This week in county government; Supervisors to consider CUPs for marina, event venue; Data centers, rezoning for more homes on PC agenda
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, Nov. 6 through Nov. 11
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here. (Note: Louisa County occasionally schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Monday, November 6
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.
Louisa County School Board, Central Office Administration Building, 953 Davis Highway, Mineral, 7 pm. (agenda, livestream)
Wednesday, November 8
James River Water Authority, Fluvanna County Administration Building, 132 Main Street, Palmyra, 9 am. At publication time, an agenda wasn’t publicly available.
Louisa County Water Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm.
Thursday, November 9
Louisa County Planning Commission, long-range planning work session, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 5 pm. At publication time, an agenda wasn't publicly available.
Louisa County Planning Commission, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 7 pm. (agenda packet, livestream)
Other important dates
Tuesday, November 7
Election Day, polling locations across Louisa County, 6 am to 7 pm. Click here to find your polling place. Click here for sample ballots. Click here to read Engage Louisa’s Election Preview. Questions about voting? Call the Louisa County Office of Elections at 540-967-3427.
Election results: Follow Engage Louisa’s author, Tammy Purcell, on X, formerly known as Twitter, for up-to-the minute coverage of election results Tuesday night (@docpurcell). We’ll also provide updates on the Engage Louisa Facebook page.
Please keep in mind that it could take a while for early and mail-in votes to be tabulated and reported on Tuesday due to changes in the Virginia Department of Elections’ reporting requirements. Read more from WRIC.
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.
At election eve meeting, supervisors to consider Conditional Use Permits for marina, event venue
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night will convene for its first November meeting on the eve of a hotly contested election that will determine whether local Republicans claim a supermajority on the board.
Three of seven board seats are on Tuesday’s ballot in the Louisa, Jackson and Cuckoo districts. The latter two races are uncontested with Republicans Toni Williams and Christopher McCotter all but assured victory. Williams is vying for his third term in the ruby red Jackson District, which covers much of the county’s eastern edge. McCotter is running for his first term in the Lake Anna-centric Cuckoo District where incumbent Willie Gentry (I) opted not to seek a sixth term. Assuming a write-in candidate doesn’t upset Williams or McCotter, Republicans will claim four seats with McCotter joining Williams and the board’s two other Republican members, Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones and Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams.
The Louisa District race is the marquee local matchup with three men—Republican Chris Colsey and independents Manning Woodward and Greg Jones—vying for the seat currently held by Eric Purcell, an independent who has served two non-consecutive terms. The race pits two Louisa natives, Woodward and Jones, against a newcomer in Colsey, who moved from Northern Virginia to Blue Ridge Shores about three years ago.
Colsey and Woodward have both courted conservative voters, telling residents they want to lower taxes and protect the county’s rural character while Jones has warned against cutting taxes and emphasized the importance of attracting and retaining quality teachers and emergency service personnel. While not formally endorsed by the Louisa County Democratic Committee, the local party is recommending Jones on its sample ballot.
Louisa County has a long history of independents running for and serving in local office, but that tradition has been upended in recent years as a growing number of candidates are running—and winning—on the Republican Party ticket. The Louisa District race will test the local party’s strength in a district where Republicans at the state and federal level typically garner more than 60 percent of the vote. If Colsey prevails on Tuesday, he’ll give the Republican Party five of seven board seats and his victory could entice more candidates to eschew the independent label and vie for the party’s nomination.
Monday’s election eve meeting is expected to be a relatively low-key affair. Check out a meeting preview below.
Supes to consider CUP for marina at eastern end of Lake Anna: Another marina could be coming to the eastern end of Lake Anna.
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to approve Louis Bedell III’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate a marina, boat sales and service business and boatel on 6.7 acres at 183 Pleasant Landing Road in the Cuckoo Voting District. Bedell has a contract to purchase the property from its current owner, Terry Godbolt.
The property is zoned for commercial use (C-2) and located within the Lake Anna Growth Area Overlay District in an area designated for low-density residential development on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan (tmp 47-11-2B, 47-11-2A).
According to his land use application, Bedell plans to offer boat and jet ski rentals and sell, repair and store boats. To accommodate those uses, he intends to construct 43 covered boat slips extending 150 feet into the lake, 20 floating jet ski slips, boat ramps, a show room, a repair area and a 300-foot, two-story boatel that could house 80 to 90 vessels. Bedell plans to use an existing home on the property as a sales office.
Torrey Williams, an attorney representing the applicant, told the Planning Commission at its October meeting that Bedell would offer some daily boat and jet ski rentals, but a portion of the slips would be reserved for customers who rent space on a yearly basis. The boatel would provide those renters indoor dry storage. The boat ramps wouldn’t be open for public use, Williams said, only serving renters and customers who purchase a boat at the facility or bring a vessel in for repair.
Williams said that the project fits with the character of the neighborhood and wouldn’t be detrimental, noting that the subject parcels lie just south of another marina, Pleasant Landing, which hosts high-traffic events like concerts and includes a restaurant. Bedell doesn’t intend to do any of that, Williams said. He simply wants to operate a lake-appropriate business on commercially zoned property that abut parcels also zoned commercial.
Prior to the county’s overhaul of the zoning code in February 2021, a marina was a by-right use in commercial zoning, but now requires a CUP. Williams emphasized that point when urging the commission to recommend approval of the request.
“If we came on February 15, 2021, we wouldn’t have come because we would’ve been able to do this on this property already without conditions,” he said.
As part of the CUP, the applicant has agreed to 14 conditions, largely aimed at mitigating neighbors’ concerns. Among the conditions are measures to prevent boats from exceeding 10 miles per hour within the cove adjacent to the property, a provision requiring a 20 and 30-foot vegetative buffer on parts of the property and a prohibition on amplified outside noise. The facility must also provide a boat slip and jet ski slip for emergency service equipment.
Williams said that Bedell has talked extensively with residents who live nearby and tweaked both the preliminary site plan and the conditions in response to their concerns. He added that finalizing the site plan would take place after obtaining the CUP and the applicant is open to making other changes to accommodate neighbors.
Not every neighbor is satisfied with Bedell’s proposal. During the Planning Commission’s Public Hearing, John Working, an attorney representing adjoining property owner Hugh Joyce, asked the commission to delay its vote. Working expressed concerns about the planned buffers and potential noise from the boatel.
Working said that Joyce’s property, which sits just to the south of the subject parcels, is split-zoned, commercial and residential. But, since acquiring it in 1983, he has used it solely for residential purposes. Working argued county code requires commercially zoned parcels abutting residential zoning to include a 50-foot setback inclusive of a 25-foot landscaped buffer and that potential noise from forklifts removing boats at the boatel needs to be studied.
Williams countered that the portion of Joyce’s property that adjoins one of the subject parcels is zoned commercial and county code doesn’t require buffers between commercially zoned properties. (It does require a minimum setback). Still, he said, the applicant has included in the CUP a 30-foot buffer comprised of a double row of trees along the boundary with Joyce’s property. Williams also said that a forklift removing boats wouldn’t make an “abnormal” amount of noise.
Planners voted 6-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve Bedell’s request.
Board to hold public hearing on CUP for event venue: Supervisors will hold a public hearing and consider whether to approve Everleigh Vineyards and Brewing Company’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate a special occasion facility on roughly 132 acres at 9845 Jefferson Highway (Route 33) in the Jackson Voting District. The applicant is also asking for permission to host outdoor gatherings.
For about a year, Everleigh has operated a winery and brewery on the agriculturally zoned parcels (A-1, tmp 73-26, 73-32). Now, the company wants to host weddings, concerts, craft fairs, car shows and other events.
Barbara Evers, who owns and operates the vineyard with her husband, Joseph, told the Planning Commission at its October meeting that the additional uses wouldn’t negatively impact the neighborhood, noting that the size of the property and existing trees provide ample buffers. She said that the vineyard has hosted some indoor concerts, art shows and other events and has had few issues.
“We’ve been well-received. People have enjoyed coming out and have had little to no problem with our establishment,” Evers said.
Evers said the property is well positioned to host events. It’s served by a paved commercial entrance off Route 33, has a secondary entrance that could be used in case of emergency, and plenty of space for parking.
As part of the CUP, the applicant has agreed to 12 conditions. Those conditions would cap event attendance at 500 people except for weddings, which couldn’t exceed 120 guests, cap the number of weddings at 15 per year, cap outdoor gatherings in at 30 annually, and require events to end by 9:45 pm.
Commissioners recommended that supervisors approve the CUP in a 6-0 vote.
Supervisors to consider allocating portion of Forest Sustainability Fund grant money: Supervisors will consider appropriating $4,577 to the Elisabeth Aiken Nolting Foundation and $10,400 to the Louisa County Cooperative Extension Office for a pair of projects that support outdoor recreation and forest conservation. The county received the money from the state’s Forest Sustainability Fund as part of a $37,457.72 allocation. Under state code, the funding must be used “solely for public education generally or for projects related to outdoor recreation or forest conservation.”
The Nolting Foundation owns and operates Bracketts Farm, a 515-acre working farm and historic site in the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District. The nonprofit organization plans to use the money for educational signs to help visitors identify trees and native plans on its 1.6-mile heritage and nature trail and for four steel benches to place along the trail.
The Cooperative Extension Office intends to use the funding for four education programs focused on forest and farm sustainability, conservation easements, resources available through the USDA and state agencies for agriculture and natural resource conservation, and farm transition planning, respectively.
Other business: Outside of the consent agenda, a set of items typically approved in a block vote, the board’s agenda includes two other action items, one discussion item and one presentation.
The board will consider passing a resolution supporting the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions’ request that Governor Glenn Youngkin include in his proposed biennial state budget $3.15 million per year in additional funding for regional planning districts, about $150,000 per district. The money would be used to “extend PDC staff capacity to secure federal dollars, to execute collaborative regional projects and plans, and to assist the State on joint work that benefits localities and regions,” according to the proposed resolution. Currently, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, which includes Louisa County, and most other planning district commissions receive just under $90,000 in state base aid annually.
Supervisors will hear a presentation from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College President Dr. Paula P. Pando. The board allocated $29,680 to the community college in its Fiscal Year 2024 budget. The college has campuses in Goochland and Richmond.
The board will consider amending the Calendar Year 2023 Holiday Schedule. The schedule currently gives county employees a half day off on Friday, December 22 and a full day off on Monday, December 25. If the amended schedule is approved, county employees will swap the half day off for a full day off on Tuesday, December 26.
The board will discuss “West Green Springs Through Truck Restriction,” according to the meeting agenda. Aside from a map, the meeting materials don’t include any additional information about the item.
PC to consider proposed data center campuses’ conformance with Comp Plan, rezoning to allow more residential lots
The Louisa County Planning Commission will convene for a busy meeting on Thursday night with two public hearings and two significant action items on its agenda.
One notable item that won’t be considered at the meeting is BW Solar’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to build an up to 5 MW utility-scale solar facility on 60 acres of a 132-acre agriculturally-zoned parcel off Peach Grove Road. Following a pair of neighborhood meetings, the commission is now expected to hold a public hearing on the application at its December 14 meeting. (Read more about the request and the first neighborhood meeting in last week’s edition of Engage Louisa).
Commission to determine if data center campuses are in accord with Comp Plan: The Planning Commission will consider a pair of land use requests from Amazon Web Services that don’t require formal public hearings but do require determinations by the panel.
AWS has requested that the commission find its proposed Lake Anna Technology Campus and North Creek Technology Campus substantially in accord with the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The determination is required under state and county code because the company intends to construct or establish public streets or street connections, parks or other public areas, and public utility facilities at one or both of the campuses.
“Through this review and determination, the Substantial Accord process and determination promotes coordinated planning in the siting of public facilities and maintains compatible land use patterns, thereby further improving the County’s ability to provide effective and cost-efficient services to the public,” Community Development Department staff wrote in a pair of memos to the commission explaining the determination process.
In late August, Louisa County announced that AWS plans to invest $11 billion by 2040 to build two data center campuses in its newly created Technology Overlay District, a special zoning designation approved by the Board of Supervisors in April that’s designed to attract lucrative tech sector development. The project is part of the tech giant’s plan to invest $40 billion to build data center campuses across the state, an initiative that Governor Glenn Youngkin announced in January.
One of the campuses—dubbed the Lake Anna Technology Campus (LATC)—is slated for roughly 146 acres at the corner of Kentucky Springs Road and Haley Drive adjacent to the North Anna Nuclear Power Station. The other—the North Creek Technology Campus—is planned for about 1,444 acres south of Route 33 across from the Northeast Creek Reservoir.
Together, the campuses are expected to include at least 11 data centers at full buildout, according to Louisa County Economic Development Director Andy Wade. Wade has said that the facilities would create some 275 permanent jobs and generate about $25 million in local tax revenue annually. That revenue could be impacted by an incentives package that the county is finalizing with AWS, full details of which haven’t been made publicly available.
Supervisors have already approved a reduced business personal property tax rate for data center equipment and an accelerated depreciation schedule that would benefit AWS. They also plan to offer the company infrastructure and performance grants.
(Louisa County uses Amazon Data Services and Amazon Web Services interchangeably in meeting materials and public discussions. Engage Louisa has chosen to refer to the applicant as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Also, the North Creek Technology Campus is sometimes referred to as the Northeast Creek Technology Campus in meeting documents. Engage Louisa has chosen to refer to the campus as the former or NCTC).
Plans for the NCTC and LATC
AWS has not released a detailed site plan for either campus, but a proposed Buffer and Landscaping Plan included in the meeting materials reveals some new information about the company’s plans for the NCTC. While the plan doesn’t indicate how many square feet of data centers AWS plans to develop at the site, it does show the company’s extensive plans for new electrical infrastructure, public roads and open space.
According to the plan, AWS intends to develop some 816 acres of the NCTC while leaving 628 acres as open space. Of that, 375 acres would be donated to the county for use as a public park. The park land winds through the campus with much of it hugging Northeast Creek, which runs through the eastern portion of the campus.
The company plans to build two new public roads, which would provide access to both the data centers and park. One extends south from Route 33 and snakes through the campus, connecting to Mount Airy Road at the southern end of the site. The second extends off White Walnut Road at the campus’s southern end and hooks up with the other proposed road just east of its intersection with Mount Airy Road.
To support the data centers’ intense demand for power, AWS’s plans include 10 substations interspersed throughout the campus and the extension of a high-voltage transmission line that adjoins the campus’s northern edge.
For the most part, the buffer and landscape plan adheres to setback requirements adopted as part of the Technology Overlay District ordinance, which county staff has touted as “the most restrictive development standards in the County.” But AWS has requested a waiver to allow reduced setbacks on parts of the campus, which it says are necessary for “technical project siting.”
The TOD standards require 300-foot buffers along shared boundaries with agriculturally-zoned parcels, 200-foot buffers along residential property lines, 150-foot setbacks along primary roads and 100-foot setbacks along secondary roads. According to the buffer plan, AWS proposes buffers ranging from 150 feet to 300 feet along the campus’ border with agriculturally-zoned property.
Beyond data centers’ hunger for power, the use also requires large quantities of water to cool the racks of computer servers inside. The publicly available plans don’t detail where water and sewer infrastructure would be located on the site. AWS plans to rely on public water from the Northeast Creek Reservoir just across the street as well as public sewer.
According to an initial performance agreement approved by the Board of Supervisors in September, AWS has agreed to pay for all offsite infrastructure to support the campuses though some of that cost will be offset by local and state grants. The General Assembly last session okayed a $140 million “Cloud Computing Cluster Infrastructure Grant Fund” to incentive AWS’s investment in data center campuses in rural areas that don’t currently have the infrastructure to support them. The state grants will be disbursed to localities where AWS sets up shop on a proportional basis and require a two-to-one local match. Louisa County has said that any grant funding provided to the company would come from new tax revenue generated by data center development.
The meeting materials include limited information about the Lake Anna Technology Campus. A staff memo notes that AWS’s “proposed project includes the following: a new street connection to Haley Drive (State Route 700); utility connections to the electrical power grid including two (2) new electrical substations; and new water lines from the Northeast Creek Reservoir, as the Lake Anna Technology Campus develops in the future.”
An application submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers in early September provides significantly more insight into the company’s plans for the campus. AWS and REB Investment Company, LLC, the property’s current owner, submitted the application to obtain permission to impact jurisdictional wetlands and Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS).
According to a conceptual plan included in the application, AWS intends to build seven standard data centers on the property covering some 1.7 million square feet and providing a minimum of 420 megawatt (MW) of data center capacity “to serve the expanding demand for cloud-based computing.” The campus is also expected to include an administration building, two smaller buildings, described in the application as “specialty data centers,” two substations capable of providing 300 MW of power each, stormwater basins, a rainwater harvesting pond and water and sewer infrastructure.
Of the seven standard data centers, five are expected to reach 74 feet tall and include 256,284 square feet of floor space across two stories. A sixth two-story building would also reach 74 feet high and encompass about 185,000 square feet. The seventh building would be one story and cover 151,895 square feet. A 65,000-square foot, two-story administration building and adjoining parking would sit at the entrance to the property near the corner of Kentucky Springs Road and Haley Drive. The two other buildings, one-story structures measuring about 14,000 square feet each, and the dual substations would sit near the rear of the property.
The water and sewer infrastructure featured in the plan includes a septic system, water treatment facility and above-ground water storage tanks. Though the application suggests that the campus could rely on ground water and rainwater harvesting to cool the data centers, Wade said in an email on Friday that the company intends to rely on ground water for the first phase of the project while it awaits completion of a raw water line from the reservoir.
“AWS does plan to utilize ground water until the raw water is delivered to the site. Ground water will be used for phase 1 of the development which includes an administration building and 1-2 data center facilities. Once raw water is delivered to the site, groundwater will be used for domestic purposes and in emergency situations where the raw water line may be taken offline for maintenance and repairs. AWS plans to always have at least 4 days of cooling water supply on site stored in tanks,” Wade said.
Wade said that public sewer won’t be extended to the Lake Anna campus. He has also said that construction at the campus could begin as soon as next year with a data center online by 2025.
The conceptual plan offers only a preliminary look at AWS’s plan. The application states that the plan could change as long as those changes don’t alter the scope or nature of the project’s impact on wetlands and waterways.
Wade said that he hasn’t seen the conceptual plan that AWS submitted as part of its ACOE application, but it’s his understanding that “AWS is seeking full ACOE permitting approval for the campus master plan at full build-out.”
“I will assume the plan AWS submitted reflects their master plan of development, but I am not confirming that it is,” he said.
Amazon has requested a minor modification to county setback requirements to permit an 80-foot wide buffer along a segment of the shared property line with the North Anna Nuclear Power Station. The requested modification is pending administrative consideration after a public notice period, according to staff.
Keeping with the Comp Plan
The Planning Commission is tasked with determining whether the plans for the campuses are in substantial accord with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The long-range planning document, updated by county officials in 2019 with extensive public input, states that it’s primary goal is to “Preserve Louisa County’s Rural Character, Beautify Its Gateways and Roadways.” Community Development Department staff recommend that the commission find both campuses in accord with the plan, according to two staff memos.
With respect to the LATC, staff notes that the campus is planned for a parcel adjacent to the North Anna Power Station in the Lake Anna Growth Area Overlay District. While the parcel is currently split-zoned commercial and residential, it’s designated for industrial use on the plan’s Future Land Use Map. The proposed campus is also part of the TOD, which includes beefed up development standards to mitigate the impact of tech sector uses.
“Both overlay districts are created to direct high quality jobs and businesses to areas that infrastructure is available or could be provided by the County,” staff writes.
Staff notes that though the nine parcels included in the proposed NCTC lie outside of the plan’s designated growth areas, the properties are included in the TOD and situated near a high-voltage transmission line, public water infrastructure and a primary road (Route 33), critical components for tech industry development. Staff points to the Comp Plan’s goals of managing and concentrating growth, preserving open spaces, and broadening the tax base to support its recommendation.
AWS makes similar arguments for both campuses in documents submitted as part of its requests. The company argues that developing the campuses would broaden the tax base while minimally impacting county services like roads, schools and emergency services. AWS further contends that extending public utilities to the sites wouldn’t detrimentally impact the community.
With respect to the NCTC, building new public roads would alleviate any traffic impact on adjacent uses and improve transportation infrastructure in the area while donating public park land would serve the plan’s goal of retaining open space, according to AWS. Regarding the LATC, the campus would be a “low intensity use that is compatible with the site’s industrial designation and the intent of the Lake Anna Growth Area.”
Note to readers: Engage Louisa takes seriously our mission of providing fair, accurate and nonpartisan reporting on Louisa County government. For the purposes of full disclosure, Engage Louisa’s author, Tammy Purcell, is a minority shareholder in Dick Purcell Land, Cattle and Timber, which owns property that is part of Amazon Web Services’ proposed North Creek Technology Campus as outlined in the Louisa County Planning Commission’s November 9th meeting agenda packet.
Commission to consider rezoning to allow more residential lots: The commission will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of GK Structures, LLC’s request to rezone, from A-1 to A-2, about 21.9 acres (tmp 73-6-4) at the corner of Jefferson Highway (Route 33) and Halls Store Road (Route 612) in the Jackson Voting District.
The rezoning would allow the applicant to divide the property into seven residential lots, four more than what’s permitted in its current zoning. Under the county’s rules for A-2 zoning, land can be divided into no more than seven lots with a minimum lot size of 1.5 acres. Lots must also meet certain width and road frontage requirements.
According to its land use application, GK Structures intends to divide the property into seven parcels, ranging in size from 1.6 to 6.8 acres. Six of the lots would front Halls Store Road, each with a private entrance. The seventh lot would have an entrance off Route 33. The company plans to build a single-family home on each lot with a target sales price between $300,000 and $350,000.
Larry Giannasi, the agent representing GK Structures in the rezoning process, said in an email to county staff that the rezoning fits with the character of the neighborhood, noting that many of the adjacent parcels are similar in size to the lots in the proposed subdivision and the property is heavily wooded, allowing for ample buffers and screening.
Giannasi contends that the rezoning would benefit the community because it enables GK Structures to provide more affordable housing options, meeting the needs of young families and empty nesters looking to downsize.
Giannasi points to market data from the Charlottesville area MLS, which shows the median sale price for a home in the county exceeds $350,000 and is on the rise, making home ownership unaffordable for a growing number of residents. According to Gainnasi, the median sales price for non-waterfront construction in 2022 was $360,000. That figure has risen to $390,000 in 2023.
“(The) developer/builder applicant has a history of providing affordable one level living homes targeted at entry level buyers, aging in place buyers, and retirees,” Giannasi writes. “The home buyer who has historically purchased their homes has been of great benefit to the county. They usually are just starting out or empty nesters putting little strain on county resources.”
The applicant and Community Development Department staff held a neighborhood meeting in mid-September, which three neighbors attended. The neighbors expressed concerns about the rezoning, according to staff’s report, with one neighbor stating that they’d prefer the property retain its A-1 zoning because they don’t want “a bunch of starter homes” in the neighborhood.
Staff said in its report that while the area is designated rural/agricultural in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, they don’t believe “the potential for seven (7) additional homes in this area of the County would conflict” with the plan.
PC to hold public hearing on CUP request to allow farming operation in residential zoning: Commissioners will hold a public hearing and consider whether to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve Christopher and Katherine Myer’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow an agricultural operation on 42.51 acres of residentially-zoned property (R-2).
The five subject parcels (tmp 43-115, 116, 117, 112, 113) are located at and around 142 Old Tolersville Road just north of the Town of Mineral in the Mineral Growth Area Overlay District. The area is designated for low-density residential development on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
According to their land use applications, the Myers purchased the land earlier this year and intend to raise cattle for beef production, keep horses on the property, and grow hay for the animals and other farmers. They plan to build accessory agricultural structures and new fencing, implement rotational grazing techniques to prevent overgrazing and soil erosion, and maintain buffer zones and natural habitats to promote biodiversity and protect wildlife.
“Our proposed sustainable agricultural operation is designed to benefit both the local community and the environment. It represents a responsible and forward-thinking approach to agriculture, emphasizing sustainable land management, ethical livestock rearing, and community engagement,” the Myers say in their application.
Two community members attended a neighborhood meeting about the project in mid-September. Both expressed support for the Myers’ plans, according to a report from Community Development Department staff.
Staff notes that though the property has been zoned residential since the county adopted a zoning code in 1969 and it’s mostly surrounded by residentially-zoned parcels, it has historically been used for agriculture. Staff recommends approval of the CUP with three conditions including that the Myers adhere to the USDA’s animals per acre recommendations.
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