This week in county government; BOS to hold public hearing on proposed $237.7 million budget; Supes to discuss transportation projects, litter and more; PC to consider solar site, storage facilities
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, April 8 through April 13
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).
Monday, April 8
Technology Overlay District Committee, Administration Conference Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 4 pm.
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, special meeting, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 4 pm. (agenda, livestream)
The board will hold a special meeting to review the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Secondary Six-Year Road Plan for Louisa County.
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
Louisa County School Board, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7 pm. (agenda, livestream)
Tuesday, April 9
Louisa County School Board, Louisa County Middle School Forum, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, 6 pm. (agenda, livestream)
The School Board will hold a special meeting primarily to recognize the Class 5 Theater State Champions.
Wednesday, April 10
James River Water Authority, Fluvanna County Administration Building, 132 Main Street, Palmyra, 9 am. (agenda packet)
Louisa County Water Authority, 23 Loudin Ave., Louisa, 6 pm.
Thursday, April 11
Louisa County Planning Commission, long-range planning work session, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 5 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
Louisa County Planning Commission, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 7 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
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 to hold public hearing on proposed $237.7 million budget, slate of level tax rates
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will hold a public hearing on a proposed $237.7 million budget for Fiscal Year 2025 and a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate and a $2.43 rate for cars and trucks. (proposed budget)
The advertised budget, which is 26.3 percent higher than the spending plan for the current fiscal year, includes $156.6 million for daily operations and $81.1 million for capital projects. The operating portion covers the day-to-day costs of running county government including everything from employees’ salaries to fuel for fire trucks while the capital component pays for big-ticket items like school buildings, emergency service equipment and infrastructure projects.
Capital expenses are the primary driver behind the budget increase with spending on big-ticket items nearly doubling in the coming fiscal year. Of the $81 million proposed for capital projects, the lion’s share—some $62 million—is earmarked for school construction.
Louisa County Public Schools plans to spend $29.4 million on a 500-seat addition to Louisa County Middle School and an accompanying alternative education center and $31 million on a 54,400-square foot career and technical education center adjacent to Louisa County High School. Another $1.15 million would be used for architectural construction services for both facilities.
The capital budget includes other notable expenditures including $7.5 million to upgrade and expand the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant off New Bridge Road (Route 208) in the Lake Anna Growth Area and nearly $3 million for Firefly Fiber Broadband’s initiative to bring universal high-speed internet access to the county by 2025.
The New Bridge project is part of a larger effort to shore up or deliver public utilities to the county’s designated growth areas while the broadband payment is the third installment of a $9 million commitment the board made in 2021 to extend fiber access to unserved areas.
As proposed, the county’s operating budget would also increase over FY24, albeit a more modest 6.4 percent, or $9.5 million. Driving some of that increase is a three percent pay hike for staff and a roughly 14 percent increase in spending on public safety including new staffers for the Fire and EMS Department and compression adjustments to salaries. Public safety expenditures are expected to top $24 million in FY25, roughly 16 percent of the operating budget.
The cost to run Louisa County Public Schools—which typically comprises nearly 60 percent of the county’s operating expenses—is also expected to tick upward albeit only about 3 percent. The board proposes to spend $91.5 million on education, about $2.7 million more than the current fiscal year.
As approved by the school board, the school division’s budget includes a 4 percent pay hike for faculty and staff, and two new positions—a special education teacher and an instructional assistant—for Jouett Elementary School.
To fund its spending, the county is expected to draw in some $234 million in revenue, including debt issuance, and tap $3.4 million in cash on hand to cover the rest of its costs.
As part of the budget, the board has proposed a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate, a $2.43 rate for personal property and a $1.90 rate for most business personal property. The real estate tax rate hasn’t moved since 2015 when the board hiked it four cents. Personal property tax rates have remained steady since 2016.
General property taxes are expected to fund more than half of the county’s operating budget, and, though the rates aren’t proposed to increase, revenue from real estate and personal property taxes is projected to jump about 11.9 percent over FY24.
That increase is mostly driven by two factors: a 7.83 percent rise in the assessed value of real estate and the absence of a five percent rebate on real estate taxes that the board gave taxpayers last year. Supervisors agreed to offer the rebate after assessments jumped some 14 percent instead of lowering the tax rate to help offset the increase.
The county will also rely on about $53 million in funding from state and federal sources, a figure that could change depending on what’s included in the final state budget; $14.9 million from other local tax levies including sales, meals and transient occupancy taxes; and $7.5 million from charges for county services. The latter two categories are expected to generate about 25 and 28 percent more for county coffers than they did in the current fiscal year.
The county expects to bring in $171.9 million in operating revenue, about $15.4 million more than its operating expenses. The board proposes to apply the operating surplus to its $81 million in capital spending. To pay for school construction, the county plans to issue some $61 million in debt, paid off over the next 30 years.
While Monday’s public hearing gives residents one more chance to weigh in on the FY25 spending plan—budget adoption is slated for the board’s April 29 meeting—dozens of residents have already had a say at previous board meetings.
At a public hearing in late March focused on a potential increase in real estate taxes—driven not by a hike in the tax rate but by rising real estate assessments—seven community members spoke with most urging the board to lower the tax rate to offset the jump in assessments. Real estate taxes are calculated by multiplying a property’s assessed value by the tax rate.
A couple speakers urged the board to consider specific budget cuts, which could open the door to lower taxes, singling out big-ticket items including the school construction projects.
“The schools do a great job. It’s their job to come out and say ‘hey, we need this, we need that.’ That’s their job. But, sometimes, our job here is to say no,” Green Springs District resident Michael Yeatts said. Yeatts urged the board to center “fiscal responsibility.”
But other community members have encouraged supervisors to expand public investment, particularly with respect to the county’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Parks and Rec Director James Smith told the board in December that the county doesn’t have the recreational facilities necessary to keep pace with its growing population. He subsequently asked for $600,000 in the coming fiscal year to design a multi-purpose rec center with space for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, exercise and martial arts classes and more. He requested $6 million in FY26 to build the facility.
In January and February, residents repeatedly spoke at board meeting, asking supervisors to fund the rec center. Many told the board that they're avid pickleball players and the county doesn’t have enough courts.
Supervisors have shown support for the idea, allotting $1 million in the proposed budget for Parks and Rec’s long-term capital reserves. Though the capital budget doesn’t break down that figure, the board has been socking away $400,000 a year to save for an indoor aquatic center. That would leave $600,000 to plan for the rec center.
Smith also asked for $375,000 to replace a skateboard park dismantled a decade ago to make way for a temporary home for the county’s health department. Now that the health department has moved to a permanent location, several residents have urged the board to rebuild the park, noting that skateboarders must travel outside the county to practice their sport.
Funding for the skate park didn’t make the cut in FY25—at least based on the proposed budget—but supervisors have signaled they’re willing to appropriate money for the facility in FY26.
While the board is expected to adopt the FY25 budget April 29, the spending plan could require some tweaks post-adoption as the county awaits a final state budget.
The Democratic-controlled General Assembly sent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin a $188 billion two-year budget in March. At publication time, it’s unclear how Youngkin will deal with the spending plan.
Fiscal Year 2025 starts July 1.
Supervisors to discuss transportation projects, litter and more
While a public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget is the marquee item on Monday night’s agenda, the board will take up other public business, discussing potential road improvement projects, litter prevention and more.
Supervisors will also consider renewing the Beaverdam Creek Agricultural and Forestal District and hold a public hearing on a real estate tax exemption for property recently acquired by the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation.
Supervisors to discuss SMART SCALE applications
Every two years, localities can apply for state funding for large-scale road improvement projects via SMART SCALE, the commonwealth’s data-driven process for prioritizing local transportation upgrades.
The program, introduced in 2015, determines which projects deserve funding based on a variety of factors including their impact on safety, congestion, economic development, accessibility and the environment. In Louisa County, projects score highest when proposed for a section of roadway with a significant crash history.
Supervisors will discuss which local projects to submit for funding in SMART SCALE’s upcoming application process, dubbed SMART SCALE Round Six. No other information is included about the topic in the meeting materials.
Under the program’s rules, localities with under 200,000 residents—like Louisa—can apply for funding for up to four projects. The projects first move through a pre-application process with the final application deadline August 1.
The applications are then evaluated and scored by a team comprised of representatives from VDOT and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, who recommend projects for approval based on their scores. Louisa’s projects will be scored against other projects submitted by localities in VDOT’s Culpeper District. The Commonwealth Transportation Board next June will ultimately decide which projects receive funding.
During SMART SCALE Round Five—the 2022 cycle—Louisa County applied for funding for three projects: a novel bowtie configuration at the intersection of Route 15 and Spring Creek and Camp Creek Parkways at Zion Crossroads; a roundabout at the intersections of Routes 250/15 also at Zion; and a roundabout at the intersection of Routes 250/208 at Ferncliff. None of the projects received funding.
Despite getting shut out in Round Five, the county has found some success in previous rounds. In 2016, it won approval for road realignment and turn lanes at the intersection of School Bus Road (Route 767), Chalk Level Road (Route 625), and Davis Highway (Route 22/208) between the Towns of Louisa and Mineral. Completed in 2021, the project cost about $7.5 million.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board also approved roundabouts at the intersection of Route 522 and Route 250 at Gum Spring and the intersection of 522 and 208 at Wares Crossroads. The 522/250 project, which cost $3.1 million, was completed in late 2022. The 522/208 project, estimated to cost $7.6 million, is expected to be finished by early December.
Supervisors to discuss ‘litter prevention’
Supervisors will discuss “litter prevention,” according to the meeting agenda. The meeting materials don’t include any additional information about the item.
Reining in littering and cleaning up the county’s roadsides has been a hot topic at board meetings over the last few years with residents occasionally complaining about trash along roadways and urging supervisors to find ways to address the problem.
Some citizens have taken matters into their own hands, forming the nonprofit group Louisa Clean, which organizes periodic cleanups and encourages residents to participate in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program.
The group is currently planning the Big Clean, a county-wide cleanup effort slated for April 13 and 14. To help promote the event, the board on Monday will declare April 13 through April 20 “Clean Louisa Week.”
Beyond grassroots efforts, supervisors formed a litter committee earlier this year, including Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones and Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter, to identify ways to control litter. While the committee has briefly updated the board on its work, it’s yet to make any formal policy recommendations.
In a Facebook post in mid-March, McCotter floated a few ideas. He said the primary drivers of excessive litter are three-fold: construction contractors, irresponsible trash collectors and motorists who throw trash out of their vehicles.
While he applauded Louisa Clean’s efforts, McCotter suggested that cleaning up the county is also the job of local government. He recommended that the county hire a contractor specifically dedicated to roadside cleanup. To pay for the service, he said the county should use a portion of building permit fees and revenue from tickets issued at the landfill to “uncovered trash haulers.”
“I know the amount it would take to pay a contractor to clean our roadways and it’s an expense I believe we can offset,” McCotter said.
It’s unclear if the county’s solid waste ordinance permits local authorities to issue citations to trash collectors who arrive at the landfill with their loads uncovered or if revenue from building permit fees could be directed to roadside cleanup. At publication time, Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon hadn’t responded to an inquiry about either of McCotter’s suggestions.
With respect to people who throw garbage out of their car, McCotter said that requires “a cultural change.”
“If you are the kind of person that throws trash out the window of your vehicle, in my opinion, you don’t even deserve to live in America. That includes cigarette butts. From the amount of alcoholic beverage containers along our roadways, it’s also appalling to note the amount of drinking and driving going on,” he said.
To learn more about Louisa Clean and the upcoming Big Clean, email LouisaClean2022@gmail.com
Board to discuss upcoming triathlon
Supervisors will discuss the Rumpus in Bumpass, a triathlon sponsored by Kinetic Endeavors, LLC that’s held annually at and around Pleasants Landing on the eastern end of Lake Anna. The next Rumpus is scheduled for Saturday, April 20.
The event is held each year under an “outdoor gathering” Conditional Use Permit first issued by the Board of Supervisors in 2016 and amended in 2019. The permit imposes 17 conditions on the triathlon including capping single-day competitors at 750; requiring 30-day notice to neighbors prior to the event; prohibiting on-site camping; and mandating that all race-related activities take place between 8:30 am and 5 pm, among other provisions.
The Rumpus has caused some friction in the neighborhood over the last several years including a 2019 incident in which attendees illegally parked along a public road. That issue compelled county officials to amend the CUP, adding conditions drawn from community feedback.
Supervisors to consider renewal of Beaverdam Creek AFD
Supervisors will consider renewing the Beaverdam Creek Agricultural and Forestal District, which covers 442.7 acres in southwestern Louisa County.
AFDs are a conservation tool that allows landowners engaged in farming or forestry to voluntarily prohibit development on their property. The districts require review and renewal by the Board of Supervisors every 10 years.
Established in 1994, the Beaverdam Creek AFD includes 10 parcels along Columbia Road (Route 615), Zion Road (Route 627) and W. Green Springs Road (Route 617) near Zion Crossroads.
According to the meeting materials, the district will retain its current boundaries following the renewal process. County staff sent letters to participating landowners, notifying them that the AFD is up for renewal and that their property would remain in the district unless the county received a response requesting removal. No one responded to the letters.
Learn more about the AFD program here.
Supes to hold public hearing on Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation tax exemption request
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to grant a real estate tax exemption to the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation (TSBF) for about five acres, encompassing five tax map parcels, that the nonprofit organization recently acquired as part of its effort to preserve land connected to the Battle of Trevilian Station, the largest all-cavalry battle in the Civil War.
Three parcels are located near the intersection of Routes 22 and 33 at Trevilians. The other two are off Ellisville Drive (Route 669) north of the Town of Louisa. According to Louisa County land records, the parcels have a combined assessed value of $140,600.
TSBF owns more about 685 acres in western Louisa County, which already has tax exempt status. Under Virginia law, a county may exempt a nonprofit from real estate or personal property taxes, provided the exempted property is used for religious, charitable, patriotic, historical, benevolent, cultural or public playground purposes.
Supes to consider supplemental appropriation for CSA funding
Supervisors will consider a resolution authorizing a $255,000 supplemental appropriation to the Children’s Services Act fund. Of that, $112,200 would be drawn from the county’s general fund while $142,800 would come from state funding.
Passed in 1993, the Children’s Services Act established a single state pool of funds to purchase services for at-risk youth and their families. The state funds, combined with local funds, are managed by local interagency teams who plan and oversee services to youth. The services provided under CSA are mandated services as prescribed in the act, according to the proposed resolution.
Louisa County’s FY24 CSA case load projections exceed budgeted expectations by $255,000, necessitating the supplemental appropriation.
Supes to hear presentation from Louisa Arts Center
The Louisa Arts Center will brief the board on its work. The nonprofit organization received $60,000 in county support for the current fiscal year and requested $80,000 in FY25. The board tentatively voted to flat fund the group at its February 5 budget work session.
PC to consider CUP for solar site, rezonings for storage facilities
The Louisa County Planning Commission on Thursday night will consider three items, two of which commissioners tabled at their March meeting.
The commission will decide whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for an up to 5-megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar facility off Peach Grove Road. It will also make a recommendation to the board on a request for a rezoning and CUP to operate a storage facility on Duke Street near the Town of the Louisa. The commission held a public hearing on both applications in March but opted to delay action until the April meeting.
In the lone public hearing of the night, the commission will consider whether to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a rezoning that would clear the way for another storage facility, this one at Wares Crossroads.
One notable item that’s not on the commission’s agenda is Love's Travel Stop's request to rezone, from Agricultural (A-2) to General Commercial (C-2), parts of three parcels off the Gum Spring exit of Interstate 64 for a truck stop. Love’s plans to construct the facility, which would include a gas station, fast food restaurant, truck scale and other amenities, on a 53-acre site, which covers the three parcels. The parcels are currently split-zoned General Commercial and Agricultural.
According to Community Development Director Josh Gillespie, Love’s application “has been found incomplete,” so it won’t be considered on Thursday. The application could be heard at the commission’s May meeting.
Commission to make recommendation on proposed utility-scale solar facility off Peach Grove Road
After tabling action on the item last month, commissioners will decide whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of BW Solar’s (BWS) request for a Conditional Use Permit to develop an up to 5 MW utility-scale solar array on 60 acres of a 132-acre parcel (tmp 14 71) between Peach Grove and Goldmine Roads near the upper end of Lake Anna. Planners are also tasked with determining if the use is in substantial conformance with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
The property, which is in the Mineral Election District and designated for rural/agricultural use on the Comp Plan’s Future Land Use Map, is owned by Dustin Madison and his wife, Megan, who live on the parcel.
The commission held a public hearing on the proposal last month, but decided to delay action after several planners said they wanted more information, mostly related to stormwater management and erosion and sediment control plans for a project that would be just a stone’s throw from Lake Anna. Commissioners also cited concerns about receiving BWS’s 500-plus page application and an accompanying staff report only a couple days before the meeting.
The solar facility’s potential impact on the lake has emerged as a key concern during the public approval process. At last month’s public hearing, 10 community members spoke in opposition to the request, arguing that runoff from the project would negatively impact the lake and surrounding properties.
Several speakers and members of the Planning Commission alluded to problems with stormwater runoff and erosion and sediment control at other solar facilities in the county, namely Dominion’s sprawling 88 MW Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road. At Belcher, hundreds of acres of timberland were rapidly cleared to make way for solar panels, and runoff from the site has caused flooding and significant erosion on neighboring farms.
The problems at Belcher prompted the Board of Supervisors to toughen its standards for large-scale solar development via a revised solar ordinance adopted in 2022. Among other provisions, the revamped ordinance mandates a 300-foot setback from neighboring properties inclusive of an opaque vegetative buffer; beefs up erosion and sediment control standards to guard against runoff; and strengthens requirements for a decommissioning plan and decommissioning bond to ensure that the property is restored to its current use when solar panels are removed.
During their presentation last month, BWS representatives sought to differentiate their proposal—dubbed the Green Boot project—from Belcher and assure commissioners and community members that it wouldn’t harm the lake or neighboring land.
They emphasized that the project would be far smaller than Belcher with solar panels covering only about 15 acres of the 60-acre project site. The rest would be mostly comprised of buffers, pollinators plantings and stormwater management features. In addition, they said, land clearing would be done in stages and land disturbance would be kept to a minimum, complying with all aspects of the county’s toughened solar ordinance.
BWS representatives framed the solar array as a good neighbor that would be screened from view by generous buffers and, after a four-to-six month construction period, generate little traffic and noise. Over its 35-year lifespan, the developers said, the project would quietly produce clean energy for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s distribution system and contribute about $11,000 in taxes annually.
“The project is nice, quiet and tucked away and does not disturb neighbors at all once operational,” BWS Senior Developer Bridgette Kelly said.
In response to questions raised by the commission and county staff at the March meeting, BWS submitted more than 100 pages of additional information, largely focused on steps that would be taken to protect the lake and neighboring land.
As they did in March, the applicant argued that the project wouldn’t detrimentally impact Goldmine Creek, which run through the area, or the lake. Based on measures they plan to put in place—including setbacks from wetlands and ditches, diversion ditches, filter strips and stormwater retention basins—they said that runoff from the site would decrease post-construction. The project site is currently home to pine trees, which are periodically timbered.
“The analysis at a downstream stream point of the project site indicates that both the peak discharge and volume runoff are lower in the post-construction conditions compared to the pre-construction conditions. As a result, our project is unlikely to contribute to erosion or flooding issues downstream and will have a minimal impact on the stream,” the applicant states, referencing an intermittent stream that runs through the site and connects to Goldmine Creek.
In the submission, BWS also highlights the extensive measures that would be taken to ensure that stormwater management and erosion and sediment control features are working as designed during construction. As stipulated in the county’s solar ordinance, the project requires a third-party inspector to monitor it throughout the construction process. The inspector would conduct site visits every five business days or within 48 hours of a rain event from the start of land disturbance to final stabilization, according to the applicant. An inspector would also visit the site during a rain event “to see how sediment is responding.”
BWS also submitted additional information in response to a commissioner’s question about whether it’s proposed $158,125 decommissioning bond would be enough to cover the cost of removing panels and restoring the site some three decades from now. Per Louisa’s ordinance, the bond would be adjusted for inflation.
In a letter, Pat Hudepohl of Alternative Power Generation, a clean energy consulting firm, said that the bond is appropriate. Based on current market conditions, Hudepohl estimates it would take about $164,667 to decommission the project, four percent more than the figure BWS submitted. But he said that no adjustment to the bond is necessary.
“(A) contingency fund handles these swings and 4% is typical range for price increases and decreases.” Hodepohl wrote.
Hudepohl also noted that much of the equipment could be recycled, which reduces the cost of decommissioning.
Beyond concerns about stormwater management and decommissioning, some community members and county officials have taken issue with how BWS plans to access the site. The developers propose using Peach Grove Road as the primary entrance, a narrow secondary road that dead ends at the lakefront Thalia Shores subdivision. Community Development Department staff, backed by neighbors, recommend using Goldmine Road.
BWS representatives contend that Peach Grove Road is a more suitable entrance for several reasons. In March, they emphasized that using Goldmine Road would require crossing an intermittent stream, introducing additional environmental concerns.
They also stressed that the facility would only generate about 15 vehicle trips per day from workers during construction and one daily visit from a large truck delivering supplies.
Dustin Madison, the property’s owner, said that the traffic wouldn’t be much different than what’s already on Peach Grove Road, noting that the road accommodates a lot of vehicles due to ongoing home construction. Post-construction, he said, the site would generate almost no traffic, but that’s not the case for residential development.
“There are concrete trucks. There’s truckloads of trusses that come up and down that road every day, and they’re building those houses and putting more cars on that road. This is the best way that we can say there won’t be any traffic on that 60 acres whenever this project is complete,” Madison said.
In a follow up analysis submitted after the March meeting, the applicant wrote that Goldmine Road poses more safety issues than Peach Grove, noting that four significant accidents have occurred on Goldmine near the subject parcel in the last year.
BWS also points out that staff’s recommended entrance off Goldmine only has 300 feet of site distance to the east, falling short of VDOT’s recommendation, while the proposed Peach Grove Road entrance has 700 feet in both directions.
Commissioners will discuss BWS’s latest submission during a pre-meeting work session then make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors at their regular meeting. Supervisors have the final say on whether the project moves forward.
While the board has approved seven utility-scale solar projects to date covering some 5,200 acres, it hasn’t green-lighted any since 2022 and, last year, rejected a proposal for a 5 MW shared solar array near Gordonsville.
Several board members have expressed concerns about continuing to permit large-scale solar development, pointing to the problems at Belcher and growing resistance among some residents who’ve argued that utility-scale solar arrays are destroying farms and forests, and marring the county rural character.
As part of the revised solar ordinance adopted in 2022, the board capped utility-scale solar generation to three percent of the county’s land or 9,800 acres. Board Chair Duane Adams, who represents the Peach Grove Road area, suggested late last year that the board consider lowering the cap to two or two and a half percent.
For more information about the Green Boot project, read Engage Louisa’s coverage of last month’s Planning Commission meeting here.
Commissioners to consider rezoning, CUP for Duke St. storage facility
The commission will take up another item on which it delayed action at last month’s meeting: Louisa Heights, LLC’s request to rezone, from General Industrial (I-2) to Industrial Limited (I-1), 3.14 acres on Duke Street in the Louisa District for a mini-warehouse facility (storage) with outdoor parking (part of tmp 41-187). The applicant is also requesting a Conditional Use Permit, which is required for the use in I-1 zoning.
The property is located off Davis Highway (Route 22) just east of the Town of Louisa in the Louisa Growth Area and designated for industrial use on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Louisa Heights representative Gary Deal asked the commission to delay formal consideration of the application at its March meeting, noting that the firm bought the property from the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority (IDA), and he wanted to get a green light from the authority before moving forward with the approval process.
The property is part of a 60-acre assemblage that Louisa Heights acquired from the IDA, which it intends to develop as an industrial park. Deal said that Louisa Heights wants the park “to be very clean” and mainly occupied by light industrial uses, offices and, potentially, tech-sector businesses.
Armed with a letter from the IDA in support of the storage facility, Louisa Heights will return to the commission on Thursday night to ask members to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the rezoning and CUP. The commission held a public hearing on the item last month during which no community members weighed in.
According to its land use application, Louisa Heights plans to build a 31,850-square foot storage facility on the parcel, which it expects to generate “a peak hourly volume of 46 vehicle trips per day.”
The applicant contends that the use fits with the character of the neighborhood, noting that the surrounding properties are all zoned industrial and another storage business adjoins the subject parcel.
In proffers attached to the rezoning, Louisa Heights agrees to limit future uses on the property to a contractor’s office and shop, financial institution, funeral home, general office, guidance service, medical office and veterinary clinic. Additionally, with a CUP, the property would be limited in future use to a storage and parking facility—the proposed use—trade school, clinic, communication services, equipment sales and rental, and custom manufacturing, among several other uses.
Louisa Heights also agrees to proffer a 10-foot-wide walking trail across the southwestern portion of the site, which would connect Duke Street to fitness trails adjacent to the Betty Queen Center.
“This is the first step in creating a pedestrian network in Louisa County,” Senior Planner Tom Egeland told the commission in March.
Community Development Department staff recommends approval of the rezoning with the attached proffers and approval of the CUP with eight conditions. Among other provisions, the conditions require the use of dark-sky compliant lighting, mandate that any unattended areas be fenced and gated, and prohibit the storage of flammable liquids and vehicles with full fuel tanks.
Commissioners to hold public hearing, consider rezoning for storage facility at Wares Crossroads
A storage facility geared toward accommodating boat and recreational vehicle owners could be coming to Wares Crossroads
Lake Anna Storage, LLC is asking the Board of Supervisors to rezone, from Agricultural (A-2) to General Commercial (C-2), 7.714 acres (tmp 28-106) just southwest of the intersection of Chopping Road (Route 623) and Zachary Taylor Highway (Route 522) in the Lake Anna Growth Area Overlay District. The applicant plans to establish a mini-warehouse (storage) facility to house boats and recreational vehicles and also intends to offer detailing services.
The Planning Commission on Thursday night will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend that supervisors approve the request.
According to its land use application, Lake Anna Storage plans to use the property to store and detail boats and RVs but could add future uses including minor vehicle maintenance and repair services like fluid changes and winterization and storage for heavy equipment.
Lake Ann Storage argues that its proposed use meets a community need, citing the long wait list at other storage facilities in the area. The applicant also contends the use fits with the character of the neighborhood, noting that the subject parcel is surrounded by commercially zoned properties, some of which are home to complimentary businesses.
The applicant says the use won’t detrimentally impact county services and construction of a roundabout at Wares Crossroads will help alleviate traffic concerns.
In proffers attached to the rezoning, the applicant agrees to limit the property to 24 future uses permitted in C-2 zoning, use dark-sky compliant lighting, gate and fence unattended areas, and develop the property in general conformance with a site plan submitted as part of the rezoning application.
According to that plan, Lake Anna Storage would construct four covered storage structures, a 2,000-foot workshop and outdoor parking spaces. The applicant would use an existing home on the property as an office, and the parcel would be mostly surrounded by a 10 to 40-foot tree-lined buffer. The business would be accessed by a shared commercial entrance off Chopping Road.
Community Development Department Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request with the attached proffers.
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