Voters head to polls for House, Senate primaries; LCWA raises rates; Supes to consider light agenda; PC defers action on fee hikes, supports shrinking TOD; VDH continues lake-related investigation
Voters head to polls for House, Senate primaries; LCWA raises rates; Supes to consider light agenda; PC defers action on fee hikes, supports shrinking TOD; VDH continues lake-related investigation
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, June 17 through June 22
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups and internal county committees, click here.
Monday, June 17
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (meeting materials, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Thursday, June 20
Louisa County Industrial Development Authority, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 8:30 am.
Other important dates
Tuesday, June 18
Primary Election Day, polling places across Louisa County, 6 am to 7 pm.
Voters will go to the polls to cast ballots in either two Republican primaries (5th Congressional District, US Senate) or one Democratic primary (5th Congressional District). See the article below for more information.
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.
Voters head to polls for House, Senate primaries
Voters across Louisa County will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast ballots in either a pair of Republican primaries or a single Democratic race.
On the Republican side, voters will choose the party’s nominee for the 5th Congressional District seat and one of Virginia’s two seats in the United States Senate. On the Democratic side, they’ll only select the nominee in the 5th.
Virginia has open primaries, so anyone registered to vote in Louisa County can participate. But voters can only cast a ballot in one party’s primary. That means when a voter goes to the polls, they’ll be asked to choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot.
Here’s a quick look at the three races and the candidates.
5th Congressional District
They don’t call it the Fightin’ 5th for nothing.
Voters who opt to a cast a ballot in Tuesday’s Republican primary will choose between two candidates battling for their party’s nomination in the 5th Congressional District: two-term incumbent Bob Good (R-Campbell) and his challenger, state Senator John McGuire (R-Goochland).
The race has emerged as one of the bitterest intra-party battles in recent memory and has attracted national media attention as McGuire, an ex-Navy SEAL armed with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, tries to oust Good, the chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
With few policy differences to distinguish the candidates, McGuire has centered his campaign on his loyalty to Trump, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, sharply criticizing Good for initially backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president last year before endorsing Trump after DeSantis dropped out of the race. He’s accused Good of being a backstabber and “Never Trumper,” arguing that conservative voters can’t trust their current congressman.
Trump has gotten in on the act too. In his endorsement on the social media platform, Truth Social, the former president said Good is “BAD FOR VIRGINIA, and BAD FOR THE USA.” In a follow-up video, he encouraged voters to support McGuire, saying Good would “stab [them] in the back like he did me.”
For his part, Good, a former member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors, has portrayed himself as the true conservative in the race, arguing that he’s stood up to the “DC Swamp” during his time in Washington and, as a devout Christian and deficit hawk, he’s best suited to advance the “MAGA” agenda.
Good has accused McGuire of aligning with the Republican establishment, pointing out that he’s backed by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Good helped oust from the speakership last fall.
At a rally at the Louisa County Courthouse Friday evening, Good characterized the race as a battle between a conservative warrior (himself) and a perennial candidate (McGuire), who’s propped up by McCarthy and his allies. He noted that McGuire launched his candidacy for Congress just eight days after winning his state Senate seat and has made several other runs for state and federal office.
“I think the people of this district are going to show the people in DC that this seat isn’t for sale [to] the DC and California swamp creatures who are funding my opponent’s campaign,” Good said to cheers from the crowd.
Good and McGuire have both raised more than a million dollars during the campaign. But McGuire has gained significant fundraising momentum late in the race.
From April 1 to May 29, he pulled in about $744,000 to Good’s $291,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), a non-partisan group that tracks campaign spending. Entering the campaign’s final weeks, McGuire had considerably more money in the bank, $565,000, to Good’s $167,000.
The race has also attracted more than $10.3 million in outside spending, according to VPAP, with $5.87 million of that either in support of McGuire or against Good and $4.47 million either pro-Good or anti-McGuire.
On the Democratic side, the primary has been a far more cordial and quiet affair with three political newcomers, each hailing from different parts of the district, vying for the right to face the eventual Republican nominee.
The candidates include Crozet resident Paul Riley, Danville resident Gary Terry and Amherst resident Gloria Witt.
A New York native, Riley is a retired Army officer who served in the military for two decades before retiring in 2010. He currently works as an intelligence analyst for a defense contractor.
Terry also brings a military background to the race. The Texas native and West Point graduate served in the Army for five years before embarking on a diverse career that eventually led him to Danville where he heads the Boys and Girls Club.
A lifelong resident of Amherst County, Witt spent her career working at Framatome, an international nuclear energy company. She has also served as president of the Amherst branch of the NAACP.
None of the candidates have found much success fundraising. Witt has raised just over $20,000, according to VPAP. Terry has raised about $13,400 while no reports were available for Riley.
Based on the results of previous elections, the 5th is a solidly conservative district, so either Good or McGuire will be a heavy favorite to win the seat in November.
The district stretches from Louisa, Albemarle and western Hanover at its northern edge to the North Carolina border, encompassing all or part of 24 mostly rural localities. Good won the 5th by about 15 points two years ago while Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin cruised to a 20-point victory in the district in 2021. Louisa County’s 29,568 registered voters make up about five percent of the electorate.
US Senate
Voters who choose a Republican ballot will also get a chance to weigh in on the party’s nominee for US Senate. Five candidates are competing to challenge Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Richmond) this fall, a two-term incumbent who doesn’t face a primary challenge on the Democratic side.
The candidates include retired Navy officer and Loudoun County resident Hung Cao; Clifton attorney and author Jonathan Emord; Virginia Beach lawyer Chuck Smith; and a pair of Arlington residents, Eddie Garcia, a small business owner and Army veteran, and Scott Parkinson, a former DeSantis aide.
Cao, who came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam when he was four years old, won a coveted endorsement from Trump in late May. He lost his only other bid for elected office two years ago, coming up six points short in his bid to unseat Rep. Jennifer Wexton in the blue-leaning 10th Congressional District.
Cao leads the money race on the Republican side. As of May 29, he’d hauled in $2.5 million, according to VPAP. Emord and Parkinson are next, raising roughly $933,000 and $930,000, respectively. Smith has pulled in $556,000 while Garcia has raised $340,000.
For his part, Kaine has raised more than $14.5 million for his re-election bid. In 2018, he cruised to a 16-point victory over Republican Corey Stewart to earn his second term. The Cook Political Report rates the seat “Solid D,” meaning Kaine is strong favorite to win again this fall.
Primary Day is this Tuesday, June 18. Polls are open from 6 am to 7 pm. If you have any questions about voting, call the Louisa County Registrar’s Office at (540) 967-3427.
LCWA board votes for 20 percent rate hike
The Louisa County Water Authority on Wednesday night voted 5-1 to raise water and sewer rates by 20 percent, citing the impact of inflation and mounting regulations.
The increase is four percent less than the rate hike initially proposed, but far more than what several community members who weighed in during the public hearing had hoped.
Before voting for the increase, board member Byron Wilson said the authority isn’t in the water business to make money. It’s simply trying to cover its rising costs.
“Nobody is making a profit. There is no dividend. We are just simply trying to cross the finish line and remain [in the] black, which is our fiduciary responsibility to you, the citizens of Louisa County,” Wilson said.
Though he was the only board member to vote against the 20 percent increase, Chair Judson Foster agreed that a hike was necessary—he said he’d prefer limiting it to 13 or 14 percent—noting the authority is committed to providing safe drinking water at a fair price.
“We understand the impact of our rates on the community and our customers...We try to be fiscally prudent in making sure we deliver safe water to you and safe wastewater to the environment, compliant with all regulations,” Foster said, adding that LCWA has been “disproportionately impacted by inflation.”
Board member Tom Filer mostly agreed, adding that a rate increase is required to ensure the authority is adequately staffed as it grows and provides water to various parts of the county.
“Louisa is stuck in the middle of three major metropolitan areas, Northern Virginia, Richmond and Charlottesville. But we’re also pulled in all three directions, which means we are seeing our growth come at us from three different directions with the Town of Louisa being the center. That means the water authority has grown to be a much larger organization and our staff doesn’t reflect that,” Filer said.
The rate increase will directly affect customers billed by LCWA for water and sewer service. The authority draws water from the Northeast Creek Reservoir for customers in central Louisa County, public wells near Zion Crossroads for customers on the county’s southwestern edge and a public well adjacent to Lake Anna Plaza for lake area customers.
It provides sewer service via a regional wastewater treatment plant outside the Town of Louisa, the Zion Crossroads Wastewater Treatment Plant and the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Town of Louisa buys water from LCWA at a wholesale rate then sells that water to its residents. Town residents’ rates are set by the Louisa Town Council.
The Town of Mineral buys some of its water from the authority but doesn’t qualify for a wholesale discount because it doesn’t meet the usage threshold, according to LCWA General Manager Pam Baughman. Residents who receive public utility service from Mineral’s system are subject to rates set by the Mineral Town Council.
According to estimates provided by Baughman, LCWA will hike its monthly base rate for residential water service by $4.62, from $23.13 to $27.75, effective July 1. It will raise its monthly base rate for sewer service by $6.84, from $34.23 to $41.07. The base rate applies to water and sewer use up to 3,000 gallons per month.
Beyond that threshold, water rates will jump $1.54 for every 1,000 gallons used, rising from $7.71 to $9.25. Sewer rates will increase $2.28 per 1,000 gallons, jumping from $11.41 to $13.69.
A residential customer that falls at or below the 3,000-gallon usage threshold will see their monthly bill rise from $63.36 to $74.82 including LCWA’s $6 monthly administrative fee. The bill for a household that uses 4,000 gallons of water and sewer service a month will increase just over 15 dollars.
Wholesale water rates will rise $1.19 for 1,000 gallons, increasing from $5.99 to $7.18. Wholesale rates apply to consecutive water systems that source at least 4.25 million gallons of water from the authority each month. The Town of Louisa is LCWA’s only wholesale user.
Though the board voted to raise the wholesale rate, Filer said that the authority is considering adjusting the 22.5 percent discount provided to the town. He said a meter that tracks Louisa’s water use hasn’t been functioning for about a year, so the authority has been conservatively estimating the town’s use. Once that issue is resolved, he said the authority could look at adjusting the discount, potentially providing the town some relief.
Garland Nuckols, the mayor of the Town of Louisa, was one of four community members who spoke during the public hearing. While he said he was speaking in a personal capacity, he asked the board to consider the impact of its decision on town residents.
“I have talked to a huge amount of citizens who are very concerned about the water rates going up. What y’all do will affect what we do,” Nuckols said, referring to Louisa’s town council. “I understand that water is gold now. I want to keep it where we are still able to furnish to the citizens the water that they get. I don’t want somebody turning off their medicine to get water.”
Three Zion Crossroads residents also spoke. They acknowledged that an increase is necessary, but two said they’d like to see it cut back significantly.
LCWA’s board is appointed by the board of supervisors but acts independently. Six of seven members attended the meeting. Bob Hardy was absent.
Supervisors to hold public hearing on potential sale of county-owned parcel at Ferncliff, consider changes to TOT ordinance
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will convene on Monday with a relatively light agenda on tap. Check out a meeting preview below.
Supervisors to hold public hearing on potential sale of county-owned land at Ferncliff
A slice of county-owned land that has been embroiled in controversy in recent years could soon be on the market.
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and vote on whether to proceed with the sale of a 13.3-acre parcel (tmp 67 2 D) at 3949 Three Notch Road (Route 250) just east of Mallory Road at Ferncliff.
Though the property is zoned for agricultural use, it’s in the Ferncliff Growth Area Overlay District and designated for mixed-use development on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The parcel is assessed at $51,700, according to Louisa County land records.
The property last made news in 2021 when the county considered partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to build an 80-plus unit mixed-income affordable housing community on the site. The project sparked strong opposition from neighbors, prompting supervisors to eventually shelve the idea.
Officials have since determined that the parcel is no longer of use to the county. At least one adjoining property owner has expressed interest in buying the property, according to the county.
KFP1, LLC, an entity owned by Fluvanna County businessman Allen Powell, owns about 40 acres, covering three parcels, to the east of the property. KFP1 recently won supervisors’ approval to rezone, from commercial to industrial, about 14 acres adjacent to the subject parcel where its tenant, Essex Concrete Corporation, plans to operate a concrete batching facility.
Heidi Shalloway and Teddy Fung own 17.3 acres to the west while Greg Hosaflook owns about 35 acres to the south. Both Shalloway and Hosaflook publicly opposed rezoning KFPI’s property for the concrete plant. They also spoke out against the county’s effort to build affordable housing on the parcel.
If the board agrees to move forward with the sale, the county could use one of three methods to dispose of the property. Per state code, it could employ a competitive bidding process, hold a public auction or offer a firm price to anyone interested in acquiring the land.
When the board last sold county-owned property in 2021, it opted for competitive bidding, accepting bids for about two weeks before selling the property to the highest bidder.
Board to consider rewrite of Transient Occupancy Tax ordinance
In October, the board of supervisors voted to hike the county’s transient occupancy tax (TOT) from two percent to seven percent. The tax is tacked on to customers’ bills when they stay the night at a local hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental.
On Monday night, the board will consider repealing the current version of the ordinance and replacing it with new provisions. The tax itself would remain at seven percent.
According to a memo to the board from Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon, the proposed changes aim “to provide a more comprehensive framework for the TOT's administration, collection, and enforcement.”
“Further amendments are necessary to ensure the regulations are clear and that the action taken at the October 16th Board of Supervisors meeting is easy to understand,” Coon writes. “This helps businesses and individuals comply with their responsibilities, reflects current conditions and practices, and aligns local laws with state and federal regulations. These updates reduce the risk of legal challenges, streamline the administrative process, and make tax collection more efficient.”
Most notably, the proposed provisions introduce monthly payment requirements and add a penalty and interest section, which would apply to late tax payments.
Other business
In other business, supervisors will get a quarterly report from VDOT Residency Administrator Scott Thornton, hear an update from Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation Executive Director Kim Hyland and discuss their summer meeting schedule.
PC defers action on fee schedule, recommends shrinking TOD
The Louisa County Planning Commission was busy Thursday night, convening for a pre-meeting work session then holding six public hearings at its regular meeting. (meeting materials, video) (work session video)
PC defers action on Community Development Department fee schedule
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to defer action on a proposal from county staff to overhaul the Community Development Department’s fee schedule. The schedule delineates how much residents and developers pay for a range of county services including land use permits, building inspections and site plan reviews.
Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon said the overhaul is necessary to help the department achieve cost neutrality, meaning the revenue it generates covers its annual costs.
“The thing that’s happening right now is the individuals who are using the Community Development Department’s services are getting more than they are paying for. It’s being subsidized by other tax revenue in the general fund,” Coon said. “Community development is something where an individual is using that service specifically, so they should cover the cost for that service.”
In a memo to the commission, Coon illustrated that point.
In Fiscal Year 2023, per the memo, the department’s expenses totaled $1,395,757.87, but it generated just $1,201,687.72 from fees, resulting in a $194,070.15 funding gap. For the current fiscal year, which wraps up June 30, expenses total $1,351,979.54 with fees offsetting $1,210,173.01 of those costs, leaving a $141,806.53 deficit.
Coon noted those expenses don’t include vehicle maintenance and fuel costs and, this year, the department had several staff vacancies, so it spent less money.
The department last updated its fee schedule in 2022 in an effort to close the funding gap but continued to fall short after the changes. Coon said the proposed revisions focus on services that are currently underpriced.
Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin asked Coon if his recommended increases are enough to ensure the department can cover its cost, requesting details about how Coon crafted his proposal.
“This [memo], with the exception of the dates and the data for the fiscal years, is almost identical to the one we looked at two years ago. It was the same thing. ‘We’ve got to eliminate the gap.’ But, we didn’t do it,” Goodwin said.
Coon said that he’d need additional time to prepare information detailing his methodology, prompting the commission to defer action until its July meeting.
According to Coon’s proposal, some fees would rise significantly.
The cost to obtain a building permit for a single-family dwelling or addition, for example, would jump 400 percent, from a minimum of $300 to a minimum of $1,500. The cost to apply for a conditional use permit (CUP) would increase some 233 percent, from $750 to $2,500. The cost to apply for a rezoning would soar 150 percent, from $1,000 to $2,500 plus $25 per acre. Fees for a range of inspections, mandated by the state building code, as well as for other services would also rise.
Some commissioners raised concerns about specific fee hikes.
Mountain Road District Commissioner Gordon Brooks zeroed in on the proposed CUP fee. He said that the increase might be appropriate for a developer proposing a large business but didn’t seem right for a resident seeking a permit for a minor use.
Coon said applicants can always request a fee waiver from the board of supervisors, noting a fee had recently been waived for an applicant who applied for a CUP to raise livestock on a parcel where it wasn’t permitted by-right.
Though they opted not to make a recommendation to the board until they get more information, commissioners went ahead with the public hearing. No community members weighed in.
Commission votes to recommend shrinking Technology Overlay District
The Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the board of supervisors slash the size of the county’s Technology Overlay District (TOD) from about 6,400 acres across six assemblages to less than 2,900 acres encompassing three.
Established by the board of supervisors just over a year ago, the TOD is a special zoning designation aimed at attracting lucrative tech-sector development. It allows data centers and other high-tech industries by-right, which means they don’t require a public approval process, and imposes specific development standards on the uses.
The board of supervisors’ TOD committee sent the proposal to the commission in April. The committee, which includes Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams and Green Springs District Supervisor Rachel Jones, made its recommendation about eight months after the county announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to build data center campuses on two of the district’s assemblages—150 acres adjacent to the North Anna Power Station, dubbed the Lake Anna Technology Campus, and 1,444 acres south of the Northeast Creek Reservoir, called the North Creek Technology Campus.
“We feel like we’ve been fishing. We caught an ample supply of fish, and it’s now time to release some of the nets,” Williams said at the board’s April 8 meeting.
Under the proposal okayed by the planning commission, the county would remove three of the TOD’s assemblages: the Gum Spring TOD, more than 1,300 acres just north of Interstate 64 in southeastern Louisa; the Fisher Chewning TOD, nearly 1,400 acres between Routes 33 and 22 north of the reservoir; and the Shannon Hill TOD, comprised of the 700-acre Shannon Hill Regional Business Park.
The park is already zoned for industrial use while the assemblage north of the reservoir is slated for a 150-megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar facility under a conditional use permit green-lit by the board in 2020.
The AWS campuses would remain in the TOD as would the Cooke Rail Park, a 1234-acre parcel group north of Route 22 and west of Chopping Road. In 2022, the board approved a CUP for an up to 118 MW solar facility and 50 MW battery storage bank on the site.
While Fisher Chewning and the rail park have been approved for solar, construction hasn't started on either project.
The TOD would be altered in one other significant way, per the proposal. Any uses permitted in the district but not allowed by the property’s underlying zoning would require a conditional use permit instead of being permitted by-right.
While that provision would apply to the three remaining assemblages—the rail park and the Lake Anna and North Creek campuses—Amazon wouldn’t need a CUP for its projects because they’re already underway, according to county staff. But if the AWS deal fell through and another user wanted to develop data centers on the campuses, they’d be subject to the county’s new rules assuming they’re adopted as proposed.
At the suggestion of Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin, the planning commission also recommended that the CUP requirement apply to both permitted uses, like data centers, and accessory uses. That’s a change from the committee’s recommendation, which essentially allows supporting uses by-right after an applicant obtains a CUP for the primary use.
Goodwin also asked why the TOD committee recommended removing the Shannon Hill site. The county has invested millions of dollars in developing the property as an industrial park with the goal of one day hosting distribution centers, advanced manufacturing or other large-scale development that bulks up the tax base and creates jobs.
Coon said that, per the park’s industrial zoning, data centers and other tech sector uses require a CUP so, given the proposal currently on the table, there’s no advantage in leaving it in the district.
With respect to the two other assemblages proposed for removal, Coon said that Fisher Chewning, LC, which owns the roughly 1400-acre tract known by the same name, and Duke I, LC, which owns roughly 200 acres in the Gum Spring TOD, requested the properties stay in the district. Both entities are owned by former Louisa District Supervisor Eric Purcell and his father, Charles.
But the commission dismissed that request with its 6-1 vote to adhere to the TOD committee’s recommendation to ax all three assemblages.
Louisa District Commissioner Matt Kersey was the only member to vote against the proposal. Kersey, who joined the commission in January, said that he didn’t like the idea of the TOD from the start, but the county had made its decision, and it should live with it.
While the TOD committee has made limited public comments about its recommendation, the move to shrink the district is apparently an effort to quiet concerns about widespread data center development marring the county’s rural character.
In the wake of the AWS announcement, some community members have expressed concerns about data centers, pointing to problems with the use in Northern Virginia, the global epicenter of the industry.
In parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties, residents have complained that the hulking warehouse-like facilities are noisy, threaten their water supply and require extensive and expensive upgrades to the power grid.
Data centers, which house the infrastructure that keeps the internet running, use large amounts of water to cool the servers inside and require a vast amount of power. That demand is straining the electric grid and necessitating new transmission lines across the region.
Two community members weighed in during the public hearing to express concerns about the use, mostly focusing on the AWS campuses.
Naomi Luehrmann, who owns a farm adjacent to the North Creek campus, said she wants answers from county officials about how the data centers coming in next door would impact her life and her property.
“I know that these big data centers use massive amounts of water…I want to understand how it’s going to affect my farm and my family and my livestock and my life,” Luerhmann said, adding “I’m not going to be hearing whippoorwills anymore by the time that buzz {comes].”
At full buildout, both the North Creek and Lake Anna campuses will be served by public water from the Northeast Creek Reservoir. Based on a recent capacity study, county officials have said there’s ample water in the reservoir to supply the campuses and support future growth in the central part of the county.
The proposal will now head to the board of supervisors for a second public hearing and a final up-or-down vote.
Commission recommends renewal of NAPS CUP for spent fuel storage facility
The commission held a public hearing and voted unanimously to recommend that the board of supervisors renew a conditional use permit (CUP) that allows Dominion’s North Anna Power Station to store highly radioactive nuclear waste on a 95.5-acre site (parts of tmp 30-91 and 30-90) on the shores of Lake Anna. The permit, first granted in 1996, requires review and renewal by the board every seven years.
The CUP allows North Anna to store spent nuclear fuel in an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), which covers approximately three acres. A previous version of the permit allowed storage in two pad sites. Dominion has since completed construction of a third pad, which has been added to one of the proposed CUP’s conditions.
Dominion representative Sarah Marshall said that renewing the CUP is necessary for the plant’s continued operation. Without it, she said, the company would be forced to shutter its twin Westinghouse reactors, which produce about 1.8 GW of carbon-free power to the grid. That’s enough electricity to keep the lights in about 450,000 homes.
Marshall said that Dominion plans to continue storing high-level nuclear waste on site until the federal government or a private entity establishes a permanent or interim depository and the facility agrees to accept waste from the plant.
The US Department of Energy has been searching for a place to store the material for years but has been stymied by a range of factors. But Marshall noted that earlier this year federal officials took “the first procedural steps” toward establishing an interim facility while two privately-owned depositories have been approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission but haven’t been constructed.
Marshall said that the third pad site would provide the plant enough space to store waste through 2038 and 2040 when the current licenses for each reactor expires. Dominion is currently applying for a Subsequent License Renewal to run the reactors through 2058 and 2060, Marshall said, which would require an expansion of the ISFSI.
The planning commission recommended renewal of the CUP with several small revisions to its 15 conditions including adding the third pad site.
At the request of Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin, the commission also recommended that the board “take an official position” to the county’s representatives in Washington “on the issue of interim and [permanent] storage.”
Commissioners recommend approval of CUP for emergency communication tower
Commissioners held a public hearing and recommended that the board of supervisors approve a conditional use permit for an emergency communication tower, designated for civic use, in Holly Grove. The commission also determined that the use is in substantial conformance with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Louisa County is requesting the permit to construct a 195-foot wireless communication tower with a four-foot antenna on a two-acre parcel (tmp 98-96) on the east side of Factory Mill Road (Route 635) immediately south of its intersection with Holly Grove Drive (Route 610) in the Mountain Road Election District. The parcel is owned by the Holly Grove Volunteer Fire Department.
County officials have said the tower is necessary to improve emergency communications in the southeastern portion of the county where first responders struggle with connectivity.
The county received a $1 million federal grant to pay for the project. The money was awarded at the request of 7th District Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-Henrico), who represented the county through 2022.
Commission holds two public hearings on AFDs
The planning commission held a pair of public hearings related to agricultural/forestal districts (AFD). AFDs are a conservation tool that allow landowners to voluntarily prohibit development on their property. They require review and renewal by the board of supervisors every 10 years.
In the first public hearing, commissioners recommended that supervisors approve William Coleman’s request to remove from the Gold Mine Creek AFD 10 acres of a 75-acre parcel (tmp 15-28) on the west side of Daniel Road (687), north of Mansfield Road (Route 613).
Coleman requested the land’s removal so his son could build a home on the property. Per AFD regulations, participants are allowed to subdivide property under the county’s family subdivision rules but not otherwise. According to state code, property owners are allowed to give only one parcel to each qualifying family member per county during their lifetime.
Coleman said he didn’t want to divide the property under the family subdivision ordinance and instead preferred to use one of his by-right divisions, necessitating early removal from the AFD.
“The main purpose of this [is] I’m trying to save the family division and use a division right of the property,” Coleman said. “In this day and time, you don’t know what may happen down the road or what changes may take place. That’s the sole purpose of why I want to save his family division for just an emergency.”
Prior to the planning commission’s review, the Ag/Forestal and Rural Preservation Committee recommended approval of the request, noting the Colemans own most of the property in the Gold Mine Creek AFD and intend to continue farming much of the parcel.
In the second public hearing, the commission recommended that supervisors remove the Inez AFD in southeastern Louisa County.
During the renewal process, property owners requested the removal of five of the district’s eight parcels, leaving it short of the 200 core acres required for an AFD under state code.
Coon updates commission on status of Love’s Travel Stop application
Deputy County Administrator Chris Coon updated the planning commission on the status of Love’s Travel Stop’s request to build a truck stop on about 31 acres of a 51-acre site just south of the Gum Spring interchange along Interstate 64 (tmp 100-87, 100-88, 100-90).
To comply with recent changes to county code, Coon said that Love’s is amending its application to request both a rezoning, from Agricultural (A-2 GAOD) to General Commercial (C-2 GAOD), for part of the property and a conditional use permit (CUP). The company initially applied only for a rezoning, believing its uses were by-right in the split-zoned property’s commercially zoned section.
Coon said the Community Development Department is close to deeming the application complete at which point Love’s can move forward with the public approval process.
Once the application is complete, Love’s and county staff will hold an as-yet-unscheduled neighborhood meeting. The application will then move to the planning commission for a public hearing and recommendation to the board of supervisors. Supervisors follow that with a second public hearing and a final vote.
Coon said that Love’s request could potentially be considered by the planning commission as soon as July, depending on when the application is ruled complete and when the neighborhood meeting is scheduled.
“I know [Love’s] would like to get in front of you all relatively quickly,” Coon told the commission.
Love’s application has sparked strong resistance from some Gum Spring residents who’ve argued that a truck stop is ill-suited for their community. They’ve contended the facility would lead to dangerous roads, increased crime, noise and light pollution and negative environmental impacts.
VDH continues to investigate E. coli cases among visitors to Lake Anna as DEQ test indicates no current public health hazard
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) continues to investigate a cluster of gastrointestinal illnesses among people who visited the Lake Anna area during or after Memorial Day weekend (May 24-27).
According to an update from VDH issued Friday evening, 25 probable and confirmed cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) have been identified among lake visitors. Many of those infected are children with five children requiring hospitalization.
As part of its investigation, VDH is partnering with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to test the lake’s water, according to the release. The latest testing was conducted June 11 at six sites. The tests indicated that “all fecal bacteria concentrations were well below a public health level of concern.”
Water sampling from earlier in June, conducted by the Lake Anna Civic Association (LACA) in cooperation with DEQ, also found E. coli levels below the threshold of concern.
“The June Water Quality E. coli tests are in and the lake appears to be clear,” LACA said in a June 7 Facebook post.
DEQ will test the lake again on June 17. The June 11 test included two samples from the North Anna branch, including the Sandbar, and samples from the northern and southern part of Cocktail Cove, Lake Anna State Park Beach and the North Pamunkey Branch. LACA’s samples were collected from more than two dozen locations.
VDH said that while its continuing to investigate, no single cause of the outbreak has been identified and it’s possible the department “might not be able to identify the source.”
“There is no indication that contaminated food was the source of the outbreak. Environmental pollution from heavy rains, livestock, failing septic systems, boating discharge, and swimmers are potential sources of illness when swimming in natural waters. Avoid swimming where livestock are present,” the release said.
Over the last six summers, Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) have plagued parts of the lake, prompting VDH to issue no swim advisories for its upper reaches. The department said the recent outbreak isn’t suspected to be related to the blooms “as this pathogen is not associated with HABs.” Currently, there is no ongoing HAB event, per VDH, though there is algae activity, which is normal for this time of year.
VDH encourages anyone who visited the Lake Anna area on Memorial Day weekend or since and is experiencing gastrointestinal illness (such as stomach cramps and diarrhea), to contact their local health department and seek medical care.
The department launched a website to share information and updates about the outbreak. Check it out here.
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