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Plan of Development Review Process
Plans of Development (PODs), also known as site plans, are required for all commercial, industrial, multi-family, churches, and institutional uses as well as expansions of commercial or industrial uses and residential developments, where any access or public safety improvements are required. Submitted site plans are reviewed by the Community Development review team which consists of Environmental, Planning and Zoning, Public Utilities, Building Inspector's Office, Fire Marshal, Engineering, County Transportation and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). A licensed professional such as a civil engineer surveyor, or landscape architect is typically required to prepare site plans, which may include architectural elevations and a site lighting plan.
Applicants are encouraged to request a preliminary meeting with Planning & Zoning staff prior to submitting their site plan. A preliminary meeting document can be found here and a meeting can be reserved by contacting Maria Harwood, Planning Technician, at mharwood@goochlandva.us or 804-556-5859.
Plans of Development are encouraged to be submitted online through the County’s permitting software, EnerGov. Paper submittals are also still accepted and will be uploaded into EnerGov for tracking purposes.
Click here to set up or log-in to EnerGov.
Please note: PODs often also require a Land Disturbance Permit and a Stormwater Permit, which are required for final POD approval if applicable.
Submitted POD applications are reviewed by the Community Development review team each Thursday to ensure the application includes all required materials. If any items are missing from the application, the applicant is notified with a list of items needed to complete the application. If the application is complete, the applicant is notified, and the plan review process will begin. The statutory time for completeness review is 5 business days.
The assigned staff members will conduct a review of the application to ensure compliance with County Code, applicable proffers, and/or any other conditions associated with the property. If the POD is not in compliance, a comment letter will be provided to the applicant within 30 days, unless extenuating circumstances extend the review timeline. The statutory time for review is 40 business days for the first submittal.
Resubmittals of applications should be sent directly to the POD Administrator or uploaded directly to EnerGov. All resubmittals must provide digital and paper plans sets with changes bubbled in red as well as a comment response letter. Once received, the POD Administrator will circulate the resubmittal to all appropriate reviewers. The statutory time for review will restart with each submittal after the completeness review is conducted on Thursdays. The statutory time for review is 30 business days for the second and third submittal and 14 days for the fourth submittal and subsequent submittals.
Once approvals from all review agencies have been received, the POD Administrator will provide an approval letter and sign the plan sets. Three paper copies are required for signatures. The applicant is provided one copy for their records. Following approval, the applicant can schedule a Pre-Construction meeting with the Environmental Department, at which time they will be provided the Owner’s copy of the approved Plan of Development.