BOS defers action on LA Resort's proposal for more condos on Lake Anna, approves changes at Cutalong; Cifers wins SD10 special election; Solar siting agreement proposal again meets resistance from PC

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.

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This week in county government: public meetings, Jan. 13 through Jan. 18

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 occasionally schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).

Tuesday, January 14

Revenue Work Group, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 11 am.

Wednesday, January 15

Community Policy Management Team, Executive Boardroom, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1 pm.

Louisa County Water Authority, 23 Loudin Lane, Louisa, 6 pm.

Other meetings/events

Monday, January 13

Mineral Town Council, Mineral Town Hall, 312 Mineral Ave., Mineral, 6:30 pm. (agenda packet)

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.

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Quote of the week

“You are going to be selling 28 additional units for the sum of maybe $28 million, and you want to offer a paltry $56,000 in proffers. I don’t know [whether] you think that we are a bunch of dumb country bumpkins that just got off here. I’d much rather you say, ‘we’d like to maximize the profits. We’d like to put more money in our pockets, and that’s why we need the additional 28 units,’”

-Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams in response to a presentation from developer Mike Grossman of LA Resort, LLC

Read more in the roundup of Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting below.

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Supes defer action on LAR’s proposal for more condos on Lake Anna, ok changes at Cutalong

With snow and ice blanketing the county, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night held its inaugural meeting of 2025—a day later than expected and with an abbreviated agenda. (meeting materials, video)

The board opted to delay several items on its advertised agenda in hopes of shortening the meeting and saving some community members from having to travel along the county’s treacherous roads.

Supervisors are expected to take up those matters at their January 21 meeting. They include a resolution to appropriate nearly $46,000 for tourism-related initiatives, an update from staff on gateway sign concepts and presentations from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and Piedmont Virginia Community College.

The board moved ahead with four public hearings, accommodating folks who couldn’t attend in person by allowing comment via live video. They also chose a chair and vice chair for the coming year and got an update from County Administration Christian Goodwin on a proposed regional transmission project that could impact the county.

Board defers action on proposal for more condos on Lake Anna

The board of supervisors on Tuesday night deferred action on a controversial request to build more condos on Lake Anna after one board member called the developer’s presentation “insulting.”

LA Resort, LLC (LAR) won supervisors’ approval two years ago to rezone, from general commercial to planned unit development (PUD), 15.2 acres fronting Mitchell Creek just west of the Route 208 bridge.

The rezoning cleared the way for Prince William County developers Mike Grossman and Mike Garcia to transform a coveted piece of lakefront real estate, perched at the county’s primary gateway from Northern Virginia, into a mixed-use complex featuring an up to 96-unit residential condominium building, a 130-key hotel, a marina with more than 62,000 square feet of overwater structure and a restaurant/bar accompanied by retail space.

Now, LAR wants to tweak its plans, requesting a proffer amendment to allow 28 more condos, upping the total from 96 to 124.

During his presentation on Tuesday night, Grossman said that LAR plans to swap 12 five-bedroom units for 40 one-bedroom units in its 276,000-square foot, six-story building. He said the shift is necessary to ensure the project’s “economic feasibility,” noting the potential difficulty in selling the five-bedroom dwellings.

“We need to sell a certain type of unit that meets the market demand and sell enough of them, or enough total unit square footage, to defray the costs of land improvement, utility infrastructure and amenities, which are basically fixed, and still provide the level of quality we aim to achieve,” Grossman said.

Grossman said the changes wouldn’t alter the building’s footprint or the project’s overall site plan. It would require reassigning some of the parking spaces allotted for the restaurant to the condo building to meet Louisa County’s two-space per unit requirement, he said.

Though the condo building would require more parking, Grossman said the increase in density wouldn’t have much impact on traffic, adding only 200 vehicles trips per day, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ trip generator. But, because the complex would have fewer bedrooms, he suggested the traffic count could go down.

Grossman insisted the changes wouldn’t significantly impact county services. He pointed to market research suggesting that condo buyers would fall into three categories: active older adults, second homebuyers and vacation homebuyers, who rent out their units, meaning there wouldn’t be an influx of new students in local schools. He said the shift could have a small impact on emergency services.

Grossman also contended that swapping out a dozen five-bedroom condos for 40 one-bedrooms units could up the county’s take in real estate taxes though he didn’t offer any hard data to back up that claim.

He said LAR hopes to begin condo presales by the spring of next year and break ground by the third quarter of 2026.

To entice supervisors to support an increase in residential density, LAR offered a package of cash proffers: a pair of $28,000 donations to the Foundation for Lake Anna Emergency Services and the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation.

With respect to the latter contribution, Grossman said that LAR understands the dire need for workforce housing in the community and, while its project doesn’t offer any, the firm wants to help “find a solution.”

Grossman’s presentation sparked the ire of Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams. Williams said he found some of Grossman’s comments “insulting” and called his proffers “paltry.”

“I’m appalled that you’re standing here asking for a 29.1 percent increase [in the number of condos]…and you come here and make claims like ‘we go from 12 units to 40 units and the traffic count is going to go down.’ You are going to be selling 28 additional units for the sum of maybe $28 million, and you want to offer a paltry $56,000 in proffers. I don’t know [whether] you think that we are a bunch of dumb country bumpkins that just got off here. I’d much rather you say, ‘we’d like to maximize the profits. We’d like to put more money in our pockets, and that’s why we need the additional 28 units,’” Williams said.

Williams comments prompted several other supervisors to call out the proffers.

“It’s $56,000. I’m not counting the developer’s money, but that kind of proffer, I’m going to be honest, that’s very little. I’m just going to call it what it is,” Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes said.

Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the area, said that, like Williams, he couldn’t support a 30 percent increase in the number of units. He suggested that Grossman ask the board to defer action so LAR could work with the county on potentially reducing its request and beefing up its cash proffers.

“I’m happy to work with you to see if there’s something that would be more palatable to the board and to the neighborhood,” he said.

Grossman took Adams’ advice, but Williams said he wanted to “vote on it tonight.”

Barnes made a motion to defer, which passed 6-1 with Williams opposing.

“This is just a game,” Williams said.

During the public hearing, several community members weighed in, expressing mixed views.

Phil Winston, who lives just down Mitchell Creek Cove from the subject property and staunchly opposed the rezoning when the board approved it two years ago, said the developer has consistently pushed for more density since proposing the project, and he fears this won’t be the last request.

“Before construction starts, when’s he coming back asking for more? When does the hotel become condominiums?” Winston asked.

Winston also expressed concern about the project and surrounding development’s impact on New Bridge Road (Route 208), noting the extensive residential and commercial growth planned between Dickinson’s Store and the 208 Bridge.

“We need to do something. Because, if not, you are going to see a lot more deaths on that road,” he said.

Pat Gallagher, representing the Foundation for Lake Anna Emergency Services, the recipient of one of LAR’s proposed cash proffers, spoke in support of the project, calling Grossman and Garcia “good corporate neighbors.”

“[The developers] have been generously supporting our foundation’s goals in fundraising for the New Bridge [Fire and EMS] station, Station 8. We look forward to their continued support of our community,” Gallagher said.

The board didn’t set a date for when it would next consider LAR’s application.

“We’ll have you work with staff, and we’ll bring this back at a later time,” Adams told Grossman.

Supervisors approve changes at Cutalong

While LA Resort, LLC’s request to develop more condos on Lake Anna got a rocky reception from the board, it was smooth sailing for proposed changes to another upscale development on the lake.

Supervisors voted unanimously to approve RP20 Cutalong Consolidated, LLC’s request to revamp the masterplan for its lakeside golf resort community, allowing the developer to shift focus from single-family to multi-family dwellings. The board also cleared the way for Cutalong to develop a gated community that relies on a private road network instead of the public roads initially proposed.

Cutalong, a subsidiary of Utah-based Reef Capital Partners, says its changes are aimed at creating a “destination golf resort” that’s dotted with activities to engage residents and visitors alike and is friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists.

“The masterplan was completed in 2005 [by the original developer] as a residential golf community. It’s a fine masterplan for that. What we would like to do is focus on having the project be a destination resort where we have a larger mix of rental units…and more robust amenities for off-lake activities,” Project Manager Joe Walsh said.

Planned for more than 1,000 acres off New Bridge Road (Route 208) and Kentucky Springs Road (Route 652) fronting Contrary Creek, the project will feature 891 dwellings coupled with a range of amenities, from a marina and pools to tennis and pickleball courts and walking and biking trails. The property is already home to an 18-hole Tom Clark-designed golf course.

Unlike LA Resort, Cutalong didn’t ask the board for permission to increase the project’s density, but instead to tweak the composition of its dwellings. Specifically, Cutalong plans to increase the number of townhomes from 45 to 200, up the number of condos/villas from 187 to 312, and slightly hike the number of estate lots with single-family dwellings from 138 to 147.

To offset those increases, the developer plans to drop the number of executive lots with single-family homes from 308 to 34 and decrease the number of cluster lots from 213 to 198.

As part of its plan, the developer intends to double the size of its “lakeside village” along Contrary Creek, which would feature condos, a spa and other activities.

While Cutalong plans to shift to a more exclusive gated concept, the proffers attached to the property’s initial 2005 rezoning remain mostly intact, including a commitment to develop a 45-unit townhouse complex for “workforce housing” on the other side of Kentucky Springs Road adjacent to the Lake Anna Food Lion. Those townhomes are included in the 200 units proposed in the revised masterplan.

Because the changes substantially alter the masterplan, they required approval by the board of supervisors. The shift to private roads also required approval because Cutalong had dedicated public right-of-way for several internal streets and asked the county to abandon it.

Attorney Charlie Payne, representing the applicant, said the switch from public to private roads means that property owners within the community will be responsible for their maintenance, not the Virginia Department of Transportation.

During his presentation, Walsh highlighted the development team’s efforts to address community concerns in redesigning Cutalong.

He said the developers worked closely with the Lake Anna Civic Association, an environmental advocacy group, to address concerns about water quality around Contrary Creek. He noted that Cutalong undertook an extensive wetlands restoration project to mitigate the impact of its wastewater treatment plant, including creating a 75-acre conservation area south of the waterway.

Walsh said the developers worked with neighboring homeowners’ associations to address concerns about boat traffic, noting the resort wouldn’t have a boat ramp, sell gas for boats or offer public boat rentals. He noted the marina and the community’s restaurants would only be available to Cutalong residents, members and resort guests.

“We don’t have the world’s best lakefront area. It’s a little more limited. So, the concern was 891 units, 891 boats would be problematic,” Walsh said.

Walsh also emphasized the developers’ commitment to the community.

With its championship golf course, Walsh said Cutalong is keenly interested in working with the county to attract “sports tourism,” noting it’s set a goal of hosting the state’s high school golf championship. Cutalong is the home course for Louisa County High School’s golf team and supports the Foundation for Lake Anna Emergency Services’ fundraising efforts, Walsh said.

Both supervisors and members of the public reacted favorably to Cutalong’s proposed changes and praised the developer’s community engagement.

John Wayne, who chairs the land use committee for the Lake Anna Civic Association, said that his organization wouldn’t take a position for or against the proposal, but he applauded the developers’ willingness to address community concerns, specifically surrounding its wastewater treatment facility and the impact on surrounding waterways.

“This second wastewater treatment plant of theirs is going to put effluent in Blackwater Creek. We asked them if they would consider putting that in a wetland instead of right in the creek so it would have a chance to percolate and some of the phosphorus and nitrogen would get out of it before it met the creek, and they’ve done that,” Wayne said.

Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said, that as an avid golfer, he’s excited to have a high-quality destination course like Cutalong in the community.

“Cutalong is an amazing golf course and for it to be in Louisa County, in my 70 years living here, I just could’ve never imagined that it would be [here]. That y’all are now going to make it a destination [golf resort], it’s unbelievable,” he said.

Transmission line upgrade could impact eastern Louisa County, Goodwin says

A proposed upgrade to the power grid aimed a meeting the state’s burgeoning demand for electricity could impact eastern Louisa County.

County Administrator Christian Goodwin told the board Tuesday night that PJM, the entity that oversees the power grid in 13 eastern states including Virginia, is evaluating ways to bring vast amounts of electricity to northern and eastern Virginia, in part, to meet the needs of the data center industry.

Goodwin said that PJM recently fielded proposals from utilities for upgrades to the regional grid and one project under consideration is development of a 765-kilovolt (kV) transmission line through eastern Louisa. He said the line could parallel an existing 500 kV line that runs from the North Anna Nuclear Power Station south across Lake Anna. The line continues south through Buckner and crosses into Hanover County east of Holly Grove.

“We don’t have a formal role at this point. It’s very high-level, very planning-oriented. But [the line] could impact the county, and that is a potential direct impact that it could have to the county,” Goodwin said, emphasizing that nothing is set in stone and planning for new transmission infrastructure is a “multi-year process.”

PJM’s board will decide later this quarter which projects it recommends for construction, Goodwin said. If the proposed project is selected, it would then go to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) for consideration, likely in 2026. If the SCC approves the proposal, construction could begin in the early 2030s.

Before breaking ground, the constructing entity—potentially Dominion Energy—would settle on a final route. While the county has no say in PJM’s selection process, Goodwin said it would have “a seat at the table” when determining “exact footprints and routes and things like that.” The county and members of the public would also have an opportunity to weigh in during the SCC’s approval process.

Several supervisors shared their thoughts on the prospect of new transmission infrastructure coming to the community. As the home of North Anna, one of the state’s largest power generating facilities, several high-voltage transmission lines cross the county, including the 500 kV line in eastern Louisa, a 230 kV line that snakes from Gordonsville to North Anna and a 230 kV line in the western end of the county.

Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams, whose district would likely be impacted by the project, suggested that there could be enough land in the right-of-way along much of the existing line to accommodate the upgrade. He noted that North Anna was initially supposed to have four reactors, instead of two, so some of the transmission corridors have room for double the infrastructure.

Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams said that he understands the need to upgrade the grid given the growing demand for electricity but hopes the entities building the infrastructure will choose the “least disruptive route.”

Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones expressed concern about new transmission infrastructure running through western Louisa, specifically the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District, which she represents.

“I hope it stays on the eastern end [of the county] and doesn’t cross and come through historic lands,” she said.

Goodwin said he understands that residents may have concerns about the potential construction of a transmission line in their neighborhood, but he emphasized that the process is in its early stages and there would be opportunities for public input as it moves forward. He said staff would share some resources detailing how residents can follow the PJM selection process.

Supes choose Adams as chair, Barlow as vice chair

The board kicked off 2025 with its annual organizational meeting, choosing its leadership for the coming year and setting its meeting calendar.

For the fourth year in a row, supervisors unanimously selected Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams as chair and Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow as vice chair.

The board also set its meeting calendar. As they’ve done for years, supervisors will convene on the first and third Monday of each month unless either of those days coincide with a federal holiday. In that case, they’ll meet the next day. The meetings will start at 5 pm with the board first convening in closed session. The body will take up public business, including public hearings, as 6 pm.

Board okays tweaks to Land Development Regulations

Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a handful of tweaks to the county’s Land Development Regulations. Community Development Director Linda Buckler said the changes are necessary to “address discrepancies, clarify regulations, ensure alignment with more stringent state and federal regulations, update standards to reflect current practices, and make adjustments based on community needs and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.”

The approved amendments cover everything from where food trucks are permitted to operate in the county to the maximum size of temporary signs. With respect to the former, the amendments add a new definition for “food truck” while permitting the use by-right in every zoning designation except residential (R-1, R-2, R-1 GAOD, R-2 GAOD). Regarding the latter, the new regulations increase from 16 to 32 square feet the maximum size of a temporary sign permitted in the commercial, industrial, resort development and planned unit development zoning designations.

Buckler described the amendments as “phase one” of staff’s clean-up of county code. She said “phase two” would be forthcoming.

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Cifers wins special election in Senate District 10

Republican Luther Cifers on Tuesday cruised to victory in a special election in the 10th state Senate District, claiming 57.8 percent of the vote to Democrat Jack Trammell’s 42.1 percent. (results)

Cifers, a political newcomer and entrepreneur from Prince Edward County, will replace Congressman John McGuire, R-Goochland, who traded Richmond for Washington and now represents the 5th Congressional District. Cifers’ term runs through 2027.

“My fellow citizens have spoken, and I am honored and humbled to be the next State Senator from Virginia's 10th Senate District. A lot of people believed in me and decided to trust me with this responsibility. I will do everything in my power to ensure that their trust is well placed,” Cifers said in a statement Tuesday night.

Cifers’ win keeps the 10th in Republican hands. The mostly rural district stretches from exurban Richmond nearly to Lynchburg, encompassing all or part of 11 localities including most of Louisa County.

Two other seats in the General Assembly were up for grabs in special elections on Tuesday—both in Democrat-friendly Loudoun County. Democrats won the contests, retaining narrow control of the legislature. Heading into the 2025 session, the party holds a 21-19 edge in the senate and a 51-49 advantage in the House.

Cifers managed to notch a solid win on Tuesday in a low-turnout election hampered by a significant winter storm. He scored victories in all but one of the seven localities wholly in the district, nabbing 81 percent of the vote in Amelia, where he grew up, to nab his biggest win.

In Louisa, one of four localities partially in the district, Cifers racked up 60.4 percent of the vote to Trammell’s 39.5 percent en route to winning seven of 10 precincts.

But Trammell, a college professor who lives on a farm in southeastern Louisa, turned in a better performance than Democrats in previous elections. His 42 percent of the vote bested Vice President Kamala Harris’ performance in the district last November by about 6 points and Sen. Tim Kaine’s by roughly four and a half.

Trammell scored an unexpected victory in Fluvanna, nabbing 57 percent of the vote to Cifers’ 42.8 percent. Fluvanna was the lone locality he won that’s entirely in the district.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Trammell’s campaign touted his solid performance on ruby red terrain and the Democrats’ victories in Northern Virginia.

“Despite this tough district, with Harris receiving just 36% and Kaine 37% last November, there is much for Democrats to be proud of in SD-10 and across Virginia. The victories in Loudoun County and the overall success in rural areas show that when Democrats invest time and effort, they will turn out voters. This was a result earned through hard work—phone calls, door knocks, events, donations, and focused attention,” Trammell’s campaign said.

Though Trammell faced long odds, Virginia Democrats made a notable investment in the race. The Senate Democratic Caucus contributed $20,000 to Trammell’s campaign, accounting for nearly half the $43,000 he’d raised as of Dec. 31, per his latest campaign finance report.

Cifers mostly self-funded his campaign, chipping in $200,000 of the $202,500 he’d raised as of the end of December. He spent most of that haul in a highly competitive campaign for the Republican nomination, beating six other candidates, including Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chair Duane Adams, at a marathon mass meeting in mid-December.

Cifers on the issues

At the mass meeting and throughout his campaign, Cifers branded himself as a hard-working, man-of-the-people committed to finding solutions to kitchen table problems facing 10th district residents. As the founder of the kayak fishing supply company, YakAttack, and several other small businesses, he’s said he’ll bring real-world experience to Richmond and amplify the voice of the people.

“In recent years, I’ve noticed reverse parallels in our government. Instead of representing citizens, our politicians too often overthink things, creating unnecessary complexity and widening the gap year after year between common sense and policy, distancing themselves from those they are supposed to represent in the process. As a Virginia State Senator, I will advocate for simple, practical solutions that address the issues facing the citizens of the 10th District, with a focus on improving home affordability, less government intrusion, preservation of liberty, and fiscal responsibility,” Cifers said on his website.

Cifers has also centered his Christian faith and his commitment to preserving the district’s rural heritage. On his website, he says he’s a “strong supporter of the right to bear arms” and believes “our constitutional rights are bestowed upon us by God.” He recounts his years working on farms in rural Virginia, emphasizing the need to roll back government regulations and, as he puts it, “let our farmers do what they do best.” And he says, that as a lifelong hunter and fisherman, he’ll fight to protect hunters’ “right to retrieve” their dogs and to “reduce red tape to allow recreational fishing.”

In a brief speech at the mass meeting, Cifers described himself as “pro-life and pro-family” and, on his website, he says he believes “life begins at conception. No exceptions.”

Cifers joins a chamber narrowly controlled by Democrats. He told Cardinal News during the campaign that while he’s willing to work across the aisle to address issues facing his constituents, he won’t compromise his values.

Election Day goes smoothy in Louisa

Though Winter Storm Blair slammed Central Virginia Sunday night through Monday, Louisa County Registrar Cris Watkins said things went smoothy on Election Day.

Watkins said that, despite the snow and ice, the county’s 10 polling places opened on time, were fully staffed and accessible. She credited that feat to preparation and coordination on part of a range of county agencies.

“I think [Election Day] went really well. We started as soon as I saw the weather forecast. We made a plan to deliver our equipment earlier before the storm. We lined up emergency services and the sheriff’s office to help us deliver our people safely to the precincts. We coordinated with the schools to make sure that they had their parking lots and the sidewalks cleared. It was totally a team effort—general services, parks and rec, the schools, emergency services. Everybody just came together,” Watkins said.

Special elections—especially ones that fall in January—are typically low-turnout affairs that attract only the most tuned-in voters. And Tuesday’s contest was no exception.

Only 2,388 Louisa residents participated in the election, about 10 percent of the county voters who reside in the district. But Watkins said she wasn’t particularly disappointed with the turnout given the less-than-favorable conditions on Election Day. In January 2017, the last time the county had a special election for a state Senate seat, only about 13 percent of voters turned out, she said.

Of the voters who cast a ballot this time around, just over 43 percent voted early in-person, about 40 percent voted on Election Day and nearly 16 percent voted by mail.

“Once the sun warmed things up in the afternoon, that’s when [voting] really picked up,” Watkins said of Election Day turnout.

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Solar siting agreement proposal meets resistance from PC; Commission recommends approval of CUP for cell tower

The Planning Commission on Thursday night convened its first meeting of 2025, covering a range of public business. (meeting materials, video)

The Commission kicked off its regular meeting by choosing a chair and vice chair. For the fourth year in a row, commissioners unanimously selected Mineral District Commissioner John Disosway as chair and, for the second year in a row, they chose Green Springs District Commissioner Jim Dickerson as vice chair.

The commission also welcomed a new member: Jackson District Commissioner Troy Painting. Painting, a Louisa native who runs the commercial construction firm, Cooper Contracting, replaces Cy Weaver, who died in late August.

PC balks at most of solar siting agreement proposal

After holding a public hearing and deferring action last month, the planning commission revisited proposed amendments to the county’s solar ordinance that set stringent new requirements for siting agreements.

But the month-long delay did little to allay most commissioners’ concerns about the proposal. The panel voted 5-2 to recommend that the board add only one of its provisions to county code.

Siting agreements are essentially deals between localities and solar developers aimed at mitigating the impact of utility-scale solar projects and providing other compensation. Per state code, they can include cash payments for capital needs and broadband deployment, among other items. Utility-scale solar is defined as solar arrays that produce at least two megawatts (MW) of power for the grid.

The proposal up for consideration on Thursday night requires that siting agreements for any utility-scale solar project not yet permitted in the county meet several minimum standards.

Most notably, project owners must remit an annual payment to Louisa County at least equal to 0.1 percent of the county’s operating budget per megawatt (MW) of power produced by their project. Under the county’s current operating budget, that figure would be roughly $156,000, meaning a 20 MW project would be required to pay the county about $3.12 million annually.

The proposal further stipulates that 25 percent of funding generated by a siting agreement “should be allocated to affordable housing initiatives within the county.”

In addition, the proposal requires utility-scale solar projects to start generating electricity no more than three years after approval. Failure to meet the timeline would require renegotiation of the existing siting agreement, reapplication for a conditional use permit and updating the project’s decommissioning bond to comply with current standards.

The proposal also recommends that the owners of large-scale solar projects provide at least $500 in annual compensation to adjacent property owners in the form of either electric bill abatement or property tax abatement.

At the recommendation of its solar committee, which includes Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams and Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes, the board adopted the proposal as a policy at its November 18 meeting, essentially allowing it to take effect immediately. Supervisors then sent the policy to the planning commission to begin the process of formally adding it to the solar ordinance.

In the case of amendments to the county’s Land Development Regulations, that process requires public hearings in front of the commission and the board and votes by both bodies. Supervisors have the final say on whether a change is approved.

At their December meeting, several commissioners pressed Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon for insight into the rationale behind the policy and details on how the solar committee crafted its provisions. They expressed particular concern about the hefty annual per-megawatt payments and the provision requiring that 25 percent of the revenue generated by siting agreements go to affordable housing.

Two representatives from the solar industry weighed during the public hearing. Both suggested that yearly payments of $156,000 per megawatt are unreasonable. One said the provision could effectively act as a moratorium on large-scale solar development in the county.

Coon agreed to provide the commission with more information about the policy including examples of siting agreements from other localities.

In a brief presentation at Thursday’s meeting, Community Development Director Linda Buckler, who was filling in for Coon, said that staff emailed the commission eight siting agreements used for projects in other counties. The documents weren’t made publicly available prior to or at the meeting.

Buckler added that staff didn’t have any background information on how the per-megawatt payment requirement was calculated or why affordable housing was chosen as the beneficiary of a quarter of siting agreement revenue.

“Those [questions] would need to be directed to the board and the solar committee who presented those recommendations,” Buckler said.

In response, commissioners mostly rehashed complaints from their December meeting.

Several said they understood what the solar committee was trying to do with the policy, but they were confused by most of its provisions.

“I know where they are trying to get to, but I think we need to be fair and reasonable with what we are throwing out there and have some justification besides ‘I’m just trying to stop this,’” Mountain Road District Commissioner Gordon Brooks said, singling out the $156,000 per megawatt payment provision. Brooks noted that a siting agreement in Hanover County included a $23,000 per megawatt payment requirement while one in Patrick County charged $19,000 per megawatt each year.

Chair and Mineral District Commissioner John Disosway said he couldn’t wrap his head around how Adams and Barnes calculated the per-megawatt payment provision or why they’d asked for a $500 annual payment to adjoining property owners for electric bills or property tax abatement, which is aimed at mitigating a project’s impact.

“We’re always told that with solar projects, you can’t see them. You can’t hear them. Nobody goes to work there. There’s no traffic. There’s no emissions. There’s no problem. There’s no nothing. And, as we found out from going through many of these over the years and asking the tax department here, there’s no negative tax consequences on the value of the property next door. So, I see no reason, to begin with, to have some charge to mitigate an impact that we are told doesn’t exist,” Disosway said.

Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin took exception to dedicating 25 percent of the revenue generated by siting agreements to affordable housing. He said that, given the county’s steady growth, he doesn’t think there’s an issue with housing affordability.

“Currently, we are number four in population growth in the whole state. That’s all counties and cities. We are increasing at a rate of approximately 500 a year…I’m having a hard time matching that up with the fact that we’ve got a housing problem because, apparently, the buyers are not feeling it,” Goodwin said.

Several commissioners criticized the lack of transparency in crafting the policy.

“I am very concerned with committees of two members drawing and drafting things then sending it to us to offer some input. This could have been sent to us to study, to come back with a recommendation and not come to the table ready to go. We are an advisory group and could’ve studied the matter. It didn’t have to be presented this way,” Louisa District Commissioner Matt Kersey said.

Disosway agreed.

“We have no background. We have no information. We weren’t provided any of this in a work session. We were just told ‘here’s something. Give us some feedback on it,’” he said.

After some discussion, commissioners ultimately decided to send the proposal back to the board with a recommendation to approve only one item: the three-year window for completion of a large-scale solar project. They noted in their motion that they couldn’t comment on the other provisions because they hadn't been given sufficient information.

Goodwin and Patrick Henry District Commissioner Ellis Quarles voted against the recommendation.

Quarles suggested that the solar committee’s proposal could be viewed as an effort to address past problems with utility-scale solar development, an apparent reference to Dominion Energy’s 88.2 MW Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road in his district. At Belcher, neighboring farmers say that stormwater runoff from the sprawling 1,300-acre site has led to significant flooding and erosion on their land.

Goodwin said he wanted no part of the proposal.

“To me, it’s like a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle that was put together from about 20 different kits and the pieces don’t fit together. I’d like to have something to consider that actually has the possibility of being solved,” Goodwin said. “I am not going to vote for any part of this because I don’t want my fingerprints on it if it’s going to go right back into the rut that it came to us in.”

The solar committee’s push to stiffen requirements for siting agreement comes as most county leaders have soured on large-scale solar development, in part, because of the fallout from Belcher. Supervisors haven’t approved a utility-scale solar project since 2022 when they okayed Energix Renewables’ plan for an up to 118 MW solar array and 50 MW battery storage facility on 1,234 acres between the towns of Louisa and Mineral. The property is mostly owned by the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority.

Prior to that, the board approved six other projects, covering about 4,000 acres. They’ve since capped the amount of land that can be used for utility-scale solar generation at two percent of the county’s landmass, or 6,343 acres, and adopted stiff requirements for buffers, erosion and sediment control and decommissioning.

PC recommends approval of cell tower on Charles Lane

Commissioners held a public hearing and voted unanimously to recommend to the board of supervisors approval of Arcola Towers, LLC’s request for a conditional use permit (CUP) to construct a 197-foot telecommunications tower with a two-foot lightening rod on a 6.49-acre parcel at 79 Charles Lane south of the Town of Louisa in the Patrick Henry Election District (tax map parcel 56-15). The wooded property is zoned agricultural (A-2) and owned by Clarence and Evelyn Washington.

The commission also determined the proposal is in substantial accord with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

In its land use application, Arcola says it plans to build a Verizon Wireless tower on the property to improve the company’s network services in the area, which it says are “low to marginal.” The applicant also notes that the structure would have the capacity “to support the co-location of antennas and components of additional providers of wireless services.”

Renee Mawyer, an associate planner with Louisa County, said that the county’s Telecommunication Masterplan, which establishes guidelines for the rational growth and development of wireless facilities, doesn’t propose a tower for the area. But she noted that, since the plan was crafted in 2007, “the demand for wireless services has increased” and staff determined the proposal complies with the plan.

“The proposed tower is located between two growth areas: Ferncliff and Louisa. It is located off Courthouse Road, Route 208, which has annual daily average trips of 6,200,” Mawyer said.

In a brief presentation, Stuart Squire, a zoning consultant with Arcola, emphasized the need for the tower and characterized the subject property as an ideal location.

“[Verizon Wireless engineers] have identified coverage issues in this part of Louisa County. There are two existing Verizon towers sites. One is behind the [County Office Building] and that’s our Louisa Courthouse site. A few miles down the road, we have our Butler Store site. This property is about midway between them, so it’s the perfect location to fill in some coverage gaps in the area as well as off-load traffic from the existing Verizon Wireless sites,” Squire said.

Squire said the tower would be situated more than 500 feet off Charles Lane down a gravel driveway. He added that it would be a monopole structure and wouldn’t require lighting.

Squire noted that the top of the tower would be visible from part of the Charles Lane neighborhood. But, he said, Arcola had worked with an adjoining property owner to address concerns about its visibility.

Other than the applicant, no one spoke for or against the CUP during the public hearing.

County leaders pitch planners on big-ticket capital requests

The Fiscal Year 2026 budget process kicked off on Thursday night as the planning commission began its review of big-ticket capital requests during a pre-meeting work session. (video)

Representatives from Louisa County Public Schools, the Louisa County Water Authority, the Louisa County Airport and various county departments pitched planners on large projects that the board of supervisors could fund in the years to come. Among other items, the wish list includes:

• A $42 million request from Louisa County Public Schools for a new elementary school, currently proposed for construction in FY30;

• A roughly $17 million request from the Fire and EMS Department for two new fire stations, one at Zion Crossroads, which would replace an existing facility, and the other either at Ferncliff or Shannon Hill. Both are proposed for construction in FY28;

• A pair of $2 million requests from the Parks and Recreation Department to save toward a new sports complex and an indoor aquatic center. Both are proposed for construction in FY28;

• Requests for about $3.1 million over the next five years from Economic Development Director Andy Wade for a road enhancement project at the Shannon Regional Business Park;

• Requests for nearly $3 million over the next five years from the Louisa County Airport for upgrades at the facility including taxiway expansions, parking lot improvements and a new hanger.

• A $1.95 million request from the General Services Department to double the size of the Louisa County Animal Shelter. The project is slated for FY26;

• $500,000 for the Louisa County Water Authority to cover short-term upgrades at the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant on Lake Anna, slated for FY26. The board has already allocated $7.5 million for a larger overhaul of the facility;

• A $175,000 request from the Parks and Rec Department for a skateboard park adjacent to the Betty Queen Center. The funding is requested for FY26;

The items are included in the preliminary FY26 to FY45 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), a 20-year roadmap for spending on high-value and long-lasting items for purchase or construction.

The commission will hold a public hearing on the document at next month’s meeting. After that, the plan heads to the board of supervisors for consideration as part of the budget for the next fiscal year.

Though the board will adopt a 20-year CIP, they’ll only allocate money for FY26. Supervisors have the final say on whether a project’s included in the plan and when and if it receives funding.

Thursday’s night work session yielded little new information about county leaders’ capital requests with commissioners mostly listening to a series of brief presentations and only occasionally pressing presenters for more details.

For a deep dive into the draft CIP, check out the December 22 edition of Engage Louisa. Read the document here.

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