Sheetz planned on Broad Street near Parham headed for vote

Submitted elevations for the planned Sheetz on Broad Street west of Parham Road. (County documents)

Update: The vote scheduled for tonight’s meeting has been requested for deferral to a meeting in January. This story has been revised.

Despite pushback from neighbors and Henrico planning staff, a proposal for a Sheetz along West Broad Street beside a residential neighborhood has passed one hurdle and is headed for a deciding vote by county supervisors.

The Henrico Planning Commission last month endorsed the plan to put a Sheetz on a largely undeveloped site a block west of Parham Road, on the north side of Broad between Hollybrook and Pine Grove avenues.

The 2.6-acre site consists of six parcels originally platted for the neighboring Pine Grove subdivision. The four parcels fronting Broad were rezoned for business use four years ago, and two adjoining parcels with homes that would be razed are now part of the proposal for a 24-hour convenience store and gas station, with access restricted to Hollybrook and Pine Grove.

The existing homes would make way for a transitional buffer between the Sheetz and other homes that would remain. Plans call for a 50-foot vegetative buffer with additional open space and 6-foot-tall fencing.

But despite revisions to the proposal over the past few months, county planners do not support the plan, due to concerns about negative impacts on neighboring properties and the existing residential development pattern.

According to a county staff report, attendees at two community meetings held for the project since March voiced concerns about the 24-hour use and potential impacts to property values and area traffic. The site is between Broad’s intersections with Parham and Skipwith Road and beside and across from two car dealerships.

Nonetheless, the Planning Commission voted 5-0 with one abstention to recommend approval to the Board of Supervisors, because the use would continue “a form of zoning consistent with the area,” according to the agenda for the board’s Dec. 3 meeting.

The board’s votes on a requested rezoning and provisional-use permit are being requested for deferral to a meeting in January, said Andy Condlin, who is representing the applicant.

A site plan shows the 50-foot vegetative buffer in dark green and additional open space behind the commercial development.

The 6,100-square-foot convenience store would be central to the site, with the fuel pumps closer to the Hollybrook access, according to plans submitted to the county. A 5-foot-wide sidewalk would be installed along Broad, and 4-foot-wide sidewalks are planned along the side streets.

Plans also show about 45 parking spaces, exceeding the maximum allowed under Henrico’s Neighborhood Compatibility Standards, the report states.

While county planners acknowledge that the two additional parcels provide a greater buffer to nearby homes, they maintain in the report that the uses proposed are too intense for the size and location of the site.

“Should the request be deemed appropriate, staff recommends that the applicant address staff’s concerns regarding the scale and scope of the project, and remove proffers that restate code requirements,” the report states.

The rezoning and provisional-use permit needed for the project were requested by an entity called Pandev LLC, which is represented by Condlin with Roth Jackson Gibbons Condlin. The four parcels fronting Broad are owned by Victor Moes, who applied for the 2020 rezoning. The two residential parcels are separately owned.

Townes Site Engineering prepared the site plans. Convenience Architecture and Design, out of Pennsylvania, is designing the Sheetz.

The Sheetz would add to others in the works in Henrico, including at the former O’Charley’s site at Gaskins Road and Mayland Drive and along Staples Mill Road across from the Amtrak station.

Just west of the Broad Street site, at 3214 Skipwith Road, the regional arm of the Girl Scouts is planning to convert an old BB&T building into its new headquarters.

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