This week in county government; Mixed-use development proposed for Lake Anna; Busy agenda for BOS meeting; Planning Commission to hold three public hearings
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, September 5 through September 10
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here.
Tuesday, September 6
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
Louisa County School Board, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7 pm. At publication time, an agenda was not publicly available on the division’s website.
Wednesday, September 7
Community Policy Management Team, work session, Administrative Conference Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 8:30 am.
Thursday, September 8
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.
Mixed-use development featuring condos and hotel proposed for Lake Anna
A mixed-use development featuring high-end condominiums, a hotel, restaurant, and more could be coming to Lake Anna if a pair of northern Virginia developers have their way.
LA Resort, LLC requested to rezone, from commercial to Planned Unit Development, about 15.2 acres (tmp 30-3A and part of 30-3) just west of the Route 208 bridge to accommodate an up to 96-unit residential condominium complex, an up to 130-room hotel, a restaurant and bar, boat slips, a beach, and other amenities. The property is located across New Bridge Road from Lake Anna Plaza at the county’s primary gateway from northern Virginia. (land use application)
Michael Grossman and Michael Garcia, the project’s lead developers, shared their vision for the property Wednesday afternoon during a neighborhood meeting hosted by the Louisa County Community Development Department. About 20 community members attended the meeting, peppering the developers and county staff with questions and concerns for nearly two hours.
LA Resort (LAR) acquired 10 acres of the property from Michael and Gertrude Coleman in 2016 and first planned to build a condo-hotel complex with a restaurant, retail, and marina, all uses permitted by-right in commercial zoning. The developers have since contracted to buy an adjoining five acres from the Colemans, setting their sights on developing a mixed-use community that combines residential and commercial components. The shift to include residential dwellings in combination with commercial activity requires approval by the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.
Grossman said that he and his partners saw an opportunity to develop a property that not only offers short-term lodging, in the form of an upmarket hotel, but also a long-term housing option that’s not readily available at the lake: luxury condominiums that appeal to people who enjoy lakeside living but don’t want to maintain a single-family home.
“(We) live in northern Virginia and we decided that we wanted to spend more time with our families on Lake Anna. We started visiting and we determined that we didn’t necessarily want to have a house to take care of, we wanted to look for a residential condominium. That kind of led us down this journey to where we are today,” Grossman said, referring to himself, Garcia, and a third LAR partner. (The project’s fourth investor already resides at the lake, Grossman said).
The plan
As proposed, the residential portion of the development would feature an up to 96-unit condo building with dwellings ranging from two to five bedrooms. Grossman said he expects the units will attract active adults from northern Virginia and people who already live on the lake and are looking to downsize.
LAR’s land use application notes that there’s significant market demand for “luxury residential single-level living condominiums offering an experience tailored towards affluent retirees, active adults, and vacation/2nd home buyers” and the development seeks to “address these underserved market segments.”
With that in mind, the residential building’s amenities would include a pool, lounge, gym, pet grooming facility, and community gathering area. Exterior amenities would include an expansive pool with pavilion/grill area, firepits, playground, dog walk area, and trails. Grossman suggested some of the condos could sell for about $1 million.
An up to 130-room hotel, a 150-seat restaurant and bar, and ancillary retail would comprise the development’s commercial component. Grossman said that the developers are talking with hoteliers interested in locating at the site, targeting upper-mid scale to upscale chains like Home2Suites and Residence Inn. He added that it’s likely the hotel and restaurant would be owned and operated by the same company.
To accommodate residents and guests, the property would include extensive lakeside amenities including a beach, paddle sports area, and about 130 boat slips, both covered and uncovered. According to a preliminary master plan, it would feature up to 62,560-square feet of overwater structure with docks and boathouses extending up to 150 feet from the lake’s shore. Grossman said that Dominion Energy, who controls the lake, has provided informal approval for LAR’s shoreline plan.
The site plan is currently comprised of about 37 percent open space, exceeding the 30 percent required for Planned Unit Development. It includes several parking areas with about 430 spaces for residents and visitors. Grossman said that the development team is keenly aware that “inadequate parking can be the death knell of a project” so they could convert some of the extra open space to parking.
“It’s a balance. We want to maximize green space but, at the same time, we want to have adequate parking,” he said.
The developers plan to situate the condominium building closer to the lake, with each unit enjoying a lake view, and place the hotel closer to Route 208. As proposed, both buildings could reach 80 feet in height, which is permitted by-right for some commercial development in a PUD but not for the residential building. LAR is requesting a Conditional Use Permit to allow the building to exceed the 60-foot height limit, according to its land use application. The restaurant would be housed in a separate building that doesn’t exceed 60 feet.
Grossman said that the Virginia Department of Transportation has approved an entrance on the western end of the property. The developers would add a full turn lane, he said, noting that the entrance was designed and approved for a previous version of the site plan, which was projected to have higher traffic counts. According to a traffic analysis for the current plan, the development is expected to generate 2,382 vehicle trips per day.
Grossman said that LAR aims to build a high-quality community that benefits all of Louisa County, emphasizing that the project fits with the county’s vision for development along the Route 208 corridor. According to the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the property sits in the Lake Anna Growth Area Overlay District in an area designated for mixed-use development.
Water and wastewater
The property doesn’t have access to public water via the Louisa County Water Authority (LCWA) so it will source its water supply from a system that includes a minimum of two community wells with an expected capacity of 100,000 gallons per day. The Virginia Department of Health has tentatively approved four potential well sites.
LAR has agreed to pay $1 million toward the county’s purchase and upgrade of an existing wastewater treatment plant, owned by Lake Anna Environmental Services, that currently serves Lake Anna Plaza. The developer entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the county in February 2021, stating its intention to chip in for the facility if the county ultimately acquires it. The plant has the capacity to process 20,000 gallons of wastewater per day but it’s permitted to discharge 99,000 gallons daily.
Grossman said that LAR’s application is conditioned on the county buying and upgrading the plant. He noted that if the county doesn’t move forward with the purchase, LAR would reconfigure its plan or redesign a private wastewater system already approved for the site.
Economic Development Director Andy Wade told the Board of Supervisors last year that the county could purchase the LAES facility for $100,000 and initial upgrades to reach its permitted capacity would cost about $5 million. He said the county could implement additional upgrades in the future, enabling the facility to serve more commercial development along Route 208.
Dewberry, the county’s engineering consultant, estimated that the facility could be expanded to handle 300,000 gallons of wastewater a day for an additional $2.5 million. The initial upgrade would allow the facility to serve the plaza and LAR with some additional capacity, Wade said in February 2021, prior to the submission of LAR’s current application.
Some neighboring property owners have expressed support for the county acquiring the facility, which has been cited by the Virginian Department of Environmental Quality for numerous violations. The Windwood Coves Property Owners’ Association submitted a letter to the board last year stating that it believes a county-owned facility “will result in better compliance with environmental regulations and ensure more reliable operations.” DEQ also supports the acquisition, Wade said.
The plant discharges its effluent into the lake and would continue to do so under county ownership. Wade said some of the effluent could be used to irrigate the Cutalong golf course in the future, mirroring an arrangement LCWA has with the Spring Creek course at Zion Crossroads.
Fiscal impact
According to a fiscal impact report prepared by Magnum Economics on Louisa County’s behalf, LAR’s proposal would have a positive impact on county coffers, netting about $205,000 in annual revenue in the decade after construction.
Magnum estimates that the development would generate about $1.1 million in total revenue in years two through 10 including roughly $56,000 a year in sales tax, $58,000 in meals tax, $78,000 in transient occupancy tax, and $770,000 in real estate and personal property taxes. Meanwhile, county expenditures related to the development, including costs associated with the purchase and operation of the wastewater treatment plant and public safety expenses, would reach about $896,000 a year over the same timeframe.
Magnum bases those projections on several key assumptions including that the development would have an assessed taxable value of $93 million, that the hotel would annually generate about $4.1 million from lodging and that the restaurant would generate $1.5 million in food and beverage sales, figures provided by Louisa County’s Economic Development Department.
Magnum also assumes that the county’s annual public safety costs will rise about $130,000, based on the 96 residential units, and that the development won’t include any children that attend Louisa schools.
With respect to the wastewater treatment plant, the analysis assumes a $10.8 million investment to upgrade the plant, $150,000 in annual operating costs and about $616,000 annually to pay off the project. The cost to upgrade the plant is higher than what Wade presented last year. The report doesn’t detail exactly what the investment would pay for.
Community concerns
During Wednesday’s neighborhood meeting, residents asked questions about various aspects of the project, from its potential impact on schools and emergency services to how the developers could guarantee the project wouldn’t fail.
Several community members expressed concerns about the applicants’ ability to complete the project as proposed, with one noting that several developments around the lake “have started and failed” and another pointing out that a previous developer attempted to get a PUD approved at the same site but the county denied his request.
“How comfortable can we feel that you have the ability to be successful in this and that you won’t get a bunch of land cleared and fail,” one resident asked.
Grossman and Garcia both insisted that LAR has the know-how to succeed. Grossman said that he has been in the commercial construction business for 30 years and he’s working full-time on the LAR project. He said Garcia has worked in commercial and residential development for more than 40 years.
“We have reputable contacts and we are well known in the industry. We know how to get something like this built,” Grossman said.
He added that LAR doesn’t plan to clear the land until their financing for construction is in place and that they intend to build the project in one phase, getting their hotel and restaurant partners on board before building the condos.
Garcia said that LAR hasn’t taken on any debt to this point and has the resources to ensure the development comes to fruition.
“I’ve been building for 41 years. I’ve developed two 100-acre projects in my career. Both of them spanned two recessions. A lot of my competitors went out because they weren’t liquid enough. I’m not saying we are recession proof because who is? But I know we are liquid. I know we will have a lot of our money in this because we believe in it,” he said.
Neighbors also voiced concern about the development’s impact on the surrounding community both on and off the lake. One nearby resident asked how the developers would mitigate light and noise, noting that his neighborhood is already impacted by commercial development on Route 208.
Grossman suggested that a development with a residential component would be less impactful to the neighborhood than what’s permitted by-right on commercial property. Regarding light, he said the property would use dark-sky compliant lighting and warm tones. As light fixtures get closer to the lake, they will get smaller and shorter, he said.
“We are very concerned about light reflecting off the water and we are also concerned about the intensity of the light,” Grossman said, adding that residents will be prohibited from placing lights on their balconies.
With respect to noise, Grossman said that, in addition to complying with the county’s noise ordinance, the developers would limit the hours for trash pick-up and likely direct noise from the restaurant eastward or toward Route 208.
Several residents asked what the development’s impact would be on local schools and emergency services, questioning whether the county had fire apparatuses capable of reaching the top floor of an 80-foot-tall building.
Grossman said that the condos would likely not house any school age children given the market segment they target. He said that the county has fire equipment that’s capable of servicing the development, according to his conversation with a representative from the department. County planner Tom Egeland noted that LAR’s application has been sent to the Fire and EMS department for comment.
Some residents along Route 208 expressed frustration with congestion and safety issues on the road. They suggested that continued development isn’t sustainable unless VDOT implements upgrades that go beyond additional turn lanes.
Egeland said that VDOT is installing a roundabout at Routes 522 and 208, one of the county’s most dangerous intersections, with bids for construction expected by mid-2023. He encouraged residents to voice their concerns about the road at county meetings, noting that the Planning Commission will hold a work session this Thursday focused on traffic and transportation.
Both Egeland and Grossman emphasized that the neighborhood meeting is the start of the public process required for a rezoning. Grossman said he’s eager to gather community feedback so his team can mitigate concerns in their final plans.
The next step for LAR’s rezoning request is a public hearing before the Louisa County Planning Commission, currently set for Thursday, October 13 at 7 pm.
Busy agenda for supervisors’ Sept. 6 meeting
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will gather Tuesday night for its first meeting in over a month with a crowded agenda on tap. The board will hold six public hearings, hear four presentations, and consider one action item. Check out the agenda highlights below.
Supervisors to consider rezoning at Industrial Air Park: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to greenlight the Industrial Development Authority’s request to rezone, from Industrial (I-2) to Agricultural (A-2), about 62 acres in the Louisa County Industrial Air Park to accommodate an unnamed business engaged in year-round crop production.
According to Economic Development Director Andy Wade, the business plans to build a greenhouse to cultivate “lots of lettuce.” A conceptual plan shows a building area covering more than 11 acres including a 387,502-square foot growing area, a 32,291-square foot germination area, and a 99,459-square foot head house. A letter from Building Inspector John Grubbs suggests the facility could include accessory buildings for packaging and distribution.
The greenhouse project first came to light in early July when the IDA filed a rezoning request with Louisa County’s Community Development Department. The authority hasn’t made a formal public announcement about the project or detailed its potential economic impact. But, as the rezoning process moved forward, some additional information has emerged.
Wade told the Planning Commission at its August 11 meeting that he worked with the potential end user to secure a suitable location for the project in Louisa County, first exploring properties already zoned agricultural where crop production is permitted by-right.
Wade said the business is a heavy user of both natural gas and electricity and desired access to public water and sewer. Supplying those utilities to prospective sites zoned agricultural proved cost-prohibitive, he said. That prompted the IDA to offer its property (tmp 41-191), where the utilities are already available, and request a rezoning.
The property, located between Route 33 and School Bus Road just south of Freeman Field, will be accessed off School Bus Road (Route 767) where the Virginia Department of Transportation has approved an entrance. No more than five trucks—a combination of box trucks and tractor trailers—are expected to visit the site each day, Wade said. The IDA agreed to incorporate signs directing commercial truck traffic to the new intersection at Route 22 and School Bus Road.
The IDA also agreed to install a 50-foot-wide vegetative buffer comprised of mixed evergreens around much of the site and to include a minimum 75-foot setback from non-Industrial Development Authority-owned property and a 50-foot setback from IDA-owned land. Both the buffer and setbacks far exceed what’s required in current code for both A-2 and I-2 zoning, Wade said.
Wade noted that the greenhouse’s operator plans to construct a rainwater harvesting pond and reuse the water in crop production, significantly limiting stormwater runoff from the structure.
While Wade didn’t offer details about how many people the greenhouse would employ, he noted that the property’s end user is interested in collaborating with Louisa County Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education program to potentially train horticulture students.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the rezoning. Commissioners also recommended that the IDA request a speed limit reduction to 35 miles per hour for commercial truck traffic on School Bus Road and that the authority firm up a commitment from the end user to work with Louisa County Public Schools’ CTE program.
Board to consider through truck traffic restrictions for four county roads: Supervisors will take another step Tuesday night in their uphill battle to implement through truck traffic restrictions on four county roads, holding three public hearings on the proposed restrictions and the alternate routes trucks would instead use.
At the urging of residents, the board is asking the Virginia Department of Transportation to bar through tractor-trailers from Chopping Road (Route 623), Chalklevel Road (Route 625), and Mansfield Road (Route 613) and to instead send the vehicles along Route 522 and Route 22 through the Town of Mineral. Supervisors are also requesting a restriction on Shannon Hill Road (Route 605), proposing that trucks remain on Interstate 64, and Routes 208 and 33. Local VDOT officials have said they don’t believe the restrictions are justified.
“At this time, VDOT is not amenable to (implementing these restrictions) based on the data they have collected,” Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams said at the board’s August meeting. “We are asking VDOT to be forward-looking, to be proactive instead of reactive.”
Assuming the board pushes forward with the requests following the public hearings, the restrictions and proposed alternate routes require further evaluation by VDOT staff and must ultimately gain approval from the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
Adams said that he understands VDOT engineers base their determinations on data but, sometimes, the recommendations lack common sense. He said that county officials plan to invite VDOT’s commissioner and members of the CTB to Louisa to see the roads for themselves.
Chopping Road residents have repeatedly expressed concerns about tractor-trailer traffic on the narrow, 4-mile secondary road which connects Routes 22/208 and 522. They say that truckers’ GPS sends them down the road when they’re traveling from Interstate 95 to 64 because it’s a slightly shorter route than Route 522, a primary road designed to handle truck traffic. Residents contend that the corridor has grown increasingly dangerous in recent years, recounting how large trucks nearly run other vehicles off the road.
County officials also opted to request restrictions for Chalklevel and Mansfield Roads because they fear removing trucks from Chopping Road could push them to another secondary route ill-suited to handle them.
Residents along Shannon Hill Road, a roughly 10-mile highway connecting Routes 33 and 250, have also raised concerns about tractor-trailer traffic, arguing that the road is frequented by cyclists and has grown more dangerous with continued development.
Traffic safety along the road emerged as a key point of contention during the approval process for the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park, a 700-acre industrial site that the county is developing just off Interstate 64. County officials have said they plan to use the Conditional Use Permit process to limit access to the road for trucks traveling to businesses that locate at the park. Through truck traffic restrictions only apply to trucks that don’t have a point of origin or destination along the restricted route.
Despite residents and county officials’ insistence that tractor-trailers don’t belong on Shannon Hill Road or Chopping Road, VDOT staff maintains that they don’t have the data to justify removing the vehicles from either road.
During a meeting of the county’s through truck traffic work group in June, VDOT engineer Troy Austin pointed to crash data from 2017 to 2021 showing that, of the 37 crashes on Chopping Road, only three involved trucks. Two of those were box trucks, Austin said, which aren’t likely to be impacted by a truck restriction. The third involved a tractor-trailer that ran off the road and into a field. Austin said that the accident appeared to be an issue with the road’s insufficient shoulders and suggested improvements, like widening the road and adding paved shoulders, that would make it safer for all vehicular traffic.
VDOT officials said there’s even less data to justify a restriction on Shannon Hill Road though they didn’t provide specific numbers. Austin said that while there were more accidents on Shannon Hill, few involved trucks. He also said the roadway is wider.
Austin added that removing trucks from Chopping Road and routing them through Mineral would require the large vehicles to make a difficult turn on to Route 22. The proposed alternate route would require mitigation measures to make it suitable for increased truck traffic, he said.
Members of the Mineral Town Council had raised concerns about sending trucks through the town when the idea was floated last year. Assistant County Administrator Chris Coon said at the board’s August meeting that representatives from the town were invited to participate in the county’s work group but never showed up to any of its meetings.
Board to consider rezoning on Red Hill Road: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider a rezoning request for 18 acres along Red Hill Road that would allow additional residential development just outside one of the county’s designated growth areas.
The property, located south of the Town of Gordonsville in the Green Springs Voting District, is owned by Daniel, Thomas, Gordon, and Randolph Merrick via The Meadows Four Brothers LLC.
The Merricks own an approximately 286-acre parcel that straddles Red Hill Road (tax map parcel 8-3) with 18 acres lying on the east side of the road at the corner of Red Hill and Porter Town Roads just south of the Gordonsville Growth Area Overlay District. The applicant requests to rezone that portion of the property from agricultural (A-1) to agricultural (A-2). The remaining 268 acres on the other side of Red Hill Road (Route 660) would retain A-1 zoning. That land and adjoining tracts owned by the applicant in Louisa and Albemarle are under conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which limits their development.
According to Louisa County Land Development Regulations, property owners can divide land zoned A-2 seven times as long as it meets certain requirements while property zoned A-1 can only be divided into three pieces. Rezoning the 18 acres on the east side of Red Hill Road would allow the applicant to create a maximum of six lots on that portion of the property with the parent parcel on the other side of the road counting as the seventh division.
Alternatively, the owner could divide portions of the property on either side of the road in accordance with Louisa County’s zoning code and restrictions laid out in the VOF easement, which limits the landowner to four divisions for all the tracts under easement.
Attorney Torrey Williams, representing the applicant, told the Planning Commission at its July meeting that his clients haven’t decided how they plan to divide the land beyond separating the 18 acres into a free-standing parcel. He said that separating the 18 acres under A-1 zoning would count as one of three permitted divisions and cause his clients to lose a division right permitted under the conservation easement. To remedy that, the applicant is seeking A-2 zoning for the eastern portion.
Williams said that the rezoning fits within the character of the neighborhood and wouldn’t detrimentally impact the county. He pointed to the industrial activity to the north of the property and the abundant residential development surrounding it.
Of the 61 parcels along Red Hill Road, 58 are zoned A-2, he said, with much of that property subdivided into relatively small lots with single-family homes. Williams also pointed out that when the Merricks approached VOF about placing their land in a conservation easement, the organization indicated that they weren’t interested in including the 18 acres on the east side of the road.
Senior Planner Tom Egeland told the commission that the property lies in an area designated as agricultural and very low density residential but it’s adjacent to an industrial portion of the Gordonsville Growth Area that’s home to Kloeckner Pentaplast and the Gordonsville Power Station. While Egeland suggested that increasing density in the area isn’t preferable, he said that “the impact to the rural nature of the area is limited,” noting that more than 250 acres of the parcel would remain in A-1 zoning allowing for significant agricultural and forestal use.
Aside from Williams, no community members spoke for or against the rezoning during the Planning Commission’s public hearing.
The commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the request with Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin voting in opposition. Goodwin complained that the applicant’s failure to produce a plan for the property left commissioners without the information necessary to analyze the rezoning’s impact.
Supervisors to consider rezoning commercial property for residential use, special exception to minimum lot size: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider a request to rezone a 1.135-acre parcel (tmp 15E-1-A2) on the shore of Lake Anna from commercial (C-2) to residential (R-2). The property, owned by Gene and Sharon Hile, is located on the northwest side of Route 522 across from Tim’s at the Lake restaurant.
At the Planning Commission’s August meeting, Attorney Torrey Williams, representing the applicant, argued that the rezoning is justified for several reasons.
First, Williams told the commission that when the Hiles purchased the property in 2016, they did so with the understanding that it could be utilized for a residential dwelling. He pointed to a 2014 email from Louisa County staff to a realtor, stating that the parcel was split-zoned Residential (R-2) and Commercial (C-2). In a March 2022 email, however, the county told the applicant that the parcel is zoned Commercial (C-2) and can only include a residence as an accessory to a commercial operation, Williams said.
“I’m not blaming anybody or casting aspersions. I’m telling you this for the state of mind of my clients and their state of mind was that they understood (the parcel) could be used for residential purposes based on (the 2014) email,” he said.
Regardless of the property’s zoning at the time of its purchase, Williams said the rezoning makes sense today. According to the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the property lies in an area designated for low-density residential development, he said, and is near four subdivisions. Williams noted that there are 220 parcels zoned residential within a mile of the property.
While acknowledging that the property is located just across the street from a large commercial development, home to Tim’s restaurant, a mini golf course, and other lake-centric businesses, Williams said that property differs from the applicant’s parcel because “it has great access.” In contrast, the Hiles’ land has no installed access from 522, in part, because it’s situated just south of the 522 bridge where a guardrail runs along the highway. The property is reached from a gravel road off Estes Lane, which crosses a residential lot and a subdivision’s common area.
Given the tricky access, Williams contended that the property isn’t well-positioned for commercial development and that “residential zoning is just common sense.”
Most commissioners weren’t swayed by Williams’ arguments, voting 5-2 to recommend that supervisors deny the rezoning request. Several planners said that while they sympathized with the Hiles’ situation, they couldn’t justify greenlighting the rezoning because of the impact it could have on a 1.4-acre adjoining lot that’s also zoned commercial. That property, owned by Cochran’s Landing, LLC, sits on a point overlooking the lake just to the northeast of the Hiles’ property.
“If it’s difficult to get a commercial entrance for the two properties that close to the bridge, it’s going to be nearly impossible to get an entrance to that one property close to the bridge,” Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin said.
Other than Williams, no community members spoke during the Planning Commission’s public hearing.
Along with the rezoning, the Hiles are seeking a special exception to allow for construction of a single-family dwelling on a lot smaller than the 1.5 acres required for residential development in R-2 zoning.
Williams said the special exception is necessary because the county revamped the zoning code last year, designating an acre and half minimum lot size. He said the Hiles’ parcel conforms with the existing neighborhood, noting that of the 220 residential lots within a mile of the parcel, 179 are smaller than 1.5 acres.
The power to grant a special exception lies solely with the Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors to discuss 2023 legislative platform: Supervisors will discuss their legislative priorities for the 2023 General Assembly session. The 45-day session kicks off in early January.
The agenda packet doesn’t include information about what the board could prioritize next year, but their annual platform usually hits on similar themes. In recent years, they’ve pushed to limit “unfunded mandates” passed down from Richmond, raise the state’s share of the cost to operate regional jails, increase investment in broadband, and garner state resources to address Harmful Algal Blooms at Lake Anna.
During the biennial budget cycle last spring, the state enjoyed record revenues that translated into progress on a few of the county’s priorities. The state increased from $12 to $15 the per diem rates for state-responsible inmates in regional jails and allotted $1 million to develop a Lake Anna-specific HAB mitigation plan.
Thanks to an influx of federal pandemic relief from the American Rescue Plan Act, the General Assembly, in 2021, made an historic investment in rural broadband, allocating about $700 million to the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative to provide grants for broadband expansion in unserved areas. Louisa County, via its partnership with Firefly Fiber Broadband, will directly benefit from more than $20 million in VATI funds. Firefly has pledged to deliver fiber access to every unserved resident in Louisa County by 2025. Supervisors committed $9 million in local funds toward the effort.
Supervisors to consider resolution in support of Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a $550 billion legislative package passed by Congress earlier this year, established the Safe Street and Roads for All program, setting aside $5 billion for grants to regional, local, and Tribal initiatives aimed at preventing roadway deaths and serious injuries no matter the mode of transportation.
At the request of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, the board will consider a resolution that directs county staff to work with the TJPDC to identify roadways that could benefit from Safe Streets funding.
The commission plans to apply for money through the program to create a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan covering the six localities in the TJPDC. Developing the plan, which would include an analysis of safety data, evaluation of existing processes and policies, a robust stakeholder engagement process, among other elements, is a prerequisite to tapping into funding for specific projects.
TJPDC estimates that the total grant request could reach $650,000. The grant requires a 20 percent local match. Per PDC staff, the match shouldn’t exceed $30,000 for any locality in the district.
Board to discuss resolving Louisa-Goochland boundary issues: In 2019, Louisa and Goochland counties adjusted their shared boundary to fix discrepancies that had impacted some property owners for many years. Those changes were adopted by the US Census Department and incorporated into the decennial redistricting process, ensuring that residents are taxed and vote in the same locality.
The counties agreed to revisit outstanding issues with their boundary following the 2020 Census, specifically how to deal with 10 parcels that are physically located on one side of the boundary but taxed in the other locality. A draft letter to affected property owners from Louisa County Administrator Christian Goodwin and Goochland County Administrator Victor Carpenter describes the parcels as “islands” that are “surrounded by properties that are in the opposite locality.”
Louisa and Goochland are beginning the process to correct these anomalies, according to the letter. Supervisors will hear an update on where that process stands and the path forward.
The counties have scheduled an initial public information session for impacted residents on Thursday, September 29 at 7 pm at the Goochland Fire Station #6, 4810 Three Chopt Rd., Louisa. The session will address how proposed changes would impact residents “from a public safety, educational, voting, tax and legislative perspective,” according to the letter.
Supervisors to hear four presentations: Tuesday night’s agenda includes four presentations. Supervisors will get quarterly updates from the Louisa County Water Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation, hear from regional transit provider, JAUNT, and receive a report from Dominion Energy on the Belcher Solar Facility.
JAUNT officials last addressed the board in 2021 amid a scandal that saw the organization’s former CEO resign over allegations that he spent lavishly on travel and lodging. The not-for-profit agency, which provides public transportation especially to elderly and disabled residents, was also cited by the state for over-reporting ridership and underreporting costs with contracted services, according to a review by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. As a result, the organization had to pay back about $1 million in state funding and received $429,000 less for its operating expenses during Fiscal Year 2022.
JAUNT has since hired a new CEO and, following an audit, overhauled its administrative structure to ensure increased oversight of its finances.
Dominion’s Belcher Solar Facility off Waldrop Church Road has also been a source of controversy. Runoff from the 88 MW solar array has caused significant damage to neighboring farms, particularly along Bickley Road on the southern edge of the sprawling 1300-acre site once used for commercial timber production.
Fallout from Belcher’s construction prompted supervisors to rethink their approach to utility-scale solar development. The board amended the county’s solar ordinance in August, placing new restriction on large-scale solar generation and beefing up measures aimed at controlling runoff.
Supervisors pressed Dominion to fix the stormwater management problems at the site, which have persisted long after construction. Dominion officials haven’t publicly addressed the board about the project since last year.
PC to hold three public hearings
The Louisa County Planning Commission will convene for two meetings Thursday night. At 5 pm, commissioners will kick off a two-hour work session focused on traffic and transportation. They’ll also discuss potential changes to county code that would allow officials to use abatement and civil charges as tools to address zoning and building code violations. Currently, code only allows violations to be prosecuted criminally.
At 7 pm, the commission will convene its regular monthly meeting with three public hearings on the agenda. Two focus on agricultural and forestal districts. In the third, planners will consider a request to amend a Conditional Use Permit for a utility-scale solar facility.
Commission to consider renewal of Shelton’s Mill AFD, addition to South Anna AFD: In the first public hearing of the night, commissioners will consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors renewal of the Shelton’s Mill Agricultural and Forestal District, first created in 1992. The district encompasses seven parcels covering about 277 acres along Holly Grove Drive (Route 610), Owens Creek Road (Route 663), and Gammon Town Road (Route 664) in southeastern Louisa County.
In the second public hearing, commissioners will consider whether to recommend that supervisors approve an addition to the South Anna AFD. Anthony & Sarah McLoughlin request to add two parcels (56-73, 56-74) totaling 40 acres located on the southeast side of Courthouse Road (Route 208) just south of Holly Spring Drive (Route 800). The South Anna AFD currently covers more than 40 parcels and over 500 acres in south-central Louisa County.
AFDs are a conservation tool that allow landowners engaged in farming and forestry to voluntarily prohibit development on their property. They require review and renewal by the Board of Supervisors every 10 years.
Commission to consider amendment to Mine & Hemmer CUP: The commission will consider whether to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve an amendment to a Conditional Use Permit, approved in 2021, that cleared the way for Aura Power Development to construct and operate a 94 MW solar array on parts of a 448-acre tract off Chopping Road (Route 623) near the Town of Mineral. The property is owned by Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell and his father, Charles.
Aura and the Purcells request an amendment that extends the deadline to obtain a building permit for the solar facility for five years, from November 22, 2026 to November 22, 2031, and provides the opportunity for future extensions.
According to the land use application, the project has yet to receive an interconnection agreement from PJM, the entity that manages the electric grid in Virginia and numerous other states. PJM is experiencing significant delays in approving projects for connection to the grid, according to the applicant and media reports.
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.