P.E. Supervisors Approve Scaled Back Corridor Overlay District

At their November 14, 2013 regular meeting, Prince Edward County Supervisors reopened the May 2013 discussion of the zoning ordinance which would provide for a Highway Corridor Overlay District. The Corridor Overlay District would “protect scenic beauty and viewsheds, enhance levels of transportation service along the major access roads, and increase property values; with specific attention given to access management, multi-modal transportation, landscaping and site design.” In particular, it would affect such things as parking lot access, how buildings and utilities are installed, landscaping and signs. The district was designed to possibly cover a portion of Route 15 north and south of Farmville, Route 460 in the vicinities of Pamplin, Prospect, Tuggle, and Rice, Route 360 in the vicinity of Green Bay and Meherrin, and Granite Falls Boulevard. The Overlay would have a width of 1000 feet on both sides of the highway. A controversial portion of this proposal was the Design Guide, which contained photographs of encouraged design applications. At this November meeting, Supervisors agreed to implement the Corridor Overlay District, but only on Route 15 South from the U.S. 460 overpass to Farmville Lake Road and on Granite Falls Boulevard. In addition, all references to the Design Guide were removed, although copies of the document would be available to developers if they are interested.

Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors began their regular November 14, 2013 meeting by honoring Major David Edward Eppes of the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Department. Major Eppes died on October 7, 2013 at the age of 50. Supervisors chairman, William Fore, read a letter from the Board to Mr. Eppes’ family, which includes his wife, Prince Edward County Clerk of the Court Machelle Eppes, and a daughter. After the supervisors’ letter was presented to the family, Sheriff Wesley Reed made a presentation to the family of a shadowbox with souvenirs of Major Eppes’ 24-year career with the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Department. These presentations took place immediately after the conclusion of a Special Board Meeting to discuss the disposition of publicly held real property in the P.E. Industrial Park. This discussion was closed to citizens, which is allowed under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Laws. However, it is unlikely that citizens would have tried to attend the meeting, since Supervisors did not announce the meeting to citizens as they are required to do by law under Virginia Code Section §2.2-3707,E.

A number of citizens or officials spoke during the Citizen Participation Portion of the Regular Board Meeting. Dr. David Smith, Superintendent of P.E. Schools, made a presentation on planned maintenance and renovations at the schools. Most of the plans relate to heating and air conditioning, primarily at the Middle School. Kenneth Jackson, and then Bemeche Hicks, talked primarily about the lack of serious economic development in Prince Edward County. Both referred to the recent election of two new supervisors and their role in encouraging development. Mr. Jackson brought up the often heard 2013 complaint that the County cut $40,000 from the County fire departments. As he has done before, County Administrator Wade Bartlett said that no cuts had been made to the fire departments.

Supervisors continued October 8, 2013 public hearings concerning a zoning change and a subdivision ordinance change concerning construction in dam break inundation zones below lakes and ponds (except for small agricultural ponds). A dam break inundation zone is the area downstream of a dam that would be inundated [covered by water] or otherwise directly affected by the failure of a dam. It is expected that there will be dam inundation zone maps on all lakes (ponds) except agricultural ponds. The zoning and ordinance changes have to do with requirements to be met prior to development in areas that would be flooded during certain types of severe rain events. The two major changes are the following:

1. If a development takes place in a dam inundation zone that results in a required upgrade to the dam, then the developer is responsible for 50% of the cost. The owner of the dam is responsible for the other 50% of the cost, although state funds may be available to pay this amount.

2. Any development in a dam inundation zone, even a single house, will be required to provide a site plan to the County. Information in this site plan will be a used during the process to determine whether the development will be allowed.

Supervisors passed both the zoning change and the subdivision change.

As reported in the Southside Messenger, a reorganization took place recently in H.O.P.E. Community Services, Inc., after a number of charges of inappropriate activities, including improper use of agency funds. The replacement agency is called New Horizons Community Action Partnership, and Dr. Henry Featherston is the Interim Executive Director. Dr. Featherston and Jasper Hendricks, their Board Vice Chair, told supervisors that the Partnership had straightened out all financial problems. Mr. Hendricks told Supervisors that the Partnership wants to apply for a $301,000 community services block grant to help support their activities. The grant would require a 20% local match. The Partnership is asking each of the six counties served by Partnership activities to contribute $10,000 toward this local match. After a long discussion, Supervisors agreed to table the motion to provide the funds until regular budget time.

Sheriff Wesley Reed again made a request for the County to increase the hourly rate for Deputy Gary Dudley from $15.89 to $20. According to Sheriff Reed, Deputy Dudley is a part-time court officer who works to maintain order outside the court room door. As he has often done recently, Supervisor Don Gantt said Supervisors should follow their policy of not giving salary raises during the year, but should only do so during budget time. Supervisor Pattie Cooper-Jones said she has seen Deputy Dudley at work and was very impressed. Supervisors voted to approve the raise, with only Wilck, Gantt, and Campbell voting no.

In July of 2013, the Southside Messenger reported on Supervisor approval of incentives provided by Prince Edward County for Helton House, which provides support for persons with disabilities living in a community setting. Now, Helton House has indicated their intention to scale back their proposed expansion from over $2,000,000 to a little over $1,000,000. The scaled back County incentives will be less than $12,000.

Finally, a number of public hearings were announced. The P.E. Planning Commission will hold two public hearings on December 17, 2013 concerning the construction of two communication towers in the Meherrin area. One of these would be on property owned by former County Administrator Mildred Hampton. Kevin Wright from VDOT announced that there will be a roads public informational hearing at 6 p.m. on November 21 at the Kirkley Hotel and Conference Center in Lynchburg. He said that the Prince Edward County Six Year Roads Plan meeting will probably be held in February of 2014.