This week in county government; Election recap; LA Resort delays public hearing on rezoning request until Dec. 5 as neighbors speak out; BOS roundup; PC green-lights changes to Zion Town Center
Engage Louisa is a community newsletter aimed at keeping folks informed about Louisa County government. It’s free, non-partisan, and powered by volunteers. 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, Nov. 14 through Nov. 19
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 frequently schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Monday, November 14
Short-term rental work group, Extension Conference Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1 pm.
Louisa County Electoral Board, provisional ballot meeting, Executive Board Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1:30 pm.
Wednesday, November 16
Community Policy Management Team, Executive Board Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 1 pm.
Thursday, November 17
Industrial Development Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 8:30 am.
Other meetings:
Monday, November 14
Mineral Town Council, 312 Mineral Ave., 7 pm. At publication time, a meeting agenda was not publicly available.
Tuesday, November 15
Louisa Town Council, 212 Fredericksburg Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda)
Thursday, November 17
LA Resort Town Hall, Callie Opie’s Barn, 4533 Zachary Taylor Highway, Mineral, 6 pm. Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams will moderate a town hall for community members to discuss with the developer a proposed rezoning, from commercial (C-2) to Planned Unit Development (PUD), for 15.2 acres just west of the Route 208 bridge on Lake Anna. (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.
Election recap: Good, Runnett win big in congressional, school board races; Towns vote for new and familiar leadership
A Republican congressional candidate and a Republican-endorsed school board candidate rolled to victories locally in last Tuesday’s elections, but the party fell short of sky-high expectations in other parts of the commonwealth and country.
And, in the Towns of Louisa and Mineral, voters chose a mix of new and familiar leaders in mayoral and town council races held in November instead of May, a shift from the towns’ traditional electoral calendar.
Check out Engage Louisa’s election recap below.
Good easily wins in VA05
Incumbent Republican Bob Good easily dispatched his Democratic challenger Joshua Throneburg to win election to his second term in the 5th Congressional District race.
Good claimed nearly 58 percent of the vote to Throneburg’s 41 percent in a redrawn district made slightly more Republican-friendly during last year’s redistricting process. A former member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, Good outpaced Throneburg, a Charlottesville small business owner and ordained minister, in 21 of the Southside-anchored district’s 24 localities.
In Louisa, Good won nearly 65 percent of the vote to Throneburg’s 35 percent, according to unofficial results. Good came out on top in 13 of the county’s 14 precincts, claiming his largest victory in Jackson where he garnered more than 76 percent of the vote. Throneburg defeated Good in the Patrick Henry 1 precinct, traditionally the county’s friendliest turf for Democrats, winning about 53 percent of the vote. The Louisa County Electoral Board will tally the final results Monday afternoon.
“Patriotic Virginians like yourselves made your voices heard and sent a clear message to Washington: conservative values are here to stay,” Good tweeted after the race was called Tuesday night.
Throneburg conceded to Good around 9 pm on Tuesday. He said in a written statement that he “will not forget the many residents of the Fifth District I met during this race: the good, hardworking people who simply want a better, fairer, more just world for their families and their communities.”
“I will pray for Bob Good and pray that he can rise to the challenge of being a representative who helps those people build the world they seek," he said.
The decennial redistricting process moved Louisa County from the 7th Congressional District, it’s home for the last two decades, to the 5th. The county’s current representative, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, won her third term in a redrawn 7th, which now includes a swath of rural central Virginia and a chunk of the outer Washington suburbs.
Spanberger defeated Republican Yesli Vega, a member of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, by about four points in one of the most closely watched races in the country. Republicans hoped to flip the district as part of a red wave that failed to materialize. At publication time, it remained unclear which party would control the House of Representatives in January.
Runnett wins Mineral District School Board seat
In a special election for the Mineral District seat on the Louisa County School Board, Lloyd Runnett defeated David Harold Rogers by about 850 votes, garnering support on nearly 68 percent of ballots cast compared to 31 percent for Rogers.
Runnett, who was appointed the board on an interim basis earlier this year, will serve through 2025, filling the unexpired term of longtime board member Sherman Shifflett who died in February.
In a Facebook post just after the results were tallied, Runnett, a Louisa native who runs the Louisa County Resource Council, thanked his supporters and posted a picture of himself with Shifflett, who he has called his mentor.
“I'm posting this photo of my dear friend Sherman; my campaign and VICTORY are in honor of him,” Runnett wrote.
School board races are traditionally nonpartisan affairs in Louisa County, but both major parties weighed in on this year’s contest. The Louisa County Republican Committee endorsed Runnett in mid-September while the local Democrats voted to back Rogers in October.
Rogers, who is Black, made prioritizing diversity a central theme of his campaign, criticizing LCPS for the small percentage of racial minorities on its faculty. About 8.6 percent of the division’s teachers are people of color while nearly 30 percent of its students are minorities. During his campaign, Rogers said he’d bring a much-needed perspective to the all-white board, which hasn’t had a Black member in nearly a decade.
In social media posts and other campaign outreach, Runnett appeared to avoid many of the hot-button issues that have animated Republican activists in recent years including opposition to the teaching of critical race theory, a graduate-level framework not included in Virginia’s K-12 curriculum, and objections to rights for transgender students.
In a flurry of Facebook posts before the election, however, the Louisa Republican Committee touched on the culture wars surrounding public education, reposting a post that Rogers shared from a gender-inclusive schools’ Facebook page and telling voters to support Runnett because he “will protect your children.”
Towns choose new leaders, familiar faces
Voters in the Towns of Louisa and Mineral on Tuesday chose new leadership while also embracing familiar faces.
In a hotly contested mayor’s race in the Town of Mineral, Councilor Ed Jarvis appeared poised to oust three-term incumbent Pamela Harlowe, according to unofficial results. As of Tuesday night, Jarvis led the race with 98 votes to Harlowe’s 70. It’s unlikely there are enough remaining votes from the town to change the results.
The Louisa County Electoral Board will count provisional and late-arriving mail-in ballots Monday afternoon before certifying the results. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive no later than noon on Monday to count.
Louisa County Registrar Cris Watkins said that there are 17 provisional ballots in the entire Mineral District, which includes the town. The board will adjudicate those ballots to determine if they’re from qualified voters. There are four outstanding mail-in ballots for town voters, Watkins said.
Five candidates won seats on Mineral’s six-member town council, four of whom are new to the body. As of Tuesday night, Bernice Kube was the top vote-getter with 100, followed by Ronald Chapman with 85, Rebecca “Becky” McGehee with 76, C. Blair Nipper with 73, and Olivia Barrow McCarthy with 70. Nipper is the only candidate who currently serves on the body, having been appointed earlier this year. Kube and McGehee are the spouses of current councilors, Ed Kube and Roy “Snake” McGehee.
The sixth council seat could be filled by a write-in candidate as 112 write-in votes were cast in the race. Sitting councilor Thomas Runnett leads the write-in field with 24 votes, pending the tallying of provisional and late arriving mail-in ballots. Jarvis received 18 write-in votes, Councilor Ed Kube garnered 17, Ryan Odom received 15, and Councilor David Lawson received 13.
In the Town of Louisa, where four candidates vied for two seats on town council, incumbent John Jerl Purcell IV won re-election with 354 votes while political newcomer Vicky Harte claimed the other seat with 241 votes, pending the final tally. Daniel Ray Crawford finished third with 187 votes and former Louisa County Fire and EMS Chief Robert Dube received 155 votes.
Garland Nuckols ran unopposed to win his third term as mayor, tallying 530 votes, according to unofficial results.
Harte’s ascendance to council could shake up the five-member body whose members serve staggered terms. She’s been sharply critical of town and county leaders, centering much of her campaign on the need to address flooding in and around the town.
Harte argues that poorly planned development has caused flooding, particularly in the Tanyard subdivision where she resides, and strongly opposed council’s recent approval of an up to 85-dwelling Planned Unit Development adjacent to the neighborhood. She has also repeatedly raised concerns about the county’s 2016 decision to drop out of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Allegations of illegal sample ballot in Town of Mineral mayor, council race
A citizen’s complaint filed with the Louisa County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office alleges that Mineral Mayor Pamela Harlowe distributed an illegal sample ballot to one or more registered voters ahead of the November 8 General Election.
Town resident Christopher Guerre filed the complaint with Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire Tuesday night. McGuire confirmed that his office had received a complaint “about a sample ballot distributed last week at a private residence,” but declined to provide further comment.
The complaint alleges that a style number “16” altered sample ballot, printed on white paper, with the heading “401 Town of Mineral,” is “known by (Guerre) through information and belief to have been distributed to one or more registered voters situated in the Town of Mineral, in advance of today's general election, by and through the person named Pamela Harlowe – the current Mayor of the Town of Mineral and a Mayoral candidate on today's ballot for the 2023-2026 term.”
Per Virginia code, sample ballots not authorized by electoral boards are permitted to be printed and circulated. However, such sample ballots “shall not be printed on white paper.”
The complaint states that Guerre “is willing and able to speak, under oath, about anything he has described herein.”
A photograph of the ballot attached to the complaint shows a “401 Town of Mineral” altered sample ballot on white paper with a bubble filled in next to Harlowe’s name for mayor and Rebecca “Becky” McGehee’s name for town council. The ballot lists three write-ins for council: Thomas Runnett, Ryan Odom, and David Lawson. Runnett and Lawson currently serve on council but didn’t formally file to seek re-election. The ballot doesn’t include marks next to any candidates in the 5th Congressional District race or a special election for the Mineral District School Board seat.
The ballot doesn’t include a disclosure stating who paid for or authorized it. Under Virginia law, sample ballots promoting a candidate or candidates are considered advertisements and require a disclosure. But candidates running in towns with less than 25,000 people are exempt from campaign finance rules unless they spend or receives more than $25,000 or a town ordinance provides that the provisions apply.
Louisa County Registrar Cris Watkins on Wednesday said that she encountered a voter in possession of an altered sample ballot printed on white paper prior to Election Day and she informed the voter that the ballot violated state code. Watkins said she doesn’t know who created or handed out the ballot, noting that it lacked a disclosure. She said that she talked with another town resident about an illegal sample ballot and told them that they could file a complaint with McGuire’s office.
At publication time, Harlowe had not responded to a request for comment about the allegations. She appeared to lose her bid for a fourth term as mayor, trailing Councilor Ed Jarvis by 18 votes, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night (see above).
Amid some confusion about redistricting, elections run smoothly in Louisa County
Last year’s redistricting process, which reshaped federal, state, and local election maps, led to some confusion among Louisa voters last Tuesday as several of the county’s polling locations moved and many voters were shifted to new precincts. But, overall, elections ran smoothly in Louisa County, according to Electoral Board Chair Curtis Haymore.
“The biggest concern, which was expected, was that some people were unsure of where they should vote even with all the publicity of potential changes in polling places,” Haymore said in an email to Engage Louisa, adding that a team of county staffers pitched in on Election Day, fielding hundreds of calls from residents with election-related questions.
Aside from the confusion caused by redistricting, Louisa County encountered few issues on Election Day, Haymore said.
“The mood and demeanor of election officials and the voters was high. People were friendly,” Haymore said. “The Registrar, Cristy Watkins, and her staff, the election officers, and the team (County Administrator) Christian Goodwin put together to help out, helped make this once-a-decade election after a redistricting go better than expected.”
Watkins said that about 55 percent of the county’s registered voters cast a ballot this year. Nearly 11,000 people chose to vote in person on Election Day, more than 4,000 voted early in-person and almost 1,200 voted by mail, pending final results.
Check out election results from Virginia Department of Elections.
Applicant delays public hearing as neighbors speak out on LA Resort rezoning request
A public hearing for a controversial rezoning request that could clear the way for a mixed-use development just west of the Route 208 bridge on Lake Anna has been postponed until the Board of Supervisors’ December 5 meeting at the applicant’s request. The hearing was previously scheduled for the board’s November 21 meeting.
LA Resort, LLC has asked to rezone 15.2 acres fronting Mitchell Creek on the south side of Route 208 (tmp 30 3A, part of tmp 30 3) from commercial (C-2) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) for an up to 96-unit residential condominium building, a 130-room hotel, a restaurant, marina and more. The developer has also requested a Conditional Use Permit to allow the residential condo building to reach 80 feet high.
The project has met strong opposition from neighbors who’ve argued that the area lacks the infrastructure to support what some have dubbed “Northern Virginia-style development” and that it’s a risky deal for taxpayers.
Mitchell Creek residents and property owners sounded off on the project at the board’s last two meetings—16 residents spoke during the public comment period Monday night—urging supervisors to vote against the rezoning. Several residents asked supervisors to delay the public hearing to give the public more time to examine the project.
Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the area, said Thursday afternoon that the project’s developers opted to postpone the hearing to allow residents time to review proposed amendments to a Memorandum of Understanding LAR signed with the county in 2021 and to provide an opportunity for additional public input.
Adams will moderate a town hall focused on the project at Callie Opie Orchard’s Barn at 6 pm on Thursday, November 17. The developers, Prince William County businessmen Mike Grossman and Mike Garcia, plan to attend the event to answer community members’ questions.
Louisa County and LA Resort, LLC agreed to the MOU in February of 2021. The document stipulates that the developer will chip in $1 million if the county opts to buy and upgrade a wastewater treatment plant that currently serves Lake Anna Plaza across the street. LAR’s rezoning request is contingent on the county acquiring the plant.
The county is considering buying and upgrading the facility to support continued economic development along the Route 208 corridor. Economic Development Director Andy Wade said last year that, for about $5 million, the county could upgrade the plant from its current 20,000-gallon per day discharge capacity to its permitted 99,000-gallon per day capacity. Alternatively, the county could upgrade the plant to a 300,000-gallon per day capacity for about $10.8 million, according to county staff.
Adams said the MOU is being amended and should be made publicly available early this week. He said the amendments relate to the agreement’s timeline, the proffer amount, and other provisions, including bonds, that are designed to protect taxpayers.
Some residents have expressed concerns that taking on the treatment plant is a risky deal for the county and LAR’s offer of a $1 million proffer isn’t enough. They’ve also argued that there are no guarantees the project’s commercial component will get built.
Members of the Planning Commission shared some of those concerns. Though commissioners voted 4-2 to green-light the rezoning, they did so with the recommendation that the developer provide a performance bond and that the county withhold a certificate of occupancy for the residential building until a site plan is approved for the revenue-generating hotel and restaurant.
At Monday night’s meeting, residents expressed a range of concerns about the project with some insisting that the developer is only interested in building the condos.
Ryan Underwood, a Mitchell Creek resident, said that he welcomes commercial develop, but fears the county will only get the residential component if they rezone the property for a PUD.
“We’ve been given zero guarantees that the commercial components of this project will ever be built. They will build the condos and apologize that they can’t get a hotel chain for ‘insert reason,’” he said.
Other neighbors echoed Underwood, saying they welcome eateries, stores, and community service-oriented businesses, but they can’t abide a six-story residential condo building on the lake’s shore that will bring increased traffic on and off the water, noise and light pollution, and other ills.
“We are not against smart growth and change. We are against Northern Virginia-style development here in our rural hometown of Louisa,” neighbor Cathy Kern said. “A development of this size and type does not fit with the culture of the community of Louisa County and we do not have the infrastructure to support it. Our roads, specifically Route 208 in this area, are overcrowded and dangerous already.”
Nikki Linscott, a Mitchell Creek resident, said that she worries that the dense development could exacerbate the Harmful Algal Blooms that have plagued the upper end of the lake over the last five summers. She’s also concerned about the amount of boat traffic the development would bring to Mitchell Creek Cove, an area that residents have described as too shallow and narrow to accommodate the dozens of boats slips proposed by the developer. Linscott and other residents contend that the project’s environmental impact and its impact on recreational safety haven’t been sufficiently studied.
“No current environmental impact study has been conducted for introducing this many residential dwellings in this critical junction of Lake Anna,” Linscott said, adding that the lake is one of Virginia’s most dangerous and no study has been done to measure the impact of increased boat traffic around the Route 208 bridge.
BOS roundup: Supes okay affordable housing proposal
Supervisors voted unanimously to green-light a plan for a multi-unit affordable housing complex near the Louisa County Resource Council. The county plans to partner with the Fluvanna/Louisa Housing Foundation on the project and tap a $775,000 federal grant to help cover its estimated $2.18 million price tag. (meeting materials, video)
The project, which requires federal approval, is proposed for the corner of Chalklevel Road (Route 625) and Davis Highway (Route 22) on an 8.3-acre parcel (tmp 42 4C) currently owned by the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority. The complex would consist of 25 one or two-bedroom rental units, ranging from 576 square feet to 800 square feet, across three buildings. The units would be available to income-eligible seniors and essential workers like first responders and teachers.
The project is expected to be built in two phases, per preliminary plans. The first phase would consist of two buildings and 17 units with an estimated cost of $1.57 million including land acquisition. The second phase, expected to cost $625,000, would include an eight-unit building. Sixteen of the units would be one-bedroom, targeted at seniors, while nine units would be two-bedrooms, targeted at essential workers.
The county plans to tap $775,000 it received earlier this year, courtesy of a federal earmark submitted by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s office. Spanberger asked for the money, with supervisors’ backing, specifically for the development of affordable housing.
According to a project overview, the county plans to combine that money with $347,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act that’s also designated for affordable housing via the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships program, and additional HOME funds. FLHF plans to chip in $733,000 for the project.
County officials initially planned to use the $775,000 grant for Ferncliff Place, a proposed 80-unit mixed income community they hoped to build in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. The community’s proposed location, 13 acres of county-owned land on the corner of Mallory Road and Route 250, sparked backlash from neighbors, who said the property was ill-suited for dense development.
Supervisors eventually chose to explore other options. After not publicly discussing the project for months, the board in September reconvened its affordable housing work group to scout locations and nail down a plan.
Cuckoo District Supervisor Willie Gentry, a member of the work group, and FLHF Executive Director Kim Hyland presented the plan on Monday night. Both said they are excited about the project and that it would help meet a significant community need.
“I’m personally looking forward to moving on with this because we have an excellent location. We have an excellent project and excellent goals,” Gentry said, noting that the property is in proximity to services and has access to public water and sewer.
Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell asked how FLHF would ensure that the apartments will serve their targeted demographics as opposed to transient workers in town to construct solar facilities or work an outage at North Anna.
Hyland said that FLHF has developed application criteria for prospective tenants and the organization intends to give priority to Louisa County residents and members of the local workforce.
With the board’s support in hand, county staff is preparing to submit the project to HUD for approval by the end of the year, a requirement to tap the federal funds. According to County Administrator Christian Goodwin, the county has until September 2030 to spend the $775,000 grant.
Supervisors approve boundary line agreement with Goochland County: Supervisors held a public hearing and voted 6-1 to approve a boundary line agreement with Goochland County that will impact where a few residents vote, pay taxes, and send their children to school.
Pending Circuit Court approval, the agreement will move nine tax map parcels, totaling nearly 53 acres, to Goochland that are currently taxed in Louisa. The agreement will move one three-acre parcel from Goochland to Louisa. County officials have described the parcels as “islands” that are “surrounded by properties that are in the opposite locality.”
Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow was the only board member to vote against the agreement. Barlow said that he supports the proposal in principle but has concerns about the agreement’s reliance on GIS coordinates.
Louisa and Goochland began addressing issues along their shared border in 2019 after discovering that the taxing boundary between the counties didn’t coincide with the United States Census Bureau boundary used to establish election districts and precincts.
The counties entered into a boundary line agreement in August 2019 that corrected most of the misassigned parcels. They agreed to address the “island” parcels after the 2020 census.
Board makes A-2 buffer requirement repeal retroactive: Supervisors held a public hearing, during which no community members weighed in, then voted unanimously to make retroactive a 2021 repeal of a code provision that required by-right subdivisions in A-2 zoning to include a buffer along existing state roads.
County Attorney Helen Phillips explained that the amendment essentially clarifies that the buffer is no longer required nor is its maintenance. In addition, any security posted with the county under prior regulations will be returned to the developer.
Supervisors approve letter to governor asking for HAB mitigation funding: Board members unanimously agreed to send a letter to Governor Glenn Youngkin requesting that he include in his proposed amendments to the state budget $1 million for near-term efforts to treat and mitigate Harmful Algal Blooms at Lake Anna. Read more about supervisors’ request in last week’s edition of Engage Louisa.
Board passes resolution in support of water and wastewater infrastructure at Shannon Hill Regional Business Park: Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution in support of “the development of public infrastructure for the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park.” The resolution states that the board will “(take) the necessary steps to complete the (infrastructure)” by the end of the third quarter in 2024. Read more about the county’s efforts to bring water and wastewater infrastructure to the park in last week’s edition of Engage Louisa.
Supervisors approve TJPDC legislative program: Supervisors unanimously approved the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s draft legislative program for the 2023 General Assembly session. Read more about the program in last week’s edition of Engage Louisa.
PC roundup: Commission recommends approval of more dwellings at Zion Town Center
The Planning Commission voted 5-1 Thursday night to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve Emerson-Roper Companies, LLC’s request to add more residential dwellings to Zion Town Center, a Planned Unit Development slated for 113.8 acres behind Walmart at Zion Crossroads (tmp 52 12 4). (meeting materials, video)
Patrick Henry District Commissioner Ellis Quarles called Emerson-Roper’s application “the most thorough” that he’s seen since joining the commission before motioning for its approval. Mineral District Commissioner John Disosway cast the lone no vote, citing concerns about the area’s water supply. Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin was absent.
Emerson-Roper, a Chesterfield-based developer that bult Chester Village Green, the Highlands, and other communities south of Richmond, has contracted to buy the roughly 90-acre residential portion of Zion Town Center from its current owner, Zions Town Center, LLC. The latter won approval from the Board of Supervisors in 2019 to build 599 residential units on the property combined with 274,600 square feet of commercial space.
Now, Emerson-Roper wants to put its own spin on the community’s residential component, requesting amendments to the PUD’s master plan and proffers to up the number of dwellings to 723 and change its layout and design. Zions Town Center would retain the development’s commercial section.
The developer’s application notes that the proposed changes would diversify the county’s housing supply and that the community’s upgraded design aims to accommodate a range of market segments, from younger workers to empty-nesters looking to downsize.
Specifically, Emerson-Roper proposes to add 124 dwellings, increasing the number of townhomes from 99 to 275, decreasing the number of single-family detached homes from 164 to 112, and maintaining the number of apartments at 336 albeit with a revamped building design.
The townhomes, offered in four designs, would feature garages and slightly larger yards along wider streets that allow for both driveway and on-street parking. A section of the community previously dedicated to single-family detached homes would shift to townhomes and townhomes would also occupy space freed up by more compact multi-family housing.
Emerson-Roper also plans to reconfigure the development’s multi-family section by shifting from a cluster of 14 walk-up apartment buildings to a more compact design that includes two fully enclosed, elevator-serviced buildings. The rental apartments would feature various amenities including gathering spaces, a pool, and gym.
The community’s remaining detached single-family section would retain much of its original design. Emerson-Roper representative Jeff Geiger previously said that single-family homes would average about 2,300 square feet and start at about $375,000 in today’s dollars.
The applicant touts the development as “workforce” housing and has agreed to build a minimum of 24 two-story townhomes, which would start at a lower price point than larger units. Geiger said on Thursday that the townhomes would range in price from $250,000 to $325,000 in today’s dollars. The development could reach full build in eight years, he said.
Emerson-Roper hasn’t agreed to set aside any units as affordable housing to offer below market rate. Geiger described the community as offering “attainable housing.”
The developer contends that its proposed changes won’t significantly impact county services including Louisa County Public Schools—Geiger noted that townhomes tend to attract residents with fewer children than detached single-family homes--and Louisa County Fire/EMS. Accordingly, the developer hasn’t offered proffers that address strains on services.
But a letter from Louisa County Fire and EMS Chief Kristin Hawk included in the meeting materials states that the current ladder truck stationed at Zion Crossroads reaches only 75 feet and would need to stretch 80 feet to reach the top of the tallest townhomes. As the county prepares to purchase a new ladder truck to replace the aging one at Zion, the county would need to factor in Emerson-Roper’s design changes and buy a more expensive truck, according to Hawk.
Geiger said that he reached out to Hawk to discuss her concerns but did not hear back before the meeting. He said the townhomes would reach no higher than 40 feet so a 75-foot ladder truck should be sufficient. He added that the apartment complex would reach 55 feet and include sprinklers.
Emerson-Roper has agreed to make the same traffic improvements recommended during the property’s 2019 rezoning including extending the right turn lane on Route 15 at its intersection with Camp Creek Parkway, re-striping to add a left turn/through lane on Camp Creek Parkway at its intersection with Route 15 while modifying the traffic signal from eight-phase to split phase, and changing a right turn lane at Camp Creek Parkway and Market Street to allow both right turns and through traffic toward Route 15. In addition, the developer has agreed to prohibit the construction of an inter-parcel road connecting the PUD to the parcel directly to its east (tmp 52-22).
A tweak to the proffers presented Thursday night permits minor changes to the road improvement plan subject to VDOT’s recommendations and Louisa County’s approval.
Seven community members weighed in during the public hearing with three residents from the nearby Spring Creek community, including former Green Springs District Supervisor Bob Babyok, speaking in favor of the proposal.
Four residents either opposed the changes or expressed concerns.
Steve Lucas, representing Historic Green Springs Inc., asked where the drinking water for the development would come from. In its application, Emerson-Roper states that Dewberry Engineering confirmed that there’s enough water in the ultra-deep wells that feed Zion to support the develop. Lucas requested that the study be made public so residents and public officials can see the basis for that conclusion.
“As I look at the records from the Louisa County Water Authority, I see the water use going up and I see the water levels in the monitoring wells going down,” Lucas said, adding that the county has promised water from the James River to quench the thirst at Zion for years, but it still hasn’t arrived. “The water is coming out of our historic district, and we are very concerned about that,” he said.
Lucas’ comments resonated with Disosway.
“The thing that is most concerning to me is what we don’t have in place right now to make this serious decision and that is water. That is a resource that I find very hard to overlook,” Disosway said, adding that he understands that water is likely coming via the James River Project, but “it’s not here now.”
Geiger said that the developer “remains hopeful” that the James River Project will be finished. He added that the development’s proffers include an acknowledgement that water is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis and the county will limit building permits based on its availability. According to the most recent timeline, the James River project is expected to be done between 2025 and 2027.
Disosway acknowledged the proffer but worried that the county could be depleting the water supply and putting farms in Green Springs at risk.
John Brown, who owns agriculturally-zoned property on the backside of the development, said that he’s worried about the lack of a physical barrier to protect his land. He also expressed concerns about setbacks to protect an eagle habitat and how runoff from the project might impact a nearby well.
Geiger said that there’s a 25-foot change in elevation at the edge of the property, which provides a natural barrier and should deter people from trespassing onto adjoining land. He also noted that the developer would comply with relevant regulations regarding stormwater management and wildlife.
Green Springs District Commissioner Jim Dickerson said that there’s a roughly 25-foot elevation change in his backyard but that doesn’t stop his grandkids from racing down it to the creek. He said he’d like to see something in place to protect the neighbors from trespass.
To read more about Zion Town Center, click here.
Commission recommends approval for rezoning allowing more residential lots: Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of Donald Bickley and Denise Bickley Hoffman’s request to rezone 41.97 acres (tmp 33-1) in the Green Springs Voting District from A-1 to A-2. The property is located at the corner of Pelham and Beaverdam Roads near the Louisa, Albemarle, and Fluvanna County lines.
The applicant requested the rezoning to divide the property into five residential lots, four of which would encompass four to six acres, according to a conceptual plan. The residue would cover about 24 acres. Under the county’s rules for A-1 zoning, parent parcels are limited to three divisions while A-2 zoning allows for a maximum of seven lots. Two lots were previously divided from the property.
Attorney Torrey Williams, representing the applicant, argued that the rezoning would not be detrimental to the neighborhood, pointing out that the parcel is in proximity to several residential developments including Hidden Hills and Green Springs Estates. He also noted that the land is surrounded by parcels zoned A-2.
PC green-lights two commercial rezonings at Zion Crossroads: Commissioners held two public hearings and, in both, voted 6-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve rezonings for three parcels in the Zion Crossroads Growth Area Overlay District. The rezonings would move the parcels from industrial (IND) to commercial (C-2 GAOD). One parcel is home to the Best Western hotel, one is home to IHOP restaurant, and the third is vacant. (tmp 51-5-2B, 51-5-2C, 51-5-2D).
According to staff’s report, the applicants, Zion Investment, LLC and Crossroads Land, LLC (51-5-2B, 51-5-2C) and Harvest ZC Assets, LLC (51-5-2D), are requesting the rezonings for consistency with surrounding properties, nearly all of which are zoned commercial, and to ensure that the parcels adhere to permitted uses under the county’s current zoning code. At the time of the Best Western’s construction, hotels were permitted on industrially-zoned property. Under current county rules, hotels aren’t a permitted use in industrial zoning in Growth Area Overlay Districts.
Zion Investment, LLC & Crossroads Land, LLC, which seeks to rezone the hotel property and a vacant adjoining lot, agreed to exclude a car wash and drive-thru restaurant as permitted uses for the latter parcel as a proffered condition of the rezoning.
With reservations, commission forwards Barlow’s split parcel proposal to supes with recommendation to approve with ‘improvements:’ Amid concerns about the legality of the proposed amendments’ wording, the commission voted 4-2 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow’s proposal to clarify the way the county handles properties split by a “fee simple right of way strip,” namely a local, state or federal road. Mountain Road District Commissioner Gordon Brooks included in his motion to green-light the proposal a recommendation that staff make “improvements” to the amendments to ensure they comply with state law.
Barlow, a surveyor by trade, said at the board’s October 17 meeting that, prior to 2015, the county considered properties divided by a fee simple right of way strip separate tax map parcels. But, since then, properties that straddle a road or highway have been considered “physically separated parcels but not legally separated.”
The proposed amendments would deem parcels separated by a fee simple right of way strip as separate and individual parcels for taxation and development purposes subject to several conditions including the submission and recording of a plat with Louisa County identifying the parcels.
Commission okays amendments to allow abatement and civil penalties for zoning code violations: Following a public hearing during which no community members weighed in, commissioners voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve changes to county code that would allow for the use of abatement and civil penalties, in addition to criminal penalties, to address violations of land development regulations. Read more here.
PC recommends approval of fee hike for buoy applications, lengthening review period: Commissioners voted 6-0 to recommend approval of two significant changes to the county’s application process to place a no-wake buoy on the public side of Lake Anna. They agreed to hike the application fee from $50 to $450 and to lengthen, from 30 days to 90 days, the time the county has to review applications for new buoys before making a recommendation to the Division of Wildlife Resources, the state agency tasked with their approval.
Staff suggested raising the fee to $450, equal to what Spotsylvania County charges. The Lake Anna Advisory Council requested lengthening the local review period.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.
Find agendas and minutes from previous Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings as well as archived recordings here.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County School Board.
Click here for minutes and agendas for School Board meetings.
Click here to access past editions of Engage Louisa.