Hanover weighs development guidelines for area around former Tyson Foods plant

Hanover staff are planning to develop a land-use plan to guide future economic development in the area around the former Tyson Foods processing plant. (Courtesy CBS 6)

Hanover County is in the early stages of creating a guide for future growth around the closed Tyson Foods poultry plant on Mountain Road.

The Route 33 Gateway Small Area Plan would provide a long-term economic development vision for the 950-acre area situated between Winns Church Road and the Henrico county line.

Hanover officials kick off the initial community outreach effort with a public workshop Thursday (today), which follows the launch of an online survey on the county website.

Hanover officials plan to use collected public input to create a draft plan with recommendations on preferred business types, infrastructure improvements and design guidelines for things such as building heights and landscaping within the area.

The plan is intended to serve as a resource that Hanover officials would consult when they review future proposed development projects in the largely undeveloped area. The plan wouldn’t change the zoning of properties within the area, but would be referenced when rezoning proposals get pitched. Andrew Pompei, Hanover’s deputy planning director, said the plan would offer more detailed guidelines than those in the county’s comprehensive plan.

“This would be another tool that’s more focused and provides more detail for this particular area,” Pompei said. “This is going to focus primarily on new development and developing those vacant properties with an economic development use.”

Pompei said the plan also is expected to balance consideration of the rural character of the area, which is a primary entry point into Hanover.

The Route 33 Gateway Small Area Plan, outlined in dark blue, would provide development and design recommendations for a 950-acre area. (Courtesy Hanover County)

The area is home to the 200,000-square-foot former Tyson chicken processing plant at 13264 Mountain Road, which Tyson shuttered in 2023. Tyson still owns the facility’s 53-acre property, according to online land records. Ways the property could be used or redeveloped are expected to be a major part of the plan’s recommendations, Pompei said.

The plan also is expected to include a trail on the Chickahominy River, which is the plan area’s southern boundary and also the Hanover-Henrico county line.

The Route 33 plan is being created to guide development in what’s one of the county’s Economic Development Zones. The area has had that designation since 2013 because it was deemed suitable for economic growth.

Some commercial development already exists along Mountain Road (Route 33), which runs through the plan area. In addition to the closed Tyson facility, a handful of other businesses exist along the road.

The Route 33 plan is the first small-area plan to be developed since Hanover updated its comprehensive plan in 2023. Pompei said the county intends eventually to create small-area plans for each of Hanover’s 10 Economic Development Zones.

The first draft of the plan is expected to be completed in May or June. Another public meeting is envisioned to take place in late spring or early summer.

The Board of Supervisors may adopt the final version of the plan this summer after a review by the Planning Commission.

Today’s public meeting is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. at the Kitchen 33 restaurant at 13155 Mountain Road.

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