Henrico County leaders encourage residents to help shape the vision for the county’s future

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico County officials are asking for residents’ help shaping the future of their community and have reopened a survey requesting feedback on its comprehensive plan.

Henrico leaders first adopted their “Vision 2026” plan back in 2009. Henrico’s population, housing market and development goals have evolved significantly since then, so every few years, the county’s planning team reviews and updates their “vision” to make sure it’s keeping up with the expanding community. 8News spoke with Henrico County officials Joe Emerson and Rosemary Deemer to learn more.

“We’ll have it in place by 2026,” Deemer said about the county’s new plan.

Officials are looking at what’s next for Henrico or, rather, “Henrico Next.” That’s the branding from the 2021 update to the county’s comprehensive plan. The emblem is made up of five paths, representing the five different districts in the county, all moving toward the sun, symbolizing moving forward.

Henrico’s goal with the survey is to hear from residents about how they want to see the county improve as it continues moving forward.

“It is important that we know how people feel about transportation, how they feel about land use, how they feel about the services that are provided to them through Rec. and Parks, through schools,” Emerson explained.

The county’s Planning Department has collected approximately 1,000 responses since July 1, but planners want to see even more input so they can draft an inclusive, up-to-date, clear-cut vision of the county’s goals and objectives for 2045.

The planning team looks at trends across the board, and has noticed one trend in particular in regards to the county’s new homes.

“Henrico, in general, has always had a strong detached single family residential market,” Emerson said. “But in recent years, we’ve seen an increase in the apartment, multifamily types of development with not only rental apartments, but with townhomes and some smaller lots.”

County officials want to hear from residents about topics like whether there’s too much development or not enough. Plus, responses help officials detect patterns in the shifting business arena. For example, recently, Henrico leaders have noticed a heightened interest in the White Oak Technology Park area.

“The expansion of our industrial base in more of a technological advancement than what you might have seen in the past where you had more, say, manufacturing types of uses and assembly types of uses,” Emerson said.

This year, planners are also looking at transportation, including sidewalk connections, bike trails and public interest in GRTC expansion.

“We want to be able to have something clear and concise that explains to us where we are now and where we’re heading as we get towards 2045,” Deemer said.

Henrico County is also going to be hosting open-house-style listening sessions for community members to attend and learn more about how to have their voice be heard. The survey will remain open through next Wednesday, July 31.

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