The highlighted area includes the 96-acre site that the City of Richmond is looking to purchase. (Google Maps)
Casino site acquisition, tax relief report on City Council agendas Monday
Richmond City Council meets Monday at 4 p.m. for a special session and a meeting of its Organizational Development Standing Committee.
The special session is to introduce three pieces of legislation, including an ordinance declaring a public necessity for the city to acquire the site of the rejected casino project in South Richmond.
The ordinance would authorize the acquisition of 4700 Trenton Ave. and part of 2001 Walmsley Blvd. The 96-acre, Philip Morris-owned site is where Urban One proposed its One Casino + Resort that was twice-rejected by city voters in separate referendums.
The city plans to use the property to create a new park, extend Walmsley Boulevard from Commerce Road to Richmond Highway, and develop an economic development site.
In the committee portion of the meeting, council is set to receive a tax relief presentation from Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders and deputy CAO Sabrina Joy-Hogg.
The presentation follows recent proposals by councilmember Reva Trammell and President Kristen Nye to reduce by four cents or retain the city’s real estate tax rate in light of increased property assessments. The tax rate has stood at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value since 2009.
Those proposals are on the agenda for council’s Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee, which meets Thursday at noon.
The agendas for each meeting are available here.
Azalea Ave. data center project, Landmark expansion on Henrico planning agenda
A site plan of the Azalea site shows a 14-acre portion designated for data center development and the 8 acres near the intersection designated for commercial use.
The Henrico County Planning Commission meets Thursday at 6 p.m. Full agenda here.
On the agenda is the plan from BWS Enterprises and DC Blox for a data center development on part of a 27-acre site north of Azalea Avenue and Richmond Henrico Turnpike. The potentially two-building project with some commercial development would include the site of the Azalea Flea Market.
Aurelie Capital seeks rezoning and provisional-use approvals to increase the height and density of an apartment building approved at 4911 Augusta Ave. beside Willow Lawn. The changes would increase the building height from six to eight stories and the unit count from 160 to 188. Planning staff is recommending that the cases be deferred.
Godsey Properties seeks approvals for a 15-acre expansion of its Landmark development near Sandston. The property is northwest of Williamsburg and Dry Bridge roads and would include 310 age-restricted apartments and a commercial site that could accommodate a 30,000-square-foot grocery store or two fast-food restaurants.
Also on the agenda are rezoning and provisional-use permit requests from PANDEV LLC for a Sheetz convenience store and gas station on 2.6 acres on the north side of West Broad Street east of Pine Grove Drive. Staff is recommending denial due to impacts expected to neighboring residential properties.
Goochland taps former ABC executive for top IT job
Paul Williams
Goochland County recently announced that Paul Williams will serve as the county’s new information technology director.
Williams was slated to start the job today (Monday), according to a county news release.
Williams has more than 20 years of experience as a leader in information technology. Most recently he was the chief information officer for the ABC. He is a graduate of Aston University, which is in the United Kingdom.
Hanover supervisors to get briefings on economic development, road projects
The Hanover Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet Wednesday.
On the docket is a presentation by Hanover Economic Development Director Brandon Turner, who will give the department’s annual report to county supervisors during the afternoon portion of the meeting.
The presentation will include a review of economic metrics and department activity in fiscal year 2024, per a staff memo.
The board is also expected to receive a report on road projects that are under development in Hanover from traffic engineer Joe Vidunas.
The full agenda for the meeting can be found here.