A conceptual site plan shows the expansion area between the existing quarry to the west and Henrico homes to the east. (Goochland documents)
Despite pleas for a delay from neighboring homeowners – as well as from four of their Henrico counterparts – Goochland supervisors have approved an expansion of a decades-old rock quarry in the direction of residential neighborhoods across the county line.
The Goochland board voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow Luck Stone Corp. to expand its operations in Rockville to include a 70-acre site between its existing Ashland Road quarry and homes across the border in Henrico, primarily the Westin Estates subdivision near Wyndham.
The hours-long meeting saw four of Henrico’s five supervisors address the Goochland board alongside Westin Estates residents who spoke against the approval, contending a lack of public notice and citing concerns about impacts that they said warranted more time for discussion prior to a deciding vote.
“It has the appearance that this is not on the up and up,” said Misty Whitehead, Henrico’s supervisor for the adjacent Three Chopt District, who was joined by fellow Henrico supervisors Tyrone Nelson, Dan Schmitt and Jody Rogish.
Henrico Supervisor Misty Whitehead addresses the Goochland board at Tuesday’s meeting. (Screenshot)
Whitehead had similarly addressed Goochland’s Planning Commission in July, when it recommended approving the expansion. She and three residents of Westin Estates maintained at that meeting that posting its agenda two days earlier was not adequate notice about the proposal.
At issue in particular is the expansion’s proximity to the Henrico neighborhood, which would be separated from activities on the site by a 50-foot buffer and a 300-foot-wide berm that could rise as high as 150 feet. Whitehead said that height would be comparable to a 12- to 15-story building.
“We are a stone’s throw away from each other at any given point,” Whitehead told the Planning Commission in July. Referring to Luck Stone, she added, “I know they want to get this right. I am standing before you guys because I think that we are not there yet.”
Luck Stone’s plans show two viewshed scenarios for homes near the planned berm.
Luck Stone’s Linwood Thomas, formerly an economic development director for Hanover County, stressed that the expansion would not involve blasting or mining activity and said it is needed for the company to continue operating the quarry, which has been active for 60 years. County approvals that set the stage for the expansion were made over a decade ago, Thomas noted at the July meeting.
The expansion would enlarge the quarry’s stone processing area, which would be restricted to 650 feet from the property boundary, and dirt from the quarry would be used to build the berm, which is planned to be topped with vegetation over time, Thomas said.
“For Luck Stone to be able to continue to operate here for the next 70, 80, 90, 100 years, we need to secure this permit,” he told the commission. “We’ve spent considerable time trying to make sure we get this right. We know nobody wants anything in their backyards, we recognize that, but we want to make sure that it’s the best project for the community and we can still operate.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, Thomas reiterated that the homes in Westin Estates were built after the rezonings and permit approvals in 2011-12 that set the stage for the expansion. He said Luck Stone has never had any environmental issues at its site and that noise reported by residents could be attributed to the nearby Lee Hy Paving facility, which he noted is closer to the homes.
In the end, the Goochland supervisors supported Luck Stone, which they praised as a proven corporate citizen and noted has been in operation there for decades, long before the Henrico homes were built closer to the county line.
Goochland supervisors were unanimous in their vote to approve the expansion.
Supervisors Neil Spoonhower and Tom Winfree said they commended their Henrico peers for standing up for their citizens. However, Winfree added: “We have to stand up for our citizens as well, and Luck Stone is a wonderful corporate citizen of this community. We can’t just discard that.”
Goochland Chairman Charlie Vaughters echoed those sentiments and said Luck’s track record as a company cannot be discounted by “stones thrown” by some individuals.
“This is a company that is a model corporate citizen for any jurisdiction, not just Goochland,” Vaughters said. “We want to do everything we can to help Luck flourish in Goochland for another 100 years.”
The expansion area is northwest of another residential development in the works in Henrico: the 1,600-home Avenlea development that Henrico supervisors approved in 2022.
A conceptual site plan shows the expansion area between the existing quarry to the west and Henrico homes to the east. (Goochland documents)
Despite pleas for a delay from neighboring homeowners – as well as from four of their Henrico counterparts – Goochland supervisors have approved an expansion of a decades-old rock quarry in the direction of residential neighborhoods across the county line.
The Goochland board voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow Luck Stone Corp. to expand its operations in Rockville to include a 70-acre site between its existing Ashland Road quarry and homes across the border in Henrico, primarily the Westin Estates subdivision near Wyndham.
The hours-long meeting saw four of Henrico’s five supervisors address the Goochland board alongside Westin Estates residents who spoke against the approval, contending a lack of public notice and citing concerns about impacts that they said warranted more time for discussion prior to a deciding vote.
“It has the appearance that this is not on the up and up,” said Misty Whitehead, Henrico’s supervisor for the adjacent Three Chopt District, who was joined by fellow Henrico supervisors Tyrone Nelson, Dan Schmitt and Jody Rogish.
Henrico Supervisor Misty Whitehead addresses the Goochland board at Tuesday’s meeting. (Screenshot)
Whitehead had similarly addressed Goochland’s Planning Commission in July, when it recommended approving the expansion. She and three residents of Westin Estates maintained at that meeting that posting its agenda two days earlier was not adequate notice about the proposal.
At issue in particular is the expansion’s proximity to the Henrico neighborhood, which would be separated from activities on the site by a 50-foot buffer and a 300-foot-wide berm that could rise as high as 150 feet. Whitehead said that height would be comparable to a 12- to 15-story building.
“We are a stone’s throw away from each other at any given point,” Whitehead told the Planning Commission in July. Referring to Luck Stone, she added, “I know they want to get this right. I am standing before you guys because I think that we are not there yet.”
Luck Stone’s plans show two viewshed scenarios for homes near the planned berm.
Luck Stone’s Linwood Thomas, formerly an economic development director for Hanover County, stressed that the expansion would not involve blasting or mining activity and said it is needed for the company to continue operating the quarry, which has been active for 60 years. County approvals that set the stage for the expansion were made over a decade ago, Thomas noted at the July meeting.
The expansion would enlarge the quarry’s stone processing area, which would be restricted to 650 feet from the property boundary, and dirt from the quarry would be used to build the berm, which is planned to be topped with vegetation over time, Thomas said.
“For Luck Stone to be able to continue to operate here for the next 70, 80, 90, 100 years, we need to secure this permit,” he told the commission. “We’ve spent considerable time trying to make sure we get this right. We know nobody wants anything in their backyards, we recognize that, but we want to make sure that it’s the best project for the community and we can still operate.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, Thomas reiterated that the homes in Westin Estates were built after the rezonings and permit approvals in 2011-12 that set the stage for the expansion. He said Luck Stone has never had any environmental issues at its site and that noise reported by residents could be attributed to the nearby Lee Hy Paving facility, which he noted is closer to the homes.
In the end, the Goochland supervisors supported Luck Stone, which they praised as a proven corporate citizen and noted has been in operation there for decades, long before the Henrico homes were built closer to the county line.
Goochland supervisors were unanimous in their vote to approve the expansion.
Supervisors Neil Spoonhower and Tom Winfree said they commended their Henrico peers for standing up for their citizens. However, Winfree added: “We have to stand up for our citizens as well, and Luck Stone is a wonderful corporate citizen of this community. We can’t just discard that.”
Goochland Chairman Charlie Vaughters echoed those sentiments and said Luck’s track record as a company cannot be discounted by “stones thrown” by some individuals.
“This is a company that is a model corporate citizen for any jurisdiction, not just Goochland,” Vaughters said. “We want to do everything we can to help Luck flourish in Goochland for another 100 years.”
The expansion area is northwest of another residential development in the works in Henrico: the 1,600-home Avenlea development that Henrico supervisors approved in 2022.
Is this an example of ‘regional cooperation’ – or selfishness…Goochland’s not going to ‘bite the hand that feeds them?!
I mean…I understand the Henrico citizens’ concerns; I really do. Where I struggle is with this quote: “At Tuesday’s meeting, Thomas reiterated that the homes in Westin Estates were built after the rezonings and permit approvals in 2011-12 that set the stage for the expansion.” The reality is a developer came in, built up Westin Estates, sold the homes, and now the residents are experiencing the impacts of preexisting plans and permits. That truly sucks for those folks, but if you want to be 1,000% sure land around your neighborhood isn’t going to be used for a purpose you don’t… Read more »
That’s great advice in a generic sense. The real question and needed advice is How? What exactly would an unsuspecting homeowner do to learn if there was a zoning proposal that allowed a quarry to expand like that and build a 150 berm?
A. Read the long range land-use plan: https://goochlandva.us/250/2035-Comprehensive-Plan
B. Look at the zoning of the surrounding parcels: https://gis.co.goochland.va.us/GoochlandPV/
C. Read the Zoning ordinances: https://library.municode.com/va/goochland_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH15ZO
How about their Realtor tell them before the purchase. With all the hub bub about why pay realtor fees now, and what’s their value. This is the perfect example. A good realtor should have said, “You are looking at this house but just know there is X behind you……” On a separate note, Henrico politicians don’t like to pay attention to these things though before complaints come after the fact. There was I think a Delegate or Supervisor a few years back who didn’t even know he had a quarry in his own voting district and only asked about it… Read more »
Planners at county planning departments get calls all the time from prospective home buyers wanting to know if there are any plans for properties around them that could be developed in the near future. Sometimes it is difficult to know and certainly real estate agents are not going to tell a prospective buyer that 10 years down the line they might have an industrial neighbor – kinda puts a damper on the sale. Point is – ask around about any property you are thinking of buying, start with the county.
looking at a map would have worked. That quarry has been there forever
Luck’s previous filings showed berms with a max height of 40ft and buffers between 180-350ft from property lines. No one could have reasonably surmised this outcome.
Four out of five Henrico Supervisors addressed the board including ones without constituents affected by the expansion. This was an attempt by the Henrico County Supervisors to throw weight behind their opposition for an affluent neighborhood. Have the supervisors shown out in force to prevent any other expansion in less affluent portions of Henrico?
There have not been analogous situations in other parts of the county, and I can 100% assure you that if there were, yes we would. As Three Chopt Supervisor, I consistently support actions that primarily benefit residents in other “less affluent” parts of the county. And if another jurisdiction was harming residents in any of the other 4 districts, I’d be right there beside my colleagues.
There is no “harm” other than potential property value decreasing and less campaign donations for the current board. Look at Arcadia, Sheetz, a data center at former Azalea Mall opposed by residents. These directly impact Henrico citizens with increased tax rates, traffic, to name a few issues and they were all approved. Can you name the number of times 75%” or more neighboring counties BOS or Council members have fought a Henrico development? We’ll wait.
Well,more dump trucks on Ashland Rd to follow.
Given the quarry etc. was there long long before the new neighbors move in, I don’t have much sympathy for them.
If you move next to a quarry and an asphalt plant, that’s on you. You don’t get to shut down the quarry and the asphalt plant that have been there.
As I understand it the objection is to a new expansion of the quarry that will be significantly closer to the houses than the existing operation. It is the expansion that they are concerned about. Granted that they could/should have known that the quarry could expand in that location but they have every right to try and protect their property. IMHO.
I would argue that in this context the move is not significant. It’s a minor expansion – note they are complaining about existing quarry operations.