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Envision Henrico.
This Thursday January 22, at 6 p.m., join PSG members and Envision Henrico leaders for the Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Draft 2026 Comprehensive Plan. |
If you care,
You should be there.
Your neighborhood might be changing. Will the plan mean more development, more traffic, more taxes? You should have a say. Please testify and ask questions. |
| See the forest through the trees.
Shape your neighborhood's future this Thursday. |
January 2009 | |
| Ask hard questions.
Why transform this...
By doing this...
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Hear it from your neighbors.
Throughout 2008, a small group of concerned citizens forming as Envision Henrico have been meeting and asking elected officials and planning staff to improve the public process and the content of the Comprehensive Plan. The group's platform, guided by land use expert and attorney Stewart Schwartz, outlines a vision for balanced growth in Henrico: "The 2026 Comprehensive Land Use Plan should evidence commitment to principles that are important to ensure quality of life in Henrico County for years to come. These principles include smart growth, environmental protection, community character, transportation alternatives, diversified economic development, recreation and parks promotion, watershed access and protection, and regional cooperation." View the full platform. Learn more about Comprehensive Plans. | |
Greetings!
Why should you come to the Henrico County Planning Commission's Public Hearing on the Comprehensive Plan this Thursday? Your Henrico neighbors, with Envision Henrico and Partnership for Smarter Growth, have summed it up:
1. "Opening rural areas to more growth means taxpayers aren't seeing benefits in their own neighborhoods." We can't afford to fix existing roads. Too many houses are on the market. So why should taxpayers foot the bill to build more roads and infrastructure for costly new development on far-flung farms and forests? What about directing our precious resources to benefit our own neighborhoods?
2. "No taxation without representation." Expansion of growth areas will increase the cost of infrastructure to be paid for by taxpayers. Can a bare-minimum public process without adequate consideration of alternative growth futures or the cost to taxpayers be considered fair?
3. "Match the pictures with the words." The plan text includes good words about revitalization, historic preservation, farmland and environmental protection. Then why does the proposed planning map assume the conversion of the county's remaining farms and forests to development? And why have huge areas been changed to much higher density without explanation? Each major change to the map should be explained to the public.
4. "Readjust assumptions for growth." Why do we still plan for higher population growth, too much land for development, and a high demand for costly, spread-out single family homes when the market shows otherwise?
As a resident of Henrico County or a neighboring locality, the Draft 2026 Henrico County Comprehensive Plan will impact you for a long time. By opening up too much land to development, especially in historically rural Varina, it will increase the costs for transportation and other infrastructure, while shifting investment away from older communities.
The planning commission needs to hear from you. If you don't wish to speak, your presence still sends a message that you care about balanced growth in your community and in the region. The turnout will set the tone for the remainder of the process.
Come on Thursday. January 22nd at 6:00 p.m. at the Western Government Center at Parham and Hungary Spring Roads.
Together we can shape the future of Henrico and our region.
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Learn more.
Envision Henrico works to preserve and protect Henrico's land, environment, history, and quality of life, by monitoring and influencing how and where we grow, and by advocating for strong public participation in local land use and transportation decisions.
Partnership for Smarter Growth supports Envision Henrico as part of our mission to equip citizens to be effective advocates for balanced, responsible growth in their own communities and in the region as a whole.
p: 804-225-1902; f: 804-225-1904
530 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Partnership for Smarter Growth
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