New Kent Planning Commission schedules public hearing on Bottoms Bridge Corridor Overlay District; floodplain law revisions sent to supervisors

A proposed set of regulations aimed at governing the appearance of development along main arterial highways (New Kent Highway and Pocahontas Trail) in the Bottoms Bridge area of New Kent is headed for public hearing next month before the county’s Planning Commission.

Commission members, meanwhile, have forwarded proposed county law revisions pertaining to land located in floodplains to the county’s Board of Supervisors along with a recommendation to adopt the measures.

Both items were addressed during the commission’s April 20 meeting.

The public hearing on what is dubbed the Bottoms Bridge Corridor Overlay District is scheduled for 7 p.m. during the commission’s May 18 meeting. The proposed district’s boundaries include all land within 500 feet on either side of New Kent Highway (Route 249) from Dispatch Road (Route 613) to Pocahontas Trail (Route 60); and Pocahontas Trail (Route 60) from Magnolia Woods Lane (Route 1232) to the Henrico County line.

“The push for economic growth in the county is here,” county community development director Matthew J. Smolnik told commission members.

“As rooftops come in and with the west end building out, pressure is coming,” he added.

The proposed regulations are designed “to protect the aesthetic and visual character of land, public health, safety, and welfare by managing growth” within the Bottoms Bridge district boundaries, according to documents accompanying the draft proposal.

The proposed regulations focus mainly on guidelines for architectural design and signage. Also included are steps for preliminary site plan or subdivision approval along with the process a developer must undergo to seek exceptions to the proposed requirements.

County community development department staff drafted the proposed regulations with input from a five-member commission subcommittee consisting of Michael Lane, Howard Gammon, Laura Rose, Richard Kontny, and Patti Townsend.

“The subcommittee considered what does the future hold for 20 to 30 years down the road and how we want to build New Kent and make it attractive,” Kontny said. “I think this is the necessary overlay we’ll need.”

Commission members, meanwhile, voted 9-0 with one abstention (supervisors’ representative Tommy Tiller) to recommend supervisors take favorable action on the county’s proposed floodplain law revisions.

No one spoke during the commission’s public hearing on the matter. Supervisors could consider the revisions and hold a public hearing in May.

State Department of Conservation and Recreation representative Charlie Banks told the commission that maps of tidal areas statewide are being revised, and New Kent is one of 58 state localities involved since the county participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Only about one percent of New Kent’s population, however, resides in areas affected.

Banks said New Kent’s draft document requires some minor revisions. County attorney Michele Gowdy recommended county staff work with Banks to accomplish the task.

Ultimate approval of New Kent’s floodplain ordinance revisions rests with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).