News Flash

Goochland County has released the revised proposed Technology Overlay District ordinance, Technology Zone ordinance, and maps for public review ahead of the November 6, 2025, Board of Supervisors Public Hearing. 

Since the initial proposal in July, the County has met with homeowner associations, hosted two community meetings, and two town hall meetings. In addition, the Planning Commission held two nights of public hearings to ensure the public had time to voice their comments ahead of their vote. The hundreds of comments, emails, and questions have helped shape and improve the proposal.  

The County has revised the proposed ordinance based on the feedback received from the public and the recommendations made by the Planning Commission. The revised ordinance includes tightened noise limits, expanded buffers and setbacks, limited generator testing hours, and refined which types of facilities could be built. These changes were thoughtful and made to ensure that the new technology businesses can locate in previously identified prime economic development areas, while also including additional protections for nearby neighborhoods adjacent to properties in the designated growth area of Goochland County. 

Highlights of the proposed revisions under consideration by the Board of Supervisors on November 6 include: 

• No by right use for energy generation, including SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) and Gas Peaker Plants. Any energy generation as a stand alone usage or accessory usage would require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that would involve community input and a public hearing before both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. The CUP would be subject to conditions imposed by the County. 
• No by-right data centers in the 900+ acres near Mosaic and Richmond County Club along Hockett Road (TOD West). Data centers in TOD West will require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), with full community input, public hearings, and imposed conditions.
• Lowered noise standards, requiring 55 dBA and, to address low frequency noise, adding a new limit of 65 dBC, both measured at the property line.
• Prohibiting generators from running except for testing and during emergencies, as defined in the ordinance.
• Requiring that a generator testing schedule be published on a dedicated webpage.
• Mandating that generators must minimize noise by using one or more of these options: acoustic walls, enclosed generators, locating generators on side of building away from residential uses (using the building as sound screen), berms in the setback, or by generator type.
• Limiting construction hours.
• Increasing setbacks for data centers for properties with base zoning of A-2 adjacent to residential to 500 feet.
• Increasing setbacks for transmission substation adjacent to residential or agricultural zoned properties from 100 feet to 200 feet.
• Limiting the height of structures to 80’ adjacent to residential and agricultural zoned properties that are not a part of a TOD development.
• Prohibiting road access through residential zoned property.
• Requiring use of public water, not wells for commercial usage.

The County’s goal has remained steadfast: to find the right balance between supporting quality economic development and protecting Goochland’s way of life. The approach follows the 2035 Comprehensive Plan, which identifies the eastern part of the county as the best place for business and technology growth.  

No final decisions have been made at this time. The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the Goochland High School auditorium. All maps and proposed changes to the ordinance were posted on the County website on Monday, October 20, 2025, for the public to review prior to the public hearing. 

For more information, and to review the revised proposed ordinances, please visit www.goochlandva.us/tod.