A rezoning request that could make way for Chesterfield County's largest residential development is back on the Planning Commission's agenda.

But Roseland, which the commission will consider tomorrow, is about more than just houses. The mixed-use development would include as many as 5,140 homes and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space to be built over 20 years.

To begin, the developers need the rezoning of nearly 1,400 acres in northwest Chesterfield near state Route 288 and Old Hundred Road.

Planning Commission Chairman Russell J. Gulley said developers are likely to get it.

"I think they've done everything we've asked them to do," he said, noting that the developers have agreed to the county's full cash-proffer amount of $15,600 per home.

Dave Anderson, one of the Roseland developers, said they would prefer to work with the county to provide public infrastructure, such as a 775-student school, land for a second school, a library, a fire station and a park, rather than paying cash.

Gulley said his preference is for the county to collect cash proffers, which could amount to $80 million, to avoid potential complications.

"I would rather see a master-planned case come forward than 20 individual cases where you have to worry about connectivity," Gulley said.

"It wouldn't be easy," Anderson conceded, "but we think it would result in a better finished product."

In addition to proffers, developers have offered off-site infrastructure such as road improvements and help with water and sewer in the area.

The Roseland plan would create a pedestrian-friendly community with homes, shops and offices, and open space that would benefit the entire county, developers say. The project calls for a minimum of 29 percent open space, and no home would be more than two blocks from a park area, Anderson said.

Named for a 19th-century home on the property, Roseland has been in the works for almost four years. The rezoning request originally was filed in 2006. The Planning Commission recommended last year that the rezoning request be denied, and the Board of Supervisors took no action on it. In January, the newly elected board sent the Roseland proposal back to the planners for proffer revisions.

"It's our hope that the Planning Commission is ready to approve this and make it one step closer to a reality," Anderson said.

The rezoning proposal could be back before the Board of Supervisors at its April 23 meeting.
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.