Supervisors reverse course, lower solar cap; BOS roundup; McGuire narrowly leads Good in bitter battle for Republican nomination in VA05; Witt claims Democratic nomination
Supervisors reverse course, lower solar cap; BOS roundup; McGuire narrowly leads Good in bitter battle for Republican nomination in VA05; Witt claims Democratic nomination
Engage Louisa is a nonpartisan newsletter that keeps folks informed about Louisa County government. We believe our community is stronger and our government serves us better when we increase transparency, accessibility, and engagement.
This week in county government: public meetings, June 24 through June 29
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).
Wednesday, June 26
Community Policy Management Team, Executive Boardroom, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1 pm.
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.
Supervisors reverse course, lower solar cap
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will tighten the screws on utility-scale solar development after all. (meeting materials, livestream)
The board, at its June 3 meeting, narrowly rejected a recommendation from its solar committee to lower the cap on the amount of land in the county that can be used for large-scale solar development from three percent to two percent.
But, at the request of Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward, who was one of four board members to initially vote against reducing the cap, supervisors reconsidered that vote on Monday night.
This time, they voted 5-2 in favor of the reduction, agreeing to limit large-scale solar development to 6,343 acres, down from the previous 9,800-acre threshold. The new limit is slightly less than two percent of the county’s total acreage because it excludes Lake Anna.
Woodward and Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones both flipped their votes joining Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes and Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter in supporting the reduction. Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams and Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow voted against the change.
Barnes and Adams comprise the board’s solar committee and recommended lowering the cap.
Woodward’s request to reconsider the vote was added to the agenda at the start of the meeting. Because it wasn’t advertised beforehand, the motion required the support of five board members, a supermajority as opposed to a simple majority, per the body’s bylaws. The same five supervisors who favored reducing the cap also supported reconsidering the June 3 vote.
Woodward said he changed his mind after the initial vote because he wants to see two large solar facilities, which have already been approved by the board, move forward before the county considers green-lighting other large projects.
“We have two large solar projects that are already approved. They are just waiting for permitting or whatever. I feel like we, as a county, need to see those projects move forward and get a lot closer to even being completed before we look at doing any other large projects in the county, and I think this is one way for us to approach that,” he said.
Woodward was apparently referencing a pair of projects slated for development between the towns of Louisa and Mineral. One is a 150-megawatt (MW) array permitted for construction on the Fisher Chewning tract, a nearly 1,400-acre assemblage north of the Northeast Creek Reservoir, which is owned by former Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell and his father, Charles. The other is a 118 MW facility slated for development at the Cooke Rail Park, a 1234-acre parcel group north of Davis Highway (Route 22) and east of Chalk Level Road (Route 625), which is mostly owned by the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority.
The board has also approved a 94 MW array just east of the rail park on a 448-acre parcel known as the Mine & Hemmer tract, also owned by the Purcells.
In addition, supervisors have greenlit four other utility-scale solar facilities to date. Together, the seven projects encompass 5,211 acres, bringing the county within 1,132 acres of the new limit.
While the two-percent cap provides space for approval of the three solar projects currently working their way through the public approval process—the 5 MW, 60-acre Green Boot facility off Peach Grove Road; the 20 MW, 304-acre Horsepen site near Buckner; and the 15.6 MW, 247.6-acre Turkey facility off Route 15—it could shut out developers who’ve been working on projects but haven’t formally applied for a conditional use permit from the county.
One of those projects is under development in Jones’ Green Springs District by the international clean energy company, Invenergy. While details of the proposed facility haven’t been publicly disclosed, several property owners leasing land to the company or otherwise involved in the project spoke during the June 3 public hearing, urging the board not to lower the cap. They said the move would stop them from using their property as they see fit and prevent the county from enjoying the benefits of more solar development, including increased tax revenue.
While Jones bowed to constituent concerns at that meeting, she reversed course on Monday, saying that she’s worried about the impact of solar development on adjoining landowners.
“I think we owe it to our citizens to make sure that we get it right, and that we don’t have runoff and we don’t have issues that cause our adjoining landowners significant harm to their land, and that we stand behind them also and make sure we have protections for all involved,” she said.
Adams and Barnes zeroed in on the impact of one of the county’s two fully-constructed solar projects during the June 3 meeting: Dominion’s 88.2 MW Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road where stormwater runoff has caused significant flooding and erosion on neighboring farms.
Barnes, whose district includes Belcher, shared photographs of an overflowing creek near the sprawling 1,300-acre site to illustrate why he supports placing more limits on solar development. Adams said he supports property rights, but he doesn’t support a use that’s been detrimental to neighbors.
The problems at Belcher coupled with broader concerns about solar development prompted the board two years ago to beef up the county’s solar ordinance. As part of the rewrite, supervisors toughened erosion and sediment control standards, expanded buffer requirements and implemented the three percent, 9,800-acre cap. The board hasn’t approved any utility-scale solar projects since making those changes.
Barlow, who maintained his opposition to the two-percent cap, reiterated comments he made at the June 3 meeting. In revamping the solar ordinance, he said the county had implemented changes to prevent the issues at Belcher from happening elsewhere. He also said that the board has the power to approve or reject projects on their own merits so a reduction in the cap is unnecessary.
“Since we started talking about the cap, we have implemented procedures so that those problems with the tremendous runoff and stuff should not happen again,” Barlow said. “I feel like we have landowners out there that want to be able to do what they can with their land, and I do think that we still have the right to review these projects and put what restrictions we want on them.”
Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams, the only other board member to oppose the new cap, agreed.
“I think it’s okay to just say no to these people when they show up, and you don’t have to have a cap to say no,” Williams said.
Louisa is one of a handful of localities across the state that has moved to curtail large-scale solar development amid backlash from residents who say the use is marring views, causing runoff and usurping farm and timberland.
As more counties contemplate similar moves, some lawmakers in Richmond are eying legislation that could limit localities’ ability to restrict the use. They argue that deploying more solar capacity is key to meeting the clean energy goals laid out in the Virginia Clean Economy Act, landmark legislation passed in 2020 to combat climate change.
During this year’s General Assembly session, Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Richmond) introduced legislation that sought to limit localities’ power to ban or sharply cap utility-scale solar. Though the legislation didn’t pass, lawmakers agreed to take it up again in 2025, signaling that Richmond intends to take a serious look at the issue.
Barnes said at the June 3 meeting that he’s aware the state could step in, but it’s his job to stand up for people in his district.
“I don’t represent the state. I represent the citizens in my district, and they are hurting right now because of some of these failed projects. I have to respond the way they elected me to respond,” he said.
BOS roundup: Board authorizes sale of county-owned land at Ferncliff
While supervisors made the biggest news of the night by taking up a controversial item that wasn’t publicly advertised beforehand, they also dispatched with a range of other public business. Check out a meeting roundup below. (meeting materials, livestream)
Board authorizes sale of county-owned land at Ferncliff
A county-owned parcel once eyed for an affordable housing development will soon be on the market.
Supervisors held a public hearing and voted unanimously to authorize the public sale of a 13.3-acre parcel at 3949 Three Notch Road just east of Mallory Road at Ferncliff (tmp 67 2 D).
Though the parcel is zoned for agricultural use, it’s located in the Ferncliff Growth Area Overlay District and designated for mixed-use development on the future land use map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The property is assessed at $51,700, according to Louisa County land records.
Given the property’s inclusion in a growth area and access to public utilities, county officials had once hoped to partner with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to build an 80-plus unit mixed-income housing development on the site. But the idea sparked staunch opposition from neighbors, who complained the dense development was ill-suited for their community, prompting supervisors to eventually shelve the idea.
Officials have since determined that the parcel is no longer of use to the county, according to a resolution approved at a previous board meeting. At least one adjoining property owner has expressed interest in buying the land.
Per state code, the county can use one of three methods to dispose of the property: employ a competitive sealed bid process, hold a public auction or offer a firm price to anyone interested in acquiring the land.
When the board last sold county-owned property in 2021, it opted for sealed bidding, accepting bids for about two weeks before opening the bids at a public meeting and selling the property to the highest bidder.
But Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes, who represents the area, said he’d like to see the county sell the property via “in-person bidding,” apparently referring to a public auction. He said, given the property’s controversial history, the method would offer the most transparency and likely bring the highest sales price.
Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams agreed, noting the last parcel the county sold—32 acres adjacent to the Reedy Creek subdivision—had limited development potential.
“I think Mr. Barnes may have a good point here. Reedy Creek was residential. That’s all it was ever going to be…This could be a more lucrative asset to the county. If we dispose of it that way, it could bring more revenue into the county,” Adams said.
County Administrator Christian Goodwin said he’d look into the best way to move forward, noting that he also wants to double check that the county wouldn’t need any part of the property for water or sewer infrastructure in the future. The parcel is located adjacent to a sewer pump station operated by the Louisa County Water Authority.
One community member weighed in during the public hearing. Louisa District resident Vicky Harte said she agreed with Barnes and Adams that an “open bid” process is the ideal way to sell the land.
Board approves rewrite of Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance
Supervisors adopted a revised ordinance governing the collection of the county’s seven percent Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). The tax is tacked on to customers’ bills when they stay the night at a hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental.
In a memo to the board, Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon said the changes aim to “provide a more comprehensive framework for the TOT's administration, collection, and enforcement.”
Most notably, the revised ordinance shifts the schedule for remitting TOT payments from quarterly to monthly and imposes penalties and interest charges on late payments.
Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter, whose district includes the lower end of Lake Anna where many of the county’s short-term rentals are located, asked how local officials keep track of STRs to ensure proprietors are paying their taxes. He also wondered how the county would inform taxpayers about the new rules.
Coon said the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office, which oversees the levy, has “very good records” on how many STRs are operating in the county and where they are located.
Commissioner of Revenue Stacey Fletcher added that, upon adoption of the revised ordinance, proprietors of short-term lodging and booking platforms would receive a letter notifying them of the changes.
Supervisors hiked the TOT from two percent to seven percent last October. Per the Fiscal year 2025 budget, county officials anticipate pulling in more than $1.6 million in revenue from the tax. According to state code, about 40 percent of that money must be spent on tourism-related initiatives.
Supes appropriate budget supplement for LCPS, move broadband funding to FY24
As part of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, supervisors approved a $1.024 million supplemental appropriation for Louisa County Public Schools.
The appropriation is necessary, in part, because the state tweaked its funding for local school divisions in the final state budget, which wasn’t passed until after the board approved the county’s spending plan.
Finance Director Wanda Colvin said the appropriation will allow the division to cover a $485,000 revenue shortfall tied to changes in the state budget and pay for some of the division’s additional needs.
“When we built the budget and had it adopted in April, we did not have final state numbers for the schools…We have now received them and gone through the budget and enrollment and things like that for the year,” Colvin said.
Colvin said the money to cover the shortfall will be drawn from the county’s general fund while the remainder will come from long-term capital reserves.
In a separate budget action, the board moved from FY25 to FY24 a roughly $3 million appropriation earmarked for Firefly’s countywide fiber project. The payment is the third installment of a $9 million commitment supervisors made to jumpstart Firefly’s effort to bring universal fiber access to the county by 2025.
Colvin said the appropriation, which was included in the FY25 capital budget, is being moved because the project is “progressing quicker’ than initially anticipated.
Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation updates board on plan to build 25 rental units between Louisa and Mineral
Kim Hyland, executive director of the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation (FLHF), updated the board on her organization’s plan to build 25 affordable rental units off Resource Lane between the towns of Louisa and Mineral.
The one and two-bedroom dwellings will accommodate income-eligible elderly and disabled residents and essential workers like first responders and school staff.
Supervisors okayed the project last year and initially chipped in $775,000 to jumpstart its construction. That money came courtesy of a federal appropriation explicitly earmarked for affordable housing.
FLHF plans to build the $4.2 million project in three phases, Hyland said, starting with eight one-bedroom units for elderly residents. Depending on permitting and funding, Hyland said construction could begin in the next eight months.
Hyland said FLHF is still pursuing funding sources. At her request, the board authorized the county to apply for a Community Development Block Grant from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, which could provide as much as $1.75 million for the project.
While the county is required to submit the grant application on FLHF’s behalf, Hyland said that it doesn’t obligate county officials to spend any taxpayer money.
Board cancels second meeting in July, August and December
Supervisors typically meets on the first and third Monday of each month. But they agreed to cancel their second meeting for the month of July, August and December.
The board will next meet on Monday, July 1. After that, supervisors won’t convene again until Monday, August 5. The board has traditionally opted for a lighter summer schedule when members and county staff often take vacations.
Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes also asked to move the second December meeting from Monday, December 16 to Monday, December 23. But the board instead opted to cancel the meeting.
Primary roundup: Republican contest in 5th Congressional District could be headed for recount; Witt claims Dem nomination in VA05
A bitter battle for the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District could be headed for a recount.
As of Sunday night, two-term incumbent Bob Good (R-Campbell) trails his challenger, state Sen. John McGuire (R-Goochland), by 334 votes with a limited number of ballots outstanding.
Good said in an email Saturday afternoon that his campaign is preparing for a recount and asked supporters to donate money to help him “ensure the integrity of the election.”
“Everyone should want to ensure that there is full faith and confidence that the ultimate result of this election reflects the will of the qualified participating voters,” Good said.
McGuire, a fitness instructor and former Navy SEAL, and Good, the chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, have waged a brutal intra-party battle in the 5th, a red-leaning district where the Republican nominee will be a heavy favorite to claim the seat in November.
Election officials have tallied most of the more than 62,500 ballots cast in the district, and they’re expected to finish counting provisional ballots and late-arriving mail-in ballots on Monday. The former includes ballots that must be adjudicated to ensure they’re from qualified voters while the latter covers mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day but before Friday’s noon deadline. The ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day to count.
McGuire’s razor thin lead has grown slightly since Tuesday night as local officials work through their post-election tallies. It currently sits at .54 percent—McGuire has 50.27 percent to Good’s 49.73 percent—well within the one percent margin that entitles the defeated candidate to a recount.
The State Board of Elections will certify primary results on July 2 and candidates that lost by less than one percent have 10 days to file for a recount. If the margin separating the candidates is a half percentage point or less, the government picks up the tab. If it’s more, the campaign requesting the recount pays. They’ll be reimbursed if the recount reverses the results.
Good appears poised to move forward with a recount. In his email, he said the “too-close-to-call” results don’t match the on-the-ground enthusiasm for his campaign or the “survey of voters coming into the polls.”
“We believe that the majority of Republicans voted for me in this election, and that we actually won this race,” Good said.
For his part, McGuire claimed victory on Tuesday night, thanking his supporters including former President Donald Trump, who endorsed his campaign in late May. McGuire said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “there are a still a few votes left to count, but it’s clear that all paths end with a victory.”
With few policy differences to distinguish the two hard-right candidates, McGuire centered his campaign on his loyalty to Trump, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, sharply criticizing Good for initially backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president last year before endorsing Trump after DeSantis dropped out of the race. He accused Good of being a backstabber and “Never Trumper.”
Good portrayed himself as the true conservative in the race, arguing that he’s stood up to the “DC Swamp” during his time in Washington while McGuire has aligned with it. He repeatedly pointed out that McGuire took money from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Good helped oust from the speakership last fall.
“Kevin McCarthy and John McGuire have demonstrated that they will do ANYTHING to ‘win’ this election and prevent my reelection as a courageous conservative warrior against the establishment uni-party system,” Good said in his email.
Both Good and McGuire have embraced false claims that widespread voter fraud cost Trump the 2020 election. Good voted against certifying the election results while McGuire attended the Stop the Steal rally-turned-riot outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021 where a mob stormed the building. McGuire has said he didn’t enter the Capitol.
Good raised the specter of election fraud in his email, calling for a “full forensic audit” of the primary results and claiming that his campaign was “looking into evidence of whether data manipulation was used to affect the vote totals.”
He also suggested there were other potential irregularities.
Local officials completed post-election canvassing last week, which yielded little change in the vote tally. During the canvassing process, which is open to the public, local registrars and electoral boards check their results for reporting errors or other mistakes.
Tuesday’s results
The 2021 redistricting process reshaped the southside-anchored 5th, adding Louisa and other counties that ring the Richmond metro area. The new map played in McGuire’s favor as he hails from Goochland and represents the 10th state Senate District, which includes all or part of 10 counties mostly on the northern end of the district.
McGuire turned in a solid performance on his home turf, winning seven out of the 10 localities in the 10th, based on unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections. He turned in his strongest performance in the district’s northeastern reaches, scoring a nearly 25-point win in Powhatan, a 23-point victory in Goochland and 22.5-point win in western Hanover.
McGuire performed nearly as well in Louisa, cruising to a 19.5-point win.
That solid performance came as most of the county’s Republican establishment backed Good including all four Republican members of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Republican Sheriff Donnie Lowe and both the current and previous chair of the Louisa County Republican Committee.
But McGuire tapped into his deep political roots here—he’s represented the county in the General Assembly since 2018 and his brother, Rusty McGuire, serves as Commonwealth’s Attorney—to notch decisive wins in 13 of the county’s 14 precincts. He scored his biggest victory in Mineral, rolling to a nearly 35-point win.
Good won on his home turf too but didn’t match McGuire’s margins of victory. He won by just over 12 points in Campbell, his home county, and notched 17 and 16-point wins in Lynchburg and Bedford.
Witt wins Democratic primary in 5th Congressional District
While the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District remains in limbo, the district’s Democratic voters decisively decided on their nominee.
Amherst County native Gloria Tinsley Witt easily defeated two other candidates to earn the right to represent her party in the November 5 general election.
Witt, who spent most of her career working for the international nuclear energy firm Framatome and serves as president of the Amherst branch of the NAACP, rolled up 57.2 percent of the vote district-wide, easily outpacing Danville resident Gary Terry, who tallied 22.5 percent, and Crozet resident Paul Riley, who garnered just over 20 percent.
Witt turned in a solid performance in Louisa, claiming 51.5 percent of the vote en route to winning 13 of the county’s 14 precincts. She tied with the Terry in the Cuckoo 1 precinct with each candidate garnering 22 votes, 41 percent of ballots cast.
Witt will face an uphill battle this fall as the sprawling 5th leans Republican. The district stretches from Charlottesville to exurban Richmond and south to the North Carolina border, encompassing all or part of 24 localities.
Good beat Democrat Josh Thornburg by about 15 points to win his second term two years ago. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin won the district by about 20 points in 2021.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Witt thanked her supporters and urged them to donate to her campaign. As of May 29, she’d raised just over $20,000 while Good and McGuire pulled in over a million each on the Republican side.
The Republican race also attracted nearly $11 million in spending from outside groups, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, making it one of the most expensive primaries in the country.
“Thank you to every single person that made this victory possible. Now the real work begins,” Witt said. “We have to face a wave of GOP dark money and we need your help to go all the way!”
Cao cruises to victory in 5-way Republican primary for US Senate
Retired Navy Officer Hung Cao easily won the Republican nomination for one of Virginia’s two seats in the US Senate. This fall, he’ll face two-term incumbent Tim Kaine (D-Richmond), who didn’t face a primary on the Democratic side.
“Tomorrow, we begin our campaign to save the country that saved my life. I spent twenty-five years in the Navy, while Tim Kaine spent thirty years in elected office. The taxpayers signed the front of our paychecks for the same amount of time. The difference is this: Tim Kaine got rich, and I got scars,” Cao said in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
Armed with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, Cao cruised to victory over four other contenders, racking up 61.8 percent of the vote statewide, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections. En route to his landslide win, Cao came out on top in every locality in the state except Emporia, a small city in southside Virginia.
Arlington resident Scott Parkinson, a former advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, finished a distant second, garnering nearly 11 percent of the vote. Army veteran and Arlington resident Eddie Garcia was third with just under 10 percent while Virginia Beach lawyer Chuck Smith and Clifton attorney and author Jonathan Emord finished fourth and fifth respectively, collecting support on 8.8 and 8.6 percent of ballots cast.
Cao, a Loudoun County resident who came to the United States from Vietnam when he was just four years old, got solid support in Louisa though he couldn’t match his performance statewide. He garnered just under 55 percent of the vote, winning all 14 precincts. Parkinson edged Smith for second, with 14.2 percent to Smith’s 13.8 percent.
Kaine enters this fall’s general election as a solid favorite to retain his seat. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as “Safe D.” Kaine cruised to a 16-point win over conservative firebrand Corey Stewart to earn his second term six years ago.
Four file for three seats on Louisa Town Council
This November’s race for Louisa Town Council will be a competitive one as four candidates filed to run for three seats ahead of the June 18 filing deadline.
The candidates include Sylvia L. Rigsby, Jessi J. Lassiter, Daniel R. Crawford and Roger W. Henry.
Lassiter and Rigsby currently serve on council while Crawford lost his bid for one of two seats two years ago, finishing third in a four-person field. Henry is making his first run for town office.
A. Daniel Carter, who currently serves on council, didn’t file to seek re-election.
Louisa’s five council members serve staggered four-year terms.
The Town of Mineral will have a special election for one of its six council seats.
So far, David Hempstead, who was appointed to serve on council earlier this year, is the only candidate to formally declare his candidacy, according to Louisa County Registrar Cris Watkins.
The deadline to get on the ballot for the special election is Friday, August 16
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I'd like to know if those Louisa County Supervisors who voted for the solar cap are receiving any re-election funding from anti-renewable energy contributors? We only have one planet... let's not destroy it too quickly.