The Planning Commission will conduct public hearings at its April 16 meeting on two applications with implications for Whippoorwill Road residents (Ashland District).

–A noise ordinance change seeks to exempt schools from curtailing their event noise. Area residents have complained about the noise and amplification levels at Hanover High School during games and band practices.

–An application for a baseball training facility has Whippoorwill Road residents concerned over traffic flow, volume and speed as well as continuing water runoff issues.

The Planning Commission meeting convenes at 7:00 p.m.

To those of you who missed the Hanover event, there will be another opportunity to hear Karen Firehock speak about Green Infrastructure Planning at Fairfield Library in Henrico.

Karen Firehock is an outstanding speaker, the topic is fascinating, and this is an opportunity to learn about a positive way to preserve natural resources as well as our communities. Green Infrastructure Planning is being supported by the Regional Planning Districts, is being demonstrated in some of our neighboring counties, and is here and available for our region to begin using.

Henrico County – Workshop on Green Infrastructure

Wed April 22, 2009 – 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Meeting Room – Fairfield Library
1001 N. Laburnum Ave.
Henrico, VA 23223-2705
(804) 652-3251

Purpose: The workshop will explain how Henrico County can conserve their green infrastructure assets. Green infrastructure includes the natural assets such as timber land and forests, tree canopy for urban areas, rivers and drinking water sources, agricultural soils, wildlife habitat and human use values such as hiking, fishing, boating and historic landscapes. The workshop will demonstrate new tools for conserving these assets and showcase maps for Henrico county and how the county fits into the region’s larger green infrastructure network. The workshop includes a presentation by a leading environmental planner Karen Firehock and hands on activities to work with local maps and planning tools.

Audience: Citizens, county and town government staff, elected and appointed officials, conservation groups, developers, watershed groups and anyone interested in ensuring that as their community develops, it will grow in patterns that maximize both ecological and economic assets.

Who: The GIC is a nonprofit organization that has partnered with the Richmond Regional Planning District, The Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Capital Region Land Conservancy to help assess and map the region’s green infrastructure assets.

Attendance is free

. . . when you attend a meeting. Here’s what’s on for March:

3/9 – Community meeting about cell tower placement for Whippoorwill Road, Ashland District. County Admin Bldg, 7 p.m.

3/10 – Community meeting about cell tower placement at/near the church property, King’s Chapel Presbyterian Church (Rt. 54 west), Beaverdam District, 7 p.m.

3/10 – Community meeting about Providence Creek proposed mixed use (MX) development, Providence Church, 9491 Providence Church Road, Beaverdam District, 7 p.m.

3/11 – Board of Supervisors regular meeting, County Admin Bldg, 7 p.m. Take the opportunity to speak at Citizen’s Time.

3/12 – Planning Commission Public Hearing, Capital Improvement Program FY 2010-FY 2014, County Admin Bldg, 7 p.m. A copy of the proposed CIP is available for review in the Planning Department, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

3/16 – Community meeting about placement of two cell towers in the Studley area, Henry District, Rural Point Baptist Church, 7 p.m.

3/18 – Green Infrastructure Workshop, Ashland Branch Library, Ashland, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

3/19 – Planning Commission Public Hearing agenda includes: Providence Creek MX development, Beaverdam District; baseball training facility, Ashland District

3/23 – Hanover County Department of Economic Development Public Forum (EcoDev Strategic Plan update), Times Dispatch Meeting Room, 8460 Times Dispatch Blvd., Mechanicsville, 7 p.m. (For additional information, visit http://www.co.hanover.va.us/econdev/PublicCommentAnnouncement.pdf)

3/25 – Board of Supervisors regular meeting, County Admin Bldg., 7 p.m. Citizen’s Time is an opportunity to address concerns not on the agenda.

3/30 – PDR Committee, County Admin Bldg, Planning Office, 6 p.m.

When: Wednesday March 18: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Where: Ashland Branch Library (201 S. Railroad Avenue, Ashland Virginia 23005)

Purpose: The workshop will explain how counties can conserve their green infrastructure assets. Green infrastructure includes the natural assets such as timber land and forests, tree canopy for urban areas, rivers and drinking water sources, agricultural soils, wildlife habitat and human use values such as hiking, fishing, boating and historic landscapes. The workshop will demonstrate new tools for conserving these assets and showcase maps for Hanover County and how the county fits into the region’s larger green infrastructure network. The workshop includes a presentation by a leading environmental planner Karen Firehock and hands on activities to work with local maps and planning tools.

Audience: Citizens, county and town government staff, elected and appointed officials, conservation groups, developers, watershed groups and anyone interested in ensuring that as their community develops, it will grow in patterns that maximize both ecological and economic assets.

Who: The GIC is a nonprofit organization that has partnered with the Richmond Regional Planning District, The Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Capital Region Land Conservancy to help assess and map the region’s green infrastrcuture assets.

The Capital Region Land Conservancy is planning additional seminars on Green Infrastructure in Powhatan, Goochland and Henrico in March and April. Please call Mike Christin at 804-874-8615 for dates and details.

A community meeting on the MX zoning request by Lowe, Lowe and Woodside Partners is scheduled Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. at Providence Baptist Church, 9491 Providence Church Road.

The MX zoning on 63.4 acres would permit the creation of 232 building lots and residential units for a gross density of 3.66 dwelling units per acre, and approximately 130,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Area residents have raised concerns of traffic routing and volume, as well as encroachment on historic property.

The parcel, located in the Beaverdam district lies some 300 feet from the intersection of Woodside Lane and East Patrick Henry Road.

A request to erect a 135 foot tall AT&T cell tower in the middle of the Whippoorwill Road community had been made. Your opposition is needed to prevent this cell tower from being sited in the middle of a residential area.

A community meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hanover County Administrative Building
7516 County Complex Road.

New Cell Tower

While cell towers are a necessary and integral part of our lives, when you look around, cell towers seem to be sprouting up everywhere. How many do we actually need and where should they be placed?

The County approved a cell tower on New Ashcake Road and although it is disguised, it is still an eye-sore. Most people don’t find it very attractive and it is the only looming structure one sees driving down Ashcake Road. Another application is in the pipeline for a second cell tower to be sited besides New Ashcake Road. Whippoorwill Road sits between these two locations. Why are so many towers necessary?

Consider this:

A 2004 German government study found that people living within 1,300 feet of cell tower radiation had three times the normal cancer risk. In 2004, a resolution was adopted by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) that opposed commercial cell towers on fire stations after a medical study showed brain and nerve problems for irradiated personnel. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences classifies electromagnetic fields as a Class 2B carcinogen.

Whippoorwill Road is a RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY. The County would never even consider placing an unsightly cell tower in the middle of Ash Creek, Milestone or Foxhead. Why would residents of the Whippoorwill area be treated differently?

The proposed construction site appears to encroach upon a wetland area. Too many wetland areas have been impacted. Is a cell tower a good reason to harm another wetland?

A cell tower, no matter how it is camouflaged, would be the tallest structure around. You can be sure it would attract lightning strikes and it would be a tremendous eye sore that folks would have to see every time they exited their homes.

Does anyone really know how cell towers affect other wireless gadgets like home phones, wireless computers, or video games like Wii? If a cell tower interferes with county communications, it must be shut down until the problem is fixed. Would Whippoorwill Road residents be afforded the same protection?

Why not require using more camouflage in erecting these unsightly structures? Hanover County’s rich, natural scenic beauty is what gives deep and meaningful value to living here. Cell towers, if too tall and too bare, threaten to rob rural Hanover its most prized asset – its picturesque landscape.

Please voice your concerns and opposition at the community meeting scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. (Hanover County Administrative Building, 7516 County Complex Road).

Please sign the attached petition and mail or e-mail it to your Board Member today!

celltowerpetition

Two large parcels of land are up for rezoning hearings at the Planning Commission meeting Thursday, February 19 at 7:00 p.m.

The Mixed Use (MX) application of Helen F. Lowe, Riley B. Lowe and Woodside Estates Development, L.L.C. seeks rezoning of an A-1 (Agricultural District) parcel of 63.4 acres on Woodside Lane near its intersection with East Patrick Henry Road (Rte. 54). The MX zoning would permit the creation of 232 building lots and residential units for a gross density of 3.66 dwelling units per acre, and approximately 130,000 square feet of retail and office space.

The property is located in the Beaverdam district.

Area residents have cited concerns about traffic volume and flow as well as encroachment on historic land. Traffic plans call for closing of Providence Road at its intersection with East Patrick Henry Road, an action which some Providence Baptist Church members and area residents dislike.

Also that evening will be a hearing for the application by Rockville Development Corporation to rezone 171.2 acres from A-1 to RC (Rural Conservation) in the South Anna District.

The rezoning would permit the creation of 16 building lots for a gross density of one dwelling unit per 10.7 acres.

Next week, Ashland’s Office of Planning and Community Development will begin hosting the first of several neighborhood meetings as part of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan Update.

Citizens can visit www.ashlandplanning.blogspot.com for an interactive map of site meetings.

Next week’s meeting covers the North Ashland and Northern Fringe planning areas, on Wednesday February 4, at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held on the campus of Randolph-Macon College, in the Old Chapel, Topping Room, which is near the intersection of College Avenue and Henry Street. Parking is available in the college lots on College Avenue.

Citizens are urged to attend – especially if they are interested in the following neighborhoods/areas:

Randolph-Macon College
Caroline Street
College Park
Berkley Woods
Berkleytown
Linden/Park/Elm Streets
Jamestown Road/Woodside Lane
Chapman Street Extended
Frances Road
Route 1 – North
Vaughan Road

For further information, citizens may contact Zack Robbins, Senior Planner, at 798-1073, or www.town.ashland.va.us

In a 7-0 vote, the Board of Superviors on January 28 authorized hearings for a proposed amendment to the noise ordinance. The amendment is an exception applying to such activities as football games or other outdoor school activities.

This amendment is a response by the County to citizen complaints of excessive noise levels from Hanover High School at football games and band practice.

The Planning Commission and the Supervisors will hold public hearings on the amendment, with a vote likely in May.

The Capital Region Greenway Council will meet Wednesday, January 28 at 6:00 p.m. at the Byrd Park Roundhouse (next to Swan Lake) to see the comprehensive bike-pedestrian plan for the metropolitan area.

Barbara Nelson, of the Richmond Metropolitan Planning Organization, will make the presentation.

Citizens who are interested in seeing more trails, bikeways, greenways and paths in Central Virginia should attend the meeting.

The plan may be viewed at:

http://www.richmondregional.org/Publications/Reports%20and%20Documents/Richmond_Regional_Bicycle_%20Ped_Plan.pdf