Residents sound off on AWS proposal for third data center campus; Supervisors to talk affordable housing; PC agrees to hold public hearing on shelter restrictions; Water Authority hikes rates

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, June 16 through June 21

For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here.

Monday, June 16

Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.

Wednesday, June 18

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

Other meetings/events

Monday, June 16

Mineral Town Council, special meeting and budget public hearing, Mineral Town Hall, 312 Mineral Ave., Mineral, 6:30 pm. At publication time, an agenda wasn’t publicly available.

Tuesday, June 17

Primary Election Day, polling places across Louisa County, 6 am to 7 pm.

This November, Virginians will go to the polls to elect a governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, and choose who’ll serve in all 100 seats in the House of Delegates. On Tuesday, Louisa County voters will have a chance to weigh in on the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and attorney general. There’s no Democratic primary for governor and no Republican primary for any statewide office. Click here for a sample ballot.

Louisa Town Council, Louisa Town Hall, 212 Fredericksburg Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. At publication time, an agenda wasn’t publicly available.

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Quote of the week

“It just doesn’t feel like this is for our community. It feels like we are being sold out.”

-Alayna Whitlock on Amazon Web Services’ proposal for a third data center campus in Louisa County during a neighborhood meeting last week.

Read more about the meeting in the article below.

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At neighborhood meeting, residents express concern about proposed AWS data center campus

Louisa County residents sounded off on Wednesday about Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) proposal to build a third data center campus in the county’s Technology Overlay District (TOD). If approved by the board of supervisors, the campus would include up to 7.2 million square feet of data center buildings and seven substations on 1,370 agriculturally zoned (A-2) acres just north of the Northeast Creek Reservoir in central Louisa.

About 100 residents packed the Louisa County Office Building for a neighborhood meeting focused on the project. Many expressed concerns about the facility’s potential impact, contending that the large-scale industrial development would threaten the area’s rural heritage and overwhelm local infrastructure like roads and the public water supply. Some attendees wondered why AWS would choose to build the campus next to their homes, worrying it would forever change their quiet community. (video)

“My question to the [board of supervisors and the people selling the property] is would they want that in their backyards. Would they want to be listening to the buzz all night long,” Kennon Road resident Mary Loudin asked. “I love my home. My son and my grandchildren live near me. I love my home, but I don’t love what’s going to happen if [data centers] move in.”

Three people representing AWS led the meeting, providing a brief overview of the project before engaging in a lively question and answer period that stretched for more than an hour and a half.

During the Q and A, residents quizzed the AWS team on various aspects of the project. They asked how much traffic the campus would generate; how much water it would use; if its electricity use would raise their power bill; how much noise it would create and how it would impact the local economy, among other questions.

To the annoyance of some in attendance, the AWS reps offered few specifics, occasionally telling residents the project was still in the “concept phase” and more details would be forthcoming. They emphasized that the neighborhood meeting is only the first step in the public approval process, and they want to hear from community members so they can address concerns.

“If this doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for us,” said Stephanie Moumen, a senior real estate development manager with AWS.

If it gets a greenlight from supervisors, the project will join two AWS campuses already under development in the TOD, a special zoning designation adopted by supervisors two years ago and designed to attract lucrative tech sector development.

One of the campuses, located at the corner of Kentucky Springs Road (Route 652) and Haley Drive (Route 700) adjacent to the North Anna Power Station, is slated for 1.7 million square feet of the warehouse-like facilities, which house servers and networking equipment that keep the internet running.

The other campus, planned for about 830 acres of a 1444-acre tract off Jefferson Highway (Route 33) just south of the reservoir, could include more than two dozen data center buildings, according to county officials. AWS is expected to develop the project in multiple phases over the next 15 years.

As part of the federal permitting process, the company submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers a preliminary site plan for the first phase. It features 3.82 million square feet of data center buildings on the south side of 33.

Unlike those projects, which are permitted by-right, AWS’s latest proposal requires a conditional use permit (CUP). Supervisors last year tweaked the rules for the TOD, mandating that future tech sector development move through a public approval process. Obtaining a CUP requires a public hearing in front of the planning commission and the board of supervisors and an affirmative vote by the latter body.

Before it gets to the planning commission, the project is expected to be the subject of another community meeting. Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the area and attended Wednesday’s meeting, told Engage Louisa that he plans to hold a town hall to discuss the project with his constituents. It’s unclear when the planning commission will consider the proposal. The panel’s next meeting is July 10.

The proposal

According to AWS’s land use application, the 1370-acre campus would include up to 7.2 million square feet of data center buildings, mostly toward the center of the property, and seven substations. The tract, which covers 11 tax map parcels primarily in the TOD, is bifurcated by a 230-kilovolt Dominion-owned transmission line.

The company could also construct water and sewage treatment plants, an elevated water storage tank, a central heating/cooling facility, a telecommunications tower, a food service facility, a security building, offices and other ancillary buildings, all of which could be permitted as accessory uses under the CUP.

The project would leave 889 acres, or 64 percent of the property, as “open space,” including vegetative buffers, green space and stormwater management ponds.

“We were really cognizant about not maxing out the development here,” Moumen said, noting that county code only requires the campus include 20 percent open space.

Per TOD rules, the property would feature a minimum 200-foot vegetative buffer adjacent to residential uses; a minimum 250-foot buffer for substations adjacent to agricultural uses; and a minimum 300-foot buffer for data centers adjacent to agricultural uses.

The application notes that while the property is skirted by residences, the data center buildings are expected to be at least 850 feet from the nearest home with extensive vegetative buffers protecting neighbors.

“Our goal is to maintain the existing tree and vegetation cover to provide that buffer. There’s nothing better than mature vegetation, so that’s the goal,” said Logan Brunette, a land use attorney with Hirschler.

Noise from the facility would be capped at 65 decibels at the property line during the day and 60 decibels at night. Buildings, excluding ventilation, cooling equipment, antennas and other appurtenances, wouldn’t be permitted to exceed 80 feet high.

The site’s primary access point would be off Davis Highway (Route 22) via Shortmans Road. AWS could potentially construct a new road parallel to Shortmans, at the western edge of the Louisa County High School/Middle School campus, per a conceptual plan.

In addition, the property would be served by three other entrances: one off School Bus Road (Route 767); another off Jefferson Highway, via Old CCC Road; and a third off Kennon Road (Route 665), via Huntington East Drive.

Moumen said the project would be built in a minimum of four phases, but she didn’t offer a specific construction timeline. She said each phase could take two years to complete, calling that a “very, very rough estimate.”

According to Louisa County Economic Development Director Andy Wade, AWS intends to draw raw water to cool the data centers from the 187-acre Northeast Creek Reservoir, the same water source as its other campuses.

Wade said the proposed campus’ anticipated water use “continue[s] to be refined every so often.” The company plans to utilize evaporative cooling technology, which AWS officials say is more efficient than other cooling systems, as well as rainwater harvesting.

To protect the reservoir from runoff, the campus would incorporate stormwater management ponds adjacent to the impoundment. In addition to oversight from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the applicant plans to hire third-party consultants to review its erosion and sediment control plans prior to each phase of construction.

AWS contends the project would benefit the community in several significant ways. Brunette said that 250,000 square feet of data center buildings could generate between $4 million and $5 million in gross local tax revenue annually and directly create 20 to 30 jobs.

“That means that this project could generate up to $115.2 million per year for the county,” Brunette said. Based on the proposed 7.2 million square feet of capacity, the complex could create more than 575 jobs. It’s unclear if all those jobs would be in Louisa County.

The revenue and job figures are based on an analysis by Mangum Economics referenced in AWS’s application. The analysis isn’t included in the filing, however, and it’s unclear if its assumptions are specific to Louisa.

In reference to AWS’s other projects, county officials have said that one data center building could generate more than $2 million in tax revenue a year over a 15-year time frame, mostly from real estate and business personal property taxes (BPP). The company will benefit from a reduced BPP that’s specific to data center equipment as well as state and local grants. The local grants will be drawn from net new tax revenue generated by the campuses.

The county didn’t establish the reduced tax rate for data center equipment until late 2023 and the General Assembly didn’t pass legislation creating the state grant fund, which specifically benefits AWS, until early 2023. The Mangum analysis was completed in 2022, according to AWS’s application.

Wade said in an email last week that he doesn’t have the analysis “nor [has he] seen [it].” Engage Louisa requested the analysis from both Moumen and AWS PR staffer Duncan Neasham. At publication time, it hadn’t been provided.

Though the economic impact analysis suggests it could create hundreds of jobs, AWS says the project would have limited impact on county services like schools and public safety. Its application notes that the campus would feature “extensive security and fire suppression systems.” The company also says data centers typically have fewer employees than other large-scale industrial development, so the campus wouldn’t significantly increase demand for new roads, schools, parks and other services.

Beyond its request for a CUP, AWS is seeking six special exceptions to the county’s Land Development Regulations, which the board of supervisors has the sole power to approve. The exceptions mostly relate to the project’s access points, some of which lie outside the TOD.

As required by state code, AWS is also asking the planning commission to determine that the company’s plan to build public utilities—electrical substations and public water and sewer infrastructure—is in substantial conformance with the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a long-range planning document that lays out a vision for future development.

The property is owned by former Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell, his sister, Virginia Purcell, and their father, attorney and developer Charles Purcell, via Fisher Chewning, LC.

Prior to positioning the tract for data center development, Fisher Chewning received a CUP from the board of supervisors to construct an up to 244 MW utility-scale solar facility at the site. But those plans have been shelved to pursue what the application calls the property’s “highest and best use.” The tract is currently used for timber production.

Community concerns

Residents expressed a variety of concerns about the proposal, touching on issues often associated with data center development, including the facilities’ demand for water to cool the computer equipment inside; the potential for noise and light pollution; the impact on the power grid; and traffic generated during construction.

Many residents said they don’t think the county’s roads can handle the onslaught of traffic from another large-scale development, voicing particular concern about the large trucks and other heavy equipment visiting the property during the lengthy buildout process.

Kennon Road resident Rebecca Claxton asked why the developer chose to site an entrance to the project on a curvy road lined with single-family homes.

“Kennon Road is about a mile and a half at the most. There are hairpin turns. The majority of Kennon Road is about 15 miles per hour. There are vulnerable individuals who live on Kennon Road. Many new houses that young families have bought are 75 feet from the road. Their children wait for school buses there,” Claxton said.

Phil Perkins, who lives on Shortmans Road, identified by AWS as its primary access point, described it as a “narrow, gravel road” that can’t handle heavy equipment. He said he’d prefer that AWS use another proposed entrance at the edge of the Louisa County High School/Middle School campus to the east.

Some attendees expressed concern about adding more vehicles along Route 22 and surrounding roads, noting the area’s already congested at peak hours, especially when school is in session.

AWS representatives acknowledged that the campus would create significant traffic during construction, but emphasized it would draw less traffic than an industrial park or large housing development after its built.

Moumen said the project would be constructed in at least four phases and the four access points are designed to disperse traffic. Brunette added that a traffic impact analysis is underway, which will recommend any necessary road improvements.

AWS also plans to submit a traffic mitigation plan prior to each phase of construction. The plan could identify areas unsuitable for large trucks or heavy equipment, Brunette said.

With respect to the Shortmans Road entrance, Moumen noted that AWS is considering constructing another road running roughly parallel to the Dominion transmission line though they aren’t seeking county approval for the entrance during the initial application process.

The proposed road lies on property owned by the Louisa County School Board. School Board Chair Greg Strickland said in an interview on Thursday that neither AWS nor Fisher Chewning, LC have approached the division about acquiring a right of way.

Strickland said he and other school officials first heard about AWS’s proposal when Engage Louisa broke the story in early June. He said division personnel attended the neighborhood meeting to learn more about the project.

“We’ve had no discussion with them. We [were completely] surprised when we saw that just like everybody else,” Strickland said.

Residents also voiced concern about the project’s demand for water, noting that AWS’s other two campuses plan to tap the Northeast Creek Reservoir. Several said they’re worried about the public drinking water supply, especially during periods of extreme drought.

AWS representatives said the development team would work closely with the county to ensure there’s adequate water. AWS officials haven’t provided specific information about the campus’s anticipated daily water use.

They also emphasized that the campus would use evaporative cooling technology and rainwater harvesting to lessen the impact on public water.

According to a capacity study commissioned by the county two years ago, the reservoir has a safe yield capacity of 3.2 million gallons per day. It’s current users, including the Towns of Louisa and Mineral, draw about 300,000 gallons daily and 500,000 gallons at peak demand.

AWS’s other campuses are expected to use, on average, 660,000 gallons of water per day, mostly raw water for cooling. That draw could soar to more than 7 million gallons at peak demand, an AWS official told the planning commission in late 2023.

County officials have said “peak demand” refers only to the hottest days of summer and that the campuses would rely on ambient air temperature for cooling in winter. Moumen said that harvested rainwater would be tapped when water use is at its highest.

Neighbor Terry Zamski, whose home adjoins the proposed campus, said he’s concerned about seeing and hearing the data center buildings. Other residents who live nearby echoed Zamski, saying they’re worried about listening to a constant hum from the facilities and the roar of backup diesel generators, which must be periodically tested. They also said they don’t want to see bright lights at night.

Moumen said county code requires dark-sky lighting, and that the campus would meet the county’s noise ordinance, which caps noise from the facility at 65 decibels at the property line during the day and 60 at night. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 60 decibels equates to the sound of a normal conversation.

Moumen added that AWS builds enclosures around its generators to muffle the sound.

Other residents said they’re worried that widespread data center development will strain the grid and cause their power bills to rise.

Brent Whitlock said that he’d just received a notice from his electric cooperative that rates would be going up due to the rising demand for power, driven, in part, by data centers.

“We need [to ensure] that these facilities are not draining our power because that’s costing us money,” he said.

Mineral District resident David Rogers said he’s worried about blackouts and brownouts as the grid struggles to keep pace with the energy-hungry facilities.

Brunette said that data centers aren’t “directly causing [rate] increases” and that residents should take the issue up with their electric provider, noting that AWS would pay for electric infrastructure that specifically serves Louisa’s campuses.

With respect to Rogers’ concern, she said that infrastructure upgrades are underway in preparation for increased demand though she didn’t offer any specifics.

“The infrastructure is being upgraded. The power to serve this site would likely be about five-plus years out. The benefit here is the electricity would be brought here. The tax revenue would be brought here rather than going to a different county or different state,” she said.

AWS hasn’t provided any specifics on how much power the campus would use but has said it would include up to seven substations. According to site plans for AWS’s other projects, on-site substations will be capable of delivering 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity. So, seven substations could supply as much as 2.1 gigawatts (GW). For perspective, North Anna’s twin Westinghouse reactors produce about 1.8 GW, enough electricity to power some 550,000 homes.

Some residents said they don’t understand why Louisa would commit to a third campus when officials have yet to see the impact of the first two.

“We’ve got two, but we don’t need to do a third one until we see how this is going to work out and how the money’s going to flow,” said Mineral resident Thomasine Rogers.

Lake Anna resident Pat Ranney seemed to agree.

“Do you have to have them every five miles like Dollar General?” she quipped.

Other community members expressed frustration with data center development in general, contending that it’s not for Lousia residents.

“It just doesn’t feel like this is for our community. It feels like we are being sold out,” Alayna Whitlock said.

Rogers announces candidacy for Mineral District BOS seat

While Wednesday’s meeting was designed to provide information about AWS’s proposal and collect citizen feedback, the gathering took on a decidedly political tone early on when Mineral District resident David Rogers kicked off the Q and A by announcing his candidacy for the Mineral District board of supervisors seat to a smattering of applause.

Rogers expressed concerns about AWS’s proposal, noting data centers use a vast amount of water and power and are known to create significant noise pollution. He also said that he’s worried about traffic in an already-congested area. Rogers’ comments suggest that opposition to a third campus could play a central role in his campaign.

Rogers will face two-term incumbent Duane Adams, a Republican who’s in his fourth year as the board’s chair. To date, Adams has been a vocal proponent of data center development. He voted to create the TOD two years ago, which opened the door for AWS’s first two campuses, and he’s argued the facilities are smart economic development.

“These data centers that we’re talking about, it’s about a $40 billion investment in the county. Louisa County is a 514-square mile county, and those campuses are located on less than 1,600 acres. So, I don’t know how you can get a bigger bang for your buck,” Adams said at a March town hall, referring to the two campuses under construction.

Adams hasn’t publicly taken a position on AWS’s latest proposal. In a statement to Engage Louisa following Wednesday’s meeting, he said he has questions about the project and plans to host a town hall to discuss it with his constituents.

“I'm grateful to the Community Development Department for holding a neighborhood meeting on AWS’s proposed third campus, and I was extremely pleased to see over 100 people in attendance. I left that meeting with more questions than I had when I went to the meeting and will very shortly be announcing a town hall meeting to discuss this with my constituents in the Mineral District,” Adams said.

Rogers, who plans to run as an independent, is no stranger to local politics. Three years ago, the insurance agent ran in a special election for the Mineral District seat on the Louisa County School Board, losing to Lloyd Runnett by about 36 points. If elected, he’d be only the fourth African American to serve on the board of supervisors and the first to represent the Mineral District.

Four of seven board seats are up for grabs this November. In the other three contests, incumbents Tommy Barlow, I-Mountain Road, Fitzgerald Barnes, I-Patrick Henry, and Rachel Jones, I-Green Springs, are all seeking re-election. At publication time, none face opposition. The filing deadline is June 17.

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Supervisors to talk affordable housing and more

The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will convene for its second June meeting with yet another light agenda on tap. Check out a meeting preview below.

BOS to discuss affordable housing trust fund

After funding for affordable housing was left off a priority list for how the county could spend an influx of revenue from data center development, the board of supervisors on Monday will discuss potentially setting up an affordable housing trust fund, which could aid community members in making homeownership a reality.

At the board’s first June meeting, Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones and Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward, along with county staff, shared a draft plan for how the county might allocate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue anticipated from a pair of Amazon Web Services data center campuses. The facilities are currently being developed in the county’s Technology Overlay District.

The draft doesn’t include any money for affordable housing, an omission that sparked pushback from Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes, who has repeatedly argued the county needs more homes for firefighters, teachers and cops. He’s said that many essential workers, some of whom grew up in the community, can’t afford to live here.

“I don’t want us to lose sight of the need for affordable housing…I certainly want to make sure that we put in a little line item for [that],” Barnes said, adding that he hoped to discuss the possibility of establishing an affordable housing trust at an upcoming meeting.

Barnes first brought up the idea of setting up a fund dedicated to affordable housing last year and the board tasked staff with looking into the idea. But supervisors haven’t publicly discussed the initiative since.

According to a memo to the board from Kim Hyland, executive director of the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation, the main goal of an affordable housing trust is to “increase accessible and affordable housing opportunities for individuals and families with low and moderate incomes by providing a flexible funding mechanism.”

That goal can be accomplished in a variety of ways, per the memo, including property acquisition for affordable housing; owner-occupied home repair; down payment assistance; rent and/or utility assistance; and re/development of affordable rentals.

At the local level, Hyland said affordable housing trusts are typically established through an ordinance, which defines the trust’s authority, governance structure, funding mechanisms and operational scope. Trusts typically have governing boards responsible for decision-making and oversight and can draw funding from a variety of local taxes and related revenue streams.

Hyland noted that the trusts often partner with qualified tenant coalitions, developers, nonprofit organizations or housing agencies to deploy funding rather than self-developing.

Hyland’s memo also touches on community land trusts, another tool to increase the supply of affordable housing. Land trusts can work in tandem with affordable housing trusts.

Community land trusts are nonprofit organizations “established with a mission to provide permanent affordable housing opportunities, mostly with an emphasis on homeownership,” Hyland said. The organizations often acquire property and rehab existing structure or build new ones. They then sell the dwellings at “affordable price points” to income eligible buyers.

Under the land trust model, the trust retains ownership of the underlying land, even after a home is built and sold to a buyer, significantly lowering the homeowner’s monthly mortgage costs. Ownership of the lot remains with the trust through subsequent sales.

Using data center revenue to support affordable housing has gained traction in other localities. Last year, Henrico County announced it would dedicate $60 million its receiving from data center development to establish an affordable housing trust.

The fund will provide grants to nonprofit and for-profit entities to offset the cost of acquiring lots for affordable housing, according to a county press release.

In some instances, the program will partner with land trusts to ensure housing affordability in perpetuity. The county also plans to waive water and sewer connection fees and building permit fees for homes in the program and expedite its review of proposed developments that include affordable units.

Board to discuss setting up airport advisory commission

Supervisors will discuss establishing an advisory commission to help guide future development at the Louisa County Airport.

Per draft bylaws included in the meeting materials, the commission would be appointed by the board of supervisors and include five members who’ve “demonstrate[d] interest or experience in aviation, community development, business, or public service.” Residency in Louisa County wouldn’t be required, but preferred.

The commission would be tasked with generating ideas to support the growth of the airport; assisting in planning aviation-related events that draw public interest; helping to align airport initiatives with the county’s broader economic development goals; and encouraging partnerships with community stakeholders. It wouldn’t have any formal authority over airport operations, budgeting or decision-making.

The county took over operations at the airport last year. Since its founding in the 1980s, it had operated under the umbrella of the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority. The 171-acre facility is currently undergoing significant upgrades, including taxiway, hanger and parking improvements, part of a larger capital improvement plan aimed at lengthening its runway.

Supervisors to consider green-lighting FEMS grant application, tanker truck purchase

Supervisors will consider giving the Fire and EMS Department the go-ahead to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the federal government. The grant would partially fund nine firefighter/medic positions for three years with the county footing the full bill after that.

The positions would cost just over a million dollars a year in salaries and benefits plus a $54,000 one-time payment for uniforms. The federal government would cover 75 percent of the “usual employee costs” for two years and 35 percent in year three.

In another FEMS-related action, the board will consider green-lighting the purchase of a 3,000-gallon tanker truck for the Bumpass Volunteer Fire Department. The vehicle is expected to cost about $426,000.

The department’s former tanker truck was totaled in an accident, for which it received $247,500 in insurance proceeds. The department intends to use that money plus a roughly $129,000 budget supplement from the county and $50,000 from its “fire programs” funding to purchase the new tanker.

Supes to consider tweaks to LDR

After holding a public hearing but tabling action at their last meeting, supervisors will again consider adopting a range of tweaks to the county’s Land Development Regulations, covering everything from illumination standards for electronic message signs to the approval process for subdivision plats.

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PC agrees to hold public hearing on restrictions for ‘humanitarian’ shelters; PC oks two CUPs, defers action on a third

Volunteers with the Louisa Homeless Coalition (LHC) are once again urging local government to get out of the way and allow churches to temporarily house homeless people on the coldest nights of the year sans an onerous public approval process. (work session video) (regular meeting video)

Eight community members spoke during the public comment period at Thursday’s planning commission meeting, criticizing a proposal that would require churches who want to operate a winter sheltering program to acquire a conditional use permit (CUP) and adhere to other regulations. Obtaining a CUP requires a public hearing in front of the planning commission and the board of supervisors and an affirmative vote by the latter body.

Several speakers said that helping the most vulnerable in the community is the mission of the church and government shouldn’t erect hurdles for congregants trying to carry out their faith.

“It is my belief that, as the pastor of our church, faith is not just something we do by sitting in our pews on Sunday morning. It is something we literally practice 24/7. And yes, I do believe that we are called to care for those in need in our communities…I do consider what we do to care for the poor and, in this case, the homeless to be actually part of what it means to practice our religion,” said Allan Smith, pastor at Mechanicsville Baptist Church near Boswells Tavern, adding, “To me, [the CUP process] feels unnecessary and infringes on our beliefs and what it means to be a church.”

Other speakers said that churches and others in the community have stepped up to house homeless people, including launching a pilot program that provided overnight shelter to a handful of community members at two churches last winter, without the assistance or oversight of local government. They said they simply want to continue that work unmolested.

“I know [Louisa County] isn’t going to house homeless people. We all know that. We’re actually, at this point, resigned to that. But just let us do it to the best of our very limited ability,” Patrick Henry District resident Sue Frankel Streit said.

Frankel Streit told the commission that, earlier in the day, she received a call from a lifelong Louisa resident who’s homeless and disabled and is searching for shelter. She said Louisa County’s social services department gave him her number.

“We don’t have time to go through all these CUP hearings because, currently, we have to make money so we can pay $100 a night to house homeless people at the Loyalty Inn because that’s all there is,” she said, referring to a motel in the Town of Louisa.

The county currently requires a CUP for homeless shelters in most zoning designations—county code calls them emergency shelters—but the coalition moved forward with the pilot program last winter without county approval. In an effort to broaden the program to include more churches and comply with county rules, volunteers had asked the county to ax the CUP requirement, prompting a discussion of how to define emergency shelter and homeless shelter in the zoning code.

Despite criticism from the coalition, commissioners voted unanimously to hold a public hearing at their July meeting on a draft ordinance that would requires churches and other entities to obtain a CUP in all zoning designations to operate a “humanitarian shelter.” The ordinance defines the use as “a facility that provides temporary shelter and basic services to individuals or families without requiring leases or occupancy agreements.” The proposal would remove the definition of “emergency shelter.”

To obtain and retain a CUP, the entities seeking to shelter unhoused community members would be required to have a staffer or authorized representative on site whenever the shelter is operating; establish a structured intake process; partner with at least one qualified provider of supportive services; provide a narrative explaining how they’d avoid “adverse impacts on surrounding properties and uses;” and provide a point of contact to respond to community concerns, among other requirements. The proposal would allow a humanitarian shelter only as an accessory or ancillary use, explicitly prohibiting standalone shelters.

The proposal differs from a previous draft included in the meeting materials. For one, it changes the name of the use from “homeless shelter” to “humanitarian shelter” and removes a clause in the proposed definition that says the shelter would “temporarily house those experiencing homelessness.”

Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon said those changes make the use “more inclusive.”

In addition, the revised proposal doesn’t include several restrictions from the previous draft. It axes a prohibition on shelters at facilities that offer child-centered services; removes stringent security requirements; and deletes a provision requiring applicants to submit a transportation plan for clients, among others.

Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin said the draft was revamped, in part, to incorporate feedback from citizens.

“I was hearing from a lot of quarters that where we started several months ago was a ‘no,’ and this thing has morphed and changed over time with, I think, the right people being involved, including some of the interested parties out in the citizenry,” Goodwin said.

But the changes didn’t satisfy coalition members, who argued that the commission seems to be missing the point. Several speakers said the proposal doesn’t address the simple goal they’re trying to accomplish—allowing churches to shelter people on nights when they could freeze to death.

“The warming shelters would only operate between November and March. The warming shelters would only be open to Louisa County residents between 5 pm and 9 am. The warming shelters would have a maximum capacity of 20 citizens. Your ordinance addresses a much bigger issue, a much bigger thing. That’s not what we are looking for or asking for at this point,” said Duane Sergent, an LHC volunteer.

Sergent noted that, to his knowledge, coalition members hadn’t been invited to participate in meetings about the proposal.

Commission oks two CUPs, defers action on a third

Beyond green-lighting a public hearing on an ordinance governing humanitarian shelters, commissioners on Thursday night took up three land use requests, recommending to the board of supervisors approval of two and deferring action on the third.

In the first public hearing of the night, the commission voted 6-0 to recommend that supervisors approve James Weber’s request for a conditional use permit (CUP) to operate an equipment sales and rental business and contractor’s office and shop on about four acres at 17935 Louisa Road (Route 22) in the Louisa Election District (tax map parcels 24-45, 24-46).

The commercially zoned property (C-2) is located on the north side of Louisa Road just west of its intersection with Oakland Road (Route 613) and adjacent to the Trevilian Station Battlefield. A portion of the property was formerly used for storage and resale of second-hand items and antiques.

Kelsey Schlein, a planner with Shimp Engineering and the applicant’s representative, said that Weber’s contracting business mostly builds retaining walls. Schlein said he’d couple that use with equipment sales and rental, operating something akin to a Sunbelt Rentals, which offers everything from masonry equipment to general construction tools.

According to his land use application, Weber plans to install a commercial entrance off Louisa Road to serve the property and erect a 4,000 square foot building to support the business’ equipment sales and rental component. He plans to repurpose an existing structure for the contractor’s office and shop.

In the second public hearing, the commission recommended that the board of supervisors approve Builders Cabinet Company and its owner, Joey Bryant’s, request for a CUP to operate a cabinet and carpentry manufacturing shop and contractor’s office and shop on about six acres on the east side of Belle Meade Road (Route 701) near Beagle Run subdivision in the Jackson Election District (tax map parcel 85-14-9).

Bryant and his wife, Pam, own the agriculturally zoned (A-2) property and reside on an adjoining parcel.

According to his land use application, Bryant plans to construct a building to manufacture custom-made cabinets and carpentry products. He says the use wouldn’t negatively impact neighbors, noting that few clients would visit the facility.

The commission held a third public hearing but opted to defer action on Columbia Gas Transmission and Vanguard Renewables SVP, LLC’s request for a CUP to operate a renewable natural gas (RNG) unloading station on a 5.6-acre agriculturally zoned (A-2) parcel at the corner of Brickhouse Road (Route 637) and Poindexter Road (Route 613) in the Patrick Henry Election District (tax map parcel 37-44).

The CUP would clear the way for the expansion of a compressor station situated on an adjoining parcel, enabling the injection of RNG into the Columbia gas pipeline. The gas would be transported throughout the region, including to facilities in Louisa.

RNG refers to biogas that’s used as a replacement for fossil fuels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It comes from a variety of sources, including livestock farms, landfills and wastewater treatment facilities.

The biogas injected in Louisa would originate at a dairy farm in Amelia County with large trucks traveling to and from the site at least twice a day.

After the applicant made some last-minute changes to its preliminary site plan and two community members expressed concerns about truck traffic on Brickhouse Road, where the project’s proposed entrance is currently located, commissioners decided to defer action to give the applicant more time to settle on an entrance.

Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin also said that he wants to cap the number of truck visits per day to ensure the facility couldn’t significantly expand without county approval.

The commission is expected to take up the item again at its July meeting. The other two items are set for public hearings in front of the board of supervisors in July.

Six of seven planners attended the meeting. Mountain Road District Commissioner Gordon Brooks was absent.

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Water Authority votes for five percent rate hike

The Louisa County Water Authority’s board of directors on Wednesday night voted to raise residential and wholesale water and sewer rates by five percent, marking the third year in a row the panel has supported a rate hike. (video)

The board raised rates by 20 percent last year and 15 percent two years ago.

Before voting for the increase, several board members said that while they don’t like raising rates, the hike is necessary to address the rising costs of delivering water and sewer service in the face of inflation, shifting regulations and steady growth.

“We have to keep our infrastructure up. We have to improve it, which, unfortunately means we need more people. We need more compliance for the health department for our functions. We are not here to make a profit,” board member Tom Filer said.

Filer added that he doesn’t think a five percent rate hike is enough to address rising costs, but board members settled on the modest increase to limit the impact on customers. Members also said the authority works hard to operate as efficiently as possible.

“We don’t just look at our operations and say how efficiently can we serve our customers. We also look at peer studies to determine if we are in line or out of line and try to figure out why, if we are out of line,” said board chair Judson Foster.

Five community members spoke during a public hearing just prior to the vote. Most speakers expressed concern about the increase or other aspects of their water service.

“To tell you the truth, when we bought our home, we had no idea that we should shop around for water prices because the water prices we pay at Spring Creek, I think, are just crazy high. After having a 20 percent increase last year to be suggesting another [rate increase], I just think is unbelievable for the crappy service that we’re getting,” said Spring Creek resident Nancy Ritinski.

Ritinski said that her neighborhood was recently advised to boil water before consuming it for several days following a main break. She also complained that the authority issued drought restrictions last year with no notice.

“I totally understand drought restrictions, but how come nobody gave us an idea before it just shut down. We had new landscaping. That was just frustrating for me,” she said.

Other residents voiced concern about the impact of data center development on LCWA’s infrastructure and on the Northeast Creek Reservoir where the authority pulls drinking water for customers in central Louisa.

Roy Waters, who lives along Route 33, suggested that Amazon Web Services (AWS), pay for infrastructure upgrades to ensure residents have access to clean, safe drinking water. AWS is currently developing two data center campuses that will tap the reservoir and has proposed a third.

“The infrastructure is old. I know it’s getting more pressure on it, which means problems,” Waters said.

A few board members said they too are concerned about the impact of data centers. They noted that while they don’t make land use decisions for the county—that’s the purview of the board of supervisors—it’s their job to ensure any development impacting public water service is done properly and that plans are in place to protect customers.

“If AWS took too much [water] that would be an issue and that’s what we’re so concerned about with the board itself and the assurances the county has in planning this process. We’re just as worried as you are that it’s going to be done right, and we’ll do everything in our power to ensure that it’s done right,” board member Bob Hardy said.

Hardy noted that a capacity study has already been conducted on the reservoir to determine how much water can be safely drawn daily. He also said that AWS is covering the cost of some infrastructure upgrades, an apparent reference to new pump stations and water lines that the tech giant is paying for to deliver raw water to its campuses. The water is needed to cool the data center buildings.

The rate increase approved on Wednesday night will take effect July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. LCWA customers will see the monthly base rate for residential water consumption rise by $1.38, from $27.75 to $29.13, and the base rate for sewer use increase by $2.04, from $41.07 to $43.11. The base rate applies to water and sewer use up to 3,000 gallons per month.

Beyond that threshold, the water rate will jump 46 cents for every 1,000 gallons used, rising from $9.25 to $9.71. The sewer rate will increase 68 cents per 1,000 gallons, jumping from $13.36 to $14.37.

A residential customer that falls at or below the 3,000-gallon usage threshold will see their monthly bill rise from $74.82 to $78.24, including LCWA’s $6 monthly administrative fee. The bill for a household that uses 4,000 gallons of water and sewer service a month will increase by $4.56.

Wholesale water rates will rise 36 cents for 1,000 gallons, increasing from $7.18 to $7.54. Wholesale rates apply to customers who source at least 4.25 million gallons of water from the authority each month.

The increase will directly affect customers billed by LCWA for water or sewer service. The authority draws water from the Northeast Creek Reservoir for customers in central Louisa, public wells near Zion Crossroads for customers on the county’s southwestern edge and a public well adjacent to Lake Anna Plaza for lake area customers.

It provides sewer service via a regional wastewater treatment plant outside the Town of Louisa, the Zion Crossroads Wastewater Treatment Plant and the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Town of Louisa buys water from LCWA at the wholesale rate then sells the water to its residents. Town residents’ rates are set by the Louisa Town Council.

The Town of Mineral also buys water from the authority but doesn’t qualify for a wholesale discount because it doesn’t meet the usage threshold, LCWA General Manager Pam Baughman told Engage Louisa last year.

Residents who receive public utility service from Mineral’s system are subject to rates set by the Mineral Town Council.

Vicky Harte, acting mayor of the Town of Louisa, said during the public hearing that the town has proposed a five percent increase in water and sewer rates to match LCWA’s hike.

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