This week in county government; In busy meeting, supes to consider rezoning, CUP for affordable housing, emergency ordinance to rein in roaming livestock; PC to consider rezoning request, talk STRs
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, August 7 through August 12
Monday, August 7
Finance Committee, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 3:30 pm.
POSTPONED TO TUESDAY, AUGUST 8: Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Wednesday, August 9
James River Water Authority, Fluvanna County Administration Building, 132 Main Street, Palmyra, 9 am. (agenda packet)
Louisa County Water Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm.
Thursday, August 10
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.
In busy meeting, supes to consider rezoning, CUP for affordable housing, emergency ordinance to rein in roaming livestock
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will convene for its lone August meeting on Monday night with a busy agenda on tap. The board will hold six public hearings—three of which relate to the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation’s request to build 25 affordable rental units between the towns of Louisa and Mineral—and several action and discussion items. Check out a meeting preview below.
Supervisors to hold public hearings on proposed affordable rental units: A plan to build affordable housing between the towns of Louisa and Mineral could get a green light from the Board of Supervisors Monday night.
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and vote on whether to approve the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation’s request to rezone, from industrial (IND GAOD) to residential (R-2 GAOD), 8.3 acres at 140 Resource Lane near the intersection of Davis Highway (Rt. 22) and Chalk Level Road (Rt. 625) in the Mineral Growth Area. The board will also hold a public hearing and consider FLHF’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow multi-family dwellings on the property. Together, the rezoning and CUP would clear the way for FLHF to construct 25 rental units to serve income-eligible elderly and disabled residents and essential workers.
FLHF Executive Director Kim Hyland told the Planning Commission at its July meeting that the complex would help address a severe shortage of affordable rental units in the county, providing much-needed homes for older residents living in substandard housing and essential workers, some of whom face long commutes because of a dearth of local housing options.
The nonprofit organization has some 30 years of experience working in the community, rehabbing older homes, offering homes for rent, and providing low-cost home repairs. FLHF already owns 25 rentals in Louisa and Fluvanna, which are in high demand because of what Hyland termed a “housing crisis.”
“We see the demand every day. These are people that come to our door and say ‘do you have any rental units available?’ We take their names, but 99 percent of the time, we say we don’t have anything available. They leave their information, hoping and praying that we’ll have an opening, and they’ll have an option. Right now, it’s heartbreaking,” Hyland said.
Hyland said that the county has a significant number of older, deteriorating homes where elderly residents live because they have no other option. She also noted that some older residents—21 percent of Louisa residents are 65 years old or older—want to downsize and move into homes that don’t require maintenance. Those dwellings are difficult to find in Louisa, she said, as most of the available homes have at least three to four bedrooms.
Essential workers face similar challenges, Hyland said, noting that more than 85 percent of dwellings in Louisa are owner occupied, meaning there are few rentals on the market.
According to preliminary plans, the foundation would build the complex in three phases with each aimed at specific demographics. The first and third phase would consist of eight units for elderly or disabled residents with income below 60 percent of the area’s median income (AMI). The units would be about 600 square feet, fully accessible and maintenance-free.
In the second phase, the organization would build nine two-bedroom units, measuring about 900 square feet. Those dwellings would be designed for essential workers like first responders and school staff, primarily with income below 80 percent AMI. For a single person, 80 percent of the county’s median income is $41,650, according to figures published last year by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
Instead of asking market rate, FLHF would charge tenants rent equal to about 30 percent of their income, in accord with federal affordability guidelines. The units would be reserved for Louisa County residents or those who work in the area and can’t find housing.
To minimize building costs, FLHF is asking supervisors for two special exceptions, which will be the subject of a third public hearing Monday night. In one, FLHF requests a decrease in buffer requirements for growth area overlay districts. In the second, FLHF asks for leeway in the county’s growth area design standards, allowing it to use cement board siding and vinyl siding. While the exceptions would save FLHF money, they wouldn’t negatively impact the neighborhood, according to Community Development Department staff.
Staff said in its report that cement board and vinyl siding are commonly used in the area and that FLHF plans to enlist the help of local Master Gardeners to landscape and beautify the property. Besides the dwellings, FLHF plans to include gazebos, community gathering spaces and walking trails.
The Master Gardeners are one of several local groups that FLHF would involve in the project. The organization plans to partner with Louisa County Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education program for help with construction and landscape design as well as local businesses.
The Planning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of both the rezoning and the CUP, but didn’t consider the special exceptions. Special exceptions are granted solely by the Board of Supervisors.
Hyland and Louisa County Resource Council Executive Director Lloyd Runnett were the only community members to speak during the commission’s public hearing though several people attended the meeting to show their support. LCRC, a nonprofit that operates a food pantry and provides other services, is listed as a co-applicant for the rezoning because a portion of its property will be used for access, utility easements and stormwater management. Runnett said the project is direly needed.
“One of the services that (LCRC offers) is information and referral, and we do 600 or 700 phone calls a month. The single biggest question over the last three years is housing,” he said.
FLHF developed its plan for the complex in partnership with Louisa County, which plans to provide financial support for its construction. In 2021, the county was awarded $775,000 in federal funding specifically earmarked for affordable housing as part of a Community Project Funding Request submitted by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s office. An initial plan to use that money to build an 80-plus unit mixed-income community at Ferncliff with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville met stiff resistance from neighbors. County officials eventually opted to work with FLHF on a scaled-down project in a new location.
The Resource Lane parcel that FLHF and county officials ultimately chose was owned by the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority. It was selected, in part, because it’s in an area designated for growth, close to a range of services and can access public water and sewer.
Aside from the $775,000 contribution, county officials will tap $647,000 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnership program, according to a financial breakdown of the project presented to supervisors earlier this year. FLHF agreed to contribute more than $1.7 million toward the estimated $3.2 million price tag with some of that money expected to come from state and federal grants.
Board to hold public hearing on emergency ordinance to rein in roaming livestock: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to approve an emergency ordinance aimed at reining in roaming livestock. According to the proposed resolution, the board has determined that “animals destroying the property of another while running at large in the county shall be unlawful” and the ordinance is necessary to “mitigate the ongoing emergency in the county and to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.”
Several residents and property owners have repeatedly complained to county officials that livestock frequently trespasses on their land and occasionally causes damage. Ferncliff resident Lynnel Morris told the board at its July 17 meeting that, for the last five years, her neighbor’s goats, sheep, pigs and other animals have roamed on her property almost daily. The animals have damaged her car and fence, ate her vegetable garden, and left her land smelling like a barnyard, she said. Morris pleaded with the board to pass a law stipulating “that if you own any animals or livestock, they are to be confined to your property in a fence or pen.” In late July, some farm animals reportedly roamed on to Interstate 64 near Morris’ home.
Under current code, county officials lack authority to penalize residents who allow their livestock to roam even if the animals damage property or wander on to a major thoroughfare. County code does allow animal control officers to act in cases of animal neglect (if an animal isn’t provided food or water, for example).
To address Morris’ concerns, supervisors in June sent a draft ordinance to the Planning Commission for its review that would prohibit livestock from roaming at large at any time and implement escalating penalties for people who habitually allow their farm animals to leave their property. But that proposal stalled after several commissioners expressed concerns about its potential impact on commercial farmers and the county’s rural character.
The board will now consider an emergency ordinance to address the issue that could only be enforced temporarily. Under Virginia law, governing bodies can adopt emergency ordinances without prior notice, but those ordinances can’t be enforced for more than 60 days unless they’re readopted in conformance with the notification requirements laid out in state code.
If adopted, the ordinance would make it unlawful for livestock or poultry to run at large—off its owner’s property or out of their immediate control—at any time. A violation of the ordinance would result in a $250 fine and potentially a Class 4 misdemeanor. Every animal running at large would be considered a separate violation and the animals would be impounded.
The ordinance includes a significant caveat that would protect most, if not all, of the county’s commercial farmers. It would exempt any property owner whose land is used for agriculture and enrolled in the county’s “land use” program. The program provides discounted real estate taxes for land used for farming and forestry and is reserved for parcels that include at least five acres of open land, excluding a one-acre home-site, or at least 20 acres of timberland.
Board to hold public hearing on rezoning request for family subdivision: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to approve Thomas and Mary Johnson’s request to rezone, from commercial (C-2) to agricultural (A-2), 10.8 acres (tmp 40-22-C) on the south side of Louisa Road (Route 22) just west of the Town of Louisa. The Johnsons, who live adjacent to the property, plan to subdivide the land for a family subdivision so their son and daughter can build homes. A small slice of the property, which is surrounded by parcels zoned agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial, is already zoned A-2.
While the Johnsons initially plan to create only two lots, if the rezoning is approved, they could divide the parcel several more times as long as the lots conform with the county’s 1.5-acre minimum lot size and 200-foot width requirement.
The rezoning request received a positive response from the Planning Commission, which voted 5-0 at its July meeting to recommend its approval. But Louisa District Commissioner Manning Woodward expressed some concern about the property’s proximity to Tanyard Branch, a creek that runs along the edge of the Town of Louisa and has been impacted by runoff from development. Woodward said that stormwater runoff into the creek has contributed to flooding downstream and asked if the Johnsons would plant trees and maintain vegetation along the waterway to help mitigate any impact from construction.
Thomas Johnson, Sr. said that, when the family logged the property, they left a sizable tree-lined buffer. Thomas Johnson Jr., who plans to build on the parcel, said he intends to plant more trees. Maintaining a buffer and planting additional vegetation isn’t a requirement of the rezoning.
Woodward seemed satisfied with that response, noting that downzoning the property from commercial to agricultural would likely lessen the negative impacts on the creek in the long run.
Supes to hold public hearing on selling property to Region Ten: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider authorizing the sale of about a tenth of an acre of county-owned land to the Region Ten Community Service Board, a nonprofit organization that provides mental health services to Louisa County residents and works with people with developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. The property is located near the corner of Elm Avenue and McDonald Street in the Town of Louisa.
Region Ten owns several small adjoining parcels and, according to a proposal submitted to the county during the FY24 budget process, plans to build a free-standing clinic and psycho-social rehabilitation center on the property.
The proposed resolution notes that the property is “no longer useful to the County” but “has been determined to be useful and necessary to adjacent property owners.” The resolution doesn’t say how much Region Ten would pay for the strip of land.
Board to consider $100k supplemental appropriation to Louisa County Water Authority: Supervisors will consider authorizing a $100,000 supplemental appropriation to the Louisa County Water Authority. The money would be used for repairs and upgrades at the recently acquired Lake Anna Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The county purchased the facility earlier this year for $90,000 from Lake Anna Environmental Services with plans to upgrade and expand it to serve future economic development in the Lake Anna Growth Area. The facility provides sewer service to Lake Anna Plaza and adjoining townhomes along Route 208 and is expected to eventually serve a Planned Unit Development featuring condos and a hotel slated for 15 lakefront acres across the street.
That project’s developer, LA Resort, LLC, proffered $1 million toward the plant’s upgrade when the Board of Supervisors rezoned its property for mixed use development in January. The county estimates that it could cost between $7 and $11 million to upgrade and expand the facility depending on the extent of the expansion.
Under its previous owner, the plant repeatedly ran afoul of Department of Environmental Quality regulations. Since the county assumed responsibility for its operation on May 1, LCWA staff has been cleaning up the property and performing interim repairs ahead of the larger overhaul. Supervisors initially allocated $100,000 for the work at its May 15 meeting.
In an email to Engage Louisa last week, LCWA General Manager Pam Baughman said that the allocation under consideration Monday night would pay for additional repairs and upgrades to the plant and a water treatment system including fixing tanks, installing security fencing, and replacing pumps.
“All of the work being performed is to provide reliability in treatment,” Baughman said.
Beyond requiring those interim fixes, the facility has encountered other issues. A month after the county began operating the plant, a boat anchor dislodged a pipe that runs along the bottom of the lake through which the facility discharges its effluent. Though the incident didn’t cause any sewage to leak into the lake, it temporarily disrupted the plant’s operation, halting on-site discharge.
Baughman said that the pipe was repaired in late June and the authority plans to install “additional restraints to keep the pipe pinned to the floor of the lake” and buoys to identify the location of the line. She told the Board of Supervisors at its June 20 meeting that the plant’s former owner hadn’t property repaired the pipe when it was previously dislodged. The repair work cost $10,000, Baughman said, but she expects the authority will recoup that money from insurance coverage.
The county’s decision to buy the plant last January sparked opposition from some neighbors, in part, because of its connection to the LA Resort rezoning. Residents argued that the county was buying a troubled facility that would cost taxpayers millions to upgrade and operate while mainly benefitting wealthy out-of-town developers.
Supervisors said that, under county ownership, the plant would be less of an environmental concern and pay dividends in the long run by supporting increased economic development along the Route 208 corridor.
At the June 20 meeting, Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the area, reiterated that stance. He told Baughman that the shoddy repairs done by the previous owner illustrated why he supported the county taking over the plant.
“I have much more confidence in your ability and your staff’s ability to do it the right way to protect the water quality of the lake than I do any subdivision or homeowners’ association or anything like that,” Adams said.
Board to consider approval of operating agreement with Jaunt: Supervisors will consider approval of an operating agreement with regional transit provider Jaunt that would obligate the county to pay $475,647 this fiscal year for existing services. Supervisors included that amount in its FY24 budget.
Jaunt, a public service corporation jointly owned by five localities including Louisa, provides public transportation to destinations across the county from 6 am to 5 pm five days a week and operates buses to and from Charlottesville on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Under the agreement, which supervisors are considering at the organization’s request, Jaunt would continue existing service contingent on the county making quarterly payments totaling the requested amount. If the actual cost of service exceeds the budgeted amount, the county could provide additional funding, Jaunt could reduce service, or some combination of the two.
Jaunt agrees to submit quarterly invoices to the county and provide “reasonable access” to its transportation logs “and such other information as may be reasonably required to validate the provision of the services and Jaunt’s invoices.” The agreement would automatically renew each fiscal year assuming the Board of Supervisors approves Jaunt’s funding request during the county’s annual budget process.
Jaunt funding stirred controversy during this year’s budget cycle after the agency requested $637,000 to continue existing service, a 118 percent increase over FY23. Jaunt CEO Ted Rieck said that, under the organization’s previous leadership, Louisa and other localities hadn’t paid their fair share and that Jaunt had been relying heavily on federal pandemic relief, which was nearing its end.
Rieck and Jaunt riders expressed concern that supervisors wouldn’t agree to pay the steep increase, which would’ve meant significant cuts in service including the Charlottesville route. More than a dozen Jaunt supporters spoke at the board’s February 21 meeting, telling supervisors that Jaunt’s routes are vital for residents who can’t drive or don’t have reliable transportation.
The board ultimately brokered a deal with Jaunt to provide much of the funding—a portion of the original request was rebated—but not before accusing Rieck of spreading fear among Jaunt riders that service would be cut. Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams said that Rieck assumed that Louisa wouldn’t cover the increase and “weaponized his staff” against the board.
Rieck joined Jaunt in December 2021 with plans to bring transparency and accountability to the organization, which had been beset by scandal involving its former CEO, Brad Sheffield. Sheffield was forced to resign a year earlier after an audit revealed he had spent lavishly on travel including first-class plane tickets to a Paris transportation conference, luxury hotels, and expensive dinners. A subsequent review by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation found that Sheffield over-reported ridership and underreported costs with contracted services, resulting in the agency receiving more state and federal funding than it should have.
Rieck told supervisors at the March meeting that he and his staff were “trying to turn a corner” and find ways “to formally and equitably distribute costs and funding” among the five localities it serves.
Board to authorize ambulance purchase: Supervisors will consider green-lighting the Fire and EMS Department’s purchase of an ambulance using a mix of donations, grant money and county funds.
According to the proposed resolution, FEMS plans to purchase an ambulance for $350,000 along with $5,000 worth of ancillary medical equipment. The county received a $175,000 Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grant to cover half the vehicle’s cost and the grant requires a 100% local match.
The county would draw the remaining money from a $155,000 donation from the Foundation for Lake Anna Emergency Services (FLAES), $5,000 of which came from a grant from the Charlottesville-based BAMA Works Foundation. That money is earmarked for the medical equipment. The remaining $25,000 would come from the county’s Revenue Recovery Fund.
FLAES was launched by lake residents in 2019 to raise $100,000 in seed money for the construction of the Lake Anna Fire and Rescue Station along Route 208. The facility, which officially opened its doors earlier this year at a cost of more than $2.3 million, is the county’s first emergency service facility built largely with taxpayer dollars. The county’s other fire and rescue stations were built by volunteers. Since raising the initial $100,000, the foundation has pulled in nearly $270,000 more for emergency apparatuses and other equipment.
Supes to discuss duties of Transportation Safety Commission: Supervisors will continue a discussion from their July 17 meeting about expanding the duties of the county’s Transportation Safety Commission, a citizen-led panel tasked with advising county officials on road safety.
In July, County Administrator Christian Goodwin suggested that the board consider allowing the committee to review citizen requests for speed studies and other highway safety improvements before they are forwarded to either the Board of Supervisors or the Virginia Department of Transportation for consideration.
But several board members said they’re concerned that involving the commission in speed studies could impede VDOT’s ability to complete them in a timely manner since the commission only meets quarterly. Goodwin and the board agreed to revisit the issue at an upcoming meeting.
PC to consider rezoning request, talk rules for short-term rentals
The Louisa County Planning Commission will convene a pair of meetings Thursday night. At 5 pm, commissioners will hold a long-term planning work session where they’ll continue a discussion from July about proposed regulations for short-term rentals, a popular lodging option typically offered on online platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb.
STRs have exploded in popularity in Louisa County over the last several years, especially around Lake Anna. They’ve attracted both tourists and investors to the lake, stirring concerns among some year-round residents who argue that the rentals are businesses operating in residential neighborhoods and threaten the character of their community, public safety and the health of the lake. Some residents have complained at county meetings that STRs in their neighborhoods are frequently overcrowded, and they worry about failing septic systems harming the lake’s water quality.
County officials have grappled with how to regulate the temporary lodging option for more than a year. Late last year, officials shelved a proposed ordinance that would’ve established a county-wide short-term rental registry, implemented a controversial occupancy cap, and mandated regular septic system inspections. The proposed ordinance met stiff resistance from the business community, who worried the occupancy cap would hurt tourism. County officials also expressed concerns about potential changes in state law regarding how localities can regulate STRs.
A new proposal takes a different approach, laying out broad rules for STRs in residential zoning in the county’s designated growth areas, leaving them unregulated in agricultural zoning and requiring STR operators to obtain a Conditional Use Permit in most other zoning designations. Read more about the proposed ordinance and the Planning Commission’s July discussion here.
The work session agenda also includes a continued discussion on a proposed ordinance aimed at reining in roaming livestock. The ordinance would make it unlawful for livestock and poultry to run at large at any time and impose penalties on people who habitually allow their farm animals to leave their property.
The commission held a public hearing on the ordinance at its June meeting but tabled action amid concerns about its potential impact on commercial farmers and the county’s rural character. The commission deferred the matter again in July.
Read more about the commission’s previous discussions here and here, and see the Board of Supervisors preview above. (Supervisors will consider adopting an emergency ordinance to address trespassing farm animals).
At 7 pm, the commission will convene its regular month meeting with a light agenda on tap. Commissioners will hold one public hearing, considering a request to rezone an industrially zoned parcel to accommodate an existing commercial use.
Commission to consider commercial rezoning request: The commission will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of Three Notch Road, LLC’s request to rezone, from Industrial Limited (I-1 GAOD) to General Commercial (C-2 GAOD), 3.03 acres (tmp 52-2-2) near the intersection of Three Notch Road (Route 250) and Bybee Road (Route 607) to allow a recreational vehicle sales and service business.
Currently, the parcel is home to a business that sells and repairs golf carts. But, according to Three Notch Road, LLC’s land use application, the company wants to sell a new classification of golf cart that’s considered a “low speed vehicle.” To accommodate those sales, the property requires a rezoning to general commercial. As staff puts it in its report, the “tenant’s operation has outgrown the Industrial Limited Growth Area Overlay District (I-1 GAOD) permitted uses to include recreational vehicle sales and service, which is a permitted use in the General Commercial Growth Area Overlay District (C-2 GAOD). This rezoning would allow the continuation of this use on this property as a legally permitted by-right use.”
Staff recommends approval of the rezoning, noting that it would accommodate “the existing commercial operation (recreational vehicle sales and service) in an area planned for a mix of industrial and commercial and other uses.”
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.
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