Hanover County resident Joan Branch moved to her Elmont Road home 15 years ago and loved the fact that 100 of her closest neighbors were horses.

Most of the animals are now gone, thanks to development replacing some of the area's stables.

"We didn't move out here for convenience," Branch said last week. "We moved out here for the rural life."

Branch and others who live near Cedar Lane off U.S. 1 are worried that what's left of the Elmont community's rural character is slipping away.

Hanover officials are thinking about rezoning more than 100 acres south of Cedar Lane, between Holly Hill Road and U.S. 1, to allow for more homes and commercial development.

Specifically, the Board of Supervisors is considering increasing density from one or two homes per acre to four to eight homes per acre in some parts along Cedar Lane.

The supervisors deferred a decision at a recent board meeting. They could vote next month on the proposal, which was prompted by an amendment to the county's comprehensive plan last year that involves rerouting the Cedar Lane-U.S. 1 intersection farther south so it connects with Sliding Hill Road.

The Planning Commission recommended denial of the proposed rezoning in August.

South Anna District Supervisor John E. Gordon Jr. asked for the deferral because he said he wasn't satisfied that the proposal met three goals: satisfying the property owners and developers, satisfying the community and ensuring that the new Cedar Lane intersection would happen. There is not money for the intersection project, he said.

Branch said Cedar Lane is a narrow, twisting road that can't handle any more traffic, and the intersection with U.S. 1 is a nightmare. She said there are some historic homes close to the road along Cedar Lane that would have to be moved or torn down to make way for additional lanes.

Branch called her community a turn-of-the-century railroad village.

As for horses, "there's still a couple," she said. "Just not like it was."
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.