Goochland planning commission recommends denial of 24-home subdivision on 110 acres in Maidens

The proposed Serenity Trail subdivision at 2453 Maidens Road. (Courtesy Goochland County documents)

A proposed subdivision in the Goochland countryside got a frosty reception from the county planning commission earlier this month.

The commission at its July 17 meeting voted to recommend denial of a rezoning of around 110 acres at 2453 Maidens Road to allow for 24 single-family homes on individual private wells and septic systems. 

The parcel is located just east of Maidens Road and south of its intersection with Poorhouse Road. The property houses a residence known as Serenity Farm and includes a house near the center of the property with a pool and a garage, as well as some accessory buildings. 

David Jinnett, manager of Serenity Trail LLC, is the applicant for the rezoning, which seeks to change the property’s designation from agricultural, limited (A-2) to residential, preservation (R-P). 

The application states that one of the subdivision’s 24 lots would be for the existing home, which would remain, meaning that 23 new residential lots would be created. No information was submitted by Serenity Trail LLC about the proposed size of the homes. 

The existing 3,500-square-foot home has been on the market for several months and is listed as pending sale, the Long & Foster Real Estate agent selling the property confirmed to BizSense. The online listing price is $2.6 million. 

According to plans filed with the county, all lots on the property would be 2 acres, as is required for the R-P zoning classification. The only exception would be the lot with the existing Serenity Farm home on it, which would be around 3.5 acres.

The existing home at 2453 Maidens Road, which would remain if the subdivision is approved. (Courtesy Long & Foster)

The current property owner, listed in application documents as Gail Courville, signed off on the rezoning application submission in May. 

Within the property’s boundaries is a 2-acre pond located at the northern end. 

Around 40 acres of the property are open fields, having historically been used for hay harvesting, while the remaining acreage is forest, with wetlands and steep slopes throughout, according to county staff. 

A small, 0.01-acre parcel used as a cemetery is located in the middle of the land proposed for rezoning but is not part of the proposal and would remain. That parcel is designated as semipublic. 

The submitted proposal includes setting aside around 55 of the total roughly 110 acres as a preservation tract. 

A homeowners association would be established to own and maintain things like the subdivision’s open space, community buildings, pond and drainage structures. 

A dozen conditions are proffered in the application, including minimal clearing for house sites, driveway and drainfields (which would not be in perpetuity, according to county staff), the establishment of the HOA and 100-foot-deep wells for each lot on the property, among other things.

The existing home and outbuildings would remain within one of the residential lots, while an existing outbuilding currently used as the owner’s 540-square-foot yoga studio would become a “clubhouse amenity” for the subdivision. 

The plan shows one entrance into the subdivision along Maidens Road, which extends into three cul-de-sacs, with a 200-foot buffer at the frontage of the property. 

Serenity Trail LLC proffered a right-turn lane access point onto Maidens Road from the development, while requesting a waiver from creating a left-turn lane, per county code requirements. 

Scott Courtney with ARM Group LLC, the civil engineer and designer of the project, noted at the commission meeting that developers feel a left-turn lane would be unsafe because of “the existing curves that are there.”  

The county’s comprehensive plan designates the proposed area as a “rural enhancement area.” A rural enhancement area “provides for low density residential, agricultural, forest or other uses which are not planned for public or central utilities.” 

Goochland County Planning Manager Keri Ragland told the commission that the proposal is in accordance with the comprehensive plan. 

An outline of the proposed Serenity Trail subdivision. (Courtesy Goochland County)

The first meeting with county planning staff regarding the project occurred last December. A community meeting was held April 14, with board of supervisors chair Tom Winfree and planning commission member Guy Kemmerly in attendance. 

Residents at that meeting cited concerns over traffic along Maidens Road near the subdivision entrance, potential stormwater runoff impacts and the “diminishment” of the county’s rural nature. 

Residents stated similar concerns at the July 17 planning commission meeting.

“That road is dangerous … and if you’re going to build this subdivision, which I think is going to happen, I think that you have to fix the road first,” said one resident. “Before we do this, let’s get the infrastructure right.” 

“We moved to Goochland for a reason,” said another resident. “We love it here. We are seeing it, in my opinion, slowly being chipped away and destroyed, and we want to stop it, and we want to stop it with this one.” 

One resident suggested creating a conservation easement through the Capital Region Land Conservancy as opposed to giving preservation responsibility to a created HOA. Courtney, the civil engineer, stated that the applicant had not considered doing that. 

With concerns surrounding the project, in a 2-1 vote, the planning commission decided to recommend denial of the application. 

Neither Jinnett nor Courtney responded to a request for comment by press time. 

The project will next be heard by the Goochland County Board of Supervisors at its Sept. 4 meeting. The board will have the ultimate say on the proposal. 

A denial recommendation from the planning commission doesn’t mean a project won’t see the light of day. County supervisors recently approved a rezoning for the 138-home Highfield project southwest of Rockville Road and Interstate 64 proposed by Markel | Eagle Partners after the planning commission’s unanimous recommendation of denial in May.

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