If Doug Hackman gets his way, water skiers will be zooming around a new water sports park in Chesterfield County by April.

But first he has to get past the county government.

Hackman, his wife and several other investors plan to build LasOlas Water Sports and Events Park on 24 acres the Hackmans own on Newby’s Bridge Road near the 288 Interchange.

Proposed in three phases, the development would include a 7.5-acre lake on which a cable tow system would pull riders like a ski boat, a wave machine, two restaurants, retail space, an entertainment pavilion, and, ultimately, a tropical-themed hotel.

Hackman says the idea was conceived during a trip with friends at Lake Gaston.

“That’s how it got started – just a day on the lake,” he said.

Although Hackman says the park would be an economic boon for the area some residents and members of the Chesterfield County Planning Commission have been reluctant to jump in.

The commission on May 21 recommended the venture’s initial zoning application be denied, largely because of traffic and utility concerns.

“I would love to see this facility happen,” County Supervisor Dale Patton said last month at the planning meeting. “I have no problem with the usage if the infrastructure is on site. That’s not the case here. If you want to develop the site, then bring the infrastructure.”

Supervisor Russell Gulley liked the idea but not the location.

“Good use, wrong place,” Gulley said at the meeting. “It’s just the wrong place.”

That opposition wasn’t what Hackman expected when his group proposed the project.

“I really anticipated it would be obvious to everybody that it would be a good location for it,” Hackman said. “Chesterfield Economic Development’s motto is ‘Where business starts.’ I got a feeling the Chesterfield planning department’s is ‘Where business ends.’”

Hackman notes that the venture isn’t asking the county for financial incentives.

“I’m just asking for the opportunity to try and do it,” Hackman said. “This area is specifically named an economic development opportunity site. This is economic development.”

Hackman and his team, which includes Chesterfield residents Brett Burkhart and Greg Tunnell, will next have to make their case before the county’s board of supervisors. The board will vote on the project on June 28 and has the power to vote in favor of it despite the planning commission’s recommendation.

“I think as elected officials they are going to give it the consideration it deserves,” Hackman said.

Should it come to fruition, the park would use a system of six 35-foot metal towers with a system of overhead cables to tow riders around the lake for wake boarding, water skiing and knee boarding.

LasOlas would buy its the cable system from a German company called Sisetec for about $375,000, Hackman said.

That’s the most expensive initial piece of the project, excluding the infrastructure for roads, water and sewage.

The planning department wants Hackman’s group to pay to connect to county water and sewage, but the lines are a few thousand feet away from the proposed site for the park.

“It’s a hideously cost prohibitive proposition to do that,” Hackman said.

The full concept, which Hackman said could likely be done over five years, would have more than 8,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space and a hotel of up to 54 rooms.

Hackman would not share what the total investment might cost.

“I don’t want to throw numbers around,” he said.

LasOlas is the second water-related park proposed in the Richmond area in recent months. A man in Hanover County is looking to build a year-round surf park near Bass Pro Shops.

The Hackmans have plenty of experience in starting new businesses.

Debbie Hackman has started several health-care companies with her husband as CFO. They sold them between 2004 and 2006 and since then have essentially been retired, Doug Hackman said.

Leading up to the meeting with the board of supervisors, Hackman said he is working with county transportation and utility departments to resolve any issues.

He said he’s willing to put some of the infrastructure in earlier than he’d initially proposed. And he realizes that the hotel piece of the project will likely have to wait a few years until the surrounding area is ready for more commercial development.

But he still wants to get things moving.

“Somebody has got to kick off development for this economic development opportunity site,” he said. “That’s me. I’m a landowner with an idea and willing to put my capital up to get something going.”