This week in county government; Fowler wins Republican nomination in HD59; Deeds, Laufer prevail in Dem contests in SD11, HD55; Supes send revised rules for short-term rentals to Planning Commission
Engage Louisa is a nonpartisan newsletter that keeps folks informed about Louisa County government. We believe our community is stronger and our government serves us better when we increase transparency, accessibility, and engagement.
This week in county government: public meetings, June 26 through July 1
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here. (Note: Louisa County frequently schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Tuesday, June 27
Human Services Advisory Board, Human Services Conference Room, 114 Industrial Drive, Louisa, 11 am.
Additional information about Louisa County’s upcoming public meetings is available here.
Interested in taking your talents to one of the county’s numerous boards and commissions? Find out more here including which boards have vacancies and how to apply.
Primary recap: Fowler wins Republican nomination in HD59
Delegate Buddy Fowler on Tuesday decisively won the Republican nomination in the new 59th House of Delegates District, overcoming spirited challenges from former Louisa County GOP Chair Graven Craig and Henrico attorney and winery owner Philip Strother.
A five-term incumbent who was backed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, Fowler claimed more than 57 percent of the vote while Craig finished second with almost 33 percent and Strother finished third with just under 10 percent, according to unofficial results.
Redrawn during the 2021 redistricting process, the solidly conservative 59th includes western Hanover—Fowler’s home turf—most of Louisa and a chunk of northwestern Henrico. It’s home to about 42 percent of voters from Fowler’s current House district.
Fowler’s win was part of a good night for Youngkin and the state’s Republican establishment, which beat back primary bids from several firebrand conservatives who have needled the governor and accused their opponents of being too moderate. Youngkin-backed candidates went a perfect 10 for 10 on Tuesday.
Fowler leaned in hard on the governor’s endorsement. Voters at some polling places were greeted by life-size cutouts of Youngkin holding a sign in support of Fowler. He coupled establishment backing with endorsements from groups with strong ties to the conservative grassroots including the gun rights group, Virginia Citizens Defense League, and the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance.
Fowler was also endorsed by 56th District Delegate John McGuire, who has represented Louisa in the House since 2018. In May, McGuire won the Republican nomination in the 10th state Senate District, which includes much of the 59th.
One of a handful of Virginia legislators who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and a vocal promoter of unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, McGuire is a popular figure among the party’s hard right. He crisscrossed the district campaigning with Fowler and encouraged his supporters to vote for him in frequent emails and social media posts.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Fowler thanked his supporters, singling out McGuire, and said it’s time for Republicans to turn their attention to November. All 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for grabs this fall in high stakes elections that will determine which party controls the legislature’s two narrowly divided chambers. Last session, Democrats held a 22-18 advantage in the Senate while Republicans had a 52-48 edge in the House.
“I want to thank all of my supporters and those who worked to get us to this point. I especially want to thank my wing man, John McGuire, Republican nominee for Senate District 10. As we look forward, I ask for your support in the days to come as we head to November. We must take the Senate and hold the House,” Fowler said.
Fowler also acknowledged his opponents’ campaigns.
“Yesterday was momentous and I am extremely humbled by the support and vote of Republicans in HD 59. You are the best! My opponents worked extremely hard and it was a vigorous campaign and well worth fighting for,” he said
Craig mounted the most serious challenge to Fowler, branding himself as the “true outsider” and “constitutional conservative in the race.” He accused Fowler of failing to defend Second Amendment rights because he voted against legislation that would’ve allowed first responders to carry concealed weapons on the job. Craig also implied that Fowler had sold out to lobbyists, citing the thousands of dollars industry lobbying groups have poured into his campaigns. For the most part, those attacks appeared to fall flat.
Fowler rolled on his home turf, winning every precinct in Hanover and about 74 percent of the vote. Craig won just 19.5 percent and Strother captured almost seven percent. In Henrico, Fowler also turned in a strong performance, claiming 50 percent of ballots cast to Strother’s 30 percent and Craig’s 19 percent. Fowler won 7 of 10 precincts in Henrico while Strother won three including Glen Allen, his home precinct. Hanover voters comprise about 42 percent of the district while Henrico voters make up roughly 25 percent.
As expected, Craig turned in his strongest performance in Louisa, home to about 33 percent of the district’s voters. He won every precinct en route to tallying 65 percent of the vote. Fowler captured a solid 28.7 percent while Strother claimed just over six percent.
Craig had hoped to counter Fowler’s strength in Hanover by romping in Louisa. In a pre-primary blitz, he enlisted the help of several Louisa natives including Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell and former 5th District Congressman Tom Garrett. Purcell encouraged constituents to vote for Craig via postcards sent just before Election Day while Garrett, who won the Republican nomination in the 56th House District in a late May convention, held a fundraiser with Craig and stumped for him in two Facebook videos.
In one, Garrett said that Craig would be “a voice for Louisa County in the General Assembly,” reminding voters of when the county was represented by longtime Mineral resident V. Earl Dickinson, a powerful Democrat who rose to chair the House Appropriations Committee.
“Louisa wins when we have a Louisa voice in Richmond for us,” said Garrett, who now lives in Buckingham County.
While that message may have resonated with some voters, Craig couldn’t muster the turnout and vote margins he needed in Louisa. Less than 10 percent of registered voters in Louisa’s portion of the district turned out for the primary while western Hanover did slightly better with nearly 12 percent turnout.
This year’s Republican nominating contests have been unkind to Louisa-based candidates. Prior to Craig’s loss, Board of Supervisors Chair Duane Adams came up short in his bid for the party’s nomination in the 10th Senate District, finishing a distant second to McGuire in an early May convention.
One Louisa resident did make November’s ballot in a state legislative contest: Democrat Daniel Tomlinson. Tomlinson, a Lake Anna resident who has never run for public office and didn’t face a primary challenge, will take on McGuire in the ruby red 10th in a long shot bid for Senate.
Fowler will face Democrat Rachel Levy this fall in a rematch of the pair’s 2021 race. Fowler beat Levy by about 27 points in a district that included parts of Hanover, Caroline and Spotsylvania counties.
Levy, an Ashland educator, said in a Twitter post Wednesday that she’d face the same opponent but on what she sees as friendlier turf.
“It's Day 1 of my General Election campaign. My opponent is the same anti-woman, anti-reproductive rights opp I faced in 2021 but now I'm in a bluer district. We can win but not without your help,” she said in a pitch to volunteers to join her for a weekend of door-knocking.
Note: Vote totals/percentages included in this article are from results posted on the Virginia Department of Elections website on Sunday, June 25.
Primary recap: Deeds, Laufer prevail in Dem contests in SD11, HD55
Senator Creigh Deeds and former Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer on Tuesday claimed the Democratic nominations in the new 11th state Senate District and 55th House of Delegates District, respectively. Redrawn during the 2021 redistricting process, the blue-leaning districts include a slice of western Louisa County.
The two candidates had decidedly different paths to victory.
Deeds, a 30-plus year veteran of the state legislature, overcome a strong challenge from Delegate Sally Hudson, a University of Virginia economics professor, winning by just 497 votes in a race that attracted 26,695 voters, the highest turnout in the state. Deeds claimed 50.93 percent of the vote to Hudson’s 49.07 percent, according to unofficial results.
Laufer romped in her race, cruising to a nearly 40-point win over emergency department nurse Kellen Squire in a hotly contested matchup that some observers of state politics expected to be much closer. She won 69.7 percent of ballots cast to Squire’s 30.3 percent. The race had the second-highest turnout among Tuesday’s House primaries.
With their party’s nomination in hand, Deeds and Laufer head to November’s election in districts favorable to Democrats. Aside from western Louisa, which constitutes just under five percent of the district, the 11th includes the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson and Amherst counties. The 55th stretches from Louisa’s western end across much of Albemarle, a slice of northern Nelson and a small sliver of Fluvanna. Louisa voters make up about 11 percent of the district.
Rural voters help Deeds win in SD11
The battle between Deeds and Hudson was one of the most closely watched contests on a primary day full of marquee matchups.
The 2021 redistricting process shook up the state’s electoral landscape, reshaping all 140 House of Delegates and state Senate districts without regard for where incumbents live. The new districts opened the door for dozens of spirited intra-party contests.
The Virginia Supreme Court—tasked with approving new maps after a bipartisan commission failed to reach consensus—placed Deeds’ Bath County home in a solidly conservative district with two of his Republican Senate colleagues. The longtime incumbent, who has represented Charlottesville and part of Albemarle in the Senate for more than two decades, decided to move to Charlottesville and run in the 11th. Hudson also opted to vie for Senate, leaving behind the slightly reconfigured Charlottesville-centered House seat that she’s represented since 2019.
Deeds, 65, touted his experience and seniority as reasons voters should back him while the 35-year-old Hudson argued that the redrawn district offered an opportunity for generational change and fresh ideas.
While the two share many policy priorities, Hudson positioned herself to Deeds’ left on some issues. She criticized Deeds’ voting record on gun law reform, highlighting his 2020 vote against an assault weapons ban and a 2012 vote with Republicans to repeal a “one-gun-per-month” law, both taken as the representative of a redder district. More recently, Deeds introduced a bill to ban some assault weapons, which was killed in the Republican-controlled House.
In the end, voters—especially outside of Charlottesville and in the district’s rural reaches—seemed to prefer experience over a fresh faced progressive. Deeds chalked up big victories in the district’s rural areas. He prevailed in three of four precincts in Louisa—losing the Louisa 3 precinct by just one vote, 9 to 8—winning almost 60 percent of ballots cast. He performed just as well in Nelson, winning support from just under 60 percent of voters and even better in Amherst, capturing over 64 percent of the vote.
The race tightened significantly in Albemarle where Deeds edged Hudson 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent, performing particularly well in precincts outside of the county’s urban core.
Hudson turned in her strongest performance in Charlottesville where she prevailed in all but one precinct, garnering 58.1 percent of the vote to Deeds 41.9 percent. But it wasn’t enough.
While Hudson won the city by 1,273 votes, Deed’s 1,068-vote win in Albemarle coupled with his 702-vote win in Louisa, Nelson and Amherst propelled hm to victory.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Deeds thanked his supporters and said he’s looking forward to continuing his work in Richmond.
“This victory belongs to all of us, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of so many volunteers, voters, and loved ones. I am incredibly honored to have the opportunity to continue fighting for our community in Richmond – thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Together, we will create meaningful change across not just Senate District 11, but the entire Commonwealth,” he said.
In her post-election statement, Hudson congratulated Deeds, thanked everyone who participated in the primary and said that she’s eager to follow the work of a diverse crop of Democratic candidates who are poised to join the Senate, several of whom unseated incumbents Tuesday night.
“I also want to congratulate the nominees who will likely join (Deeds) next year – courageous, insightful, proven public servants who are building the democracy we all deserve. The Senate of Virginia hasn’t known names like Suhas, Saddam, Lashrecse, and Stella, but it will soon, and I can’t wait to follow the world-changing work they will do,” Hudson said.
Deeds enters the general election as a heavy favorite to return to Capitol Square. He’ll face Republican Philip Hamilton and Independent J’riah Guerrero this fall. Hamilton lost to Hudson in a bid for House of Delegates two years ago.
Laufer wins big in HD55
Laufer, a former teacher twice elected to the Charlottesville School Board, won with surprising ease in the 55th District House race.
Both she and Squire are fairly well known to local voters, having lost previous bids for state office in Republican-leaning districts that included parts of the new 55th: she to incumbent Bryce Reeves in a 2019 bid for Senate and he to longtime Delegate Rob Bell in a 2017 run for House.
This year’s contest started out as a relatively quiet affair but heated up in the closing weeks. In a series of campaign mailers, the first of which arrived in voters’ mailboxes over Memorial Day weekend, Laufer questioned Squire’s commitment to protecting abortion rights, pointing to online comments he made during his first campaign in which he described himself as “unashamedly pro-life.”
Squire accused Laufer of lying about his position on abortion and taking his words out of context. He said that, as an ER nurse, he’s provided abortion-related care and that his comments were an attempt to draw in conservative voters in a solid red district.
Laufer’s line of attack sparked outrage from Squire supporters online who blasted her for using “dirty” and “deceptive” tactics. The backlash prompted some pundits to wonder if Laufer had made a significant misstep. J. Miles Coleman, media relations coordinator at UVA’s Center for Politics, told The Daily Progress that the attack had put Laufer’s campaign on the “defensive.”
While it’s unclear what, if any, impact the mailers had on the race, they didn’t appear to hurt Laufer on Tuesday. She jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
Laufer won all but one of the district’s precincts, sweeping the four in Louisa with 82 percent of the vote, her best performance in any locality. She performed nearly as well in Nelson, garnering support on almost 74 percent of ballots cast and rolled in Albemarle, winning 68.7 percent of the vote. Squire won the lone precinct in Fluvanna, where only two people voted.
In an email on Wednesday, Laufer thanked supporters and turned her attention to the general election this fall where she’ll take on Republican Steve Harvey. Harvey, who lost a 2019 run for Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, jumped in the race last week after fellow Republican Reid Wernig dropped out.
“Because of you, we came out stronger than ever from yesterday's primary. Your support has propelled us into the next crucial stage of this journey, and for that, I am deeply grateful.” Laufer said.
Note: Vote totals/percentages included in this article are from results posted on the Virginia Department of Elections website on Sunday, June 25.
BOS roundup: Supes send revised rules for short-term rentals to Planning Commission
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night held another brief meeting, wrapping up public business in less than an hour. (meeting materials, video)
As expected, supervisors heard quarterly updates from the Louisa County Water Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation. But they also took up a controversial issue that wasn’t explicitly included on the meeting agenda: proposed rules for short-term lodging.
In a 6-0 vote, the board agreed to send draft regulations for short-term rentals to the Planning Commission for review after a previous effort to regulate the rentals stalled last year. Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes missed Tuesday’s meeting.
Check out a recap of the meeting below.
Board sends draft STR rules to Planning Commission: County officials will take another stab at regulating short-term rentals, a popular lodging option typically offered on online platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb.
A months-long effort to codify rules for short-term rentals stalled last year in the face of resistance from the Louisa County Chamber of Commerce and some STR owners. Supervisors voted 6-0 to forward revised draft regulations to the Planning Commission for its review. Assistant County Administrator Chris Coon described the draft as offering “a little bit less specificity but cast(ing) a broader net” than the previous proposal.
Under the draft rules, property owners offering their home or other accommodations as a short-term rental in designated growth areas and those offering lodging outside of growth areas would be subject to different rules and, in some cases, not explicitly regulating by the county at all.
Property owners offering an STR in a growth area would be required to:
provide a point of contact for their property to Louisa County and its subdivision’s governing body, if applicable;
provide to tenants a copy of Louisa County code sections pertaining to noise and solid waste;
inform tenants that using the property for a special event typically held at a special occasion facility—a wedding, for example—is prohibited unless the property has a valid Conditional Use Permit;
provide tenants with at least one parking space per bedroom and a space for boat trailer parking (20 ft by 8 ft);
provide to Louisa County documentation of septic system inspections and repairs whenever they are completed, if applicable;
comply with all applicable state building code and safety regulations;
If STR owners don’t follow those rules, they would be required to obtain a Conditional Use Permit. Securing a CUP typically requires two public hearings and an affirmative vote by a majority of the Board of Supervisors.
STRs operating outside of growth areas would be required to obtain a CUP with notable exceptions. If an owner provides evidence that their property was operating as an STR at the time of the ordinance’s implementation, it would be grandfathered in and wouldn't require a CUP. If a rental is part of a farm, under some circumstances, it would be classified as agri-tourism, prohibiting the county from regulating the STR through its zoning code.
STRs have exploded in popularity in Louisa County over the last several years, especially around Lake Anna. They’ve attracted both tourists and investors to the lake, stirring concerns among some year-round residents who’ve complained that the rentals are businesses operating in residential neighborhoods and threaten the character of their community, public safety and the health of the lake. Some residents said at county meetings last year that STRs in their neighborhoods are frequently overcrowded and they worry about failing septic systems harming the lake’s water quality.
In response to those concerns, the Board of Supervisors formed a stakeholders’ group to consider regulations and the Planning Commission subsequently recommended for approval a draft ordinance setting rules for STRs. Most notably, the proposed ordinance would’ve required STR owners to annually register their property, mandated regular inspections for septic systems, and capped occupancy at two people per bedroom unless regulators approved more occupants. The occupancy cap was based on standards for septic systems laid out in state code.
But, in a last-minute move, supervisors called off a September public hearing on the ordinance. Mineral District Duane Adams said at the time that the hearing was cancelled because of the possibility that the General Assembly would change how it allows localities to regulate STRs and to give county officials more time to gather citizen input. During its 2023 session, the legislature didn’t pass any new STR legislation, but did ask the Virginia Housing Commission to study the issue.
The stakeholders’ group held two more public meetings after the cancelled hearing, but couldn’t find peace in the valley on the proposed ordinance’s most controversial components, namely the occupancy cap. John Romano, a developer and STR owner, warned that limiting occupancy to two people per bedroom could decimate the local tourism economy and urged county officials to conduct an economic impact study before voting on the proposed rules.
From there, public discussion of the draft ordinance stalled until Tuesday night. Coon attributed the delay to continued concerns that potential action from the legislature would impact what the county passed. He noted that the draft rules now under consideration would regulate STRs through the county’s zoning code instead of relying on the state code section that permits localities to regulate short-term rentals.
“We felt that with all those conversations and potential changes (from the legislature), it would be better to bring it back to the zoning code. The General Assembly does gives us the authority to maintain our zoning code and land use,” Coon said.
Though the board voted unanimously to send the draft rules to the Planning Commission, Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow said that he isn’t inclined to vote for them as presented. He said that STRs should require a Conditional Use Permit to operate in residential zoning. Under county code, commercial activity is prohibited in R-1 and R-2 zoning without a CUP though many STRs currently operate in residential neighborhoods.
Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones said that she doesn’t want the board to adopt an ordinance that harms landowners who are operating STRs without issues, noting that she’s glad to see “safeguards” in place to protect folks who offer short-term lodging in the county’s rural areas.
“I just want to make sure that…when we do pass an ordinance that we are not affecting those residents,” Jones said. “I want to make sure that we don’t put a blanket across the county that hurts other landowners where we’re not having this issue.”
Any changes in county code to regulate short-term rentals would require public hearings in front of the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors and a yes vote from a majority of the board.
Water Authority working with DEQ to fix damaged discharge pipe at Lake Anna Wastewater Treatment Plant: Louisa County Water Authority General Manager Pam Baughman told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday night that her team is working with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to repair a detached discharge pipe at the Lake Anna Wastewater Treatment Plant. The county acquired the facility from a private owner earlier this year.
Baughman said that the pipe, which extends into Lake Anna where it discharges treated wastewater, was struck by a boat anchor around 9 pm on Friday, June 9, causing it to detach from the concrete structure that holds it to the bottom of the lake. In a June 12 press release, LCWA and the county said that no effluent was flowing through the pipe at the time and there’s no danger to the public or the lake.
The pipe is floating four to six inches below the surface of the water and buoys are in place to warn boaters of a navigational hazard, Baughman said. But she added that many boats continue to travel through area.
LCWA staff met with DEQ on Tuesday to discuss the next steps to fix the pipe, but Baughman didn’t offer specific details about what that process would entail or how much it would cost. She said that the authority hopes to have the pipe repaired by July 4th weekend, noting that the plant isn’t currently discharging effluent on site but instead operating in “a pump and haul situation.”
The Board of Supervisors voted in January to buy the facility from Lake Anna Environmental Services for $90,000 with plans to upgrade and expand it to support future economic development in the Lake Anna Growth Area.
The facility provides sewer service to Lake Anna Plaza and adjoining townhomes along Route 208 and is expected to eventually serve a Planned Unit Development featuring condos and a hotel slated for 15 lakefront acres across the street. That project’s developer, LA Resort, LLC, proffered $1 million toward the plant’s upgrade when supervisors rezoned its property for mixed use development earlier this year. The county estimates that it could cost between $7 and $11 million to upgrade and expand the facility depending on the extent of the expansion.
Under its previous owner, the facility repeatedly ran afoul of DEQ regulations. Since the county assumed responsibility for its operation on May 1, staff has been cleaning up the property and taking initial steps to ensure compliance with its permit. Baughman said that the plant met permit standards for May, its first month under county ownership.
The county’s decision to buy the facility sparked opposition from some neighbors, in part, because of its connection to the LA Resort rezoning. Residents argued that the county was buying a troubled facility that would cost taxpayers millions to upgrade and operate while mainly benefitting wealthy out-of-town developers.
Supervisors said that investing in the plant would pay dividends in the long run by supporting future economic development along the 208 corridor. And they said that, under county ownership, the facility would be less of an environmental concern.
Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the area, said on Tuesday that the June 9 incident was at least the second time that the pipe had been damaged by a boat anchor, suggesting that the authority look at ways to prevent that from happening in the future.
Baughman said that repair work done by the plant’s previous owner was substandard and that properly fixing the pipe would likely ensure that it wouldn’t get dislodged again.
“I can tell you that the repairs that were done over the years were not to the specifications that that pipe was installed,” she said, adding that, in some cases, nylon rope had been used to tie the pipe in place. “After being exposed to the elements under water, it’s not going to hold up.”
Adams responded that the shoddy repairs are an example of why he pushed for the county to buy the plant.
“I have much more confidence in your ability and your staff’s ability to do it the right way to protect the water quality of the lake than I do any subdivision or homeowners’ association or anything like that,” he told Baughman.
VDOT preparing for repairs to Hamilton Road bridge: During his quarterly report, VDOT Residency Administrator Scott Thornton updated the board on road maintenance and repair work in the county, and other news from his department.
Most notably, Thornton said that VDOT has prepared a short-term repair plan for a historic bridge on Hamilton Road in western Louisa County. If approved by the Department of Historic Resources, the plan would allow the structure to reopen to at least some vehicular traffic later this summer.
VDOT closed the circa 1929 steel truss bridge in late May after inspections found significant deterioration to one of the steel beams that supports its timber deck. The bridge spans the South Anna River in the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District and, according to recent traffic counts, accommodated about 58 vehicles per day.
Thornton said that VDOT submitted its proposal to DHR on June 13, and the agency has 30 days to review it and offer feedback. Assuming DHR approves the project, state forces could immediately begin repair work, which could take one to two weeks.
While the repairs would enable the bridge to reopen to some traffic, they wouldn’t solve the aging structure’s larger issues: its overall poor condition, narrow width and inability to accommodate vehicles over five tons. The limitations mean some emergency vehicles can’t cross the bridge, prompting concerns about response times from some Hamilton Road residents and county officials.
To fix those issues, VDOT is considering a larger project to upgrade the bridge. Because of the area’s historic designation, plans to significantly alter or replace the structure are subject to the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 process, which allows the public to weigh in on federally assisted projects that could impact historic properties.
Thornton said that the department has acquired a third-party facilitator from the University of Virginia to work with stakeholders including VDOT staff, the county and historic district residents to craft a plan to either rehabilitate or replace the bridge. A previous effort to upgrade the bridge about eight years ago failed after consulting parties couldn’t agree on how to move forward.
Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones said in a Facebook post that she understands the difficulties caused by the bridge’s closure and that county officials and VDOT staff are actively working to reopen it while discussing plans with Historic Green Springs, Inc., a land preservation group, and other stakeholders “to repair or replace the bridge by keeping its historical character.”
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