Chesterfield planning commission details ZOMOD progress; public hearing set for July 15

The Chesterfield County Planning Department and Planning Commission on a work‑session update said Draft 3 of the county’s Zoning Ordinance Modernization project, known as ZOMOD, was released in March and is being reviewed at community meetings ahead of a planning commission public hearing set for July 15.

The planning commission’s update, delivered by Director Gillies and Planning Commission Chair Frank Petrovsky, outlined the outreach and technical work behind ZOMOD and a timeline that could lead to Board of Supervisors consideration this fall and possible enactment in early 2026. Director Gillies said, “In March of this year, we released draft 3,” and described multiple public sessions since then.

Why it matters: ZOMOD is a countywide rewrite of zoning rules that staff and commissioners say is intended to reduce the number of conditional‑use requests caused by an aging ordinance, create new tools such as mixed‑use districts and updated development standards, and align zoning rules with an updated comprehensive plan. Planning leaders said the package will not eliminate case‑by‑case review where the county believes it is warranted, and that adoption will trigger a sequence of related ordinance and plan updates.

Key points from the update

- Project status and schedule: Planning staff said Draft 3 went online in March and that five community meetings have been held, with one additional meeting in Bermuda scheduled. The planning commission set a public hearing for ZOMOD on July 15; staff said, if the process proceeds on schedule, the Board of Supervisors could consider ZOMOD at a public hearing this fall and that full enactment and staff training would follow. Director Gillies and Petrovsky described an adoption window targeted for early 2026.

- Outreach and review: Petrovsky, the planning commission chair and Midlothian District commissioner, emphasized the length of the process: “That was the fifth year of working on Zomod,” and commissioners and staff described dozens of meetings in 2024 alone. Staff reported extensive review sessions: eight planning‑commission work sessions in 2024 totaling about 27 hours on Draft 2, seven meetings of the ZOMOD advisory committee, nine meetings with the Committee for the Future and hours of staff review of portal comments.

- What ZOMOD would change (and what it would not): Staff said ZOMOD aims to reduce the number of ad‑hoc exceptions and conditional‑use requests by modernizing development standards and adding new zoning tools (for example, a mixed‑use district intended to simplify conversions of older shopping centers to combined residential/retail uses). Planning staff and commissioners repeatedly emphasized that some land‑use requests will still require formal review: large solar facilities, agricultural/animal uses in residential districts and other site‑specific projects would continue to go through a conditional‑use or similar public review. On that point, a board member cautioned that the county would not “go back and look at every single zoning case that’s been approved in Chesterfield County before and say now we’re gonna change your zoning case to what we believe it should be.”

- Numbers and recent workload: Staff provided year‑to‑date and 2024 counts to illustrate demand on the system. Among figures cited: six zoning ordinance amendments completed in 2024; 82 zoning cases processed in 2024 (with the board approving 79 cases over the year, as reported by the planning commission chair); 302 initial zoning inquiries that were progressively screened down (302 → 160 → 103 → 82 → 79, as staff summarized). Staff also reported 26 deferrals, two substantial court cases and two site‑plan reviews in 2024.

- Public engagement and committees: Commissioners and staff described a mixed advisory group that includes residents, industry professionals, the Committee for the Future (10 citizen representatives), HOAs and special interest meetings with the Chamber and business groups. Petrovsky and staff said citizens did participate in advisory meetings and district outreach; staff asked the public to use the online portal to view Draft 3 and submit comments.

- Implementation and follow‑on work: Staff said ZOMOD adoption will be followed quickly by targeted amendments to the subdivision ordinance and chapters of the comprehensive plan that must be aligned with the new zoning text (Chapter 10 and related chapters were flagged for prompt updates). Director Gillies told the commission the county will not enact ZOMOD immediately upon approval but will allow a period for staff training and sequencing of related codified changes.

- Awards and prior planning work: Staff noted awards received for earlier special focus area plans (the Rockwood plan received an APA recognition and the Ridgedale plan received a NACo award) and said the corridor plans for Route 60 and Route 10 remain active projects.

Questions and unresolved issues

Commissioners and board members pressed staff on specific examples of how ZOMOD would treat certain uses. On farm‑animal rules, staff said residential and agricultural land categories would remain distinct and that keeping animals in residential districts would still require the existing permission processes. On solar facilities, staff said large‑scale installations would continue to be reviewed as conditional uses in agricultural areas. Staff and commissioners discussed whether some renewals or limited renewals could be handled by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) rather than repeating the full planning commission/board process, noting that proposal remains under discussion and that shifting items to the BZA would reduce public visibility.

What officials said

Director Gillies, Planning Director: “In March of this year, we released draft 3.”

Frank Petrovsky, Planning Commission chair and Midlothian District commissioner: “That was the fifth year of working on Zomod.”

Supervisor Carroll (Board of Supervisors): “We’re not going to go back and look at every single zoning case that’s been approved in Chesterfield County before and say now we’re gonna change your zoning case to what we believe it should be.”

Next steps

Staff asked the public to review Draft 3 on the county website and attend the remaining community meeting; the planning commission’s July 15 public hearing is the next formal opportunity for in‑person public testimony on the draft. After the planning commission hearing, staff said the item may appear for Board of Supervisors public hearings this fall, followed by an implementation and staff‑training period prior to enactment.