Richmond Times Dispatch
December 1, 2006

A couple of 13-story towers set for a Short Pump village was a bitter pill to swallow for some neighbors.

In eastern Henrico County, a couple of condominium buildings at Rockett's Landing will rise seven stories, and proposals for Tree Hill Farm, another urban village along the James River south of Rockett's, include heights of up to five stories.

As desirable, buildable land in Henrico becomes scarce and costlier, and the development trend of dense urban villages continues, developers will build up.

To accommodate that trend, Henrico supervisors recently amended the county code so that buildings in an office district, two business districts and several manufacturing districts can now stand between 110 feet and 200 feet with a provisional-use permit granted by the Board of Supervisors.

One building story usually runs between 10 feet and 12 feet.

Previously, those height allowances only applied to urban mixed-use developments, such as Rockett's Landing and West Broad Village in Short Pump.

"So this would open up other zoning districts to the potential for taller buildings," said assistant director of planning David D. O'Kelly Jr.  The ordinance change was sparked by discussions with the Economic Development Authority among other things, O'Kelly said.

Developers of the West Broad Village project in Short Pump battled with neighbors over the height of office buildings before agreeing to 13 stories, including parking. The towers originally were set for 20 and 22 stories, then lowered to 18 stories. Neighbors still pushed for 10 stories or less, but both parties eventually came to an agreement.

The office buildings will not be built until tenants are found.  West Broad Village sits in Supervisor David A. Kaechele's Three Chopt District. He supported the county-code changes on height restrictions, stressing that the board would have to grant a provisional-use permit for each case.  "I think you have to make an analysis, each use, individually by its own merits," he said.

Location also has a lot to do with the decision to allow greater height. For example, the West Broad Village office towers would sit closer to Interstate 64 than the existing homes. And corporate headquarters need significant amounts of office space.

"We saw it with [MeadWestvaco Corp.] -- they want 300,000 square feet in one building," he said. "Sometimes the only way to go is up."

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