A conceptual rendering of the new fire station planned next to Laurel Meadow Elementary School. (Hanover County image)
Site acquired for new fire station in Hanover
The Hanover Board of Supervisors accepted a donation of 3.5 acres from the county school board in late July to serve as the site of a new fire station, according to a county news release.
The land for the new fire station is next to Laurel Meadow Elementary School. Construction on the facility is expected to begin next summer. The county’s fiscal year 2023 budget includes $11 million for the project.
A dozen firefighters currently stationed at Mechanicsville Fire Station No. 7 would staff the new firehouse once it’s built, according to the release.
The Planning Commission is expected to consider a conditional-use permit for the new fire station in October. Final approval by the Board of Supervisors is anticipated for early November.
1,400-acre solar farm OK’d in western Chesterfield
The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors voted last week to approve a new solar farm south of Hull Street Road at Deer Range Road.
The 52-megawatt solar farm proposed by 360 Solar Center LLC is planned to occupy 1,400 acres of a 1,930-acre site. Solar panels would occupy about 440 acres of the site.
Chesterfield taps longtime staffer to lead accounting department
Consuela Wilson
Consuela Wilson has been named Chesterfield’s new accounting department director, stepping up from a nearly two-year stint as the department assistant director.
Wilson, who has worked for Chesterfield for more than 20 years, assumed her new post July 11, according to a county news release. She was promoted to assistant director in November 2020. The accounting department manages payroll and accounts payable for the county government and school district among other duties.
Wilson was promoted to succeed Donna Arrington, who retired in June. Wilson is a UVA alum.
New general registrar takes leading role in Chesterfield elections
Chesterfield County has a new general registrar and director of elections.
Missy Vera
Missy Vera was sworn in as the county’s general registrar and director of elections, where she oversees the administration of elections and voter registration in the county. Vera had held the job on an acting basis since March, according to a county news release.
Vera takes over from Constance Hargrove, who resigned to become Pima County, Arizona’s general registrar.
Vera joined the Chesterfield registrar’s office in January 2017. She was named deputy registrar in November 2019.
Vera will serve the rest of Hargrove’s four-year term, which will wrap up next year. The county electoral board could then choose to reappoint her for a new term, according to the release.
Longtime deputy city attorney Haskell Brown appointed to top post
The Richmond City Council appointed Haskell Brown III as city attorney effective Aug. 1.
Brown has been serving as interim city attorney since November 2019, following the retirement of previous city attorney Allen Jackson. Brown has worked in the city attorney’s office since 1998 and served as deputy city attorney since 2010, directing the office’s governance and finance division.
A Richmond-area native, Brown has a bachelor’s degree with a double major in history and government from UVA and a law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law. He is an active member of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia and served four years on its board of directors.
SUP approved for planned apartment building on Arthur Ashe Boulevard
At its regular meeting last week, the City Council approved a special-use permit allowing Level 2 Development and SJG Properties to include street-fronting structured parking and a drop-off and pick-up area for their planned Leigh Addition mixed-use development at 1117-1201 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The council approved TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District zoning for a roughly half-acre parcel at 500 Maury St. in Manchester, and for a 2-acre warehouse property at 807 Oliver Hill Way.
A request from Richmond Hill Design + Build to amend its plan to replace six homes in the 500 block of Westview Avenue with new home clusters was amended and continued to the Sept. 12 meeting. The amendment would reduce the number of new homes from 12 to 10.
Also deferred to the Sept. 12 meeting was a request to amend the Stratford Hills Community Unit Plan. The amendment would increase the plan area by 2.85 acres to 67.4 acres to accommodate Harper Associates’ plan to develop a Chipotle restaurant and 6,500-square-foot retail outparcel and up to 36 townhomes on the east side of the site.
A conceptual rendering of the new fire station planned next to Laurel Meadow Elementary School. (Hanover County image)
Site acquired for new fire station in Hanover
The Hanover Board of Supervisors accepted a donation of 3.5 acres from the county school board in late July to serve as the site of a new fire station, according to a county news release.
The land for the new fire station is next to Laurel Meadow Elementary School. Construction on the facility is expected to begin next summer. The county’s fiscal year 2023 budget includes $11 million for the project.
A dozen firefighters currently stationed at Mechanicsville Fire Station No. 7 would staff the new firehouse once it’s built, according to the release.
The Planning Commission is expected to consider a conditional-use permit for the new fire station in October. Final approval by the Board of Supervisors is anticipated for early November.
1,400-acre solar farm OK’d in western Chesterfield
The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors voted last week to approve a new solar farm south of Hull Street Road at Deer Range Road.
The 52-megawatt solar farm proposed by 360 Solar Center LLC is planned to occupy 1,400 acres of a 1,930-acre site. Solar panels would occupy about 440 acres of the site.
Chesterfield taps longtime staffer to lead accounting department
Consuela Wilson
Consuela Wilson has been named Chesterfield’s new accounting department director, stepping up from a nearly two-year stint as the department assistant director.
Wilson, who has worked for Chesterfield for more than 20 years, assumed her new post July 11, according to a county news release. She was promoted to assistant director in November 2020. The accounting department manages payroll and accounts payable for the county government and school district among other duties.
Wilson was promoted to succeed Donna Arrington, who retired in June. Wilson is a UVA alum.
New general registrar takes leading role in Chesterfield elections
Chesterfield County has a new general registrar and director of elections.
Missy Vera
Missy Vera was sworn in as the county’s general registrar and director of elections, where she oversees the administration of elections and voter registration in the county. Vera had held the job on an acting basis since March, according to a county news release.
Vera takes over from Constance Hargrove, who resigned to become Pima County, Arizona’s general registrar.
Vera joined the Chesterfield registrar’s office in January 2017. She was named deputy registrar in November 2019.
Vera will serve the rest of Hargrove’s four-year term, which will wrap up next year. The county electoral board could then choose to reappoint her for a new term, according to the release.
Longtime deputy city attorney Haskell Brown appointed to top post
The Richmond City Council appointed Haskell Brown III as city attorney effective Aug. 1.
Brown has been serving as interim city attorney since November 2019, following the retirement of previous city attorney Allen Jackson. Brown has worked in the city attorney’s office since 1998 and served as deputy city attorney since 2010, directing the office’s governance and finance division.
A Richmond-area native, Brown has a bachelor’s degree with a double major in history and government from UVA and a law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law. He is an active member of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia and served four years on its board of directors.
SUP approved for planned apartment building on Arthur Ashe Boulevard
At its regular meeting last week, the City Council approved a special-use permit allowing Level 2 Development and SJG Properties to include street-fronting structured parking and a drop-off and pick-up area for their planned Leigh Addition mixed-use development at 1117-1201 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The council approved TOD-1 Transit-Oriented Nodal District zoning for a roughly half-acre parcel at 500 Maury St. in Manchester, and for a 2-acre warehouse property at 807 Oliver Hill Way.
A request from Richmond Hill Design + Build to amend its plan to replace six homes in the 500 block of Westview Avenue with new home clusters was amended and continued to the Sept. 12 meeting. The amendment would reduce the number of new homes from 12 to 10.
Also deferred to the Sept. 12 meeting was a request to amend the Stratford Hills Community Unit Plan. The amendment would increase the plan area by 2.85 acres to 67.4 acres to accommodate Harper Associates’ plan to develop a Chipotle restaurant and 6,500-square-foot retail outparcel and up to 36 townhomes on the east side of the site.