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.”