In 2022, local land use planning is a boiling stew as Hanover and Ashland update their Comp Plans and try to navigate the mounting pressures of suburban sprawl, leapfrog commercial and industrial development, loss of rural and agricultural parcels, environmental degradation and viewshed destruction. 

Some zoning applications are already being positioned as Hanover and Ashland are still in the early stages of their updates. How fast can the localities dance? Developers are setting the tempo.

Zoning hotspot: Rte 54 east of Ashland

Hickory Hill, II, LLC has filed for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA 2021-00001) and new zoning application (REZ2021-00014) with County Planning for the 52-acre tract at the intersection of Providence Church Road and Rte 54. This is a re-do of the previous Hickory Grove application denied 7-0 last year by the Board of Supervisors.

Two parcels comprising the 2010 East Ashland zoning on the south side of Rte 54 have been resurrected . . .

On the County portion, Harris and Douglas, LLC (REZ2022-00008) has filed to amend the MX zoning to townhomes, commercial and industrial on 98 acres.

In Ashland, Tradeport 95 (CPA2022-02) seeks a Comp Plan Amendment for 100 acres that is currently single-family homes, farmland and open space. This case is on the Ashland Planning Commission’s April 13 docket.

Lots of acreage and looming issues: leapfrog development, exacerbated traffic pinch point, more viewshed destruction and mounting environmental degradation.

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