess. That's too long.

Yeah, that's too long. I mean, will you have to get in compliance before you go to the Board of Supervisors? I mean, I can't send something ahead that's not in compliance with a recommendation of approval.

Can I just say, I mean, a lot of this is going to require POD. I'm sorry. So the plan of development, and, I mean, we can't do a POD until after zoning. And the POD process, I mean, we're probably looking at six, nine months or more.

That was the only reason I said a year. I mean, whatever you need me to do, I will do it. I mean, they said I needed to hook to, one time they told me, It was impossible to hook the sewer. I got water at the house already. I got county water hooked. I paid for that. And they told me sewer was not feasible there. It would not work. Talked to them again. Now they said that I can put sewer there, but I got to put 250 foot of pipe in down Darbytown. That's going to be estimated $100,000 plus. I mean, I don't want to do that, but I'm going to if you approve it. All right. So basically, so...

If we approve it, then we have a way of verifying that he makes the improvements.

Yes, he'll have to make those improvements. He'll have to submit a plan of development reflecting those improvements, and he'll have to install them before he can operate from the site. That doesn't take him out of violation because he's currently operating at the site, and he can't technically do that until he's gone through these steps and the site's...

The problem is that if we deny it, then... He goes back to doing what he was doing.

Possibly.

Somebody called in and complained.

Well, you can't get a business license on the site because it's not, the use isn't allowed.

He's been there since 2017, 2019. You didn't have a business license then, did you?

Actually, sir, I did have a business license. I bought the property through my company, and I do have a business license. In Henrico County, it's just at the time when I got the business license, it wasn't required that you had to have a commercial property

have the business license so it's actually at my house but I do have actually another business that's labeled at their property but it's just a leasing company my understanding from finances he can't he can't have a license for this business at this location that doesn't mean he doesn't have a license for this oh because right now right okay but if you were to prove the rezoning and the board approved and he got his plan of development in place then he would be able to obtain that business license after he made the improvements to the property.

And I would do whatever improvements need to be in a timely manner?

You're going to have to do that because if it does go through the process, then they come out and inspect and you don't meet it, then you're not going to be able to operate. You're going to be operating in violation.

Correct. Yes, sir. Right. If you don't approve the rezoning, the board didn't approve the rezoning, then he needs to clean the property up. which is why you got the notice of violation from community maintenance.

Does anybody else have any questions?

Any questions from anybody else on the commission?

I do have one. You were talking about some more income coming in by renting, I guess, storing just trailers. Is that all you're going to store on that, or will there be other vehicles and stuff like that you would be doing?

trailers of any, sir. I'm trying to keep it all my stuff, to be honest. It was just an avenue that he mentioned you could always rent out some space to make some more revenue.

Correct. And just trying to get some clarity on exactly what's going to be going on. Certain things have to be on an asphalted area. Others, if you're just going to have on stone and things like that. Yes, sir. Will the trailers be loaded? Well, somebody had to just drop a trailer that's loaded, you know, to shift.

Most of my trailers are empty when they're on the lot. A lot of my trailers are actually off, but there will be no vehicles, trucks, and, you know, park back there. It's just trailers will be on the back lot. Like I said, maybe a couple of them. I got three boats, two jet skis, and a whole bunch of trailers. Right.

And you understand the challenge and what we're trying to get through here with, you know, with proper licensing, with what exactly is going to be going on there. and it seems like this will be a multipurpose trailer storage facility on top of running your business out of it. So that's where we're just trying to get some clarity.

Yeah, no, sir. Mainly, this is all going to be my business, my trucks, my trailers on the site.

Yeah, but like he was saying, you were saying about leasing some area out.

No, I have a leasing company where I lease my trailers out.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I got about six or seven trailers that are leased out to, you know, different companies, because I have so many trailers. When I had 30, I sold a bunch of them, and then I started leasing other ones out. There's no use for them just sitting, so I leased them out to other companies to use, rent, you know. The impact to any of my neighbors is going to be almost zero there. I mean, there's hardly any traffic flow coming in and out of there. I just, I don't, I don't operate at nighttime. I don't know what to tell you, but it's just very low impact.

One time you said when you delivered the water, you said that they come and then they may not come back that day. Where are they parking the trucks then?

My trucks are sleepers. They sleep in the truck. Because you can only drive for so many hours. So if you're driving six, seven hours away or whatever, when you get there, you can't just turn around and come right back. You got EOD logs and stuff like that where you only drive in DOT. You better not get caught driving.

It puts you out of service. I didn't get a chance to look through all the proffers because it was late. Do we have a list of uses that would not be allowed? Yes, sir.

A lot of them. We talked about the screening. I opted to put more evergreens in just to, you know, fill in any, any spots or voids and they grow fast, you know, they're like three foot a year. So you plant a five, six foot tree, it's 10 foot in a year. So.

All right. Anybody else got anything? All right. All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right.

All right.

I appreciate, um, all the work that staff has done on it. Um, it's been a, It's been a long process. It still feels like there's a considerable amount of work that still continues to be done. We never want to try to get in between somebody's livelihood and the opportunity to earn a living. But having said that, we have to make sure that we put the community, safety, and all of that at a forefront. This is a tough case. I mean, I think you're going to have to do more. I'm certain that the board will require you to do more than you're offering right now. I don't want to send it up with a recommendation of denial because that'll be hard for you. I'm ready to make a motion. All right, Mr. Chairman. Oh, we got time limits for the proffers?

Okay.

Yeah, okay. I move that we grant the waiver of time limits and accept the proffers dated August 13, 2026 for RAZ-2025-102340DRB, the third trucking LLC. Okay.

Second. Motion by Mr. Mackey. Second by Mr. Wimhoff. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, I move that we recommend approval of RAZ-2025-102340, DRB, the third truck in LLC with the revised profit dated August 13, 2026. Second.

All right. Motion by Mr. Mackey, second by Mr. Shippey. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, we now move on to the next item on your agenda, which appears on page two, and that is the consideration of your Planning Commission calendar. And it essentially is the same calendar you have this year, just moves moves over a day to accommodate calendar changes with the exception of November 10th due to Veterans Day that that meeting moves to Wednesday and the filing deadline also moves to a Wednesday so those those are the only changes otherwise you're on your normal Thursday schedule throughout the year do we have any Just a motion accepting the calendar would be fine. And second.

I have a motion to accept the calendar by Mr. Mackey, second by Mr. Shipp. You all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Mr. Chairman, the next item on your agenda will be the consideration of the approval of your minutes from your regular meeting and work session on July 9th, 2026. And we don't have an errata sheet, correct? If you have any changes that you would like to advise us to make, we certainly will be willing to do so.

None from me at this particular time. Do we have a motion to accept the minutes? So moved. Second. I have a motion by Mr. Shippey, second by Mr. Winterhall. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Chairman I have nothing further for the Commission this evening Thank you all for your participation 638