This week in county government; Busy agenda for supervisors' March 7 meeting; Planners to consider retention period for family subdivision parcels, AFD renewals
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This week in county government: public meetings, March 7 through March 12
Monday, March 7
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, budget work session, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Administration Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 4 pm. (agenda, livestream)
Supervisors will discuss the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. Click here for budget information. Click here for Engage Louisa’s coverage of the Feb. 14 budget work session.
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Administration Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Supervisors will consider a crowded agenda Monday night including four public hearings. See below for more information.
Wednesday, March 9
CANCELED: James River Water Authority, Fluvanna County Public Library, 214 Commons Blvd., Palmyra, 9 am. At publication time, an agenda was not publicly available.
Louisa County Water Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Administration Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., 6 pm. At publication time, an agenda was not publicly available.
Thursday, March 10
Louisa County Planning Commission, long-range planning work session, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Administration Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 5 pm. (agenda, livestream)
The commission will hold an educational training work session.
Louisa County Planning Commission, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Administration Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 7 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
The commission will consider an agenda that includes four public hearings. See below for more information.
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.
Busy agenda for supervisors’ March 7 meeting
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will consider a crowded agenda Monday night including four public hearing and several discussion items.
Agenda highlights
Board to discuss dogs running at large ordinance: Supervisors will discuss the county’s dogs running at large ordinance including ways they could beef up restrictions on roaming dogs. At recent board meetings, residents urged the board to crack down on wandering canines, which they say are a problem across the county.
The county’s current dogs running at large ordinance bars dogs from roaming off leash and out of the control of their owner, beyond their owner’s property, only in the months of April, May, and June. Violators aren’t subject to fines but animal control officers can pick up roaming dogs. There’s a fee to retrieve a dog from the county’s animal shelter.
The ordinance applies county-wide except in about 25 subdivisions, mostly around Lake Anna, and the Mineral Trailer Park. Those areas bar dogs at large year-round and violators are subject to a maximum $150 fine. The towns of Louisa and Mineral also bar roaming dogs year-round under their own ordinances.
At its February 14 meeting, the board debated strengthening regulations governing roaming dogs, voting unanimously to instruct County Attorney Helen Phillips to work with the Sheriff’s Office and Animal Control to draft an amended ordinance for discussion at an upcoming meeting. The meeting materials don’t include such a draft. Instead, Phillips provides the county’s current ordinance as well as Spotsylvania County’s dogs running at large ordinance and related regulations. In a memo, Phillips notes that Spotsylvania’s regulations are included at the request of Chief Animal Control Officer Alyssa Ellison, who plans to discuss them with the board Monday night.
Among other regulations, Spotsylvania County bars roaming dogs year-round and violators are subject to escalating criminal penalties. A first offense qualifies as a Class 4 misdemeanor, the lowest criminal offense in the commonwealth and punishable by a maximum $250 fine.
Per state law, localities are permitted to bar roaming dogs but ordinances must include a specific exemption for hunting dogs. Any changes to the county’s dogs running at large regulations would require a public hearing prior to adoption.
Board to consider forming committee to explore sites for potential sports complex: Supervisors will discuss forming a working group to explore sites for potential construction of a multi-field sports complex.
At its February 22 meeting, the board allocated up to $15,000 to conduct soil work on prospective sites for the complex, which could include turf fields for baseball, softball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and other sports.
During several public discussions, county officials indicated that, if built, they’d like to site the park in the Zion Crossroads area so that it’s easily accessible off Interstate 64 and close to hotels and restaurants. Parks and Recreation Director James Smith has touted the park as a potential destination for “sports tourism,” noting that it could provide a venue for tournaments and other events that draw out of county visitors.
County officials have only publicly identified one potential site for the park: 190 acres of county-owned land along Route 15 just north of Zion Crossroads. That property, located in the Green Spring National Historic Landmark District, is home to ultra-deep wells that provide water to the area.
The site has sparked debate among board members. At a February budget work session, Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams suggested that the Green Springs land deserved serious consideration, given its proximity to Interstate 64 and that it’s county owned. Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones warned against its selection, noting the potential for legal action. The property has been the subject of ligation between the county and residents of the historic district in the past.
The board included $8.9 million for the park in its preliminary Capital Improvement Plan for FY24. But that spending isn’t guaranteed. Supervisors are considering placing a bond referendum on the ballot this November to let voters decide if they want to fund the project.
Supervisors to hold public hearing on small-scale solar regulations: The board will hold a public hearing and consider several amendments to county land development regulations governing ground-mounted, small-scale solar facilities. Such facilities typically serve individual residences.
Community Development Director Robert Gardner requested the changes, which would raise the power generation cap on small-scale solar facilities from 15kW to 30 kW and grant the Zoning Administrator power to determine appropriate buffering on a case-by-case basis. The administrator would consider the size of the parcel, its topography, distance from neighbors, adequacy of existing mature vegetation, and any planned plantings. Currently, the ordinance requires the installation of a 30-foot opaque buffer.
The amendments would also eliminate unnecessary setback text and alter the standards for installing any required buffering, reconfiguring the plantings to a single row with 12-foot centers and reducing the size of plantings at installation from five feet to three feet.
At the Planning Commission’s public hearing in February, Gardner said that the county adopted new regulations for ground-mounted, small-scale solar facilities last year. Since then, the Community Development Department has received three applications to install panels, which reveal the need to revisit the regulations.
Of the three applications, two exceed the current 15 kW cap. A third application proposes to install panels on property already surrounded by mature evergreens, negating the need for additional buffering.
The three residents hoping to install solar panels near their homes spoke at the public hearing, urging the county to adopt the changes.
Joseph Parrish plans to install a 7.5 kW array on his farm along Byrd Mill Road where he says buffering is unnecessary and impractical.
“I’d like to get rid of the whole (buffer) because the only ones who can see (the panels) are me and my cows,” he said.
Planners voted 7-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the amendments.
Public hearing to consider CUP permitting agricultural activity in residential zoning district: The board will hold a public hearing and consider Nathan and Chelsea Newcomb’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish an agricultural operation on three adjoining parcels zoned General Residential (R-2). The Newcombs own the parcels via Farmhouse 5 LLC.
The properties (tmp 97 68A, 97 68 B, and 97 68 C) cover about 8.2 acres located along Owens Creek Road in the Mountain Road Voting District and lie adjacent to a larger parcel also owned by the Newcombs. The land is surrounded by properties zoned Agricultural (A-1, A-2) and General Residential (R-2).
According to their land use application, the Newcombs plan to establish a farmette with a garden and some livestock. The couple told the Planning Commission that they aren’t looking to run an extensive livestock operation but want to get their three children involved in 4-H.
Louisa County’s land development regulations allow for passive agricultural activity on property zoned residential by-right including the cultivation of crops and silviculture. But, keeping and raising farm animals and fowl is specifically excluded, requiring a CUP on R-2-zoned property.
To alleviate the Planning Commission’s concerns about how many animals the land can support and potential impacts on neighbors, the Newcombs agreed to cap the number of animals they’ll raise. Under a condition recommended by county planning staff, the CUP also prohibits the Newcombs from raising swine, alpacas, and llamas.
Planners recommended approval of the CUP in a 6-1 vote with Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin opposing the request.
Dominion to brief board in annual State of the Station address: Executives from Dominion Energy will deliver their annual State of the Station report, updating the board on North Anna Nuclear Power Station’s operation and performance over the last year and other news from the plant. Residents will also have a chance to weigh in during a public hearing that accompanies the briefing.
According to a report included in the agenda packet, North Anna’s Units 1 and 2 operated with minimal interruption in 2021, running at over 92 percent capacity. Throughout the year, they fully met the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s performance objectives.
Dominion is currently applying for a Subsequent License Renewal for the reactors, which would allow them to operate through 2058 and 2060 respectively, 80 years since each went into service. Per the report, Dominion anticipates that the NRC will issue a final ruling on its application in the second quarter of 2022. The report doesn’t mention if a recent NRC decision to review its environmental impact statement requirements for SLRs could impact that timeline.
Aside from North Anna 1 and 2, Dominion holds a license for a yet-to-be constructed 1500 MW reactor. While the company has no concrete plans to build a third reactor, the report notes that it’s “keeping the nuclear option open.”
“Dominion Energy Virginia believes that a diverse generation portfolio is essential to meeting the future needs of our customers, and that nuclear energy is the only large-scale baseload, carbon-free option which also provides fuel diversity,” the report states. The report also notes that the company is exploring the latest in nuclear technology including the possibility of constructing small modular reactors.
The report details the federal government’s as yet unsuccessful effort to find a permanent depository for highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. That material is currently stored on site at the nation’s 55 nuclear power plants. North Anna stores the waste in underground casks. Dominion ships low-level nuclear waste off site to facilities in Utah, Tennessee, and Texas.
The report also highlights North Anna’s substantial economic impact on Louisa County, noting that the plant employs 795 people full-time while about 200 contract workers are regularly on site. About 1,000 additional workers visit the plant during periodic outages.
In 2021, Dominion paid more than $12.6 million in taxes to Louisa County on behalf of the plant, nearly 10 percent of the county’s total revenue. Since the facility’s inception, the company has paid $399 million into county coffers.
Board to discuss fees for AFDs: The board will discuss eliminating the county’s $100 fee for the creation and/or addition of property to agricultural/forestal districts. At its February 23 meeting, the Ag/Forestal and Rural Preservation Committee requested that the board remove the fee.
In September 2019, supervisors waived the AFD fee for two years. At the Ag/Forestal Committee’s request, they extended that waiver for another six months last fall.
AFDs, which allow property owners engaged in farming or forestry to voluntarily prohibit development on their land for a 10-year period, are a popular conservation tool across Louisa. The county includes 15 AFDs and, since waiving the fee, it has added acreage to existing districts and approved the creation of one new district.
Supervisors to consider approval of revised emergency operations plan: The board will discuss the county’s updated Emergency Operations Plan and consider its formal approval. Per state law, localities are required to revise the plan every four years.
The meeting materials include the proposed basic plan, revised by Fire and EMS Chief Robert Dube. The plan states that Louisa County is “vulnerable to a variety of hazards such as flash flooding, hurricanes, winter storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials incidents, resource shortages and terrorism.” It lays out the legal and organizational basis for the county to effectively respond to and recover from disasters and emergency situations, assigning broad responsibilities to local government agencies and support organizations for disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
Public hearing to consider amendment to CUP for telecommunications tower: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider National Communication Towers LLC’s request for an amendment to a Conditional Use Permit issued in 2006 that allowed the company to construct and operate a telecommunications tower at 7383 Zachary Taylor Highway (tmp 16-7) in the Mineral Voting District. Samuel and Jean Bazzanella own the 141-acre agriculturally zoned (A-1) parcel.
The proposed amendment would remove the CUP’s 12th condition, which states that “the permit is not transferable to another applicant or tower owner and the tower shall be removed by the applicant/owner within six months from the date of the sale.”
According to a report compiled by county planning staff, NCT plans to sell the 199-foot tower to SBA Communications Corporation, but the sale has been delayed due to Condition 12. Senior Planner Tom Egeland told the Planning Commission that, over the last four years, similar conditions have not been included in other CUPs and it’s unclear why such a condition was included in this permit.
Planners voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the request.
Planners to consider retention period for family subdivision parcels, AFD renewals
The Louisa County Planning Commission will consider a busy agenda Thursday night including four public hearings and one discussion item. Three of those hearing focus on agricultural/forestal districts. In the fourth, commissioners will consider whether to recommend that the Board of Supervisors shorten the retention period for family subdivision parcels, which currently stands at 10 years. The commission will also discuss small area plans in the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Agenda highlights
Commissioners to hold public hearing on retention period for family subdivision parcels: Planners will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors an amendment to county code that would shorten the retention period for family subdivision parcels.
State code requires that localities provide reasonable provisions for the creation of family subdivisions. According to Louisa County’s land development regulations, landowners are permitted to subdivide properties in the agricultural (A-1), agricultural (A-2), residential limited (R-1), or residential general (R-2) zoning districts into two or more parts for the purpose of sale or gift to a member of their immediate family. The person to whom the property is sold or gifted must retain it for at least 10 years before it can be sold unless it’s subject to “an involuntary transfer such as foreclosure, death, divorce, judicial sale, condemnation or bankruptcy.”
Family divisions aren’t required to adhere to the same road frontage requirements as other divisions and gifting or selling a parcel to a family member doesn’t require a road maintenance agreement, according to Deputy Zoning Administrator Linda Buckler, though parcels do require a platted right of way. In addition, family divisions don’t count against the total number of lots allowed on a particular parcel. Per state law, an individual is only permitted to receive one family subdivision parcel per locality during their lifetime.
At the request of a constituent, Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams asked that the Planning Commission take a look at the retention period to “see if (10 years) is still an appropriate length of time.”
Supervisors set the retention period at one year in 1990, raised it to five years in 1997 and to 10 years in 2010. Louisa has the longest retention period among surrounding localities though Orange and Albemarle require property to be owned for a specified period before it’s eligible for a family division.
During the commission’s February meeting, Buckler told planners that the county raised the retention period to five years to combat circumvention as property owners divided parcels under the more generous family divisions rules then sold them after one year. She said that she could find little information on why the retention period shifted to 10 years. She noted that the county handles family subdivisions regularly and there doesn’t seem to be any significant issues with the current criteria.
During the public comment period, Mineral District resident and former Planning Commission member Jack Matthews did take issue with the retention period. He urged the commission to recommend that the Board of Supervisors shorten the period to five years, contending that Louisa is out of step with nearby localities and places “an undue burden” on residents.
The commission agreed to hold a public hearing to consider shortening the period but opted not to state a specific length of time in its advertisement. Several commissioners expressed skepticism about meddling with a system that appears to be adequately serving its intended purpose.
“Since the intention of a family subdivision all along is to provide a piece of property for a family member to live…it seems to me like that’s not really something that a 10-year time period was a real problem for,” Mineral District Commissioner John Disosway said.
Commission to hold three public hearings on AFDs: Planners will hold three public hearings focused on ag/forestal districts, 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. At that time, landowners can withdraw their property from a district.
The commission will consider whether to recommend to the board renewal of a pair of AFDs in northwestern Louisa County. The Ellisville AFD, originally created in 1992, currently encompasses 18 parcels covering about 1,505 acres scattered around Ellisville Road. According to the meeting materials, property owners requested the removal of three parcels from the district, which will reduce its size to just under 1,000 acres. The Goldmine Creek AFD currently includes 34 parcels covering just over 3,400 acres around Goldmine Road. One property owner requested the removal of a roughly 69-acre parcel, which would reduce the district’s size to about 3,334 acres.
At its February 23 meeting, the Ag/Forestal and Rural Preservation Committee recommended renewing both districts.
In a third public hearing, the commission will consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of the withdrawal of about 288 acres from the Mountain Road AFD. Louis Kean and Cora Pennell own the Indian Creek Road property via Louis L. Kean Jr. LLC. They requested its removal for estate planning purposes.
Property owners are free to remove parcels from an AFD when the district is up for review and renewal but withdrawal outside of that 10-year interval requires Board of Supervisors’ approval. The Mountain Road AFD is up for review and renewal by August 1, 2022.
The Ag/Forestal and Rural Preservation Committee discussed the request at their February meeting, ultimately opting to recommend denial. Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams argued that it sets a bad precedent to allow a property owner to remove a parcel without a compelling reason, noting that the district is set for renewal in the coming months.
The committee suggested that staff reach out to the property owners for more specific information about their request.
In an email to the Planning Commission, Pennell said that she and Kean are in their late 70s and want to divide the parcel and gift it to their heirs as soon as possible. Because the property is in an LLC, they can’t divide it under the county’s family subdivision ordinance, which is the only division permitted for property in an AFD.
Pennell said that the property, located along the South Anna River, is under a conservation easement with the Virginia Department of Forestry, which protects it in perpetuity. She said that it won’t be developed regardless of whether it’s included in an AFD.
Commission to discuss small area plans: As staff and the commission prepare to put the final touches on the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, planners will discuss small area plans. The meeting materials include a draft of the Ferncliff Small Area Plan.
In a memo to the commission, Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon notes that the county adopted an extensive update of the Comprehensive Plan in 2019 but the plan’s appendices, including small area plans and transportation, public facilities, and utilities and infrastructure plans, are not yet complete.
Coon points out that small area plans are intended to “quickly articulate the current state and future vision” for specific areas and to help ensure that “developments mitigate any factors that may interfere with the future vision.”
The Ferncliff plan, for example, articulates that the Ferncliff Growth Area “has the potential to be a mixed use area that would provide needed services to Louisa County residents and industrial businesses.” It notes that, as the area develops, the intersection of Routes 208 and 250 will need improvements. In a section titled “Appearance,” the plan states that future development should have a “high quality appearance” emphasizing “town and village commercial development that allows for walking, biking, and on street parking.”
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