This week in county government; Supes discuss sports complex bond referendum, oppose potential library name change; BOS roundup; Planners okay short-term rental regs, fee increases
This week in county government; Supes discuss sports complex bond referendum, oppose potential library name change; BOS roundup; Planners okay short-term rental regs, fee increases
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, June 13 through June 18
Thursday, June 16
Louisa County Industrial Development Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 8:30 am. (public notice) At publication time, an agenda was not publicly available.
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.
Supervisors discuss bond referendum for sports complex, other projects
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors could put several bond referendums on the ballot this November, but the clock is ticking.
Supervisors debated Monday night what to do with a proposed referendum that could empower them to issue up to $16.5 million in bonds for construction of a multi-field sports complex, field house at the high school, and renovations to other county-owned sports facilities. Several supervisors said that the draft ballot question asks voters for permission to fund projects that aren’t necessarily connected and suggested that the county would be better served if they place at least two referendums on the ballot to give voters options on what facilities they want to fund, if any at all. (meeting materials, video)
“I would be much more comfortable if our referendum broke it down into, at a minimum, two but possibly three (questions). One would be the sports complex, one would be the field house, and one would be the renovation of the existing fields…I think they are separate projects. You can talk about the merits, up or down, of each project either way and then list the cost,” Board Chair and Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams said.
Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones shared a similar view, suggesting that the sports complex is one distinct project and the field house and upgrades to existing facilities is another. She worried that tying them together could be a disservice to both.
“I’m just concerned if we lump (the projects) together we aren’t going to give the community the benefit of saying ‘yeah, we want to support what’s going on at the schools’ or ‘we want to support (a sports complex).’ I feel like we could tank both of those projects,” she said.
Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes and Cuckoo District Supervisor Willie Gentry, who serve on a committee that’s scouting locations for the sports complex, agreed to explore ways to break down the ballot question and report back to the board at its June 21 meeting. Supervisors face an August deadline to place referendums on the ballot for the November 8 general election.
County Attorney Helen Phillips presented the ballot question to the board as part of a draft request for a Writ of Special Election to Louisa County Circuit Court. A judge must issue a writ by August 18 for any referendum to appear on this year’s ballot. Phillips said the board needs to decide if it wants to move forward with one or more referendums no later than its August 1 meeting.
As currently proposed, the ballot question asks voters whether they want to empower supervisors to assume up to $16.5 million in debt, via the issuance of bonds, “to fund athletic facilities to include up to 4 baseball fields, 4 rectangular fields for other sports, concessions, lighting, parking and related facilities, a field house at the Louisa County High School football field, and renovations of existing sports facilities.” If voters pass a referendum, it doesn’t obligate supervisors to issue bonds, only gives them power to do so.
Supervisors have discussed building a multi-field sports complex during the FY23 budget process, including a request for about $9 million for the project in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan. In multiple public discussions, they’ve suggested that they would ask voters to weigh in on whether they want to pay for the complex, which some county officials have framed as an economic development opportunity.
In a presentation to the Planning Commission in February, Parks and Recreation Director James Smith said that building a sports complex, including turf fields, seating, lights, and concessions, could spark “sports tourism,” drawing out of county visitors to tournaments and other events. With that in mind, officials suggested that they’d like to build the facility near Zion Crossroads where it’s accessible off Interstate 64 and in proximity to a hotel and restaurants.
Barnes, who has championed the complex, said Monday night that the vision for it is two-fold: to provide much-needed fields for local youth sports while also offering an economic development component to offset costs. According to a funding request submitted by Smith late last year, the county only has one rectangular field designed for community sports use. The field is located behind the middle school, doesn’t have lights, and isn’t accessible during the school day.
“(I want) local kids to have some synthetic surfaces they can play on and not be so dependent upon the surfaces they are using right now,” Barnes said. He noted that some local teams travel far outside the county to play so building a complex here could allow Louisa to host tournaments.
“You want to try to get people to come to Louisa and play here. Right now, our kids are going other places so you want people to come here and spend money here on lodging, in shops. Our teams right now go to Fredericksburg. They go to Richmond,” Barnes said.
County officials have offered minimal insight into what sort of revenue the complex could generate as it’s currently proposed other than to suggest it could add money to county coffers via meals and lodging taxes. Smith indicated that a previous plan for the complex, which then included an equestrian facility, could directly generate $48,000 a year but also incur staffing and maintenance costs.
The draft ballot question’s other components--renovations to existing county-owned sports facilities and a field house by the high school’s football stadium--aren’t included in the Capital Improvement Plan and hadn’t been publicly discussed as part of the referendum. Phillips said that “select board members” requested the projects’ inclusion.
Barnes said that the referendum would enable the county to upgrade fields around the middle school and high school to turf surfaces that don’t require water or routine maintenance. A field house has long been on the school division’s wish list with the Louisa County Education Foundation spearheading fundraising efforts. But the project has yet to materialize.
Several community members expressed concerns about the proposed referendum during public comment, arguing that they support upgrades at the schools that benefit local youth but don’t support a sports complex near Zion Crossroads aimed at drawing sports tourism.
Renee O’Leary, a Green Springs District resident, said the proposed ballot question is misleading because it rolls the cost of the sports complex in with upgrades at the schools and implies that all the projects will benefit local kids. She said that won’t happen if the sports complex is built at Zion and some folks must trek across the county to access it.
O’Leary and her husband, David, also questioned the concept of sports tourism.
“Have the economics of the sports complex been examined to the level that you feel comfortable presenting the concept to taxpayers?” Renee O’Leary asked.
“What I don’t understand is why we are thinking of raising $17 million in expensive financing to fund, in large part, a sports complex that is not intended for the citizens of Louisa but for sports tourists. Who’s to benefit? The hotel chains and the fast food outlets at Zion Crossroads? Why not focus on the citizens of Louisa to ease their burden or at least fund projects that benefit them? I get improving schools and facilities around schools. But sports tourism? Come on, man,” David O’Leary said.
The O’Learys’ Green Springs farm adjoins “the wells” property, the only potential site for the complex that has been publicly disclosed. Located along Route 15 in the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District, the 190-acre county-owned property is home to ultra-deep wells that supply water to the area. It has long been the source of controversy and occasionally litigation between the county and residents of the historic district.
Two community members who support the sports complex also spoke at the meeting with one noting his concern about potentially placing the facility near the county’s western edge.
Kevin McIntire, president of Louisa Elite Youth Football and Cheer, told supervisors that he supports a multi-field sports facility because his league “needs a home.” He said his teams practice on the field behind the middle school, emphasizing its poor condition, and noted that the league is obligated to host four homes games but, because of a lack of local facilities, is forced to play one of those games in Henrico County. Pointing out that most of the kids who play in his league live in the eastern or central part of the county, McIntire said that the complex needs to be “in the right spot to service our kids and our families,” suggesting that a Zion location isn’t ideal.
Supervisors have had preliminary discussions about where they could site the complex, formed a committee to scout locations, and allocated up to $35,000 for soil work and other due diligence. But, to date, they’ve only publicly disclosed “the wells” property as a possible location while suggesting other sites around the county are also under consideration.
Jones asked for more transparency in the search for a potential site.
“I keep getting questions about what other locations, other than Green Springs, we are looking at. So, if you have other locations, (we need to be) transparent about what our other options are,” she said.
Board unanimously opposes potential library name change
Despite hearing from six community members Monday night who said they support a name change for the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a resolution formally opposing “any type of name change” for the regional library system. (meeting materials, video)
Board Chair Duane Adams (Mineral) placed the resolution on the meeting’s agenda after descendants of enslaved laborers asked the library’s board of trustees to drop the surnames of slaveholders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and adopt a new name. Trustees agreed to discuss a potential name change at their June 27 meeting.
“I think we need to focus on the positive. I think we need to focus on how we move forward, and I think this cancel culture of ‘I’m offended so we have to upheave everything that goes on’ is wrong. I would like to see this board take a stance and say, ‘you get our money, we have a say in how you do things,’” Adams said.
While the board’s action only expresses opposition to a name change, Adams reiterated a threat he made in a May 24 Facebook post to introduce a resolution to defund the library if trustees opt to adopt a new name. Louisa County is home to one of JMRL’s eight branches and supervisors appropriated $392,000 to the library system during the FY23 budget process.
“The woke liberal crowd is at it again! They are now attempting to remove Thomas Jefferson and James Madison from the name of the regional library system that in part covers Louisa County. I plan to put in a resolution to defund this regional library if they decide to move forward with changing the name,” Adams said in the post.
Adams sought to clarify what he meant by “defund” at Monday’s meeting. He said, if the library chose to change its name, he’d ask the board “to withhold our $392,000 and bring it back to the county.” He said that would mean the county would withdraw from the regional system, but the library wouldn’t close.
“(The library) would not close. The library would not cut services. The library would continue to maintain. My goal has always been to provide good library services at the level we have now or even higher,” he said.
JMRL Executive Director David Plunkett said in an email to Engage Louisa that it’s premature to discuss any jurisdiction leaving the regional library system. He emphasized that the system enjoys a strong partnership with Albemarle, Charlottesville, Greene, Nelson, and Louisa, its five member jurisdictions, noting that Louisa joined JMRL 50 years ago as a founding member.
Plunkett said that localities benefit from participation in a regional system in several significant ways. He pointed out that Louisa County residents currently have access to almost 500,000 physical materials through JMRL, far beyond the 40,000 items housed in the Louisa branch.
“Last fiscal year, less than half of the physical JMRL materials checked out by Louisa patrons came from the Louisa County Library. That becomes a third if you add in the digital books and digital audiobooks,” Plunkett said.
Plunkett said that the system shares public electronic resources, including online books, databases, films, and magazines that are available for the entire region and that all library programming is funded by the regional Friends of the Library.
Beyond access to an array of physical and digital resources and programs, JMRL provides its five jurisdictions key services including library administration, IT support, collection development, professional cataloging, and processing of all new items, Plunkett said. He added that the region shares one public computing system to manage in-library sign-ups and printing, one catalog website to manage patron online interactions, and one integrated library system to manage all items and the 100,000 patrons that use the regional library.
“In short, there are numerous advantages to municipalities pooling their resources and providing a broader range of library services to their residents,” Plunkett said.
While Louisa supervisors are pressing the library to keep its current name, the decision doesn’t lie in their hands. The library’s nine-member board and the organization’s by-laws will ultimately determine how it proceeds. Trustees have no plans to vote on a name change at their June meeting only begin a discussion and learn more about what the process could look like if they opt to move forward. Former public school librarian Wendy Craig represents Louisa County on the board and currently serves as its vice-president.
During the library’s May 23 board of trustees’ meeting, Myra Anderson, director of Reclaimed Roots Descendants Alliance, a Charlottesville-based group, urged the library to change its name, citing Jefferson and Madison’s role as slaveholders. She said she knows people who won’t step foot in the library because of the name on the building.
“For a number of years now our community has been undergoing a racial reckoning. The efforts have resulted in schools and organizations changing their names and statues being removed. Our library has remained silent and continued to bear the name of two slave owners. We believe the library is long overdue for a name change, and that maintaining a bad name of a white supremacist is maintaining white supremacy in a space that is supposed to feel inclusive and equitable,” Anderson said, according to The Daily Progress.
Several speakers at Monday night’s meeting agreed with Anderson. They urged Louisa’s board to reject Adams’ resolution and support a name change for the regional system.
Erica Williams, a Mineral District resident, told the board that Black and Brown people are teaching their children “the true history of this nation’s supposed heroes” and it’s time to change the library’s name.
“My children know that Jefferson had four hundred child slaves born at Monticello. It is deeply inappropriate, at this point in time with all that we know about Jefferson, to expect Black and Brown children to walk into a place named after a man who would never have allowed them to read,” she said.
BOS roundup: supes okay special event venue
Supervisors voted 6-1 to approve Larry G. Han and Jianjun Tang’s request for a Conditional Use Permit to operate a special occasion facility on a 225.4-acre farm on Evergreen Road in the Patrick Henry District. But a significant part of the project won’t move forward as planned.
After some debate on how to handle Han and Tang’s proposal to build 12 cottages on the property as part of the venue, Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes was ready to move to approve the project while limiting the cottages to six and barring them from use as rentals outside of events. But the applicant balked at that condition instead opting to ax the cottages entirely.
Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams zeroed in on the cottages, worrying that a future owner could argue they have multiple rental units. Williams asked for language in the CUP directly tying the cottages’ use to special events, which would both bar them from use as short-term rentals outside events and remove the possibility that they could be used as long-term rentals. Barnes asked that the cottages be limited to six because of concerns from neighbors.
After a short recess to discuss the proposed changes, Han opted to remove the cottages from his request. Through his interpreter, he said he didn’t want to invest in the cottages right now since he’s just starting his business and his ability to make money from them would be limited.
The rest of the project will move forward in roughly the same form it cleared the Planning Commission. Supervisors green-lighted the CUP with 14 conditions, which cap event attendance at 300 people, limit event hours to between 8 am and 10 pm, require that music at events comply with the county’s noise ordinance, and mandate the use of dark-sky compliant lighting, among other provisions. Any event expected to exceed 100 people requires at least one sheriff’s deputy on site for traffic control.
Han and Tang own two adjacent parcels at 1658 Evergreen Road, via Evergreen Farm at Rocky Creek LLC. The parcels comprise 215.4 acres and 10 acres and are zoned A-2. The applicants plan to operate a special event venue that hosts weddings, bridal showers, reunions, parties, and other events while maintaining much of the land as a working farm. The property has a farmhouse with a basement that includes a large dressing room to accommodate guests preparing for weddings and other special occasions.
The applicants envision the farm as both an indoor and outdoor event venue. It’s already home to a 2,000-square foot barn for indoor gatherings and an expansive lawn and patio for outdoor events. Han and Tang plan to build a pavilion adjacent to the barn.
The applicants estimate that the venue will host three to four events per month with none exceeding 300 guests, as required by the CUP. They plan to supply a trailer, that won’t rely on a septic system, as a restroom facility. Events involving food require catering and no food preparation or dishwashing will take place on site.
In accord with Virginia Department of Transportation recommendations, Han and Tang plan to widen and pave the entrance to the venue off Evergreen Road. They also plan to plant an evergreen buffer at the front of the property. The applicants note that the home and barn sit some 1,000 feet from the road with adjacent fields and forests acting as natural buffers.
Supervisors also approved Han and Tang’s request for a special exception to allow a grass parking area to serve the venue. Louisa County land development regulations require gravel, stone, asphalt, or concrete for off-street parking areas. Planning staff said that grass parking would help maintain the county’s rural character.
Aside from the cottages, traffic emerged as a concern during the board’s public hearing. Diana Burruss, who lives on Evergreen Road, said that she opposed the project largely because it would increase traffic on what’s now a quiet road.
“It is a very quiet neighborhood. It’s a residential neighborhood. We have children, walkers, runners, bikers, dogs, and horseback riders. The speed limit right now is 40 miles per hour and people don’t go 40 miles an hour. They go faster than that. My concern is, with the building of this complex and the volume of cars, it’s going to be unreal there,” Burruss said.
Board Chair and Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams agreed with Burruss and said he couldn’t support the CUP request.
“I have a real hard time with the number of cars, the number of people, the traffic on these secondary roads. I think (Mrs. Burruss) nailed it. I just don’t think (the project) is compatible with the neighborhood,” Adams said.
Other business:
Approval of broadband agreement: Representatives from Firefly Fiber Broadband were expected to provide an update Monday night on their efforts to bring universal high-speed internet access to Louisa County by 2025 but that presentation was delayed until the board’s June 21 meeting.
Supervisors did approve a resolution authorizing an agreement between Firefly, the county, and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission regarding state grant funding awarded to the company’s Regional Internet Service Expansion Project (RISE), the major vehicle Firefly is using to connect the county. In December, the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative awarded RISE $79 million to extend fiber access to some 36,000 residents and businesses across 13 localities. Firefly representatives told the board at its March 21 meeting that Louisa’s portion of RISE is expected to cost about $70 million with nearly $22.4 million of that coming from VATI funds.
The agreement lays out expectations for each party under the VATI program’s guidelines, obligating the county to contribute nearly $9 million in matching funds for the project. The board approved that figure late last year and included a nearly $3 million first installment in its FY23 Capital Improvement Plan. The agreement further delineates Firefly’s role as the internet service provider and TJPDC’s role as grant administrator.
Approval of changes to FEMS volunteer incentive plan: In February, supervisors revamped an incentive plan for Fire and EMS volunteers aimed at increasing recruitment and retention. The board slightly altered the plan Monday night, decreasing from 12 hours to eight hours the amount of time a duty crew must be assigned prior to a shift. The Management and Oversight Group, a combination of local officials and FEMS volunteers that serve as an advisory body for emergency service-related matters, requested the change based on data suggesting that duty crew signups would increase from 43 percent to 63 percent if signup times are decreased.
VDOT quarterly update: Virginia Department of Transportation Residency Administrator Scott Thornton updated supervisors on the goings-on with his department in Louisa County and across the Culpeper District. Thornton said that, as of last Thursday, VDOT and its contractors have picked up 1.3 million cubic yards of debris district-wide from January’s Winter Storm Frida with 422,000 cubic yards coming from Louisa alone. To illustrate the volume of debris collected, Thornton said that 1.3 million cubic yards equates to about a football field stacked with debris as high as the Washington Monument. VDOT’s contractors have completed their work in the area and the department’s crews are expected to finish by the end of June, according to Thornton.
Thornton followed up on Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes’ request for a speed study and, if warranted, a speed limit reduction along the Route 208 corridor near Ferncliff. Thornton said that the department assessed the area and accidents and traffic volume haven’t increased since the last study in January 2021. Based on those findings, a speed limit reduction isn’t recommended.
PC green-lights short-term rental regs, community development department fee hikes
The Louisa County Planning Commission considered a busy agenda Thursday night. Prior to its regular meeting, the commission held an hour-long work session. Check out a meeting roundup below. (work session materials, video, meeting materials, video)
Planners recommend approval of short-term rental regulations: Planners voted 5-2 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt regulations for short-term rentals, a lodging option that’s exploding in popularity, particularly around Lake Anna, and not explicitly addressed in county code.
Commissioners held a public hearing on a controversial set of STR regulations last month that drew dozens of community members who argued for and against the proposal. Some contended that STRs are businesses operating in residential neighborhoods and require regulation to protect the character of their communities, public safety, and the health of the lake. Others said cracking down of STRs infringes on property rights and threatens the local economy. Planners tabled action on the proposed rules following the hearing.
Since then, a working group that included Commissioners John Disosway (Mineral) and Gordon Brooks (Mountain Road) and Supervisors Duane Adams (Mineral) and Willie Gentry (Cuckoo) crafted a pared down ordinance that removed or tweaked several measures previously included. For example, the draft rules no longer require STR operators to obtain a $1 million general liability insurance policy for their property and they lengthen the period required between septic system inspections from 12 to 24 months. Commissioners approved that version, with minor changes, Thursday night.
The draft rules, which still require Board of Supervisors’ approval, retain a controversial cap that limits occupancy to two visitors per bedroom. Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin convinced his colleagues to slightly tweak that provision to accommodate STR operators who design their septic system for additional occupancy. A VDH permit would have to reflect that the dwelling has an oversized system.
The draft ordinance defines a short-term rental as the “rental of a dwelling for periods of 30 days or less” and classifies it as a commercial use that’s permitted by-right in most zoning designations and via Conditional Use Permit in commercial and industrial designations.
To track STRs, the proposed rules establish a county-wide short-term rental registry, requiring STR operators to annually register their property and pay a $50 fee. The proposed regulations also require that STR owners are current on payments for all associated taxes and fees, such as the county’s transient occupancy tax, before registering a property.
The draft rules stipulate that STR operators, before offering their property for rent, provide the county with a property management plan that includes a point of contact to “respond to complaints, clean up garbage, manage unruly tenants and utility issues, etc.” The owner is also required to provide the contact information to the subdivision’s governing body if one exists.
In addition, STR operators must provide to the county the dwelling’s most recent septic system inspection, which should be performed by an accredited septic system inspector at least every 24 months, and a copy of the dwelling’s permit from the Virginia Department of Health. Properties connected to public sewer lines are exempted from the septic system provisions, but owners must provide a copy of the dwelling’s certificate of occupancy. Rental contracts for STRs are required to include Louisa County’s noise and solid waste ordinances, among other county rules.
The regulations also provide that guests park in driveways or designated parking spaces and that safety equipment is provided and maintained in accordance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The draft rules bar homeowners from renting STRs for special events unless they have a Conditional Use Permit.
STR operators who fail to register their property or otherwise violate the ordinance would be subject to a maximum $500 fine per violation and could be barred from offering their property as an STR until fines and/or the registry fee is paid. STR operators may be prohibited from offering a specific property for short-term rental after multiple violations.
The commission inserted a provision that would require STR operators to keep a record of who rented their property for a year. A stricter version of the provision was included in a previous draft, which the working group struck. Goodwin reminded his colleagues that a representative from the sheriff’s office said such a provision could be helpful in investigations.
Among other tweaks, the commission also recommended that the ordinance prohibit the use of tents and campers to increase occupancy. Planners suggested that the proposed rules take effect January 1, 2023 to allow STR operators time to come into compliance.
Assistant County Administrator Chris Coon said that the ordinance’s enforcement would be complaint-based, noting that staff would set up an online system to log complaints. The system would allow code compliance officers to track complaints over time.
The revised proposal seemed to satisfy most in the small crowd that attended Thursday’s meeting. Several attendees had previously advocated for regulating STRs.
“Our group put a ton of time into, hopefully, providing you guys with information that helped you along the way. I really just want to express sincere appreciation to everyone that was involved in this process,” said Cuckoo District resident Barbara Cooper, who joined with neighbors in the Overton Fork subdivision to bring their concerns about STRs to supervisors in February.
Tracy Clark, Executive Director of the Louisa County Chamber of Commerce, urged county officials to put the brakes on proposed regulations at May’s public hearing, worrying that the rules hadn’t been sufficiently researched. She thanked the working group Thursday night for making changes but noted she still had concerns about the occupancy limit.
“I know that the businesses that I’ve talked to are pleased on many things. There is still some concerns about the occupancy issues and there was a lot of discussion tonight about that. There’s work still being done on my end, conversations that are still happening with businesses to get further clarity on that,” Clark said.
Not everyone on the commission was comfortable with the draft ordinance. Jackson District Planner Cy Weaver suggested that the regulations should be leaner and declined to vote for the ordinance. Patrick Henry District Commissioner Ellis Quarles also opposed the draft rules though he didn’t provide a reason why.
Planners okay proposed community development department fee hikes: The commission unanimously recommended to the Board of Supervisors approval of fee hikes for a variety of services provided by the community development department. The county uses the fees to defray the costs of those services.
County officials said Thursday night that the fee overhaul would help the department meet staffing needs and bring it closer to “cost-neutral,” meaning the services the department provides pay for themselves and don’t require additional county funds. Finance Director Wanda Colvin said the department has never been cost-neutral during her tenure but it’s a long-standing goal. Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon noted that the county currently charges $35 for some services that require both preliminary and final inspections and the fee falls far short of covering the cost of the work.
The proposed fee increases range from eight percent to 329 percent and cover charges for residential building inspections for new construction and remodeling, site plan reviews, rezoning applications, other residential and commercial services, and telecommunication structures, among others. Not all fees will increase.
Coon said that building permits for covered decks, porches, and landings would see the highest increase, rising some 329 percent. He said the county is hiking the minimum fee from $35 to $150, which is why the percent increase appears so large. Application fees for amendments to proffers and master plans would rise 200 percent, Coon said, from $500 to $1500. He said the increase, like many of the others proposed, would bring the county in line with what’s charged in surrounding localities.
Other charges set to go up 200 percent or more include permit fees for open decks, porches, and landings, which will rise 257 percent, based on an increase from $35 to $125 for the minimum fee, generator and generator mechanical permit fees, permit fees for tents over 900 square feet, and fees to provide electric to tents.
The only charge proposed for removal is a $100 fee for placing land in or removing land from an Agricultural and Forestal District. Supervisors voted to ax that fee earlier this year at the urging of the Ag, Forestal and Rural Preservation Committee. At the request of Louisa District Commissioner Manning Woodward, the commission’s recommended amendments reinstitute the fee.
“I don’t understand why (AFD fees) would be eliminated when you (are increasing) all the others. I’m sure it doesn’t generate much revenue but it’s bound to cost the county something to look at these pieces of property and then to bring them forward to us and then the board,” Woodward said.
Some commissioners expressed concern with the timing of the proposed fee increases. Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin suggested that the commission should’ve considered the fee amendments as part of the FY23 budget process. Staff noted that the projected increases were accounted for as part of the budget though they hadn’t gone through the county’s formal approval process.
Several planners worried about the significant increase in some fees. But Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow, the board’s liaison to the commission, said that he’d prefer people using the county’s community development services pay for them and not taxpayers who aren’t using them.
That argument made sense to Goodwin.
“I too am not in favor of taxes and fees but, if there is one, the user tax and the user fee is the one I can most likely accept...there’s a cost to doing business and, if somebody’s got to pay for it, I’d just assume the people that are using it pay for it,” he said.
Community development last amended fees in 2019, a process that the county generally undertakes every few years. The department implemented a comprehensive overhaul of the fee schedule in 2010. Staff pointed to statistics that reflect the department’s increased workload and staffing needs as justification for another overhaul.
In 2018, the department handled 950 planning and zoning permits, 856 building plan reviews, 287 single-family home permits, and 5,967 building inspections, according to staff. Those numbers soared in 2021 when staff handled 1430 planning and zoning permits, a 51 percent increase, 1390 building plan reviews, a 62 percent increase, 513 single-family home permits, a 79 percent increase, and 14,289 building inspections, a 139 percent increase.
Community development currently employs 14 full-time staffers and one part-time worker, up from 12 full-time and three part-time staffers in 2018. The department anticipates hiring an additional building inspector, Colvin said.
Commissioners recommend renewal of Mountain Road AFD: Planners recommended that the Board of Supervisors renew the Mountain Road Agricultural and Forestal District. If renewed, the district would cover roughly 1,476 acres around Rolling Path and Harts Mill Roads in southeastern Louisa County.
AFDs are a conservation tool that allow landowners engaged in farming and forestry to voluntary prohibit development on their property. The districts require review and renewal by the Board of Supervisors every 10 years.
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.