Coraggio Consulting
Hanover County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Place: Hanover County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 5h 0m (video)
Official meeting video (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1392/media
Official agenda (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=4290,plainText=false)
Official minutes (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=4396,plainText=false)

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-24. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:02:57] Hello, everyone. The time is 2 o'clock, and we will now call the Hanover County Board of Supervisors meeting to order. As is customary, we will begin with an invocation led by Mr. Davis, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Supervisor Pritchard. Mr. Davis.

[00:03:12] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let us pray. Almighty Father, we thank you for this opportunity to convene, to do the people's business. We thank you, Lord, for the many blessings you have given us, that you've freely given us. Lord, as we come to the end of the year, we all become reminiscent, somewhat nostalgic, but certainly reflective.

[00:03:31] And Lord, we just want to thank you for the service of Governor Yunkin, Lieutenant Governor Sears, and Attorney General Muir. I ask that you bless them as they leave office, that they would know that their service was appreciated by the Commonwealth, and we just pray for a smooth transition.

[00:03:48] And, Father, we ask your special blessings upon Governor-Elect Spanberger and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Hashmi and Attorney General-Elect Jones. And I ask that you bless them in the performance of their duties, Father. We ask that you bless their families as they sacrifice so these individuals can serve.

[00:04:04] And we just thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to live in a free country where elections matter and that we have an opportunity to voice our vote for those who will lead us. So, Lord, as we come to the end of the year, I ask that you bless my fellow board members, particularly their families, again, who give so much to help these folks serve.

[00:04:24] And for all of the folks that serve in Hanover County, Lord, we serve a joint constituency. Every employee who is forward-facing, dealing with our citizens here, we know they care, and we thank you for their service and all that they put into not only their jobs and their careers, but serving the people of Hanover.

[00:04:42] We pray, Lord, as always, for those who respond first to our needs, those who are the first to be called, and those who are the first to respond. We thank you, Lord, for all that you do, but in this Advent season, Lord, for those who believe, we thank you mostly for your Son, Christ Jesus. We praise you for that, Lord, and we ask that all of these things be heard by you, Lord, as we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

[00:05:22] Thank you, Mr. Davis, and thank you, Supervisor Pritchard. Next on the agenda, consideration of amendments to the agenda, Mr. Davis.

[00:05:40] Mr. Chairman, I don't have an amendment in front of me, so I would need to thank you for the docket. Mr. Chairman, I move to add a closed session under Virginia Code Section 2.23711A8, consultation with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters, a discussion of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia As an agenda item 12 C and the reappointment of miss Amanda Bishop to the community services board Representing the mechanicsville magisterial district for a term ending December 31st 2028 as consent agenda item

[00:06:21] 6b3 There is a motion and a second any discussion all in favor, please indicate by saying aye The agenda has been amended next comment period. I We'll begin. I'd like to recognize Sheriff Hines for being with us. Sir, good to see you. Mr. Scott Miller is with us.

[00:06:45] Actually, it's Mr. Scott Harris. Scott Harris. See, I had my next thought on our treasurer. That's what happened there. Mr. Boshan, thank you for being with us, sir. Our Fire Chief Chris Anderson is with us. Thank you, sir, for being here.

[00:07:03] Next, I'd like to recognize Mr. Joe Vidunas, our county traffic engineer. Last week at the joint meeting of the CVTA, the RRTPO, and the Plan RVA collaborative meeting where Mr. Davis attended and Supervisor Pritchard and Mr. Hudson, they were excited and happy to see that one of our very own employees was awarded the regional champion.

[00:07:34] Just so you know, this award is intended to recognize a member of the RVA community for their service beyond their local community organization. As we all know, collaboration is not always an easy task.

[00:07:50] It is something that requires practice and patience and trust. Trust not just in others, but trust cultivated in others through honesty, integrity, reliability, and leadership. Our employee has served Hanover County well since 2002.

[00:08:09] He has grown to be a trusted friend and an advisor across the region who has been recognized potentially not enough for his success as a project manager and an exemplar of getting things done and doing things the right way.

[00:08:29] When Joe Viadunez started his career in Hanover County in 2002, he was the transportation section. Over the last 23 years, he has seen the ebbs and flow of transportation funding while calls for road improvements from citizens significantly increased.

[00:08:48] Mr. Vaidunas has played an integral part in the establishment of the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, bringing stability to funding projections and increasing local agency in project prioritization and selection to move forward.

[00:09:09] Joe's small but mighty team of four now manages a portfolio of 24 projects in development, 20 of which are LAP projects valued at approximately $213 million, which include zero general fund dollars.

[00:09:30] This represents an increase of projects multiple times over due to the success of the CVTA in returning revenue to Hanover County for transportation investments.

[00:09:47] He developed the county's 10-year funding plan and works regularly with VDOT annually on the secondary six-year plan. Joe's leadership has been recognized among Pierce and VDOT, earning Hanover County numerous awards over the years, including the VDOT Richmond District Locality of the Year Award in 2022 and earning the VDOT Richmond District Locally Administered Projects Project Manager of the Year in 2023.

[00:10:21] His team was successful in constructing Hanover County's first stand-alone bike ped project at Cool Spring Elementary School, which received the 2025 VDOT Richmond District Forum Best Bike Pedestrian Project.

[00:10:39] He led the project development of Hanover's first roundabout and second roundabout and our most unique project to date at Lee Extended, which included a bridge over a rail line, which also incorporated a tunnel through the bridge embankment.

[00:10:59] In addition to these local accomplishments, Joe has led the RRTPO and CVTA's Technical Advisory Committees and other various working groups. Supported the development of at least eight regional long-term transportation plans and led the dialogue among regional partners through difficult conversations about project scoring, local project fund allocation, regional project prioritization.

[00:11:30] All the while, he always challenged his colleagues to consider what is best for the region. His colleagues here shared this final remark that sums up the reason that Joe was honored. Quote, it is hard to think of an area in Hanover County that Joe has not had a hand in improving road safety for Hanover citizens and the traveling public.

[00:11:56] Joe, on behalf of the entire Hanover County Board of Supervisors, and our partners at Plan RVA, RRTPO, and CDTA, we are grateful that you are here with us and that you were recognized as the regional champion, because a champion you are, sir.

[00:12:20] Thank you for all the work that you have done and will continue to do to improve our community. And also thank you for all of the very good work that you do on our Transportation Committee. Let's all give Joe a big round of applause. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen next to open it up to board member comments

[00:12:57] Supervisor Pritchard. Thank you. Mr. Chair first I want to say I can't imagine anybody who deserves this recognition more than sure by doing this or who wants it less I know this is very hard for him But I'm so grateful that we got to do this here at home so that everybody who works here and everybody who attends our meetings knows exactly how much we value you, Joe.

[00:13:21] But I also want to say, because it is Mr. Herzberg's last meeting as chair, I believe, that I am so grateful, so proud. The leadership you've shown this past year has been amazing.

[00:13:37] There are so many ways I think I underestimated you that I hope I've grown into. You've grown as my friend. I truly appreciate everything you've done this year. Congratulations. Well, thank you very much for your kind words supervisor Pritchett greatly appreciate it It's been good working with you as well. Mr. Davis. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman I will attempt to be brief a number of board members have asked me to make some comments We've received an email the other day with some direct questions that Upon review didn't seem to be

[00:14:14] Rhetorical questions, you know from time to time board members will get an email and say, you know, why are you an idiot? idiot. I put that in the rhetorical category and generally don't respond. But these were some really, really good questions. And it has to deal with data centers. It has to deal with quarries. But it really, at its heart, it deals with what the board has to do and what it must do and how it has to operate and what I noticed in this email was a lot of concern fear some angst

[00:14:51] and I've gotten hundreds of emails and I want to say I think these these are legitimate concerns I know people become upset and nervous and anxious over potential land use matters that the planning commission and the board have to vote on and I think that's valid I really do I know folks are kind of saying well as this process goes on we don't know what's happening we don't know what's going to take place and that's true you don't know until the board makes its final decision however what you do know or what you can know is that accurate information is available and one of

[00:15:26] the questions that came up is is uh there's an agenda item to to advertise for a cop plan amendment an applicant has put in a cop plan amendment request an application here at the county and with that as that's processed one of the things the board does is says hey we're going to authorize advertisement for this should it pass on a vote so the public will know about it it's so important that the public be informed as to the applications that are coming through planning so while many people know about applications for potential data centers or quarries or whatever

[00:16:02] it might be it's important that we send out a public notice so more citizens can be notified and more folks can engage. Another question that came up is, if we don't like it, we the citizen, we don't like it, can you just stop the process? I'll say this, and this is not an admonishment, it comes by way of information, that would be a very dangerous system if the process was able to be stopped in just a unilateral fashion, either by one board member or any governing body says, you know what, folks just don't like this, so we're going to pull back and not allow due process to take its course, it could be a very dangerous place. And I tell you, I can't think of

[00:16:42] a place where it'd be more dangerous than if the government did that. So I think it's valid when people are concerned, but there's not a process to say, you know what, we're going to make a backroom decision. We're not going to allow this to go forward. Imagine for a moment if the government did work that way. You might think it would be good for your particular case that you don't like, but what happens when that becomes the standard, when the government has no standard?

[00:17:07] So it's incumbent upon the Board of Supervisors, in my view, to ensure that due process is followed and everybody has an opportunity to weigh in. The same goes for a deferral. Some folks say, well, can you just defer it? Not without a board action. Mr. Herzberg and I have had this conversation numerous times.

[00:17:26] The first requirement of the Board of Supervisors is to convene. We're a unique body. You go down to the General Assembly, you go up to Congress, they can caucus. and they go into rooms and they talk about things and they figure out what they're going to do and then they get down to the floor and they vote. The board can't do that.

[00:17:42] We can't caucus. We have to make decisions in open forums in front of the public view. So we must convene to make those decisions so there's no process for a board member to say, I don't want to hear that. Let's just pull that off the agenda.

[00:17:57] Let's just pull that off the docket, and we won't hear an application. Even if it's one that some folks find to be worrisome or distasteful are even scared about. I will say this, there is accurate information available. There's no mechanism to ensure that citizens will access that accurate information. And I think sometimes when people become concerned, they feel like they need to say, hey, the system's rigged against you.

[00:18:25] And I get that. I mean, inherently, I'm a little distrustful of government myself. I think that's somewhat healthy, right? But I think when folks say, hey, this is what's taking place and so you're not going to get a fair shake, there's accurate information available to prove that that's not true. We're willing to provide that. We do provide it. But what we can't do is force somebody to access that information. What I like about the Board of Supervisors meetings and what I like about public hearings is it's very different than the judicial branch. We're kind of in the legislative branch. You walk into the courtroom, first of all, the judge doesn't get to

[00:19:02] decide what cases they're going to hear, right? Even if they dismiss them, it has to go through a process. But if you walk into a courtroom and somebody says you don't have standing or what you're saying is not relevant, one person gets to say, hey, we're not going to hear anymore. Here, we want to hear all of that. Whether you feel like you have standing or not, if you live in Hanover County and you feel this affects you, you're going to have an opportunity to come to that podium. You're going to have an opportunity to call a board member, to email, to stop by a board member's house, catch them in the grocery store, and I encourage you to do all of that.

[00:19:35] But we just can't force folks to access accurate information, but Mr. Badesky and I have spoken numerous times about making sure that we are getting that information out there as quickly as possible. I have a standard for public information, and that is maximum disclosure, minimal delay. When we know something, disclose it to the widest audience possible, put it out there. Ms. Dunlop knows that there are things that change on a daily basis. And let's get that information out there on our websites, on social media. And by the way, I think social media is a

[00:20:12] great platform. I do. I think by and large, more good comes from social media than bad. But like with anything, you can get some stuff out there that's not accurate. You're not going to find Hanover County government going in and replying to every comment. I don't think that that's appropriate, nor do I think it's appropriate for the government to engage in debate that could have the possibility of suppressing people's desire to to engage in the public process so do I see comments that are not exactly accurate sure I do sometimes I wish I man I wish I could put you know these folks on the right path but I believe when folks get worried and concerned

[00:20:50] which is legitimate and these processes kind of take a long time and it's kind of weighing on you I understand that but a long process where everybody gets a chance to have input is very very very important so i know that it's concerning i just want folks to know and the reason i replied to that email and i think my colleagues asked me to speak uh this afternoon is we have a strong desire to make sure that accurate information is out there but right now we're kind of in the information gathering process as well so if there's a negative impact somebody believes that they need to bring up to the board we want to hear about it if there's somebody who supports

[00:21:29] a project whatever it might be we want to hear about it we need to find ways to address negative impacts uh by telling an applicant you know this is something that you need to address when you when you come to the board right this seems to be legitimate working with staff to make sure those types of things take place is extremely important so folks can get their questions answered and then at the end of the day planning commission will make their recommendation or come to the board for the ultimate decision but um again maximum disclosure minimal delay but I don't want to speak for the entire board, but I know everybody has told me this.

[00:22:05] Nobody likes the fact that folks are concerned and anxious, particularly over things that, you know, cause them to have those feelings. However, it's not worth stopping due process in order to try to assuage someone's concerns and trust in the process.

[00:22:24] The process should lead to an outcome. That doesn't mean the outcome is always agreed on by everyone. But the reason that you hear some of the things that you hear is because the board is diligent about making sure that this is an open, transparent government that has a process for all that we do.

[00:22:40] So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Davis. Anyone else? Seeing none, Mr. Badesky. Thank you, Mr. Chair. For those that were in the room earlier, you may have seen that the board had taken a picture with Tommy Tomato.

[00:22:58] Tommy decided to show up today because he was upstaged over the past two weeks. by a raccoon that has been named trash panda I don't think anyone in this room we're probably watching here today is surprised or hasn't heard the story of the raccoon that had breached the ABC store in Ashland caused a little chaos and was found by our animal protection team drunk and passed out next to a

[00:23:31] toilet. I have never said those words at a podium before and one I'm proud of our team and the response that they did there but I will tell you that in the heat of all of the concern and challenge that we have in our community this this raccoon has provided some levity that that was walk at a welcome time and not only did did the raccoon provide some levity what I underestimated in a fundraising request initially I thought okay they'll sell some t-shirts raise a

[00:24:08] couple grand that couple grand is close to two hundred thousand dollars right now for trash panda t-shirts and it's can assure you that was an unexpected fundraiser but to this day it still goes on our friends in Ashland are continuing theming there but it's been embraced by bars and restaurants throughout our community of created drinks and other kinds of things.

[00:24:36] Some may know that it reached Saturday Night Live this week, all the national newscasts, international news, and I think it just might be one of those stories that it came at the right time. And the raccoon's fine, by the way. If anyone was concerned, after a few hours in the tank, our team returned the raccoon back to the wild.

[00:24:57] So, um, but it's, uh, it's just one of those things that, uh, our community, it's interesting with all those things that can divide, uh, the raccoons seem to bring people together. Um, and so it was, uh, an interesting few weeks in our community.

[00:25:12] And, uh, I think that one may live on a little while. Um, there's even been suggestions that somehow the squirrels find a way to add the raccoon to their, uh, dossier of mascots. I don't think we're ready to let go of, uh, the trash panda quite yet.

[00:25:28] So just thank everybody that money will be put to good use and do good things for animals in our care here in the county. So thank everybody for that. I did want to share that Tommy was here for other reasons. This just past few weeks, we our parks and rec team was recognized with with a number of parks and recreation wards.

[00:25:51] And Tommy the Tomato had been determined by professionals in the Parks and Rec Association throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia as the most creative marketing strategy for the past year. So Tommy and the efforts that Tommy does on behalf of our community were recognized statewide.

[00:26:13] Some may not know that originally Tommy was a partnership with our Rotary Club of Mechanicsville and spurred out of that partnership and represents us in many, many venues throughout the year and really does bring our community together.

[00:26:28] So congratulations to Parks and Rec and Tommy for the most creative strategy. We're also proud to recognize that the only brick-and-mortar project in the Commonwealth that was recognized this year as the best new facility is our very own Montpelier Recreation Center and Library, a great addition to our community championed by Ms. Dibble and Mr. Stoneman after and this board making that investment. Really proud to have that for our Ruston-Hanover residents and county-wide, but to be the only facility recognized is an honor. And finally, many of our residents know

[00:27:07] about our spooky fun fests that we do in both of our major parks throughout the year, But one of the additions that was added this year, if you've ever been there, it's a great event, but it can be overwhelming. There's a lot of lights and noise and sounds and costumes, and our team worked together to create a zone that allows folks that could be overwhelmed by that, that need just to step away and really an inclusive space to get away from some of that more sensory experience.

[00:27:39] And they actually won the recognition this year for the best inclusive initiative. So congratulations to our Parks and Rec team for all of that work this year. So with those recognitions, Joe's, our quadruple AAA that we got in the past month, it's been a good month for some of the best practices that we do here as a county, and I'm proud of the team.

[00:28:04] I do want to share just a few other announcements here today. And I know the room's full because they wanted to hear the assessor's report this year. Richard normally doesn't draw a crowd, so I'm joking.

[00:28:20] But Richard Paul, this will be his last annual report as our assessor. And Richard, you've served this county, and you're not out the door yet, but we'll be in the weeks to come. Your service as assessor to this county and the recognition you have your professional organization and the credibility you have brought to the countywide assessments has been greatly appreciated you will be missed we wish you extremely well in your retirement but you're not off the hook yet you got a report to give here shortly so thank you this is the time of year that we focus on the county's budget and we really work on the budget

[00:29:00] year round we listen to our residents needs wants challenges and take all of that feedback into consideration we work with all of your departments constitutional officers our partners at the school i see dr penny cuff and miss stone with us today we work closely on drafting a budget that will be introduced by myself in what's called the county administrators introduced budget in february and in february through april this board deliberates the recommendations and and all of the feedback we receive from the our residents uh throughout the year and throughout that process and adopt a budget in april that will serve us from our fiscal year that's july

[00:29:36] one to june 30th and so i share this with you there will be a number of opportunities more of those public hearings mr davis was talking about for you to come out but we don't just wait for a public hearing to hear feedback that is a venue certainly let reach out to my office the board staff let us know your thoughts as we go into the budget we know that just like you at home there's not unlimited funds here and as we utilize tax dollars that impact all of our residents we take that serious and so we want to hear those thoughts and perspectives on the budget and appreciate everybody's feedback we don't have a shy community i can tell you my my children will

[00:30:15] not go to food line with me anymore because it turns in an hour cereal pickup um and that's good and that's the kind of community we like to have where we get feedback ongoing um and it does make a difference i will say if folks would wait until after communion at church to tell me about the budget i would welcome that um but it's it's all the time and that and we we take that feedback serious um i do want to share that um on top of all the goodwill that animal protection and and the raccoons brought us i'm hoping that it will go even further on december 20th from 11 to 2

[00:30:54] we have a sheer clear the shelter for christmas open house at our animal shelter and so if you're looking to to bring an extra family friend home this is a time to do it we we try to make it as convenient for folks as possible uh to to adopt during that period of time but certainly all all year and so welcome our community there this saturday we welcome our community right here on this campus one of our events that continues to grow each year and is an extremely well received and family friendly event is our winter on the green event we'll do a tree lighting

[00:31:28] santa stops by um there's i hope it's our produced snow and not real snow this saturday but it's the vendor there's a number of vendors here selling uh wares that's it's a very well received event welcome our community out to the green this fri this saturday at five on december 17th at six o'clock at patrick henry high school there is a proposed roundabout at the greenwood blanton ashland road ash cake road roundabout and that that will be on december 17th at 6 p.m

[00:32:05] and lastly in recognition of the christmas holiday holiday season uh there will be county offices will be closed december 24th through 26th and january 1st through 2nd thank the board for the support for the employees for the additional time off there as well mr chairman that's all i have today. Thank you Mr. Badescu for your comments. Anyone else? Sorry. Seeing none we will move on.

[00:32:30] Agenda item four is a presentation of proclamation. Honoring Deputy Commissioner of the Revenue Karen Winston on her retirement. Supervisor Sue Debel. Sure. Ms. Winston also our Commissioner of the Revenue

[00:32:51] Mr. Scott Harris. Please approach. Thank you very much for being with us. Nothing. All right here we go.

[00:33:31] The best part of the meeting is a proclamation. Ms. Karen R. Winston, beloved resident of the beautiful South Anna District, graduated from Patrick Henry High School and began her tenure with the Hanover County Commissioner of the Revenue three months after graduation.

[00:33:49] Her task included drafting tax maps long before the process was computerized in the 1990s. Karen worked her entire 51-year career serving the citizens of Hanover County. Karen has admirably filled numerous roles within the commissioner's office, including draftsman's, land records administrator, supervisor of the real estate and personal property divisions, as well as in her current role as senior tax revenue specialist.

[00:34:23] She successfully completed a rigorous multi-year program with the University of Virginia to improve her knowledge of local property tax administration, receiving her professional designation as a Master Deputy Commissioner of the Revenue from the university's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service in July of 2004.

[00:34:45] In 2010, Karen received the Margaret Anderson Outstanding Deputy Award from the Commissioner of the Revenue Association of Virginia. This award is in recognition of her outstanding service to the citizens of Hanover County and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[00:35:05] Karen has trained, mentored, and worked beside numerous employees throughout her long tenure, always conducting herself in a positive and supportive manner. A lifelong resident of Hanover County, Karen exemplifies the attributes of the best in public service, working tirelessly to serve the citizens of Hanover County as an employee and trusted volunteer with the community for more than half a century.

[00:35:38] The Hanover County Board of Supervisors, on behalf of the citizens, wishes to express its appreciation and congratulate Karen R. Winston for her 51 years of outstanding service to Hanover County. Furthermore, the board joins her co-workers and friends in extending its best wishes for her for a long, healthy, and happy retirement.

[00:36:04] Congratulations.

[00:36:06] Okay, next on the agenda is citizens time so far we have two registered for citizens time

[00:37:20] Anyone else who wishes to address the board during citizens time? Please raise your hand like this. I see one Additional you will have five minutes Citizens time is an opportunity for members of the public to present comments and information to the board Regarding any matter within the scope of the board's authority that is not on today's agenda for a public hearing There are cards available in the back of the room. You are not required to fill out a card.

[00:37:52] However, it makes it easier for our board clerk to get the spelling of your name correct. And it gives us your contact information in case we need to follow up with you after your comments. Speakers who wish to address the board are requested to follow these guidelines.

[00:38:10] Each speaker is asked to state your name and the magisterial district in which you live. Speakers will have up to five minutes to address the board. The vice chair will keep track of each speaker's time, and may give you a warning before the time expires.

[00:38:27] Speakers are asked to address their comments to the board, and not to the audience. The board does not permit the use of slideshows or other projected materials during citizens' time. However, speakers are invited to provide printed copies of any materials that they have to the board.

[00:38:47] Handouts and other materials can be provided to the deputy county administrator seated to the right of the podium right there who will ensure that the information will be distributed to board members and to the board clerk. The board requests that the audience refrain from interrupting speakers during their recognized time.

[00:39:08] This rule applies to citizens' time and to any public hearing on today's agenda. the board appreciates the public's input and Cooperation during citizens time will now open citizens time the first registered speaker is miss Amy Chile Please approach you will have up to five minutes state your name and the district in which you live. Thank you. Thank you I'm gonna read and I have a little cold so I might have to drink in between Good afternoon. Thank you for your time and consideration. My name is Amy Mendelsohn Chile I live in the South Anna district as some of you know

[00:39:43] I have been involved in Hanover County planning for 32 years. My mentor, former Planning Department Director John Hodges, and I solicited input together for three comp plan updates during the mid-1990s through the 2010s. During that time and since then, I have played a part in helping to make Hanover a place that my family and my neighbors call home, a safe and clean and well-planned community. As you know, as recently as 22 months before H.H. Hunt submitted their industrial development plans, we went through a rigorous comp plan update where they agreed to maintain the 2043 vision of future housing. I'm here to urge you to keep the current comprehensive

[00:40:23] land use plan as future residential. The comprehensive plan should not be changed. There are farms and large rural lot homes in the area, and an M1 industrial complex is incompatible with them. Please vote no to changing it to an employment center. And by the way, I know you're not voting today you're just voting to advertise and I understand all that. It was just part of the process and I was just trying to find out exactly how this goes. Additionally we have three huge community churches along the perimeter of the area whose congregants have been worshiping

[00:40:57] in this area for a combined 450 plus years and when they congregate it's with the knowledge and faith that they can have communal meetings and facilities that both meet their needs and also the health department's criteria with their own water and septic facilities. Nobody has anything other than water and septic tanks where I live and actually doesn't really perk. So we have that too. With this H.H. Hunt scheme, Hanover County could never guarantee that these thousands of Hanoverians faith communities will be sustained into the future. The comprehensive

[00:41:33] plan should not be changed. As a former member of the Richmond Regional Planning Commission, I proudly represented Hanover County as we talked about and worked on projects that entailed regional cooperation. How can we truly support regional cooperation and teach our children the values of love thy neighbor if we don't take the thousands of homes downstream from this project into consideration? I don't understand how H.H. Hunt, their community developer, would want to turn it into a community destroyer, and how Hanover County's approval of this project would make that certainly happen. To summarize, this area has come under consideration for a lot of

[00:42:12] things in the past, but none as incongruent as this one. These are areas, there are areas that are planned as EDZs, as you all know, economic development zones and set up for this type of industrial development with infrastructure and safety mechanisms in place. There are none here, none. There's no redundancy. There's no backup for any of us. They have no backup plans for our public health and safety. I'm here to say again, please do not change the comprehensive land use plan as for scheduling the meeting since we have been told time and again to trust the process and we will have our say at the public hearings I would like to urge you to have a separate

[00:42:48] planning commission meeting and board of supervisor meeting for just these four cases I know that there's three cases there's the planning I mean the comprehensive plan amendment and then the SCP and CUP and the rezoning and those certainly are substantial enough to have to be able to be heard on their own. You guys spent so much money and time with Insure Hanover, and every other area got scrutiny for months, for a year. And this little area is suddenly going to be decided in two months what happens to all of us there. I think that's disparate treatment. We're not

[00:43:27] being treated equally. We had 500 people at the South Anna meeting, and the fire marshal told me they had to have people kind of circulate in and out. So I believe that those people want to be heard. Thank you again for your time. I really appreciate it. I'm just, my, my property is right across the street from this. I can't even subdivide without so much scrutiny for my children. And yet this developer has not provided any updated information to you all since August 22nd.

[00:43:58] We just don't know enough. They're not the end user. They're just trying to offload. And I think I'm very proud of this county and this community. There's 30 seconds. Okay, thank you. And I really feel certain that you guys will understand the gravity of this situation as it sets a precedent for any other anything. If there's no sewer and water anywhere, that means anything can happen. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

[00:44:26] thank you for your comments next holly mark is it please approach state your name the district in which you live you will have up to five minutes thank you it's holly manky i live in south anna district i live about a mile as the crow flies from hunting hawk and i would like to speak to you about the hunting hawk technology center and the request to alter the comprehensive plan for western hanover i realize it's not on a vote today and it has to go through the process i appreciate all your explanations earlier about that. I do not support changes in any form to the

[00:45:05] comprehensive plan or to change the land use designations and zoning from A1 to M1. Western Hanover is A1. If you pull up the GIS, Western Hanover is completely orange. The color for A1 zoning is orange. It is rural, agricultural, and low-density housing.

[00:45:23] The infrastructure of Western Hanover is very individualized, meaning we have our own wells, and our own septic systems if you've ever tasted well water compared to county water then you understand why we like it and want to keep it that way this technology center does not fit the royal the rule aesthetics we have in western hanover and we do not have nor want the infrastructure needed to support it when you buy a piece of land you buy it zoned the way it is not with the expectations to change it for that reason alone these applications for changes to the comprehensive plan and zoning should not even be sent to the planning commission if money is the main concern

[00:46:03] and not the citizens of this county then we have other issues that need to be addressed hanover just recently earned that quad triple a bond rating that is the highest possible that is because of you our supervisors have shown strong financial management diverse revenue sources and economic growth without any data centers. Let me repeat, you earned this for us without any data centers in Hanover County. You have shown that we do not need them to succeed in Hanover County.

[00:46:37] This bond rating is an elite achievement that needs to be celebrated. It shows that Hanover County is stable without any data centers and can continue to prosper without any data centers. thank you all for what you do and please continue to protect the people of hanover by voting no to advance any applications for data centers in hanover county especially do not advance the application for hunting hawk technology center thank you for your time thank you for your comments anyone else please approach state your name the district in which you live

[00:47:15] you have up to five minutes my name is jennifer corpus and i'm in the chickahominy district I'm a homeschool mom and the wife of a military veteran, and our family chose Hanover as the place to make our lifelong home. I am concerned about the four data centers proposed for Hanover and the fact that they've all come up at once. Like many residents, I'm worried that tech corporations have set their sights on our rural county, our farmland, and the water and energy resources. They plan to move in if this board allows it. I'm not alone in this worry. Nearly

[00:47:54] 500 residents were at the Hunting Hawk community meeting, and I'm sure many of them were Henrico residents, but many of them were from our county as well. Since that meeting, I've seen an explosion of conversation across Hanover on social media. Residents from every district of Hanover are talking about these data centers. This is a community that's paying attention. AI is becoming an economy changing force to be reckoned with, and it creates a few winners and many losers.

[00:48:24] I just read a news story about how in Manassas, city officials were shocked when a newly built data center didn't generate expected tax revenue because they claimed bank status. It exempted them from local business taxes. One of their city officials said, what's to stop our other three or four from doing the same?

[00:48:43] And then we end up with zero revenue from data centers. Another added, I give them credit for shrewd negotiation. My concern is, has the city protected from future shrewd negotiators? What's to stop these proposed data centers in Hanover from finding similar loopholes, especially when they have endless pockets to fund their research?

[00:49:02] Data center job creation is incredibly low, with average long-term jobs being only 30 to 100. And data centers are really easy to tell apart from other facilities because they're small parking lots or the empty parking lots.

[00:49:20] In Hanover, new construction and these short-term jobs will end, and the county will settle on its new normal. But what that normal is, is a gamble. Hanover's groundwater resources are already limited, yet we are considering projects that are among the most energy and water intensive anywhere.

[00:49:37] Data centers can be either energy hogs or water hogs and will pivot if one resource becomes constrained. Even with minimal water use, the energy demands raise another concern, which is the new DEQ proposals that would allow diesel generators to run not just in emergencies, but anytime there's strain on the grid. And there is a lot of strain on the grid. That could be multiple times a month or more with no clear limits. And if on-site generation is allowed, these generators

[00:50:09] could run 24-7. DEQ's new proposals mean permanent shifts in land use, air quality, public health, safety, and infrastructure, and have been introduced quietly while data center projects are rushed through at breakneck speed. I am concerned with how fast all of these four projects are moving through at the same time. The speed makes it nearly impossible for residents to understand, respond to, or participate meaningfully. Maybe each of these projects can be spread out into separate planning commission and board meetings. We're overwhelmed by all of these

[00:50:45] being brought forth at once. The truth is, is that the board is the last line of defense between your community and these big tech corporations. You have the opportunity to stand up for the people of Hanover, and I ask that you keep all of this in mind as we move forward together in this process thank you thank you for your comments is there anyone else who would like to address the board during citizens time seeing none we will now close citizens time next on the agenda consent agenda mr.

[00:51:18] Davis mr. chairman I move for approval of consent agenda second there is a motion in a second all in favor of approving the consent agenda please indicate by saying aye aye consent agenda approved next on the agenda item seven is a presentation monthly connect handover broadband initiative update mr todd killed off deputy county administrator thank you for being with us sir thank you mr chair members of the

[00:51:52] board mr podesky mr walter i'm todd killed off deputy county administrator sorry one second hey thank you thank you shall we um so we have decided several months ago to provide monthly updates since the project itself has been moving along relatively quick we are still providing the quarterly updates as we did last month with our internet service providers um all points broadband

[00:52:29] and bright speed but um we've i feel like every month that goes by now we've hit some milestones and some accomplishments and some things that we want to bring before you um the first one is bright speed has initially closed out their project from dhcd's perspective that's the department of housing community development they're not actually completely done they're still making home connections and that kind of thing but the main chunk of fiber install from bright speeds contract with the state is actually complete and our contractor which is all points broad man is also making significant progress still with home connections the as reported last month the mainline fiber going down the main road to slow down a little bit because

[00:53:08] a lot of the right away that's the public right away is complete what's really slowing down right now is the private roads trying to get private road easements so right now so again let me just say this another way the public roads have right of way all they have to do is apply for a permit it with VDOT and boom, they can roll down the road with fiber. Private roads don't have those easements. So they have to knock on almost every single individual homeowner's door to get a notarized document saying they can go down that road. So that's why we have a little bit of delay here. And I'll get into a little bit more detail in just a second on that. But some good updates for you. I know there's a lot of numbers up there. I can read through each one, but just know as of today, there's been 626 home connections. Actually, I take that back. That was last Thursday. There's

[00:53:47] probably been significantly more since then they're averaging about 30 to 40 homes a week but at the very bottom in bold you'll see there's about 12 months left in the project December 31st of 2026 and if you do some simple math we need them to average about 24 home connections per week and as I said they're about 30 to 40 weather pending and all that kind of stuff but they're about 30 to 40 a week so they're actually making pretty good progress there we're always updating for those behind us that may not have seen this before we're continuously updating our connecthandover.com website. We have this imagery. You've seen it several times, but you can see the date on it. Last time you saw this, it was November. Now it says December 2025. So we're updating all

[00:54:27] the homes that are connected, which fiber service areas they're in. That's the image on the left where it says FSA one through seven fiber service areas of where our contractors work and how many homes connected and what the new dates are on the right. Some more good news. We have found out that the BEAD funding has been awarded. I mentioned last month there's one little final puzzle piece that's more of a formality that the National Institute of Standards and Technology has to weigh in on. Again, it's a little bit more of a formality from an environmental standpoint, but we have assurances from DHCD staff that that's not really, that's not going to be a deal breaker. The number one thing is done, and that's the NTIA, the National Telecommunications

[00:55:06] Initiative Act, actually approved it. The contracts, as we know today, are due to begin march 2026 that's not just here's your contract it's here's the contract oh and now you can go and start connecting homes if you can so that's that's the good news with that so march 2026 what we still have a question on that we don't have any answer to is what is the time frame on that do these contractors do they have all points bright speed um comcast rise and all the contractors that were awarded how long do they have is it 12 months is it 24 months we don't know yet but what i can tell you is it's probably going to vary since some of the contractors only have if you saw the image I put up probably about six months ago now, there was one contract that only

[00:55:45] had three home connections. So they don't need 12 months to do that. But I would imagine Comcast, who has the lion's share, I think it was close to 1,500 passings, they're probably going to need a year or two to make that happen. But more to come on that. We still have questions. I'm sure you have questions as well. And if you have them, please let me know. So I mentioned the private roads. We're averaging somewhere around 70 plus miles. All Points Broadband has gone down some some private roads. They have made progress. They have obtained easements. They have connected some neighborhoods. It's been a little slow on the front end, I'll tell you. They're starting to pick up a little bit, which is good. We saw that with the mainline fiber install. If you

[00:56:23] recall back in February, once they first started installing it, it started out really slow. Then it ramped up with the home connections. It started out real slow. Then it ramped up. And that's what we're seeing with the private roads here. So we're staying on top of them. We have a weekly meeting with them every Thursday. Mr. Herzberg, thank you for your leadership. And Ms. Dibwell, you've been on several of those calls as well, just talking with all points and making sure that what they have going on last week, this week, and next week is relayed to us and how we take minutes of those meetings and everything.

[00:56:49] So we're staying on top of them. And actually, they've been, I don't think they really liked it at first, but I can tell you they're very appreciative. As a matter of fact, they're now singing our praises to some of the other localities that they work with on the work that we do with them. So that's been very appreciated. Something that leads me to the last slide here.

[00:57:06] And before I get to, I did want to thank Rick Rogers. he's here our assistant broadband administrator he's been critical and crucial to knocking on the doors as i mentioned most private road homes with mr hersberg as well as a matter of fact we're going to be going out to another neighborhood tomorrow and knocking on some doors and seeing if we can get some easements signed so that he's been very important to the process so i just wanted to give him a quick shout out but we did request an extension to the contract with dhcd not with all points with dhcd that was in april of 2024 dhcd approved it a few days later so that was good we're asking the board right now if they are okay if you're okay with a second extension

[00:57:43] to extend the contract to six months to june 30th of 2026 that is sort of a drop dead date for dhcd there would there will not be allowed any more extension requests after that they told us and that's fine as a matter of fact we're not unique in this request they have received a flood of requests and it's mainly from the private road issues that we're dealing with it we're dealing with it but all localities are dealing with these private road issues so the extension is specifically for the private road piece so and i apologize i have it as a motion up there but we're not looking for a motion it's really just an approval from the board or a head nod that you're okay with this extension request and if not just let me know and with that i will

[00:58:20] take any questions well thank you for your presentation sir any questions comments or concerns from board members seeing none you have your uh i'm sorry ma'am supervisor dibble Thank you. Mr. Kildiff, with regard to the 70 miles of private roads, do we have a list of those roads?

[00:58:46] Great question. We do. What happened is we requested that for many, many months in a row. What we ended up getting was a spreadsheet of all the addresses. We have an amazing GIS department. I should just give them a quick shout out as well. We gave them the addresses. They were able to go into our GIS system, overlay all private roads that they already have listed in the system with those addresses, and it was able to spit out everything we needed to make those types of analyses so a lot of that's more recent that wasn't months requests from months ago but some of this is more recent as a matter of fact mr rogers presented uh mr budeski and i with a new map yesterday that has a lot more information that we needed so yes we are as a matter of fact we're going to track that and

[00:59:24] we're going to track all homes that were had their somebody knock on the door because uh if you saw on the previous slide we have a 30 take rate and i apologize i'm taking a side step real quick there's a 30 percent take rate we know it's not going to be 100 because we've had people that have said i do not thank you for going down my road i don't want to connect so we know it's never going to be 100 but we want to make sure we track that because that's actually part of all points contract with us is they have to prove to us that they've knocked on a door it's about in theory by the time the project's done 6198 homes and businesses have been knocked on and we're going to be able to prove that with a spreadsheet that we're tracking all that information thank you for that i just wanted to thank you for that hard work because i know we've been asking and we finally got that so

[01:00:02] So we can finally deal with this issue. Yep. Thank you. Any other questions comments or concerns from board members seeing none sir You've you've done a good job with your presentation I do want to ask a couple questions for for some citizens who may be watching the presentation today just to bring some some clarity the The easements do they already exist? And is all points just looking to get permission to work in the existing easement?

[01:00:33] No, on the private roads, what we're finding is that no easements exist. There have been a handful, believe it or not, that Brightspeed has found where there actually is a utility easement on their private road. But that's very rare. What we're finding more often than not is we actually have to obtain the easements from the homeowners to go down the roads.

[01:00:53] So Farmington Farms has an easement. Pamunkey Riverview has an easement. And many of them have easements. So what All Points is doing is requesting permission to work on the private property in the existing easement.

[01:01:12] Yeah, if those already exist, then that's correct. Right. And they do have to be specific to utilities as well. We found that with Mr. Walter and his department. Some say easements, but when you dig into it, maybe a stormwater easement or something of that nature. So we want to be careful with what the easement is. That's correct, sir. Yes, thank you. So I just want to let people know that they're not trying to take anybody's land.

[01:01:32] Correct. They're not trying to say, we want this 10 feet or this 15 feet. The land's already there. They just would like the owner's permission or the president of the HOA, if there's authority, to work in the existing easement.

[01:01:48] Thank you for that. And I do want to give, and I don't have the list of names with me, but there's been what we call champions in each neighborhood that we've been finding. One champion literally has, maybe it's the HOA president or maybe it's just a citizen that lives on a road of 10 homes. And they've said, they raised their hand and said, I'm willing to help with this. I will knock on the doors for you.

[01:02:04] that's been super helpful. That is a very good point, sir. Thank you very much for pointing that out. And primarily I found it's the path. So if there's 50 houses in the subdivision and they're going this way, it would be the houses on this side, maybe some on the other. But it's probably more than 50 percent of the houses in the subdivision. It may not be 100 percent. So there may be some that don't have to sign, like the ones on the end of the road, because there's nobody after them to serve. That's right. So a couple points just to let our citizens who may be watching

[01:02:40] be aware. But thank you. Any other concerns from board members? So I think you have your okay on the extension, sir. Thank you very much. And I would like to point out the extension is six months, not a year, correct? Correct. That is correct. Okay. And that's specific to the mainline fiber, not the passings. Just to be clear, the passings they have until December of next year. So. Okay.

[01:02:59] Got it. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Okay. Next on the agenda, agenda item 8 is a presentation community development annual update mr todd kilda deputy county administrator thank you for staying with us sir yes sir um start from scratch mr herzberg uh chair herzberg members of the board mr walter mr brideski again i'm todd kilda deputy county administrator and i am pleased to be here in front of you giving the community development annual report and before i get into it i just wanted to thank the board for all the support you have given to us over this past year the actual report itself this is just a snippet of the report this powerpoint you have the full

[01:03:36] report sitting in front of you. You'll see some accomplishments as we go through. I just cherry pick some of our great accomplishments that we have, but I can tell you that document is filled with accomplishments from each of our departments. And I do want to thank our departments for being here today. So under our community development umbrella, we have five departments, building inspections, general services, planning, public utilities, and public works. This is our structure.

[01:04:00] It makes up about a little over 250 employees, believe it or not. I mean, we have a great group of professionals that show up for us every day. A lot of them with certifications that are making sure our water is clean to drink, making sure that our fleet vehicles are working, and they just do such a great job. So you'll see this as a common theme is the overall functions we have for each department. Just making sure that we are serving Hanover County residents first and foremost, our businesses, our contractors, our developers. And another thing that's important to each of departments is cross-training we make staffing requests every year we know we don't always get the staff that we request but what we the way we work

[01:04:39] around that is cross-training if someone's sick or on vacation we want to make sure that that one person doesn't just have knowledge in that one thing we want to make other sure other people have the knowledge as well so moving into building inspections we have a great group of men and women that work in our building inspections department they do all the the inspections in Hanover County in the town of Ashland there I always call them sort of the unsung heroes, meaning they come in at 6.30, 7, 7.30 in the morning. You never see them. They grab their coffee. They grab their permits. They hop in their trucks, and you don't see them again until the next morning unless you get in early to get the coffee yourself. But they're out there doing a great job making sure that every structure that's built in the county and in the town, every residential

[01:05:17] structure, every commercial structure is built to code. Something that not as many people know is that a lot of them are certified in amusement parks devices. So they actually go out to King's dominion every year twice a year making sure king's dominion's equipment is working properly the good thing is king's dominion staff checks every ride every day we just go out twice a year just just to back check make sure everything's still kosher everything's still good we also have individuals in our building inspections department that are certified in training others on amusement park devices so they actually will travel around the state into other states to train other people on what they know so it's really great to get the handover county name out there

[01:05:58] Again, the report you have in front of you, which we will be posting online after this presentation, just like we do every year, has a lot of graphs in it, lots of charts, that kind of thing. Again, I just extracted a few. One of probably the bigger impacts to building inspections is the permits that they have. We're down a little bit this year.

[01:06:13] We had 6,568 permits that we tracked. Last year was a little over 7,000. But if you look at in the chart FY23, 24, and 25, it's somewhat balanced. So we're seeing a little bit of balance of things, but that is something that we look at every year. Richard Gordon, Nick Atkinson, Kevin Collins, Joe Russo, Aletha Trantham.

[01:06:31] These are just some of the individuals that serve us well on local boards, regional boards, state boards. I mean, they're all over the place, and it's just great to have them on staff doing what they do. Inspections completed. We have a significant amount of inspections completed, but really the big takeaway for us is how efficient are we?

[01:06:50] We're tracking about a 99% efficiency rate. We're really proud of that. We can't always make every inspector. We'd love to have it 100%. we're fine with 99 I'll be honest like that that's that's a pretty good achievement making sure that we're out there doing inspections in a decent time frame we get very few calls very few calls of somebody saying hey I called an inspection and you didn't make it out it happens but it's extremely rare when it happens but and some of it's just complaints which is the chart on the right there we get email complaints phone call on-site visits those kinds of things with tall grass that kind of stuff so these are some things that we track and for building inspections in particular some of the challenges are just maintaining the workloads with the staff that

[01:07:29] we have again we have a great group of staff and we just we want to keep each and every one of them general services is broken up into four divisions facility management fleet telecom and capital projects some of the accomplishments again your your sheets i think it's probably two or three full sheets in your report up there for general services alone but fleet has again been awarded from the NAFA top 100 fleets in the nation. There's 66. And just for those behind me, that's at a 36,000 fleets. So this is the third year that we've had that. And we're just really proud of everyone that we have in fleet. And we actually have some newer people in fleet, which is

[01:08:06] really important because even though it takes a little bit longer to learn things when you're brand new, they are learning at an exponential rate because we have such great professionals out there already showing them what to do and how to do it. So facilities, again, with HVAC systems, changing of lights, move-in offices, those kinds of things, those guys are pushing on all cylinders. Telecom, lots of great accomplishments this year, but they did connect the Cold Harbor Elementary School and Fire Station 12 to high-speed internet, taking them off the old copper lines. I just gave a broadband presentation, which I didn't mention in there, but one thing we're trying to get All Points Broadband to do is to try and connect all of our fire stations as fast as possible. And they're well aware of that, and we're

[01:08:44] working on it. I hope to have something better to report to you here shortly on that. Capital projects we have a lot we have a lot of capital projects and we got a great staff there fire station 17 is officially finished uh the wick and ball field is finished we hope to have a really great grand opening we're going to work closely with miss dibble on that for a grand opening early next year once the winter weather rolls around or rolls away and the spring season rolls in and everyone's going to start wanting to use that field so we want to have a nice little ribbon cutting for it so uh public safety building this is a big project one of our biggest projects we've ever had we were working diligently on that we are well underway we are actually in the process

[01:09:20] right now we're so far in the process that we're ready to award an architect engineering firm so that by the way that's like a three to four month process just by itself we want to get this right and a ramp for the pamunkey regional library if you saw that behind here on the campus that ramp is if you've seen it it's literally falling apart i showed you just the side image there but if you saw the top image you know why we have it closed off and why it needs to be replaced it's got holes in it and we want to make sure anyone using it is safe so we have we're tracking our preventative maintenance percentage of work orders basically what that's saying that chart is showing is we have a preventative maintenance software program that tells us what we're supposed to do and when

[01:09:59] to do it change this filter this month just check this HVAC system this month that kind of stuff but what you're seeing there is and we'll just look at FY25 it has 57.8 percent what that means is the flip side of that is all the work orders we didn't know about meaning somebody says hey my light bulb's out. Hey, my light switch isn't working. Those kinds of things that we couldn't predict. So we have a lot of those. And again, just maintaining what we have, making sure we're working closely with the county government, fire EMS, sheriff's office, schools, and fleet. We know that's a big thing. So we're putting a lot of powder in that right now just to make sure we get all that right. Planning, also broken up into a few different sections, current planning,

[01:10:37] development review, code compliance, and long-range planning. Again, lots of great accomplishments in the report in front of you. I sound like a broken record, but I just want to make sure each department gets their due up here. They do a great job. Route 33 small area plan was very successful. We got another small area plan for Route 1. We have individual websites for all this. If anybody wants to learn any more about these projects, please let us know or check out the websites. Some metrics that we track in planning is suburban versus rural distribution of housing, meaning are you in the suburban service area, or are you outside the suburban

[01:11:14] service area? The goal that we're always trying to achieve is roughly a 70-30 split, and you can see on the chart, it sort of goes up and down with the years, depends on who's building, what homes are approved, that kind of thing. But this past year, we were at about a 63-37 split, and in diving a little bit deeper, we also check certificates to occupy by housing type, single-family detached, attached, and multifamily, so we wanted to provide you with that information. And these are just the charts in front if you wanted the actual numbers or if you want to dive a little deeper at any point please let me know we have that information and also showing the residential residential lot

[01:11:47] inventory we show this every year at the very bottom we have 2,127 residential lots in the inventory throughout the county and again some challenges just getting the small area plans done keeping those rolling I know when we complete one we got another one to do and we want to make sure that those are successful because they truly complement the comprehensive plan that was approved a few years ago and we're really proud of that process and we want to thank each and every one of you that has a small area plan in your district for being there for us and helping us and supporting us and giving us the tools we need to make those successful for you and again providing high quality service to all of our citizens and keeping the talent that we have

[01:12:26] and attracting any other talent that's out there which we've managed to do public utilities they've had a busy year uh starting back in january um they're they're uh they're a great group professionals and i'll tell you that the january incident that we had we have the best public utilities department they walked us through that and helped us through the entire process made online presentations live presentations just letting everyone know where we were at from a handover perspective and they did a great job trying to keep water flowing even though it did stop for a little bit there but we got it back up and running and i want to thank our public utility staff for all they've done. We have some people that they were out there almost for 24 hours

[01:13:04] straight in shifts trying to make sure that everything was working properly. But we do have close to 24,000 water customers and a little over 23,000 sewer customers. They worked through the lead and copper rule revision. That thing has been going on for several years, but they worked through it. We have a rate study. We always have a rate study, but this is just an update where we hire a consultant to look at it and give us feedback and give us new numbers and that kind of thing. That is well underway, and we hope to present that shortly because that'll be a part of the budget process. And then our treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, water treatment plants, we have several throughout the county. They all just do such a great job of maintaining

[01:13:42] those plants, and I can say that, but you can see that we actually received the awards in doing so from BDH and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. They actually are the proof in the pudding for what these guys and women do every day. Some really big projects that are completed this year the hill carter booster pump tank and ground storage tank that is complete up and running and we also have a new what we call cmms it's computerized maintenance management system which helps us basically with work orders and that kind of thing open this fire hydrant flush over here check these pumps that kind of thing so really happy with with that product we're also checking our new customers every year that's somewhat compatible with the amount of co's that

[01:14:20] are issued every year as well depends on the when they connect to us and we're looking on and we hope to make a presentation in January that's our goal back to the Richmond water crisis is what I'm talking about to give a presentation on resiliency and feasibility studies and giving options to the board of supervisors so we are very very close to the end of that report so we hope to present that to you in January so we're really proud of the work that went into that public works is made up of our solid waste facilities road and transportation department our airport and all of our environmental engineering professionals we have so

[01:14:59] many road projects. I had to use two slides for it. Um, but we heard earlier, uh, as we recognized Joe Badunas and his accomplishments and leadership, um, there's a lot of road projects. He's got a small staff, but there's a lot of road projects going on. Um, we have on the Hanover County road and transportation section of our website, every project you see up here. So if anyone wants to know anything more about it, anyone listening at home or behind me, each project is listed in alphabetical order and any information we have on it, we post. So if there's a set of plans, if There's sketch plans, 30%, 60%, 90% plans, that kind of thing.

[01:15:33] When are public hearings, when are citizen information meetings, we post that information. So we try to be as transparent as possible on all these road projects. And obviously we had the nice ribbon cutting for the Fall Line Trail, 4.8 miles in Hanover County, so we're really proud of that. I've been on it a few times, and it's almost pumping elbows with people.

[01:15:50] There's so many people on it walking dogs, riding bikes, and running. It's great. From operations, solid waste operations, 45,000 tonnage of waste for residential commercial. We track those numbers. It's definitely an increase from last year, as you can see with the waste revenue, that it's gone up about 40%.

[01:16:08] So there's definitely more activity on that end. And then from the environmental engineering, we have 52 land disturbance permits and 1,958 environmental inspections. So again, small staffs, lots of work. Airport master plan, that will be presented to you shortly.

[01:16:24] I'm thinking January still, if Randy Hardman's, Director Hardman's sitting behind me. But that was a two-year process, and I'd just like to harp on this one just for a quick second. Even though it was a two-year process, the first year, just so everyone knows, was all data gathering. So it was a whole year of data gathering before we really started putting pen to paper to create a report and that kind of thing.

[01:16:43] But where I wanted to go with this is we did something with our consultant that they have never done before. They have done many master plans throughout the state, throughout the country, and they've never, we asked them, we said hey we want to create a citizens group a group made up excuse me of citizens that live in the adjacent neighborhoods the adjacent historic district uh the industrial park all those we want to pull together a group of people that we can keep involved in this plan as we move forward to gather feedback they can tell us what they like what they don't like they can tell their neighbors that they're involved and get the word out and it's been very successful and they said they've never done that before and they were like you know this is absolutely amazing it went so well

[01:17:21] handover county that they're going to start doing it and all their master plans moving forward so really proud of that so we'd be looking forward to the adoption of the master plan again in january addressing all the transportation needs that we have throughout the county and again retaining the talented staff that we have so about to wrap up here in just a second but we're also the liaison for the virginia co-op extension office i want to thank the extension office staff for being here scott ferguson angelete prior and bridget groom they're going to get up here after me in just a a second give you a little brief presentation let y'all know all the good things that they're doing and as you know working on the broadband project so with that again i just want to repeat that the

[01:18:00] report you have in front of you will be posted online um after this meeting and if you have any questions i'm happy to answer them thank you for your presentation sir any questions or comments from board members supervisor pritchard thank you mr chair um mr kildof as you know i sit on the airport commission and randy's not in the room so i can't thank him personally but you know we really adopted a citizens first attitude about this master plan and we've done this with a couple of other projects before they even hit the ground start with the citizens see what they want see what they and it has made such a

[01:18:38] difference in the reception for things afterwards and I just want to publicly say the Airport Committee I mean they are they are a wonderful hard-working group of people but this has been this has been a joy to work with them because they have put some really good effort into this and I think we're gonna reap the benefits of it thank you for that yeah thank you for your comments anyone else I have a couple things go brief thank you very much for your presentation there's a lot of excellent work in here it's really good and it's substantive there's a lot going on in the county in our communities I do want

[01:19:17] to mention one thing on the roads you know because I serve on the transportation committee yes sir the mechanics for elementary school left turn lane has been put on hold it's been put to the side because there's talk about a school change or something like that so I don't want to get into that here but I just want you to know that that turning there that can be crossed off the list everything else looks really really good thank you very much sir sir thank you for that okay next on the agenda agenda item 9 is a presentation Virginia Cooperative Extension Service Update mr. Todd

[01:19:55] killed up that beauty County Administrator mr. Scott Ferguson director Virginia Cooperative Extension. Thank you for being with us. I just want to introduce Scott, Bridget, and Angelete again. I want to thank them for being here and having a presentation for you. Awesome. Well thank you so much Todd and John Budesky and administration as well as supervisors. It's great to see y'all and I've met a number of you in person over the last year so thank you so much for having us here. We're just going to give you an update you know Todd gave an update about the other county departments and we also function as a county

[01:20:30] Department in Agriculture. So this is our office. We're down with the Animal Protection Services at Taylor Complex and we appreciate the support not only for our services but also for the board's support for this complex as well. Our mission is just the engagement mission. We take the educational research from the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech and Virginia state and we bring it to our agricultural producers as well as working with with

[01:21:05] youth that's our mission it's purely educational some goals and metrics for us they're defined by community needs so we are constantly working with our leadership council as well as our situational analysis which is the way that we develop the community needs and we came up with our goals which are promoting and preserving for farm and forest lands protecting natural resources I'm an ag agent but it's also ag and natural resource agent. Strengthening the local food system through working with producers and other food system components of the county. And then helping youth develop leadership,

[01:21:44] citizenship and other life skills as well as maintaining agricultural education for youth too. Our metrics are our community contacts and then volunteer hours which we're super proud of and Angelique will talk a little bit more about that. And then also the program impact so through surveys as well as feedback from our program participants. Our funding, it's 30% county funds, some for our agent salaries as well as operational funds. I had mentioned, you know, maintenance of the building as well. 70% from the USDA as well as a General Assembly. And then really critical to our mission is our

[01:22:22] partnerships. So whether that's with our educational institutions, Virginia Tech, Virginia State, I work a lot with soil and water, NRCS and our federal partners with FSA. Farm Bureau is a great partner for us too. The Forest Service, VDACS, DCR, and many, many others. Our local kind of yearly agricultural programs that we kind of focus on, kind of our keynote programs, soil testing and fertilization, that's both commercial as well as homeowners.

[01:22:52] And then we do a lot of interpretation of that with the individuals in order to get their fertilization right maintain low runoff and and get the production we need we have a pest and disease clinic both at our office as well as we can send stuff to Virginia Tech to get the correct identification our well water clinic it's back again we did not have it last year because the turnover we will have it on June 10th we serve about a hundred citizens each year ongoing I do a lot in pesticide applicator certification, recertification, and safety.

[01:23:28] And then we did the VDAC pesticide disposal event this year down at the courthouse park. We collected almost 8,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides and got those disposed of free of charge to our producers. Agricultural education and then other producer resources, you can see here our well water clinic as well as I worked in the high schools too with some pesticide programs and pest management strategy programs.

[01:23:53] And then our regional programs I work with, we have crop conferences up in Doswell on the 7th will be our grains conference. We also do a forage conference helping our producers improve their range lands. I work with the nursery and landscape associations, both the central Virginia one as well as the state one on their pesticide safety as well as best management practices for them.

[01:24:17] We're doing some, there's a number of floriculture producers in the county. We have had some meetings with them, again, mostly with pest management, fertilization, that type of thing. This year, too, we're going to do some farm transition succession as well as agribusiness education in partnership with the DEIC.

[01:24:34] And then we do a vegetable conference, and this will be on February 20th in the Richmond area, too. And then I'll let Angelique talk about the volunteer core of our extension. Thank you, Scott. We have about 170 volunteers that help in the extension, and we have a far reach.

[01:24:58] So we have 4-H volunteers. We have producers that help us with events. We have an extension leadership council. We have fabulous master gardeners. Those master gardeners also include master gardeners with additional training that are called land care stewards, water stewards, and tree stewards.

[01:25:17] And then we have community volunteers. And I want to just mention the big black tank, we are collecting rainwater off of the Taylor Complex building to water our garden, which is known as the Horticulture Learning Center. So we had a group of youth in the garden, thanks to Bridget's 4-H programs, and I asked some of them what they thought was in the tank.

[01:25:41] Ooh, ooh, ooh, you know, hands pop up. And one of the children said tomato juice, which I dearly loved. So look at that tomato logo and think about that from a child's perspective. He was quite impressed with the amount of tomato juice that we had.

[01:25:59] Our 4-H volunteers help with camp. The 4-Hers in Hanover camp at Jamestown 4-H Center. So we have volunteers that stay overnight for a week with youth at 4-H camp.

[01:26:14] Just think about those possibilities. We are grateful to those volunteers. We have volunteers that help us with livestock programs and the picture on the upper right. This year in our garden, we have an overabundance of herbs. So Bridget did a session on helping children understand the herbs and eating some of the herbs, tasting them, seeing them growing.

[01:26:39] We cannot do what we do without support of you. Thank you. It's always good to see you at 55 Mile Meal. Our producers donate product to that. And I don't know if people understand how that works, but we have 40 pounds of beef donated from C.J. Isbell.

[01:26:58] So the way 50 Mile Mill happens is the producers believe in the meeting and they help support us. And we appreciate that very much. I know you like to hear return on investment, so I'm going to brag about our volunteers.

[01:27:15] When you combine all of those volunteers that I've talked about, the independent sector values volunteer time. Virginia has one of the highest values in the nation. Our volunteers, these are stats for 2024, gave a value of $613,000.

[01:27:35] So thank you very much, board, because I am fully funded by Hanover County. All right, so I'm going to try to be brief. I could talk about the Hanover 4-H program and my kids in that program for hours, so I'm going to try to keep it pretty brief.

[01:27:53] So Hanover 4-H, we have our project clubs, our spin clubs. We go to camp for a week. We have day camps. We also have a communication contest that is multiple months of different communication contests, which is in combination with a scholarship opportunity from Bill Wymer.

[01:28:10] So he helped us create a scholarship fund. We have in-school programming and then partnerships as well. So these are just some pictures. I do a lot of pictures. I'm always super proud to show you my kids. So these are some of our Hanover 4-H club members.

[01:28:28] So we have five clubs. We have two horse clubs, a livestock club, a community club, and a shooting education club. So some of our area and state kids that they participated in, we had six youth participate in the Fredericksburg area show and sale.

[01:28:44] So that's the classic hogs, goats, sheep, cattle. So they go to Fredericksburg, and they compete against Fredericksburg and that kind of area. So Caroline County kids, King George, and other kids like that. And then for the state fair, we had three youth participate in those kind of classic showings.

[01:29:05] We had one kid only do knowledge-based, so there's kind of a knowledge-based competition. He got second in goats and fifth in cattle out of 90 kids throughout Virginia. So very proud of him in doing that. And then we have five youth to participate in the Dairy Goat show this year.

[01:29:25] So we have lots of different kids showing different things. And then for the State Horse Show, we had 10 youth participate. They do a wide variety. We have Western kids, English kids, dressage kids, a kid that shows minis. And then one kid even submitted her record book, got Grand Champion with her record book this year.

[01:29:44] So that's the top one. Melanie, she got her Grand Champion and record book. And then the middle spot is Grace, and she won first place in jumping this year. All right, so our 4-H camp is a week-long camp.

[01:29:59] They do lots of different things. They're outside every day, all day. They do woodworking, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, anything possibly outside. We do a carnival. We do campfires. So they just get to have fun during the week, just some number-wise.

[01:30:18] We took 47 campers this year, so in 2025. In 2024, we only took 34, and then in 2023, we only took 31. So we're super excited with those growth in numbers for kids going to camp. Camp is quite expensive. It's $410 in 2026.

[01:30:35] So we do have a lot of kids that go on scholarships. So we're always looking for scholarship money as well to help our kids go to camp. So this year, I did a Cloverbud Day Camp. That extended to now a cloverbud club, but they did a farm-to-table kind of thing.

[01:30:55] We made butter. We made ice cream. We made jelly. They went out to the garden, so they just got to see where our food comes from and some of the processes of making food. So I think that one of the biggest things and how I can show how impactful our program is is for our alumni, some of our alumni.

[01:31:18] So these two young ladies are Ruth and Rachel Hale. They were inducted in our 4-H All-Stars. So a 4-H All-Star is the equivalent of getting your Eagle Scout, basically. So it's a very extensive application process. So they received that this year, and I'll brag on them.

[01:31:37] So Rachel is going to Virginia Tech in the engineering program, and then she still comes back and helps us with our program here in Hanover County. And Ruth Hale is the president of Brock and Bridal at Virginia Tech.

[01:31:53] And then she still competes collegiately with livestock judging, as well as going to pre-vet school and hopefully vet school at Virginia Tech next year. So very, very successful kids. So I'll just do this one, too, if one of them wants to jump in.

[01:32:10] So some of our programs that we're doing in 2026 is the AgX workshop series for agribusiness. Scott will now be taking that over and doing that through extension. The Hanover, Virginia lawns program, I'm not sure exactly what that is.

[01:32:28] Yeah, just recognizing more of our goal to reduce overuse of pesticide and fertilizers is incorporating this as we have many people needing this type of information too. And then the State Master Gardener College will be happening in Hanover.

[01:32:44] The Hanover area this year, it's usually at Virginia Tech. It will be in this area, so we're quite proud of that as well. And our office and our garden will be one of the stops that the people go, the Master Gardeners go to. Also, I have started a homeschool 4-H program.

[01:33:02] We are now on two days a week doing those programs. Well, two days, once a month. and then we have we're starting a junior master gardener program and the next year i have a 4-h clover bud club and then i just received a grant from ag in the classroom so we're hopefully i'm going to do in school embryology this next year all right and that's all do you have any questions comments any questions or comments from board members supervisor floyd thank you i just wanted to say thank you for all that you guys do my youngest daughter was in the

[01:33:40] cloverbud camp and it's been wonderful and I so appreciate you guys I had one question seeing no others how does a citizen find out about the Hanover 4-H club do you have a website or a different information um so our website isn't updated quite yet um we're working on that now but if you go to the um if you type in kind of Hanover VCE you'll get to our website and um then you can kind of

[01:34:18] navigate it's kind of hard um yeah i was like if they want to they can go on that website find my email and email me and then i can answer all their questions okay because i had this i have had this come up and i i didn't know that the answer yes you said hanover bce yes and your name again is

[01:34:41] Bridget Groom. Bridget and your email is? Uh, B-R-I-D-G-93 at VT like Virginia Tech dot edu. Okay. Well, that's good information. Thank you very much. Yeah. Yeah. We asked the board too to spread the word. If anybody could use our services, please just call our front desk or email any of us and we'll get you there what you need. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being with us. Okay. We still have two presentations and then closed session.

[01:35:19] The board's going to take a five-minute recess board members, please be back at 3:37. Hello

[01:41:04] The time is now 3:38. The board is back in section session next on the agenda agenda item 10 presentation 2026 real estate Assessment update mr. Richard Paul director real estate assessment. Thank you for being with us, sir. Yeah, John Thank you earlier for your your comments that you made good afternoon Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Mr. Pedeski, Mr. Walters, Merry Christmas to you all.

[01:41:40] And it seems like I haven't quite cleared the room as I usually do. But for the record, my name is Richard Paul, and I'm the Director of Real Estate Assessments. I'm here this afternoon to present to you all the 2026 reassessment and the 2025 new construction numbers.

[01:42:00] But before I do that, I like to always take time to recognize my staff for the hard work that went into this year's reassessment. What we do is not easy, and this year was no exception.

[01:42:16] Over the past several years, we've had several vacancies, and any time that happens, that workload has to be spread amongst the rest of them that are in the office. But we manage to get it done, and bottom line is they work as a team, and the work gets done.

[01:42:35] I'd also like to thank our IT department here in Hanover. Without those guys, we couldn't get what we do done, especially Walter Woolwich and also the commissioner and his staff, the work that they do. So we started this year in January with our informal review period in BOE.

[01:43:03] So this year we had 149 parcels receive inquiries during our informal review period. 80 were satisfied over the phone. Assessments remained unchanged on 44 parcels and decreased on 24 and increased on one.

[01:43:20] Our board in May, we heard from 15 property owners representing 15 parcels. Assessments were upheld on 11 parcels and decreased on four. The total reassessment changed for January 1 resulted in a positive 3.28% net increase in the tax base.

[01:43:46] These graphs here just so some historical data of what Our review numbers and Board of Equalization statistics are and you can see they for example for January 1 we sent out about 30,000 Assessment notices and as a result of sending out 30,000 assessment notices We only heard from 15 people during the board and only 149 during our informal review period the previous year for 24 we sent out about

[01:44:19] thousand parcels and we heard from 360 people and 22 people as a result went to the Board of Equalization. This is a snapshot of our land book so you can see again as a result of that taxable value of the county for January 1's reassessment the total increase in the land book increased five

[01:44:51] percent. Our interim number for this year we're looking at 8.34 percent increase in the land book. This chart here just represents how those numbers are broken down between our different property classes in the county, taxable property classes.

[01:45:14] And you can see the property class one and two is our largest group that make up that land book. And there's property class one and two are properties with water and sewer and up to 20 acres. Our property class three and four, which is that middle group there in the graph, is our commercial properties.

[01:45:35] And the smallest group is our agricultural properties parcels above 20 acres and larger, which makes up, obviously, the smallest percentage of our taxable land book. Our 2026 reassessment, we're going to be sending out approximately 44,500 notices in January.

[01:46:00] We send them out probably December 31st, January 1st. Residential reassessment is up 7.9% or $1.5 billion. Commercial reassessment up 3.46%, or $157.9 million, for a total reassessment increase of 7.06%, or $1.7 billion.

[01:46:33] These are some sales price and statistics. The average new home sales price this year is up 8.8%, to $680,600. Our median new home sales price is up 3.5%, $620,000.

[01:46:48] And our median existing home sales price is up 1.1% to $450,000. And you can see where those sales in $25,000 fall in the different price ranges. Obviously, the biggest group is in that $300,000 to $500,000 price range.

[01:47:11] Just as a sidebar, there was no new homes that have sold below $300,000 and only $34,000 between $300,000 and $500,000. I think there was about 80 in the 500 to 700,000 group, and about 65 in that 700,000 and larger.

[01:47:37] New construction. This year we processed 966, 996 building permits, which is actually down 13% from the prior year. 51 commercial permits totaled $109.2 million.

[01:47:59] 945 residential permits, they totaled 194.5 million. So the new construction, total new construction is 303.8 million, which increased the tax base by 1.25%.

[01:48:15] You can see how that $303 million is broken down, again, percentage-wise between residential and commercial, which seeing that commercial number increase above 30% is a good thing.

[01:48:37] Getting the tax burden away from the residential people. So the different buckets, you can see the interim reassessment number at this time is 7.06%.

[01:48:53] The new construction, 1.25%, and the interim natural growth number is 3 tenths of 1%. And again, those are the interim number because at some point we're going to have somebody that's going to record a plat on December the 30th. could be a new subdivision plat with 100 lots or it could be a split acreage change rezoning anything it could happen between now and then and that number would would be changing as and as would be the reassessment number as a result of our review period that starts this january 1 and our

[01:49:27] board of equalization these are just some of the residential neighborhoods that continue to generate permits. You've got Shady Grove Park, these Oak Crest townhouses there on Bell Creek, Shady Grove Road. Yeah, Shady Grove Road. Amburn, located in the town of Ashland, off of North James Street, still generating a few permits at this point. They're about finishing up.

[01:49:58] Brunswick, located off of Shady Grove Road. These are some newer homes in Valetta Point that are actually condos that are located off of 301 if you're not familiar with them next to the uh behind the post office and they're actually condominiums and the ranchers on the top two slides uh they're about a thousand square feet and the two stories about 1600 the one-story homes are selling for

[01:50:30] about over 400 000 and those two two-story houses you're looking at 450 and above for 1600 square feet. And they are condos. Some on the commercial side, we have the new Kia Mechanicsville dealership, the new Wawa on Cold Harbor Road. This is Unilock out in Dyswell. They make pavers,

[01:51:01] residential landscape pavers. The new Bon Secours Emergency Center, the Kenworth sales operation, they're off of Leadbetter. That's about a 42,000 square foot building. This is a new office warehouse over off of mongo way crescent buildings business center it's about a 32 000 square foot

[01:51:36] building and our stony run it's a mega warehouse it's about 200 and almost 250 000 square feet of of space there and last but not least our not taxable fire station number 17. what questions can i answer for you all thank you for your presentation sir any questions or comments from from board members. I do have some comments Mr. Chairman. Mr. Davis. One thing too and again our

[01:52:10] informal review period will start January the 5th Monday and go through the 23rd and our BOE deadline is always March 15th by county ordinance. Thank you sir. Sir would you go back to the slides um would you go back to it might be like four or five number four or five it's um i'll guess

[01:52:38] let's keep going keep going maybe before that there we go okay so i mentioned this earlier um that you had um 80 inquiries uh 24 was decreased i did the math on that earlier at the Finance Committee, but then we go to the Board of Equalization.

[01:53:06] And for the process, that's kind of where folks say, well, Mr. Paul, I don't necessarily agree with you on your assessment, no pun intended. And then they go to the Board of Equalization, they have another opportunity, and they decreased four of those out of the 15.

[01:53:26] And so when citizens call and they have questions, a lot of times I say the first call is to you. Sometimes the first call is to a board member. And we can talk them through the process. We obviously don't talk them through the individual assessment. But I think it's just important to know, I mean, when folks call up, they have somebody answer the phone and they talk to them.

[01:53:47] It's not an adversarial process. It says, hey, if we've got it wrong, show us where we got it wrong. You know, we're happy to look at that. And then if that doesn't work, they have the Board of Equalization where they can voice. And those are citizen appointees that are there. They're not folks that work for you.

[01:54:04] They're an unbiased opinion. And it's just a great process, and I've had many folks that I've worked with to try to get to the Board of Equalization and say, look, you should be heard. This is your process. We always have that outlier.

[01:54:20] I always feel bad for that one person who calls up, you know, and probably wish they hadn't made that call and got their assessment increased. Well, you'd be surprised he probably wanted it because he was getting ready to sell his house. So, years ago, I received a call from a gentleman, and I just want to say this.

[01:54:36] It was a friend of mine. He said, I've got a problem with two assessments. He said, first of all, my house, it was Ray Santucci. Mr. Horn knows Ray. He's a longtime real estate guy. And his primary residence, he said, Davis, I mean, y'all are just out of your mind. It's no way my house is worth this, that, and the other.

[01:54:54] And I said, we'll work with it. Let's see what we can do to get you over to the assessor. Let's get you in the process, whatever. He said, okay, I said, Brady, what's the next thing I can help you with? He said, well, my mother-in-law's house, he said, I'm getting ready to sell that. He said, y'all have got to get that assessment up. This thing is absolutely coming. All in the same phone call.

[01:55:10] So what I try to tell folks is your office is a data-driven office. It's not just discretionary. It's not just arbitrary. You do have the discretion when you're balancing and weighing facts. But you've always, always, always, when the scale is a matter of where it needs to be balanced, You have consistently balanced on the side of the citizen every single time.

[01:55:35] And I just, that's something to be said for someone who's been in public service that long. So thank you again for your real estate book. This will be the last real estate book you sign. And, you know, I know you've seen all kinds of different things. But I want to say this, Richard. As a dedicated employee to Hanover County, I always feel like we serve a joint constituency.

[01:55:56] And you've served these folks longer than I have. And you've done it honorably. You've done it with consistency, with fairness, and with leadership. You've run a phenomenal office. I know I have biases, but I think you're one of the best assessors out there. And you're an example of what people need to see in public service.

[01:56:17] Y'all get a lot of grief, and I get it. You signed up for the job, so I don't feel sorry for you. But you get a lot of grief, and then folks come in, and they sit down. You've talked to thousands of citizens over the years face-to-face. I rode by the other day, somebody had you in the parking lot over at Giovanni's, and I just kind of chuckled.

[01:56:33] I said, yep, there you go, you know, because they know who you are. But you could give a clinic on what it means to be a good leader and a good public servant, and I appreciate your service to Hanover. Professionally and personally, I consider you a friend, and I consider you somebody to emulate, and a page should be taken out of Richard Paul's book on how to be a public servant because it would serve every public official well to emulate what you've done in your service to Hanover. So thank you for all that you do. Thank you very much, Mr. Davis. Thank you for your comments, Mr. Davis. Anyone else? Only one to say I'm sorry about the pressure on Randy.

[01:57:17] Mr. Paul, I had a question about the notices. So I think I understand that the informal review will be from January 5th to January 23rd? Correct.

[01:57:33] Okay, so the notices go out in early January. Well, we generally mail them 31st of December, depending on where the first hits. And this year, we actually have the second off, so that's why we made the following Monday as the first day of the review period.

[01:57:53] Okay. I just want to make sure that citizens and residents having plenty of time. When I read early January, I thought, well, that could be the 9th. And then it's in the mail for three or four days, and then it sometimes sits in the box for a day or two. So are you saying that most likely the notices would go out on the 31st?

[01:58:13] They'll be mailed from the post office. They'll start trickling in probably that weekend on Saturday. So I'm sure Monday when we start our review period, they'll be rolling in. Okay, well, that satisfies my question and concern then.

[01:58:30] And then, you know, we do want to thank you for your service. It is a tough job. There's, unfortunately, there's people in the citizens that think the Board of Supervisors create assessments. We do not create assessments. And your office is actually independent from this board.

[01:58:47] And it's that way for a reason, because we don't want elected officials hearing on the phone, oh, is there anything you can do to help me out, you know, with my assessment, and I'll vote for you if you do. So that's not permitted. not allowed and I'll have a citizen from time to time who will call about their assessment and I tell them they need to call your office we can tell them these dates we can tell them about the Board of Equalization but the assessments are up to you and it's always hard making everyone happy with something like this and it takes a certain type of a gentleman or a gentle lady to be able to do that and the demeanor and the temperament has to be good and the

[01:59:26] fact that you've been here this long says that you have good demeanor and good temperament so we all appreciate you for that and thank you very much for your years of service okay thank you okay next on the agenda is an agenda item 11 is a presentation Department of Human Resources annual policy update is Katie Dickens sheets director human services thank you for being with us so mr. Paul didn't clear out the room certainly the director of HR will talk about policy but good afternoon chairman Herzberg members of the board mr.

[02:00:03] asking mr. Walter for the record my name is Katie Dickensheets and I am the director of human resources today I'm here to talk to you about some recommended changes to the human resources policy and I promise I won't bore you with the hundred and five pages of it you do have a copy of the red line version in a blue folder as well as a clean copy with all the changes in that for your review over the Christmas break a lot of them are formatting changes and grammatical changes but today I just want to talk about some of the clarifications that we're making as well as a couple new policies in there so the first group

[02:00:39] is kind of timely there under our hours of work section do some clarification under the adverse weather policy having department heads actually be responsible for notifying their employees that work outside of normal county operation hours good example of this is a museum they're open on saturdays we don't officially close on saturdays like we did monday or tuesday so they're not notified. So putting the responsibility on this department head to notify those employees that they will be closed and how they're that impacts their schedule. Also with telework for adverse weather employees that are actually scheduled to telework have a telework agreement on file

[02:01:18] during inclement weather days they are going to be expected to work because that was their telework day they were scheduled to work. And then on holidays we are recommending that holidays are currently eight hour days putting language in there to clarify that if a person has a alternate schedule that exceeds that eight hours. For example, a 10-hour employee who works four 10s during a week, they're required to make up that additional eight hours or the additional hours on top of that. So the additional two hours, they would need to use PTO or comp leave or something else to adjust their schedule to make up for those hours. Leave of absence section, making some

[02:01:57] clarification and recommendations to a couple of sections on there. For a PTO leave, looking at adjusting the front-loaded amount of PTO. What that means is when an employee gets hired from day one until they hit their one-year anniversary they are front-loaded hours of pto then after that first year they start accruing them every paycheck we're looking at adjusting the 56-hour firefighter medics and our eligible part-time employees we're going to use the same methodology that we use with our 40-hour employees it had been different calculated differently on their percentage base we're just looking at using the same methodology and adjusting those actual front-loaded amounts

[02:02:36] for the firefighter medics this is very rare that we hire a 56-hour firefighter medic that doesn't go onto the 40-hour schedule and actually start in the training academy so it's a very limited number of people frozen sick leave bank not sure how many of you were here prior to hanover county going to a pto plan i believe it was in 2016 it used to be had a vacation bucket and a sick leave bucket those were combined in 2016 to pto and they froze the sick leave balances for all employees at that time, meaning that it was still there and they could use it, and there were requirements behind that. And today we did some focus groups based on our engagement survey results earlier

[02:03:16] this year for our benefits department, and this was one of the things that got brought up. We met and discussed and feel that it is warranted to now remove the requirement that you have to use 40 hours of PTO before you can use that frozen sick leave balance, as well as removing the 48-hour limit that people can take to attend to a family sickness or a parental care, child care type of thing. Civil leave asking to clarify the language in that to state that civil leave is not for court preparation or court appearances if the case is in one in which the employee is a criminal defendant and it's also not eligible for cases in which the employee is the plaintiff in a civil suit against

[02:03:53] the county or at least I just looking to change that language in there and the workers compensation leave we are deleting the entire section or asking to delete the entire section not because we're doing away with workers comp and that we're not sponsoring it we simply do not have a leave category for that. Employees work with our safety and risk management team to walk through the workers comp process and they manage how they then enter their time onto UKG ready into this timekeeping system. So there is no more workers comp leave. Same thing asking to delete the entire section in performance appraisal system for pay for performance compensation increases. We do not

[02:04:33] have a pay performance compensation plan at this time. We do a market-based assessment so this is no longer valid. We do offer a career ladder, which is detailed in the appendix C in the policy for employees that they can then gain additional knowledge, skills, and ability and move up and pay and rank into a career ladder pattern. Asking to add an additional section into the employee health at work for lactation and breastfeeding. This I'm happy to say we do currently do this by practice.

[02:05:08] However, this is covered under several federal and state laws. So we just want to make sure that we put it into our policy. Basically, it's to provide an adequate space and ample time for a nursing mother to either pump or breastfeed. And I'm happy to say I've been working with Dana Fox and General Services. And in the new Bucky Stanley Building, there is going to be an actual dedicated room for this where people, employees can sign up and actually use the room for the service.

[02:05:34] And finally, recommending some changes to our grievance procedure process is simply changing work days to business days. Business days being defined as a Monday through Friday do not include holidays or days in which the county is closed for business. This helps clarify for things such as firefighters on a 56-hour shift saying that, well, I only worked two days this week, so I get this extended period of time when in actuality we meant a full work week. So looking at changing that to a business days. So again, next steps. Like I said, I have provided you the lovely trees that I killed this afternoon to print the copies of the red line version and

[02:06:12] the updated clean copy for you all to review the plan is to have that on the consent agenda and the board meeting in January if you have any questions when you're going through it please feel free to reach out to myself the county administrator the county attorney happy to answer any questions about that once it is approved we will roll it out to all employees I'm happy to answer any questions now for you if I can thank you for your presentation in any questions or comments from board members sure mr. Davis sticking sheets we go back just a few slides real quick on the workday no work work day definition there I don't

[02:06:48] work for the I might pull up with you we can do it remotely I might pull up with you get a little bit more phrase and we worked on something previously we had to we had to wait on voting on this a number of years ago because we had some workday definitions in there and everything centered around eight hours mm-hmm and so I met with the firefighters Association had a really good presentation what they're talking and it required us to make a change so they could be covered because workday at that time so I'm just have a little bit more heightened awareness when it comes to that so I just want to talk to you

[02:07:27] about it it's a five-minute conversation maybe it's 30 minutes but if you would just shoot me an email happy to meet thank you thank you mr. anyone else I Had a brief question, you know, no big deal. I think I understand it, but I'd like to be sure so on the eight-hour holiday pay if someone is on a routine 4:10 and The holiday falls on one of the ten days This policy is saying the holiday pay is eight. Is that right?

[02:08:06] Correct and they would be responsible for making up the extra two hours from using PTO or Compensation leave. Okay. This is not for public safety. They're completely separate. Okay. So let's say they didn't have any. Would that mean their paycheck would be 38 hours if they work three tens in the holiday? We try to work with management as well to help flex their days if you need to. Maybe adjust their schedule a little bit. If you want to work an extra two days to cover that or an extra two hours to cover that leave, they can do that as well. There's plenty of options there. The easiest one is just using an additional PTO. Okay. I think that makes sense.

[02:08:44] because everybody has to have an eight-hour holiday pay. You can't have some have to get in 10 and some get in eight. Is that right? Correct. Okay. That's all the questions I have. Anyone else? Okay. Well, thank you very much. We'll see that on the agenda for January. We have a lot to read.

[02:09:02] Okay. Let's see. Next on the agenda is closed session. Mr. Davis. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors take this meeting into closed session pursuant to the following authorities. Virginia Code Section 2.23711A7, Consultation with Legal Counsel pertaining to Actual Litigation, Hatcher v. the County of Hanover.

[02:09:23] Virginia Code Section 2.23711A3, Consideration of Disposition of Public-Held Real Property G-PIN 7870-50-8456. Next G-PIN, 7870-50-6406.

[02:09:41] Next G-PIN, 7870-50-4487. Next G-PIN, 7870-50-3394. Item C, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711-88.

[02:09:57] Consultation with legal counsel regarding specific legal matters. Discussion of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia. There is a motion and a second. All in favor of entering closed session, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. The board is in closed session.

[02:14:07] Time is six o'clock. Chair recognizes Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Board of Supervisors certify that during the closed session, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion of closed session were discussed second there is a motion and a second all in favor please indicate by saying aye aye the board is back in open

[02:14:38] session supervisor Pritchard thank you mr. chair and as many of you know for some months we have been working on what would happen to the historic Henry Clay school and we put together a working committee that includes two members of our community development committee that's myself and Ms. Floyd we've got two staff members Joanne Hunter and Todd Kilduff and we've got two citizens from the town as well as the mayor and the vice mayor and we have looked through

[02:15:13] proposals and we have found one that we are ready to start working on we've made no commitment and we will not make a commitment until we finish dealing with the community and making sure that we've crossed every T and dotted every I and we've gotten every everything right because this is just too important not to get right but in order to start the process we need to authorize the county administration to begin negotiations so with that in mind I moved to authorize the county administrator to begin negotiations with echelon resources LLC

[02:15:52] and create a draft agreement to be presented to the board of supervisors at a future date second there is a motion and a second any discussion seeing none all in favor please indicate by saying aye aye motion passes Thank You supervisor Pritchard next on the agenda citizens time do we have any citizens with us this evening who would like to address the board during citizens time please show your hand I do see one ma'am you will have two three I see three Looks like you will have up to five minutes. I will read the rules

[02:16:32] For citizens time citizen's time is an opportunity for members of the public to present comments and information to the board regarding any matter Within the scope of the board's authority that is not on today's agenda for a public hearing There are cards available in the back of the room. You are not required to fill out a card However, it makes it easier for our board clerk to get the spelling of your name correct And it gives us your contact information in case we need to follow up with you after your comments Speakers who wish to address the board are requested to follow these guidelines Each speaker is asked to give your name and the magisterial district in which you live

[02:17:11] Speakers will have up to five minutes to address the board the vice chair will keep track of each Speaker's time and may give you a warning when your time is about to expire Speakers are asked to address their comments to the board and not to the audience.

[02:17:29] The board does not permit the use of slideshows or other projected materials during Citizens' Time. However, speakers are invited to provide printed copies of any materials that they have to the board. Handouts and other materials can be provided to the Deputy County Administrator seated to the right over the podium, he's right there, who will ensure that the information will be distributed to board members and the board clerk. The board requests that the audience refrain from interrupting speakers during their recognized time. This rule applies to

[02:18:08] citizens time and to any public hearing on today's agenda. The board appreciates the public input and cooperations during citizens time. I will now open citizens time. First person who would like to speak, please approach the podium. Please state your name, the district

[02:18:42] in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. Members of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, my name is Steve Dills and I'm a resident of Hanover County. I'm also in the Chicominee District. I want to speak tonight in support of preserving Hanover's rural character and maintaining the integrity of the comprehensive plan, specifically in our A1 and rural districts. Hanover's rural roads, farmland, and river corridors were never engineered for intense industrial-scale traffic, constant heavy equipment movement,

[02:19:18] and permanent 24 by 7 operational demand. These roads were designed for residential traffic, farm equipment, school buses, emergency services, not sustained industrial use. Once a road network begins serving industrial traffic, road safety, emergency response time, and daily livability permanently change. Not temporarily, permanently. It is not only a transportation issue. It is a community character issue. Our comprehensive plan exists precisely to prevent rural districts from

[02:19:54] being slowly converted into something they were never intended to become. Changing zoning and land use classifications for one project does not stay isolated. It creates a precedent corridor that invites the next reclassification and the next. This is how rural character is lost, quietly.

[02:20:14] approvals at a time. In my years living here, I've watched parts of our historic landscape disappear. From the loss of the historic Nutshell Plantation, the historic Mary Oaks Tavern, now sitting below pavement, to the deterioration of the French Hay Plantation, despite community concerns, these are not complaints. The reminders of how quickly rural Hanover can change if we stray from the plan meant to protect it. Canover's identity is not built on one speculative future industry.

[02:20:48] It is built on agriculture, historic resources, river protection, low-density living, and intentional land use. Once these lines are blurred, they cannot come back. According to the 2023 Envision Hanover Comprehensive Plan, the official long-range vision for our county, industrial or high-density uses should be concentrated inside the Suburban Service Area, also referred to as the SSA.

[02:21:15] Rural zones outside the SSA are designated for agricultural, low density or natural and heritage use. I've seen maps provided that show industrial saturation at the very edge of our SSA. This will functionally export industrial impact into rural districts through roads, power, water and visual corridor spread.

[02:21:38] In totality, we are facing industrial clustering. We're looking at over 3,600 acres of industrial-scale land use either being approved or proposed in a single regional corridor. That's not incremental growth.

[02:21:55] That is regional transformation. I respectfully urge the Board to maintain the existing comprehensive plan. Keep rural districts rural. Reject industrial creep through zoning changes.

[02:22:13] And protect the road systems that families and emergency services depend on every day. Growth belongs where infrastructure already exists to support it. Rural preservation only survives when leaders choose to defend it. Hanover only gets one landscape.

[02:22:30] Once it changes, it's gone. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your comments, sir. Next, I think I saw a total of three hands. Is there anyone else who would like to address the board during citizens' time?

[02:22:49] Please approach. Please state your name, the district in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. Hi, my name is Rhonda Hammond, and I live in the Beaverdam District. Members of the Board, Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

[02:23:08] I stand before you as a concerned citizen, representing not only my own interests, but the interests of many in the community who are deeply troubled by the proposed Noel Rock Quarry project by Luckstone. This project, if approved, will have serious consequences for the environment, the rural character of our community, and the quality of life for the residents of Hanover County.

[02:23:30] I urge the board to reject this proposal on the grounds that it does not comply with several key planning principles and poses risks that cannot be overlooked. First, it is important to note that the proposed quarry does not comply with the zoning regulations for the area. The site is located in an A1 zoning district, which is designated for agricultural and rural uses.

[02:23:52] It is also located within an area with RMAs and RPAs designated nature conservation. The A-1 zoning specifically aims to protect agricultural and rural land from incompatible industrial uses, and a rock quarry falls squarely into that category.

[02:24:10] Additionally, the Hanover County Comprehensive Plan for the area underscores the importance of preserving rural character and protecting natural resources. A quarry like this is incompatible with these planning goals and is not in line with the vision laid out for this community. This brings me to the heart of the matter, the impact that this quarry would have on the rural character of the neighborhood.

[02:24:31] The Beaver Dam District is known for its scenic beauty, its agricultural heritage, and its quiet rural way of life. A rock quarry in this area would disrupt the tranquility that residents currently enjoy and alter the character of the land. It would introduce industrial noise, dust, and level activity that is entirely at odds with the peaceful rural environment that so many of us live here to be a part of. In addition to the impacts of the rural character, there are significant concerns about the environmental impact of this project. The proposed quarry lies in close proximity to sensitive natural resources including wetlands in the Little River.

[02:25:10] Excavation and blasting activities associated with quarrying would inevitably lead to water contamination and the destruction of local habitats. The potential for runoff into the Little River poses a direct threat to water quality. We cannot afford to sacrifice our water resources for the sake of an industrial project. Finally, we are at a critical moment in Hanover County's development. Currently, there are five major developments under review in the county, four data centers, and one rock quarry. All of these developments are concentrated in the Beaver Dam and South Anna districts. The sheer scale of these projects, coupled with the lack of

[02:25:50] coordination between them, will put tremendous strain on our infrastructure, particularly on our roads water systems and emergency services traffic congestion environmental degradation are serious concerns and we should not allow these projects to add to the burden in conclusion i urge you to consider the long-term implications of these projects and the rock quarry this is not just about one quarry is about the future of our county the preservation of our rural character and the protection of our environment the zoning laws the comp plan and the concerns of the community all point to one clear conclusion this project is not in the best interest of Hanover County

[02:26:29] thank you for your time and consideration thank you for your comments anyone else anyone like to address the board during citizens time seeing no one else citizens time is now closed agenda item 15 public hearing consideration of adoption of 2035 parks and rec master plan mr. Aaron Reed Miller, Director, Hanover County Parks and Recreation. Thank you for being with us, sir.

[02:27:07] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board. Good evening. For the record, my name is Aaron Reed Miller, Director of Parks and Recreation here in the county. Some of this information I'll go over briefly is information you'll most likely be familiar with, but just for the benefit of the public, recapping our master plan process, what's led up to this point to get us here tonight for the public hearing, and just recapping some highlights of the plan before we move into the public hearing. Just to define what a Parks and Recreation Master Plan is, it's of course our comprehensive guiding document. It is in alignment

[02:27:43] with Envision Hanover, the county's comprehensive plan. It takes into account our existing resources, looks at future demands throughout the county, proposes strategies to maintain, expand, and improve assets, and then outlines strategies for how we reach those goals defined in the plan. Why are we doing this now. Our existing master plan was approved in 2010. Typically in a standard cycle, the plan would be re-evaluated or re-written on a 10-year cycle. We had a little bit of leadership transition in our department right around that 10-year mark. So that put the

[02:28:20] development of this plan a few years behind schedule. So here we are in 2025 in hopes of getting an updated plan in place adopted to serve as the comprehensive guiding document for our department. We also take into consideration changes in population, demographics throughout the county, of course new facilities and programs, things like the Hanover Museum of History and Culture that you won't find in the 2010 plan because it simply didn't exist at that point, or even the Montpelier Recreation Center and Library, something that wasn't open yet at that point in time, and then shifting trends in the community. Things like cricket and splash

[02:28:57] pads, those are things you didn't hear about in 2010. They weren't trends, they weren't demands of the community. We're hearing a lot about those things, particularly splash pads, particularly disc golf, things of that nature that are just emerging trends in our community. Some of that influenced by COVID and the desire for people to participate in more individual-based activities rather than traditional team sports. What we've heard so far, we did engage the community in a number of ways throughout this planning process. We held seven public meetings at the early part of 2024 invited the community to come out and share their thoughts on parks and recreation in

[02:29:36] general. That was accompanied by an online survey. And through those in-person meetings in the online survey, we garnered 600 responses with very helpful information for what our residents want to see. And then, of course, we went back and reviewed some of the comments submitted during the comprehensive planning process, worked with Mr. Pompei and the planning department to review any comments that were directly related to parks and recreation either facilities programming needs in the community like trails things like that took a close look at those as well and then of course we're a very public facing department we hear from our community on a daily basis either

[02:30:14] via a phone call email social media messaging we we hear what people are looking for and what they think we need in our parks on a regular basis so all of that feedback and commentary of course was taken into consideration as we develop this plan what we've heard so far some of the top desired items that people want to see recreation centers that comes as no surprise we have one formal recreation center that is montpelier which is relatively new opening at the end of 2024 walking and biking trails trails have really skyrocketed in popularity it's an amenity that people are really looking for in their park spaces aquatic facilities this doesn't necessarily

[02:30:54] mean pools we believe this is geared more towards things like splash pads that are just insanely popular right now picnic areas and playgrounds also come as no surprise some of the top top activities that were highlighted archery which is a little bit of a unique unique activity we don't hear a lot about archery on a regular basis but we do know our schools have a growing program burgeoning program and there's some interest in continuing that or developing additional facilities in our parks again walking and hiking to coincide with the the request for trails and then general fitness opportunities throughout our park system and our facilities.

[02:31:29] Other popular areas for consideration, again, splash pads, those were mentioned as write-in comments very, very frequently, and we just answered an inquiry from the community about splash pads today, as a matter of fact. Athletic fields, still a top need in our county.

[02:31:45] We serve tens of thousands of youth and adult athletes on a weekly basis when we're in season through our facilities, so athletic fields are always going to be a highly desired amenity here in the county. pickleball you can't talk about parks and rec without talking about pickleball there is a clear demand we have some courts planned those are those are in the final stages of planning and development now hopefully we'll be in construction soon with those but that's still a highly demanded amenity in our park system what are access we have several rivers here in the county but our our public access points are very limited on how you can get on them and access them and start in

[02:32:20] one place come out another place big distances in between so folks were very clear that they'd like to see more access opportunities and not only to water riverways but also to man-made impoundments that could be developed as part of future park spaces. Cricket, there's a growing group that is very interested in developing cricket facilities. They're very specific in one pocket of the county but that's something that they've been very vocal about. We've heard from that group so that's something that we'll consider over the next 10 years and how we might add facilities to support that need and then community events were very popular as well things like winter on the green that's happening this saturday right here at the government complex from five to eight bring your

[02:33:00] family it's going to be tremendous the hanover tomato festival spooky fun fest we have a new concert series that's rolling out in 2026 in our park so those things are clearly very popular with our community core pillars of the plan really focus on modernization of our existing facilities you've seen some of that recently with playground renovations parking lot improvements athletic field fencing replacement, footbridge replacement, trail construction, those things are ongoing now.

[02:33:29] So components of this plan are already in place, already underway. Park access and expansion through that Envision Hanover process, I think what we heard most was people just simply wanted more park spaces. We have seven traditional park sites, three of them being very large and serving a large number of people, but we don't have any neighborhood parks in the county. We have three community parks. So for a county of our size, our geographic size, and population size, we're a little limited on the number of parks that we offer. So that's a big focus as we move forward.

[02:34:00] Community center programming just simply means that one size is not a fit all for our county. We know that the western portion of the county is going to enjoy certain programming and times of day and offerings. And the other side of the county may be looking for something totally different. So we're focused on those areas and how we serve them to the best of our ability through our programs and events.

[02:34:19] Historic and environmental stewardship, that's a new core pillar, that's something that through our work at the museum, we hope to focus on more. And then, of course, treating our park spaces as the environmental areas that they are that we need to take good care of and protect for generations to come.

[02:34:36] And then no parks and recreation agency is successful without partnerships and collaboration. That could be at the local level, regional level, and in some instances, even the state and national level as well. So those are key focal points, working with our community groups as the first and foremost priority.

[02:34:55] Our park expansion strategies call for three to six neighborhood parks. Those are typically sized one to 20 acres, very dependent on the availability of land and how those are developed. One to three community parks, one additional regional park, that's a larger park like a pole green or a poor farm, and then an Eastern Recreation Center within the next 10 years if funding allows and the site is available.

[02:35:22] To dig in a little deeper on the park expansion strategies, for neighborhood parks being smaller and being meant to serve very specific residential areas, we focus that entirely on the suburban services area or that southern portion of the suburban services area that's very much just residential development.

[02:35:41] The northern portion of SSA, as you all know, is mostly commercial in nature. So that's what we're looking at. And specifically areas like Elmont, where there are no public parks currently, and there aren't as many newer subdivisions with their own private playground facilities or recreation center buildings or even pools.

[02:35:59] Old Mechanicsville is another similar area where the age of that community predates those private facilities, and there really just isn't anything in those specific areas of the county. that's why we've focused the neighborhood park development very specifically to the suburban services area our community parks really fill a gap where we don't have any public space in the county so you'll notice cold harbor is highlighted that area along the route 33 gateway in the south anna district and then an area in beaver dam as well where we simply just don't have public green space we don't have areas for people to to recreate

[02:36:36] they have to travel more than we'd like them to to get to a public park space So we've identified those as our key areas for community park development. And with those being a little larger in acreage, these areas offer plots of land that can meet those acreage requirements because they're not as densely developed.

[02:36:53] And then in terms of regional parks, the three regional parks that we currently have, Polgreen, Poor Farm, and Courthouse Park, are highlighted there showing those service areas, 10-minute drive time and a five-mile service area. We do envision one additional large park of that nature that will serve the growing need of our athletic groups with a collection of athletic facilities.

[02:37:15] We envision that being located somewhere in the eastern portion of the county, eastern or central at Lee Mechanicsville, those areas to serve our most densely populated portions of the county. In terms of indoor facilities, the Montpelier Recreation Center and its service area is shown in blue to the western part of the county.

[02:37:36] And then in the next 10 years, we hope to be able to develop that Eastern Hanover Recreation Center. And you'll see that yellow service area. And then the additional yellow circle you see is if we were to develop a centrally located indoor recreation center. That's not likely to happen in the next 10 years.

[02:37:52] As you all know, those facilities are very expensive to build. But in a longer 20-year outlook, it's wise to start talking about that facility and when it will be developed to create that service level that meets almost all of our county. I think it's 95% of our residents will be served, with the exception of that most northwestern corner.

[02:38:15] Additional strategies in the plan focus on reinvesting in our existing facilities through those examples that I offered earlier. Making sure we have the right staffing to support the community needs, making sure we're staffed in areas where the biggest growth is happening. Sports tourism, working with our newly established tourism department and director to find events that can come here, take advantage of our facility, our wonderful facilities that we have, and bring that economic impact with it here to the county.

[02:38:49] Partnerships, as touched on earlier, working with our local civic groups, working with stakeholder groups, athletic organizations, any of those entities that we work with currently, and expanding that horizon of partnerships to just build a stronger sense of community from end to end here in the county.

[02:39:05] And then again, historic and environmental stewardship, focusing on history programming, cultural preservation, and stewarding our environmental spaces the best we possibly can. The timeline of this process started October 10th when the first version of the draft was made available to the public.

[02:39:23] Then we hosted a series of follow-up in-person meetings in addition to an online comment form where folks could submit any additional comments they had or come share with us, discuss with us in person their thoughts on the plan. I know quite a few people did show up and have very lengthy, detailed discussions with us.

[02:39:42] So we enjoyed having those discussions, getting that feedback from the community, and using that feedback to help shape the plan into its final version that is before you tonight. November 1st, we reviewed everything we heard. made any corrective edits. We took it to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission on November 10th.

[02:40:00] They did vote with a majority vote to support and endorse the draft plan. And then at the public hearing for the Planning Commission on November 20th, we received a unanimous endorsement on the on the 2035 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which leads us to tonight where we're here before you all to have a public hearing, hear any additional comment from citizens, and hopefully garner your support in adopting the plan this evening.

[02:40:25] We are requesting action tonight, adoption of the plan, and that's just a sample motion, but of course that is up to you all. And then I'd just like to take a moment to thank everyone who played a role in this process.

[02:40:41] It has been an extensive process, a years-long process. We've got several of our team members here who have all played integral roles in one way or another. They are just the best and make my job exceptionally easy, so I appreciate their support being here. Our Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission, that is a wonderful group of representatives that serve as our liaisons to the community.

[02:41:03] They've been absolutely wonderful to work with, and we appreciate the support they've given. And certainly not last but not least, our county administration, you all as board members, and most importantly, our community for their feedback, their engagement, their continued support and participation in all that we do.

[02:41:20] If they weren't here supporting us, and if you all weren't here supporting us, none of this wonderful stuff would happen. So with that that'll close the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions I'd also be happy to just sit down and get out of the way if that works, too Thank you for your presentation, sir. Any questions or comments from board members? Mr. Mr. Hudson That's right. I do need a park more than anyone. Thank you. I just wanted to to note that everyone understands that private neighborhood parks in in

[02:41:58] HOAs. They're not a substitute for public parks. I don't think Mr. Reed Miller is saying that, but I do want to clarify that, that when they are mentioned, it is not meaning that the Attlee area is served. We absolutely do need parks in the Attlee area, regardless if there are neighborhoods that have HOAs that do provide playgrounds. People pay for those, and we're not counting everyone's playground in their backyard either. So just want to keep that mind. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Supervisor Pritchard. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[02:42:34] Erin, I think the plan is wonderful. Um, but I will say every every project that we do in the county is an important project to someone, but I never get more calls than I do about projects that are going on in parks. And, and for example, the the bridge in Poor Farm Park, which took forever, and there are good reasons for that but i wonder when we're doing projects in public parks if there's not some mechanism like like a bulletin board that says coming in 2026 so that people know i don't mind taking the phone

[02:43:12] calls but it would be better if we had an access point when people use the parks so they could see what they could expect just a thought you're absolutely correct and we can absolutely implement that we've done that with the playground renovations a couple things that footbridge project was meant to be a small quote-unquote quick project and it ended up being anything but so a project board would have been helpful there but we didn't think it would be around that long to even warrant that but we learned a lesson on that one thank you thank you for your comments mr. Hudson thank you mr. chair thank you Aaron for the presentation and I did just want to say

[02:43:51] that one of our parks rec advisory commission representatives from the mechanical district is uh the prac chair mr paul heiser and he sends his regrets uh he has spoken to me on several occasions as recent as today and he would like for it to go on the record that he does give his wholehearted endorsement to the plan um and certainly aaron knows that uh we talk a lot about uh splash parks uh and and the so-called neighborhood or pocket parks and that's something that in the Mechanicsville area I'm all but beat over the head about so I am

[02:44:28] excited to see that this plan is intending with the proper funding and all that to be there so thank you for time mr. chair thank you for your comments anyone else okay mr. Reed Miller this is on the agenda for a public hearing thank you thank you sir this is on the agenda for a public hearing I will now open the public public hearing is there anyone here who wishes to speak in Support of the parks and rec master plan. I see one two three. Okay

[02:45:02] Gentleman up the front since you're closest, please state your name the district in which you live you have up to three minutes Okay, um, my name is Sean Martin. I live in the Henry district and I started Dynamo soccer club in 2005 so we've been operating for 20 years I'm was just trying to figure out how many directors of parks and recreation I've seen over this many years I think we're up to six or seven, but it's a pleasure to serve Mechanicsville, the Alley area, and the Chickahominy area for the children of Hanover, but in this plan, I've talked at length with Mr. Reed Miller about it.

[02:45:42] It does cover the needs and the growth of the kids who participate in Dynamo Soccer Club. We currently have over 1,100 children in our recreation program. that's 1100 children in the fall and 1100 children in the spring that adds to it another 250 children that play over the summer and another 200 some kids that play in the winter at the sports reality center as well our traveling program has about 180 to 200 kids depending on the season so we service

[02:46:16] a huge amount of families in the hanover area and so glad to do that glad to be here and glad to be here for 20 years. So thank you for doing what you do. My concern is the timeline in that the fields that we have six, seven years ago were the envy of all of the clubs in the Richmond metro area.

[02:46:44] Everyone would come to courthouse, they would come and play at Taylor, and they would even come to play at Polgreen at times and marvel at the quality of the fields. Quality fields is one of the three things that we feel that you need to develop an athlete. You need coaching, right? You need competition. You need facilities. The facilities that we have in Hanover have degradated because of that there's not enough. In order for us to rehab a field and make it back to what it could be, what it should be, that means we've got to stay off of it for a year. And there's nowhere

[02:47:21] else for these kids to go between soccer, lacrosse, football, all the other things that go on. There's nowhere else to move these children to um so i understand this is 2035 and we've got big plans even beyond that um but for the development of sports and potential sports tourism in hanover county speed is of the essence but i don't want to take a lot of time but thank you guys for what you do i know it's a sometimes a thankless job and i'm sure you take lots of judgment over it

[02:47:56] So thank you for what you do. That's all I got if you have questions. Thank you for your comments, sir We need to move on to the next one. Yes, sir. Thank you for being with us. Okay next speaker. Please approach Please state your name the district in which you live you'll have up to three minutes Good evening chairman members of the board. My name is Amber Hawkins I reside in the Beaver Dam district and I am also here tonight representing the Hanover 250th as co-chair And I would like to speak to the historical and cultural component in the 2035 Master Plan.

[02:48:31] As we look toward the 250th anniversary of American independence, it's worth pausing to recognize the meaningful work happening right here in Hannaford County. As outlined in the 2035 Master Plan, Parks and Recreation's commitment to historical and cultural programming does something that's easy to overlook but hard to replicate.

[02:48:49] It weaves our history into the everyday life of our community. Through lectures, exhibits, and living history demonstrations, They're not just acknowledging the past, they're making it accessible and relevant to new generations. The Hanover Museum of History and Culture serves as an anchor for this work, providing a welcoming space where our county stories are interpreted and shared with residents and visitors alike.

[02:49:10] That kind of institutional commitment to storytelling matters, especially as we prepare to welcome visitors from across the country who will be seeking authentic connections to America's founding. Hanover County is uniquely positioned for this moment, from Patrick Henry's birthplace at Studley to historic Paul Green Church, the birthplace of religious freedom. Our landscape holds stories that shape the nation.

[02:49:34] When our local institutions invest in telling those stories well, they strengthen our identity as a destination for heritage tourism and create economic opportunities that benefit the whole community. So, to Parks and Recreation and the Hanover Museum of History and Culture, thank you.

[02:49:49] The programming you offer and the experiences you are creating are laying the groundwork for Hanover to shine during America's 250th commemoration. It's the kind of steady, thoughtful work that builds lasting community pride. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

[02:50:06] Next speaker, please approach. State your name, the district in which you live. You will have up to three minutes. I'm Jim Hunt. I'm from Ashland, and I'm here because I'm on the Parks Board.

[02:50:26] And Paul Howther couldn't be here as my chairman, so I just wanted to come and speak for the board itself. And the board was very supportive of what we're doing here, and we encourage you all to Vote for it, you know, there's a lot going on the parks now We've got new pavement on the all all the parking lots. It's really Improving and we want to continue that and this plan does that how's that quick? Very good. Mr. Hunt Thank you for your willingness to serve on the parks and recs Advisory Commission Next speaker in support anyone else

[02:51:05] Okay, anyone who would like to speak in opposition? Mr. Nelson, please state to name the district in which you live you have up to three minutes Thank you Chairman Herzberg and Board Supervisors. My name is Bob Nelson. I reside in the Ashland District. This is the only opportunity for a public hearing. There was no public hearing held before the Planning Commission. I filed 10 pages of detailed comments on the draft plan on October 24th, sent them to Mr. Reed Miller. In an email he thanked me for the comments. I have provided copies of these documents for the Board. For the most part,

[02:51:42] the master plan before you fairly and reasonably reflects modifications based on my comments. The document should, however, be revised in four areas. First, Washington Lacey, the only park in the suburban service area, is listed as 216 acres.

[02:51:59] The park, however, includes 34 acres of county-owned land between Woodside Estates and Providence. That acreage is posted no trespassing by the Department of Public Utilities was a sewer pump station. Land, which is not available for public use, should not be counted as parkland.

[02:52:14] Until that changes, Washington Lacey should be shown in the master plan as a 182-acre park. Second, two years ago, I recommended that an undevelopable county-owned land at the back of the three-school complex along Atlee Station Road become a park.

[02:52:31] I fully support the designation of this land as Chicken Omni Park in the master plan. A detailed timeline should be established for park development, and the severe erosion of the stream through the park should be addressed by the county now. Third, county-owned land is potentially available for neighborhood parks.

[02:52:52] For example, the Brown Grove community has been burdened with industrial development for decades, and the county owns small parcels of land near the community. The master plan lacks any inventory of county-owned land and its suitability for park purposes.

[02:53:09] This major planning issue should be discussed in the master plan. Fourth, the master plan should contain population and demographic data broken out by suburban and rural areas. The distinction between suburban and rural areas is the fundamental guiding principle in Hanover's comprehensive plan.

[02:53:30] Park planning based on drive distances and service areas must reflect population and demographic realities. Finally, I'd like to endorse Supervisor Floyd's comments concerning substituting HOA amenities for park facilities.

[02:53:50] In the detailed comments I provided to you, I identified innumerable subdivisions and homes. I believe it's well over 1,000. I think it's close to 1,500. Residences in the at least Asian Road corridor alone, which lack any amenities not even sidewalks Thank you very much for your attention and for your consideration of these comments. Merry Christmas Thank you for your comments, sir Is there anyone else who wishes to speak during the public hearing on the parks and recs master plan?

[02:54:26] Okay, seeing no one else. Mr. Reed Miller still with us. Would you please approach sir? So you heard some of the comments. Yes, sir. Are you familiar with the hundred and eighty two acre?

[02:54:47] comment or the 200 and what was it 212 or 216 mm-hmm okay can you address that please i certainly will yes sir i i've spoken with mr nelson a number of times about washington lacy park and and i have a full understanding of his concerns uh there is signage at the entrant the gravel entranceway to the county-owned pump station that says no trespassing i think authorized personnel only um that that part of that parcel or that collective parcel that is washington lacy park That area is still, as far as we see it, parkland.

[02:55:22] It was deeded to the county with the intent to be used as parkland with a few very specific exceptions written into the deed for what it couldn't be used for. It simply exists as undeveloped parkland at this time. There are no trails. There are no public facilities that exist, but it is county-owned public land.

[02:55:40] I believe the signage in place by public utilities is to deter people from entering that pump station or its immediately adjacent area. I'd be happy to work with the Public Utilities Department to better define what is a restricted area. And then in a very specific site planning process, as Washington Lacey Park grows and is expanded, we can explore expanding our trail network to that portion of the property.

[02:56:06] But this is the portion that is across Woodside Lane, situated between two neighborhoods. It is not part of the larger park parcel that is within the town of Ashland, and it's also not connected to the northernmost part that is currently developed with the parking lot, picnic shelter, and within the county.

[02:56:25] Okay. Thank you for that explanation, sir. That's greatly appreciated. And I know there's been a lot of time that's been put into the master plan. I know demographics have been looked at, distances to rural communities, differences between neighborhood parks and community parks.

[02:56:44] I mean, I've seen it at Parks and Recs. I serve on the committee, so does Mr. Stoneman. And we know the parks system that we have right now is not perfect. We need to make improvements, identify areas, get feedback from the community.

[02:57:03] And we, as board members, we've looked at some things, and we're working on addressing some of the concerns that we heard. But you heard the comments of Mr. Nelson and me. Can you provide some feedback in response to his concerns about the demographics and the rural and that we know the needs and the areas that we've looked at to shed some light on that?

[02:57:32] Because we're getting ready to vote on this. Correct. Yes, sir. Yes, happy to. So in those service area maps that were shared, we looked at the community feedback, and that's what shaped using those service areas and drive times as measures of what we needed and where we needed it to go.

[02:57:49] The reason for that is people are saying, look, there's nothing close to my house. I don't want to drive 20 minutes to get to pole green every time we go to the playground or every time I want to go on a nature trail. So we looked at those drive times and those service areas to determine where the largest gaps existed.

[02:58:04] I believe the comments point to the fact that we do show some development of parks in rural areas of community park space, which is larger in acreage. But yet we show all of our neighborhood park development located within the suburban services area. However, that's going to be a smaller total acreage than what we develop in those community spaces.

[02:58:25] I believe there are opportunities for developing larger park space in the suburban services area. but that's going to be heavily, heavily contingent on land acquisition opportunities. We don't have any county-owned parcels that fit the bill, so to speak, currently.

[02:58:42] So a lot of that is going to come into play, but certainly we're always looking at population statistics. We're focused on our most densely populated areas and providing a level of service there that is adequate and appropriate through the development of neighborhood parks as a realistic approach over the next 10 years, but also understanding that our citizens that live in the most rural corners of the county they want park access too montpelier is a great example we just talked about this in a meeting yesterday that that folks you know you think montpelier is very rural people aren't gonna they don't need a park space people live on plots of land that are beautiful and park-like

[02:59:18] in nature but i challenge you any day to go to montpelier park and not find someone on that playground on that walking trail taking full advantage of that public space you know walking on you want to go for a walk down the street it's tough to do when you live on a country road sometimes you want to go somewhere where you're not dealing with traffic or or some of the other concerns so developing those spaces in rural areas even though the population is less dense and we're serving fewer overall residents having access to those facilities is still very important and that's why the plan is laid out uh in the way that it is but of course population population density

[02:59:55] the areas that are that that need the parks the most at lee those areas certainly that is a high high priority high focus and there will be many more community engagement opportunities as we develop new park spaces this is not a hey here's what we're going to build and we're going to build it and that's it each piece of property acquired as those opportunities become available we're going of look back to the community to help us shape what those look like what how they're built how they serve the immediate area and beyond and that community engagement process is going to be substantial over the next ten years and developing out these key strategies that are identified well thank you very

[03:00:33] much thank you very much for that explanation sir one thing that I mentioned was you know with the new Battlefield Park Elementary School being built we lost the two ball fields and you know I've been in contact with the school division about turning over some of the acreage behind the existing school because they're not using it they don't need it they seem to be willing to do it we're getting a survey done do you think an area like that could help supplement pole green not take away anything from pole green but supplement certainly certainly it's important to note that point you know pole green

[03:01:10] can't be the part to solve every every need everywhere and that's kind of what it's been for a long time it's been very very busy going back to mr. Martin's comments with field quality. We're just inundated with use. We're inundated with use, establishing other park spaces to alleviate practice needs and provide just other general green space where you don't necessarily have to fight the traffic when there's a big cross-country event or a football Saturday going on. It's tough to get in and out of pole green and poor farm and even courthouse on certain days by establishing smaller neighborhood parks that offer playgrounds

[03:01:44] offer a place where you can have a birthday party or you can just enjoy time outdoors go birding anything of that nature and they're not in those in the midst of those big athletic facilities that's something we heard very clearly from the community and battlefield park is a great example where it kind of falls in that area of there is a need where as the crow flies we're relatively close to pole green park but a smaller green space will serve a different need in the community And do you think if there were to be a field there that it would be vacant, or do you think it would be used?

[03:02:16] I know that's an easy one for you, but for those who may be watching and here. Yes, there would not be a single day that that field would sit empty, unless maybe there's a little bit of snow on the ground and we have to send out the closure notice. That would be the only day you don't see people actively using that space.

[03:02:34] Well, I've heard that same thing from a couple constituents in my area. They're like, we'll have the churches call if we need to. To support you know more fields in the eastern Hanover right area. Okay. I'll open up Questions and concerns to other board members see supervisor Pritchard and then mr. Davis after her. Thank you. Mr. Chair Um, I do want to say first of all about brown grove that mr Stoneman and I spend an awful lot of time in brown grove There's rarely a week that one of us is not over there and while there are no current plans for a park in brown grove

[03:03:11] There currently has been land designated for the historic school and a sort of passive park around the school. That land's been donated by Wegmans, and plans are well underway for that, as we went to the groundbreaking for that.

[03:03:28] And I think that's going to be a wonderful, wonderful addition of that neighborhood. I also want to say that, along with Ms. Floyd and Mr. Nelson, I went to Attlee High School, and back behind there, there's plenty of land for a passive park. It's all in for Chickahama to get their part.

[03:03:45] Could you please take just a second to address the concerns about the soccer fields? Because I know you are doing work with soccer fields. And as a soccer Grammy, I get a lot of concerns about that, too. Yes, absolutely. It's a great point made by Mr. Martin.

[03:04:00] Again, the amount of use that we're seeing is, I'll say, unprecedented. We have so many more groups wanting space. Of course, we're trying to serve our local groups first and foremost. but the amount of requests we get from travel programs, from groups that aren't even based in Hanover County, and of course they fall way down our priority list, it's rare that they ever get a field space.

[03:04:23] So that tells us that our local groups are absolutely maximizing our field space, particularly at Pole Green and Courthouse, which probably comes as no surprise. We have a little bit of capacity at Poor Farm. We do have nine multipurpose fields there.

[03:04:39] A lot of people don't realize that Port Farm Park has more athletic fields in one space than any other park in the county. But even with that, there are particular days where every one of those nine fields plus open green space are filled with teams, some of those being school teams.

[03:04:55] Of course, with the high school, middle school, it seems like there's a sport team at every age level, every grade level now, and they're spilling over into the park space, which creates a demand as well. So the amount of use we're seeing is detrimental to fields. Of course, compaction is a real thing.

[03:05:11] When seasons run all the way to the end of November and even early December, it's very difficult to do fall maintenance, aeration, seeding, fertilization, while those facilities are still being used. And we simply can't afford to take a field out of rotation without displacing a large number of youth or adult athletes.

[03:05:30] So we're doing the best we can, given that current predicament of just not having enough vacant fields. We do use the schools that we can that have lighted facilities or even in some cases that aren't lighted. We're talking about there's some property, I think, acquisition maybe that'll happen that'll provide some practice space that'll allow us to alleviate some of that heavy burden on pole green.

[03:05:52] Once we have that opportunity or once we're able to acquire some additional park space, whether it be a battlefield or other areas in the county, we can relocate some of those programs albeit temporarily that gives us enough time to rest that field do a full renovation if warranted address irrigation sod level do all the things we need to do to really make fields the highest quality they can be i shared that you know one of my goals not mentioned in the plan more of a personal goal is for us to be able to say we have the nicest fields in the region and that includes all of our big neighbors and of course they've got a lot of resources and manpower but i think we have the potential to have the nicest

[03:06:31] facilities in the region and I know our team is going to work very very hard to make that happen but we do need to add some add some acreage to make it to make it work thank you thank you for both of your comments mr. Davis thank you mr. chairman director Reed Miller I think you've done a really good job in parks and rec advisory council y'all done phenomenal appreciate your long leadership one I do want to commend you you've done a really good job engaging the community. I saw that with the donation of the AED machines and that wouldn't have happened without you and of course Mr. Zidon and the Zidon family who donated those

[03:07:09] because you got the information out there you worked with public information office a gentleman decided to write a $50,000 check and donate 10 AED machines so thank you for helping to coordinate that. Thank you for being very forward facing to the citizens with your plan and i did have one comment um i do think there's probably some some adjustments you can look at when you you're doing a um you know an identifier of your your inventory so if there's a large piece of right i kind of get how it works you say well this is identified as parks and rec land but if

[03:07:47] there is a portion in there that's not going to be used as a park or for recreation i get that it may be you know be the lines on the map but maybe we could we could uh you know look at that identifier as a gentleman brought up and say hey you know maybe it takes out three acres or whatever but that said uh you know without you and uh uh director harman getting into a wrestling match over over who wants what uh some of the land it doesn't always have to be improved and have a trail on it folks have access you're talking about different you know aviary um hobbies and bird watching and some folks go out and they do painting wildlife painting and those types of

[03:08:25] things. It doesn't have to be improved. Some folks can kind of, you know, stomp through the woods and do their thing. So that might be something that we look at. And then we can identify what's, you know, not accessible for public safety reasons and so on and so forth. But I think that's a really good suggestion. I don't think you were deficient in that area. It's just one of those things that just kind of happens and kind of morphs and somebody says, well, I'll put the sign here.

[03:08:47] You know, so you and Randy can work on that. But that's probably a pretty good idea. And we can do it with all of our parts because we've done a really good job in Hanover County of having multi-use. The sheriff always says the best used land in Hanover County is just south of here.

[03:09:04] You know, we've got football fields, we've got places to play softball, we've got a skate park, we have a jail, we have a sheriff's training academy, we have a firing range, and we have a transfer dump. You know, that's pretty good use of one piece of dirt.

[03:09:20] Absolutely. So I get that we do that, but that was a really good suggestion. But other than that gentleman brought up we've had a number of different parks and rec directors and man when you came on board You just you hit the ground running and you've done a phenomenal job and I'm really really pleased how well you engage your community Those types of things it shows. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Mr. Davis anyone else?

[03:09:47] Seeing none, I'll make a few comments and then Since I've been on track for six years. I'll make a motion There's been a lot of work put into this, it's over 80 pages, and I'd like to take the time to thank you, Mr. Reed Miller, for all the work that you've done.

[03:10:06] I see Marcy's here, thank you for all the work that you've done and all the years you've been with us, and working at Prac. I see a lot of members of our Parks and Recs team. I see June over there, recently met her. It's good to see you, ma'am, and good to see all of you here, and we really do appreciate all the good work that you do to keep our parks open and safe and thriving.

[03:10:30] So thank you very much on behalf of the entire board the the work in the document The over 80 pages is a lot of good work And if I were to read every word every sentence There's going to be some areas where maybe it could have been worded a little better or maybe it should be amended I think that I'd like to make the motion to approve this and I'm going to do that in a minute but I also want to make some recommendations that If we recognize after reviewing comments tonight that maybe we need an amendment we put it on the prac

[03:11:09] advisory agenda and We discuss it with our members That's what they come for and we'll see if we need to make an amendment and then down the road We can we can submit an amendment If we want if we need to or if it's in the best interest of our parks and recs Master plan and our communities we can do that don't want to do it every month or every quarter but you know every so often if we need to make an amendment we'll take it to prac and we'll have the discussion and we'll see how the commission feels about it are you okay with that absolutely okay so uh so with that being said i will make the

[03:11:48] motion to adopt the 2035 parks and recreation master plan as presented second there is a motion and then multiple buses. Seconds, plural. Any discussion amongst board members? Seeing none, all in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Congratulations, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you all for your support. Planning public hearings, Mr. Pompei, Deputy Director of

[03:12:24] the Planning Department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first planning public hearing is a request to remove some property in the Cold Harbor District from our Agricultural and Forestal District Program or AFD program. The property is located at the southwest corner of U.S. Route 360, Mechanicsville Turnpike, and Spring Run Road, and it is zoned A1 Agricultural. It is just under 52 acres in area.

[03:12:57] As you can see from the aerial, the property is heavily wooded and undeveloped. It is part of the Old Church A AFD, and you can see that it's a pretty sizable AFD, and it's located on the southwest west corner of that AFD. And I'll go into more details about the Old Church A AFD later in the presentation. But again, this is a request to withdraw just less than 52 acres from that Old Church A AFD. The applicant is requesting or planning to subdivide the property in accordance with the A1 zoning regulations to create five 10-acre lots. Within the AFD district, any property

[03:13:34] that's enrolled in the program cannot be subdivided with lots less than 20 acres in size. So the applicant must withdraw from the AFD program to pursue that A1 subdivision. As I mentioned, and we saw on the previous slide, the property is currently vacant and wooded.

[03:13:52] The AFD program is really intended as a land preservation tool. It's a voluntary program that is instituted by localities throughout Virginia to help preserve open space for agricultural and environmental purposes. As we're reviewing this request, or any request to add or remove from the AFD, we look at historic and environmental resources, as well as the value of the land from an agricultural and forestal perspective.

[03:14:15] In this case, the property is near some historic resources. It is not on a locally designated scenic road, and it's not adjacent to parkland. It is not adjacent to any of our major streams or rivers, or include any floodplain. As we saw on the previous map, it's on the edge of the AFD, and it is next to a major road, U.S. Route 360, Mechanicsville Turnpike.

[03:14:34] It's designated rural agricultural and comprehensive plan, and it is designated rural conservation. If this property is withdrawn from the AFD, the Old Church A AFD will continue to be pretty sizable, over 8,400 acres, and it would meet all the requirements established in the Code of Virginia for an AFD in terms of size and the proximity of the parcels in the district to the core of the district.

[03:14:59] The Agricultural and Forestry District Advisory Committee reviewed this request in October and voted unanimously to recommend approval, and the Planning Commission held a public hearing and also recommended approval of this request. that concludes staff's presentation the applicant is here tonight but they do not have a formal presentation planned i'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have thank you for your presentation sir is this a voluntary uh district that's correct this is a voluntary district so the parcel owners voluntarily participate in the district and then it's up to

[03:15:35] them if they want to take it out that's correct so this particular property was added when the district was created in the late 1970s we review all afds every six years so the property owners since 1978 have consented to the program and voluntarily participated thank you any other questions from board members supervisor dibble um just to be clear so when you volunteer to put your property within this designation are there specific uh tax incentives to do so so originally this program was created for land use taxation in the 1970s and 80s you had to be enrolled in the

[03:16:11] afd program to get land use taxation now that's available countywide and if you're in the afd program you're eligible for the land use program okay thank you for your question thank you for your response anyone else thank you sir okay this is on the agenda for a public hearing the applicant wished to make a statement okay are you available to answer questions sir okay mr rogers is here to answer questions from board members. We will now open the public hearing. Is there

[03:16:46] anyone here who wishes to speak in support? Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing. And this is in the Cold Harbor District in the beautiful area called Old Church. And I serve on the Agricultural and Forestry District Advisory Committee. We saw the request there it was a nine to zero recommended approval to grant the

[03:17:21] request as I said earlier this is a voluntary program mr. Rogers owns the parcel and he would like to have it taken out of the district and not that we're voting on this tonight but he does plan to develop the property with 10 acre lots and that is certainly consistent with the area so thank you very much. So with that being said, I'll make the motion to approve the request. AFD 2025-0002

[03:17:57] as submitted. Second. There is a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you, sir. Mr. Pompey. The next public hearing is for a conditional use permit in the Henry District, and this is to allow an event venue and overnight accommodations on whitewater farm road which is off of u.s route 301 across from hanover high school and oak knoll middle school so as i mentioned this is in the henry district this property is

[03:18:31] designated rural agricultural and the comprehensive plan is just outside the suburban service area so in this part of the county the western side of route 301 is in the suburban service area the yellow and red you see then the eastern side is outside the suburban service area so this property again is outside the suburban service area designated rural agricultural on the general land use plan the property is zoned a1 and many of the surrounding properties are zoned a1 there are some commercial and residential zoning districts closer to route 301 to the north and south but again this property is zoned a1 and the proposed use requires a conditional use permit

[03:19:10] in that zoning district right now the property is undeveloped and it is actually consists of two parcels are in the whitewater subdivision at the end of whitewater farm road so as i mentioned it is on that private road whitewater farm road across from oak knoll middle school and hanover high school what the applicant is proposing is an indoor event facility with 12 580 square feet in the main building there's also an outdoor component a 290 seat outdoor amphitheater and then eight cottages that allow overnight accommodations with rentals less than 30 days

[03:19:46] the maximum number of guests per the conditions and the design of the building that's maximum occupancy is 300 the types of events include corporate retreats weddings lunch and community events a variety of different events that can be held seven days a week per the conditions the hours of operation would be 7 a.m to 10 p.m for inside the building outdoor hours including the amphitheater is 9 a.m to 10 p.m and then the outdoor music is limited 12 p.m to 8 p.m and And these are all regulated by the proposed conditions should this project be approved.

[03:20:19] In terms of the events, the indoor events, which include the main building and the attached patio, there's no limit on those types of events. The outdoor events, which would be primarily held in the amphitheater and can also be held in the circle driveway in front of the main entrance, no more than 40 outdoor events a year, no more than six per month, no more than one per day.

[03:20:39] And the duration of events cannot exceed four hours. And when we go through the conditions, there's also limits on outdoor music. The venue will have a warming kitchen with caterers or food trucks providing food during these events. As I mentioned, this proposed development will be located on two parcels in the Whitewater subdivision, which is a private road subdivision, zone 81 with five lots.

[03:21:01] Some of the lots have development plans approved or underway. There's a farmer's market on the adjacent piece at the corner of Route 301 and Whitewater Farm Road. And then the opposite corridor to the north, a conditional use permit was recently approved for Oasis Church.

[03:21:16] And this gives you an idea of what's going on on the property and on Whitewater Farm Road. You can see Hanover High School, Oakland Middle School are across 301 from Whitewater Farm Road. The farmer's market, the church, and the purple parcels, the two in the back, will be where the proposed event venue would be located.

[03:21:34] As with any of our conditional use permits, a sketch plan has to be submitted. And if this request is approved, the applicant would have to adhere to the features shown on the sketch plan. The main building that is over 12,000 square feet is in yellow on that particular sketch plan.

[03:21:49] You can see the amphitheater in the north central portion of the property. Parking would be closer to 301 on the western edge of the property. And then there's a significant buffer. There's a buffer along the southern boundary that the conditions require a certain amount of planting and a certain width.

[03:22:06] thing to also note is that the cottages are on the rear of the property but there's significant buffering in the back there's a large stream with a significant topographical change and then everything east of that stream per the sketch plan which must be adhered to is undeveloped so again you see the venue building the parking and the eight cottages behind the venue building elevations must also be submitted so these are the elevations of the main building the top is the front and then the bottom is the side and these are elevations of the cottages per the conditions and the plan

[03:22:40] submitted each cottage would have a maximum of 800 square feet and two bedrooms in terms of the surrounding area there are a mix of uses on three sides there are rural residential uses primarily zoned a1 as we saw in the zoning map there are some businesses farther to the north along chamberland road especially near its intersection with pine ridge road within whitewater subdivision there's the farmers market and the planned church and then we're across the street from the schools complex.

[03:23:08] This area is designated rural agricultural event menus can be appropriate with certain guidance specified in the comprehensive plan but the primary uses are low density residential development agriculture and forestry. There are conditions that relate to the comprehensive plan and the recommendations in it for this type of use. In terms of traffic the projected trip generation does not trigger local requirements for a traffic study but the applicant will be required per the conditions to construct a right turn lane from northbound Route 301 into Whitewater Farm Road.

[03:23:42] From the community meeting, traffic was one of the major concerns when that meeting was held in October, as well as stormwater impacts, the concerns with commercial uses in this area, noise, and concerns about guests trespassing onto adjacent properties. To help mitigate those impacts, there are some recommended conditions. There are limits on the hours of operation, limits on the number of events, limits on the amount in hours of outdoor music and this the design of this venue be primarily indoor so there's significant indoor space which help mitigate help mitigate noise a right turn lane from the route 301 into development

[03:24:18] is conditioned so that help mitigate traffic concerns and all parking must occur per the conditions in the designated parking area to avoid parking on adjacent public or private roads to help reduce the visual impacts there are conditions and sketch plan requirements regarding landscaping, tree preservation, and buffering, limitation on the height of lights, design features of the building, and then lighting of signage must be externally illuminated. So it's kind of an overview of the conditions, and I'll go through all these in a little bit more detail, but there are 13 total conditions. Use is for a recreation facility with up to eight cottages. No camping

[03:24:56] tents or RVs are permitted. Those cottages, no more than eight, 800 square feet, no more than two bedrooms and rentals for less than 30 days. They're short-term rentals. Events are defined. There's no limit on the indoor events, which includes events held in the main building or the attached patio.

[03:25:13] Outdoor events have those limitations in the number and duration. Hours of operation, indoor events 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Outdoor events 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. And the outdoor music is limited to 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. No more than 300 participants. That aligns with the occupancy load of the building.

[03:25:33] No more than one outdoor event per day, and those events can't be more than four hours. Amplified sound must occur within a building except for events held in the amphitheater, and if there is amplified sound, those events cannot last for more than two hours, or the sound cannot last for more than two hours, and only two amplified instruments are permitted.

[03:25:53] The right turn lane, as we've discussed, along Route 301, the signage cannot be internally illuminated. Parking must occur within designated parking spaces. Exterior lighting cannot exceed 15 feet with house-side shields and bollards are required along the southern property line in the southern drive aisle, with that southern drive aisle being at least 50 feet from the southern property line with supplemental landscaping.

[03:26:16] Trees, there's significant tree preservation areas shown in the sketch plan. Those must be preserved. Mechanical equipment must be screened. The CUP has an expiration date of 18 months unless construction begins. means they have 18 months before they have to get an extension if they've not begun construction on the site and then one of our standard conditions that the property must adhere to all development regulations the planning commission reviewed this request and held a public hearing after hearing from some speakers who expressed opposition and concerns about traffic stormwater trespassing and the commercial use of the property the planning commission did make some some changes to the

[03:26:53] conditions one request the applicant has had since the planning commission is that outdoor events not include wedding ceremonies that don't have you know music that is outlined in the staff report so that would be a change to what the conditions are presented as recommended by the planning commission and staff but if you choose to make that change that's what the language would look like and it's in this in the staff report condition 3b would exclude wedding ceremonies that don't have sound and condition four would add language excluding again wedding ceremonies that don't have sound

[03:27:31] one thing i wanted to note that the powerpoint did not show for some reason is the plane um the planning commission uh did recommend approval with these conditions and um again after hearing from the public and that that concludes staff's presentation the applicant is here tonight and they do have a formal presentation planned thank you for your presentation sir any questions from board members from mr pompey mr chairman mr davis uh mr poppy have a couple of uh questions uh first of all uh the number of instruments in the amphitheater um says two here i know that the

[03:28:08] notes we got from the public hearing it said one i spoke to the applicant uh on site uh and his recollection was that when he stayed he stated one or two um at the meeting it was recorded as one But this is the instruments in the amphitheater.

[03:28:26] So I just wanted to know, did y'all have a correction on that? Because it says two here. But it was the notes that were taken during the meeting, and it's just inconsistent. So I didn't know if y'all had seen that or not.

[03:28:41] He did say that he stayed at one or two, but obviously we're looking at maximums here. So it's not a huge difference. I just want to make sure that folks knew where that inconsistency came from. And you're referring to the community meeting.

[03:28:56] I am. Okay, all right, thank you. All right, condition number four. I'm under the impression that the instruments used in the amphitheater, say for like a wedding or, you know, celebration of life or something like that, would be limited to two, but they would not be amplified, meaning, you know, I don't want to get into it, but, you know, a violin and a flute or something like that, but they wouldn't be amplified.

[03:29:31] the way um so the way the conditions worded it could be two amplified instruments some of the proposed language if the applicant requested um and i'll show you on the screen that um language would not allow it yeah i guess okay um cottages cottages are only uh for accessory use uh as it relates to the main event hall um they're they're prohibited the applicant would be prohibited and subsequently the owners would be prohibited on a conditional use permit to rent those out to

[03:30:11] somebody hypothetically for a weekend without having an event there they're not they're not designed as a short-term rental uh without use to the event hall is that correct the condition would not limit that okay we might need to look at that because i spoke to the applicant and they were agreeable to that i don't know that somebody would use it for that but it's what's in the four corners of the document if this thing is voted on that that they get gets approved uh and let's talk a little bit about the fencing i spoke with the applicant and they've agreed to uh to

[03:30:43] fence behind the um behind the cottages uh consistent with what's already on the uh the property kind of up up front um do you have that in there that is not in there so we want to get mr walter you and miss hunter uh the afghan agreed to that the other day on site and then that you're referring to like the three rail fence that's closer to 301 okay yeah some folks call it equestrian fencing or or whatever folks a little bit about 64 call it albemarle fencing but you

[03:31:18] know what i'm talking about right okay um those are just my questions just for right now i just want to make sure those are in there so we may need to uh may need to get with director hunter and um mr walter but those there's thank you for the clarification on the instruments that that helps i wanted to make sure that that that was accurate that thank you mr chairman thank you mr davis any other board members mr mr stoneman thank you mr chair and thank you andrew for your presentation there uh just can you clarify that because noise seems to be probably one of the

[03:31:54] number one concerns and for the amphitheater the outdoor space and you're talking about two amplified instruments uh does this preclude uh you know like a dj no so you could have a dj with with amplified music speakers would count as one one instrument yeah i would say that yes it's not yeah that was not my that was not my understanding it was certain ceremonial

[03:32:42] yes i just had a question of clarification i see the elevations in the packet and i think they're very nicely done are they part of the conditions of approval yes that's a standard condition so it's not written out in the in the list of conditions but an ordinance required condition is that with any cup application you have to submit elevations and sketch plan and adhere to those so they're automatically they're automatically what you will be looking for when they do their

[03:33:12] Official building plans will look similar to this with these materials. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Anyone else Thank you. Mr. Pompei the applicant present. Would you like to make a presentation, sir?

[03:33:35] Okay, we will now open the public hearing please for the record state your name the entity you represent you will have up to 30 minutes for you and your entire team. Okay. Thank you very much Including rebuttal including rebuttal 10 minutes includes rebuttal 30 minutes total 30 minutes For you you your entire team and that includes rebuttal. Yes, thank you very much I won't need hopefully won't need anywhere near there

[03:34:08] Okay, well again. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you members of the board ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for letting us present this here tonight We're really excited about bringing this type of facility and use to Hanover County to this part of Hanover County and we're very much aware of the potential impacts on neighbors and we want to make sure that we've Tried to our best with the work with the staff Which by the way have put in a lot of hours on this really appreciate that and their effort in trying to Help us formulate our application and put appropriate conditions on the the the project

[03:34:47] So the staff did obviously a really nice job of the overview. It's in the a1 agricultural district that's approximately 20.765 acres. The requested use is a recreational facility with camp cottages and conditions is what we are requesting. The proposed layout details, and I'm going to try to use my little fancy, look at that. The proposed details that you'll see is the one event venue is right here. It's just under 13,000 square feet, about 12,580 to be exact, square feet there.

[03:35:22] the eight camp cottages is nestled in right here on the back side the outdoor theater is right in this area and in the parking lot it's one thing that we looked at with this specific site is trying not to mass clear it and so I'll go through some of the conditions but this parking lot area the large majority of it as a matter of fact about 85 percent of that is already open field today So we will only meet need to clear a little bit there just to put the parking facility in there The rest of the site outside of that these other areas as I'll go through

[03:35:59] These other areas that show us what it will be left as wooded areas except for any kind of trees that would be Diseased or not alive in these areas, but even the ones back here Basically behind the cottages all the way to the farthest property line Nothing with no disturbance at all in those areas, and that's part of our proper conditions. That'll be Presented to you here in just a minute. I mentioned the elevation is difficult mentioned the elevation and this has certain requirements and requirements that We put on here because again, we wanted to try to establish a

[03:36:38] The amount of quality that we'd like to put it into a facility like this It's a mixture of hardy plank siding, a mixture of brick in the middle here. It'll be a painted brick in here. We'll have black windows that will be on there. And then also this on the porch area here, that's going to be a metal roof, and there'll be a 30-year dimensional shingle on the rest of the building.

[03:37:03] Again, giving it the aesthetics and the quality that we believe that it deserves. there's a maximum amount of people that can be in here both by the conditions but also by the fire marshal that'll be actually there and posted with that and we won't have any more than 300 that would be there as mentioned also is that we have eight cat cottages that are right in this area two bedrooms one bath and like a family living room area i'll get into a layout of that

[03:37:38] in just a second. The outdoor amphitheater has been mentioned. There's some limitations in trying to address some of the noise concerns. There's limitations not only in the total number per year, but also total number per month, and no longer than two hours of any long duration for any kind of music that's there. So if there is music there, it'll only be two hours. And we also limited that that any music type events there could only last till 8 p.m. in any day of the week including the

[03:38:11] weekends. We envision this facility to be used as like a local gathering area and also to be able to do events like plays or if you have like a corporate convention here or corporate meeting here you can go outdoors and maybe have a speaker or motivational speaker that would be there.

[03:38:30] that's what we envision the amphitheater to be used for there's also including the amphitheater there's three outdoor ceremony areas one being the amphitheater one being the circle in the front of the building and the one on the patio over in the back of the building here for a smaller venue or someone to use it as a smaller venue reason i mentioned that is we would like those not to be Include it in our maximum of 40 events a year. The reason is is there as if you've been to weddings Obviously the ceremonies are 30 to 45 minutes. They're not big, you know, music type things

[03:39:09] Obviously, probably the loudest thing you'll hear is when they cheer for when they kiss the bride So that's probably the loudest time there But we would prefer and we would appreciate your consideration of not including wedding ceremonies as one of the outdoor events Some other things that we've done as far as the lighting and the landscaping and I'm going to the landscaping in a minute A little bit more detail But the lighting is all ambient light forcing down and then any of the lighting along the walkways So the walkway for instance along here in this dry bow that's all going to be the four foot tall

[03:39:46] Kind of illuminates the walkway, but not big lights coming up and any building lights will all be facing down Also and have shields for that also the parking lot lighting will be the Won't be the 20-foot tall type lights They'll be facing down and making sure that we don't have any light pollution coming from again We're not trying to light this up like a ball field or anything like that We obviously need lighting at parking areas for safety reasons and that sort of thing Hours of operation events again we've talked about this the indoors obviously 7 to 10 the outdoor 9 to 10 outdoor music would

[03:40:26] start but would start no earlier than noon and end no later than 8 we could only have one outdoor event a day so we couldn't line it up to have to say okay we're going to have four outdoor events for two hours each there's one outdoor event a day and we look forward to hopefully being a really good neighbor as far as that goes and this is just a simple thing but we we've talked to the staff about this but the setup and cleanup is not included obviously if we have an event that ends at you know quarter to 10 and the cleanup people are there till 11 that's not part of the event that's just the cleanup of those events so we just wanted to clarify that for those purposes

[03:41:06] the cottages as i mentioned are very small maximum is about 800 square feet you'll notice that there'll be two bedrooms one bath just an open gathering area there'll be a deck along the back and a front porch along the front, and we have a couple different outlines and designs for these, but again, the maximum of those would be 800 square feet, and they will be in relation to the, as Mr. Davis indicated, in relation to the venue use itself, so it'll be tied to the venue use itself. As I mentioned, addressing citizen input is always a major goal of ours to make sure that

[03:41:45] we try to address citizen input. One of the biggest things, just again, we had this parcel. We've got a natural barrier here with the wetlands that are down through the back portion of this, and we've got about six and a half acres that'll be left undisturbed. So this whole area is undisturbed in the back portion of the property, and we will not be developing and disturbing that area in addition to that the blue areas are existing tree foliage that's there and like i

[03:42:20] mentioned there those areas they're not going to be clear cut they will be if there's any diseased trees or fallen trees that can be cleaned up but those areas be left untouched one of the things that's kind of nice about it again i mentioned that the parking lot right now is an existing field so even when you come down whitewater drive which is shown right here when you come down there that parking lot will even be shielded somewhat from visual from view as you come down there in addition to that we have two landscape areas one is again along that parking lot area

[03:42:58] where it's currently open field here and then as we build this drive out here we know that there's probably going to be some damage to trees along there as you build that drive also we're going to replant that whole area coming down through here with fresh vegetation and coming down through there that will create a real nice buffer, planet buffer, down that direction.

[03:43:21] In addition, some concern from the citizens was that there'd be some potential trespassing onto their properties. So we're going to be putting some nice-looking private property, no trespassing signs, basically every 100 feet along our property line, all the way around, just to make sure that if someone does wander off, at least there's some signage there available for them To say that you're not supposed to be in those areas As mr. Davis had indicated we talked about a fence

[03:43:59] I'm going to get and I have an exhibit Andrew that may be helpful in identifying So let me get to that exhibit real quickly So here we talked about putting a fence along the backside of the cottages that comes around here and back over here And actually it's a four rail fence that's out in front of the existing farmers market It's a four rail split rail fence and we'll match that fence that will go around that property again Just kind of letting people know this is your boundaries. You know this you're not supposed to be going down there It is a that that steepness there the topography as was mentioned before

[03:44:38] The topography from here down to here is about a 14-foot drop So it's not like a you know, just a gentle walk. It's a pretty good drop coming down there. So again We're gonna have the between the fencing there and the no trespassing signs around the perimeter. We're certainly hoping that none of our People will be going down through that area Going back just a little bit Wanted to real briefly go over our floor plan because I think it's important to note that we're building this With flexibility in mind and what I mean by that

[03:45:15] It's just not going to be a big huge venue hall. It's going to be able to house other type of activities in here So to give you an idea when you walk in we call this our reception area To give you an idea of scope and size that reception area is just under 2,000 square feet So that area itself could be held as a some vent in there. You could have a large breakfast You could have things like that in there in that particular area along the left side of the building there'll be three different rooms but there'll be a dividing wall petition in between here so you

[03:45:50] can expand those rooms if you needed to or you can make them smaller during weddings this would be a bridal room here and groomsmen room back here we do like to try to separate them during weddings beforehand and then we have two sets of bathrooms one in this area one in this area and the reason that's important is that this our mate our main hall here is if you have a big event you have a big breakfast or you have a community but gathering in here again this conceit it says seat up to 300 but understand there'll be staff so it'll be less than 300 because 300 is the maximum but if you have something

[03:46:28] that's 150 we again are going to be putting a dividing wall here that's an accordion wall that'll be there so you can divide that space this area in the back which i think is a very nice feature this will be all glassed in all the way around the back in this area and then in the roof here all the utility the hvac systems will be in the roof on the a flat roof area built into the roof you will not see them from the outside so you won't see any hvac from the ground level at all and that will be built into your roof level

[03:47:04] and in addition to that if you can kind of see these dotted lines here these are all skylight We want that really well lit with natural light to the way that we can. And we've had a professional designer for venue spaces, not just weddings, but venue spaces in general help us design this.

[03:47:22] And they've really provided some invaluable input as far as that goes. It was mentioned a warming kitchen is right in this area. Then we have, I call this the band room, if you will. If they need a break room, they'll have their own break room, that sort of thing.

[03:47:37] And then was mentioned as far as caterers go they would enter from the side here again not entering from the front But they would enter from the side over in this area and be able to bring the food in from that particular area the only reason to saying all this is to let the Board of Supervisors know there's been a lot of planning and a lot of planning going into this to make sure it can be a multifaceted facility that can be used for a lot of different Events that we talked about I just want to thank you again for allowing us to bring this to you guys a thank you for your consideration and

[03:48:15] Hopefully to gain your support for this What we think is a very exciting project. So thank you. I'm available to answer any questions Thank you for your presentation, sir Any questions or comments from board members seeing none? Thank you, sir. Thank you The public hearing is open. Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in support of the application?

[03:48:44] Seeing none, is there anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition of the application? I see two over here.

[03:49:01] Gentlemen closer to the front, please approach. State your name, the district in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board.

[03:49:21] My name is Josh Davis. I live in the Hendry District, and I am one of the adjacent landholders to this project. My wife and I were fortunate to purchase the property at 8065 Clay Farmway, have lived here almost 11 years since January of 2015.

[03:49:41] Our home is in a 10-acre property in accordance with the HOA for Clay Springs Estates in Hanover County Zoning Category A1. Our property is directly adjacent to the development proposed in this conditional use permit. My family respectfully and vigorously opposes the conditional use permit for development of an event venue, parking lots in eight cottages on lots three and four of the development.

[03:50:09] During the planning commission hearing, Mr. Rogers pointed out to those commissioners that my actual home is 830 feet from the site of the venue building. However, the distance from the nearest proposed cottage to the dam on my pond is much closer, perhaps 300 feet or less.

[03:50:29] The transient visitors will be attracted to the dam and pond and perhaps trespass. We would welcome new neighbors in residences similar to ours on the remaining lots, two, three, and four of the development. If this permit is granted, the applicant is certain to return with another permit request for lot two, as it would be the sole remaining lot with no residential use for the other four lots.

[03:50:56] I would prefer for the applicant to share his plans for Lot 2 as it borders the current proposed facility and my property. When Mr. Rogers came to meet with me, we had a good discussion, and one of the things he talked about was how much paintball is a lot of fun.

[03:51:14] So I am worried about that property. I'll also note that the proposed retention pond for the venue is partially located in Lot 2 should that fact be considered in this application. the venue would include eight cottages for overnight guests i did hear the comments about and i do really want to see that in writing about them only being associated with events at the venue as opposed to simply being out for rent but i am concerned about there's no curfew and our

[03:51:52] late nights could perhaps be disrupted by visitors the cottages you know frankly would have a capacity of up to 32 guests the business would be most successful with the cottages rented 300 days a year so again some some conditions regarding the the occupation of those cottages would would be good and I'm just concerned about the numerous possible trespassers from the cottages and really don't want fish from my pond to be poached. Got a couple of notes on the plan. If the facility is

[03:52:26] improved approved please insist that the applicants construct fencing that was noted earlier and we saw the diagram where the red line ended but we really need something between the retention Pond and the border of Lot 2 and Lot 3 down to the wetlands. Because those possible trespassers are going to come down from the cottages, cross part of Lot 2, which is not going to be marked by a no trespassing sign, and find their way over to my area. Just another minor point is the cottages are labeled as a campground. With the plan, it contains no recreational facilities typically

[03:53:03] associated with a campground, such as a playground, grills, fire pits, hiking trails. Will similar amenities be added after the approval of this permit? This applicant is highly successful at developing residential property on lots of all sizes and should be able to do the same at Whitewater and make a substantial profit. Just note tonight that the applicant plans to develop five 10-acre

[03:53:38] lots just like this site on the former AFD site on Route 360. I assume the applicant's willing to invest millions to propose this venue, to build the proposed venue, with the belief that the future operations will provide profitable revenues for many years.

[03:53:56] I understand the concept. You have 30 seconds. Thank you. This is the wrong place to build it in Hanover County. I respectfully request that the Board of Supervisors reject the conditional use permit and suggest that the applicant market the three remaining lots for residential development as intended by the Hanover County zoning ordinance.

[03:54:16] Thank you so much. Thank you for your comments, sir. Next speaker, please approach, state your name, the district in which you live. You will have up to five minutes. Okay. My name is Reginald Martin.

[03:54:32] I live in the Henry District. I'm not here in opposition to the project in of itself. I'm here raising a couple of concerns that I just want to make sure the supervisors are aware of, particularly related to the public school system that's immediately across the road from where this venue will exit.

[03:54:51] And because there's no real restrictions on the use of the venue times, meaning that if the photos that I'm going to show you are from 4 o'clock in the afternoon when Hanover High School and Oak Knoll School immediately across the street end and they're leaving.

[03:55:10] And so if you have a lot of traffic, you know, several hundred cars trying to exit from Whitewater Drive out onto 301, and if any of those cars are trying to make a southbound turn, They're not gonna be able to do it. So then all the traffic behind them will not get out And so while I'm not in opposition to the development of whatever they're doing on the property I'm just trying to find ways if there is a solution that we could propose Either in times of when you know events would end and or if any traffic improvements can be made in this area

[03:55:48] Because 301 narrows to a single lane just a few hundred feet north of where whitewater is and And the public school bus exit is immediately across the street. And so these photos here, like I said, these were taken on the night when the Planning Commission met and discussed the Oasis Church, which was shown on one of the parcels of the property that's adjacent.

[03:56:14] So the traffic will back up on occasions all the way past Hanover Wayside Park and go almost all the way down to Atlee Station Road, bumper to bumper. And these are photos, like I said, I just went out there that evening when I was going to the Planning Commission to raise the concern of the traffic there and just see if there were ways to solve it.

[03:56:38] You know, they're going to put a turning lane in. The issue really isn't getting into the property. It's going to be exiting the property. And it's going to be exiting the property in the afternoons because the farmer's market also runs from 4 to 7. So you're going to have their traffic going in and out.

[03:56:54] You're going to have potentially, if there's events at this site that are exiting around the 4 o'clock time, all trying to converge where the school buses are coming out and the traffic on 301 is narrowing into a single lane. And they've got new development, just as was mentioned, just north of this location for some warehouses, office warehouses.

[03:57:19] You've got the Dollar General Store, and then there's an athletic facility there. And those are going to, on Beattie Farm Road and Pine Ridge Road, are already adding traffic to those. And I'm just trying to find a way to see if there's a way to solve it.

[03:57:37] Because what you're seeing here, this is actually, this is my driveway. So when I come out here, and as you can see, the northbound at this point is empty. And the northbound is pretty well controlled by the traffic light at Pearson's Corner.

[03:57:54] But when the traffic light changes, the whole situation changes because it's like a race. And so these are the buses as they're trying to exit. There's no traffic control. The schools have told me that they can't do anything because it's too dangerous out there.

[03:58:13] They can't put people out there to try to manage traffic. This photo here is kind of showing where the buses are trying to exit. You can see there's a car, let me go back, there's a car right here.

[03:58:29] It's trying to make a U-turn because they can't go anywhere south because it's just backed up. And then this is, you'd seen in the earlier photo, traffic in the northbound was pretty, pretty vacant. But in this one, this is where, you know, the traffic signal up at Pearson's Corner is changed.

[03:58:48] And the traffic starts moving up through one and it all tries to merge. And it's all trying to merge right in front of where Whitewater exits. So I'm just looking at it as a situation of anybody trying to leave that site from the farmer's market, from the church, or from this new venue, they're going to really have a problem.

[03:59:07] The only way they're going to be able to exit is to go north. There will be no south at, you know, around four to five o'clock just because of the way, you know, the schools operate. And so I just wanted to make folks aware, and if there's a solution that, you know, can become... Yeah, 30 seconds remaining.

[03:59:23] Okay, thank you. Just wanted to see it. This is immediately across the street from Oak Knoll, and traffic is trying to turn onto Lansdale Drive to go into Oak Knoll, but the traffic on 301 is blocking all turn lanes. So you can't even turn to go to Oak Knoll School.

[03:59:42] And you can't see the traffic, but it's backing up in the northbound lane here. The other issue that I'm concerned about and this is not related to this development specifically. This is from the schools This is your you're over time. Okay. We gave you some extra. Okay. Mr. Chairman. Is this about your dam, sir? Yes I'll address that you and I've spoken. I'll talk about it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you for your time Sure, thank you for being with us and thank you for your comments

[04:00:12] Okay, anyone else who would like to speak in opposition to the application seeing none. Mr. Rogers Would you like some additional time for a rebuttal? Yes, sir, but I'd just like to make a couple comments on Mr. Davis's comments if I may one The lot to that he is speaking of there's a existing 10 acre lot. That's part of the five lot division that was done here

[04:00:45] I'm also a partner in whitewater developments. I'm a partner in that also along with 18 other people. So but anyway We do not have any body currently under contract and pursuing that right now So we don't know what we going there at this time as far as the Retention pond. Yes, there'll be an easement that will be on lot - and that just makes sense We've taught work with public works on this to make sure that we're not just building a whole bunch of retention basins everywhere It would be a shared retention base

[04:01:19] And so whatever it does come on lot to they'll have access to that retention base and also it may be also pointed out to this Parcel has a lower area in here So part of it drains back this way and the majority of it trains back this way For the drainage that comes up through here specifically the parking lot. You'll see this dotted area here This is an underground retention basin. That'll be underneath the parking lot. So there'll be no visible Retention there and they work very effectively especially for smaller areas like this So any drainage that comes out of here well again, just like all drainage

[04:01:57] We have to have the pre and post match pre development and post development match there the Occupate the the amount of occupants in the cottages and them trespassing I'm respectfully mr. Davis mr. Josh Davis, and I've had several conversations and Some people sometimes reasonable people disagree And so my thought is is that to walk down this steep incline go across a wetland to get to his dam and fish

[04:02:31] Especially with no trespassing signs. And again, all of this area is what it I just don't see that as a As something that will actually happen. That's just my opinion. And again, sometimes regional people disagree And then as far as other amenities the amenity is here This is the amenity as far as this is not a campground Obviously this the amenity is the actual venue space. That's where these people will be They'll be using the venue space and then going back here to rest go to sleep spend the night and wake up the next day

[04:03:06] So anyway, hopefully that helps address some of the questions he may have and I'm here to answer any questions that the Board may have any questions or comments. Mr. Davis. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'd like the applicant Maybe we could take a brief recess. I'd like the African to have a opportunity to review these uh revisions and get those initialed off on um but he deserves an opportunity to look at those uh that if he signs off on them then they would be considered but uh i don't want to just put them in front of the applicant prior to you already looked at them yes sir they gave us a copy um

[04:03:44] gave us a copy just a few minutes ago okay oh thank you their initial not initial but i just yeah are you wow okay we'll read them into the record and you're for the purposes mr chairman if if you don't mind what we'll be considering uh is condition 2 condition 4 and condition 13 as amended although theirs are the revisions thank you sir you see those there for the uh for the record are you agreeable to those yes very well okay thank you mr chairman i don't think there's any need for research okay thank you mr davis any other comments or questions for mr rogers

[04:04:20] supervisor pritchard i have two kind of minor questions um i think most people up here know that I perform weddings somewhat frequently before anybody asks I don't make a dime so it's not it's not a business decision um I imagine the goal of the cottages is this is where the bride gets ready this is where the groom gets ready that that largely they are used for pre-wedding or maybe a honeymoon cottage think they can be use that they can and also for out-of-town

[04:04:56] guests okay so you have family that's coming in from out of town it's nice for them to have places quote on campus to stay but to put those type of uses. My second question is related to that. What is the noise? I mean I think you have a good you have a good amount of buffer in the background but what's what's the noise rules for people who you know I'm real excited when people get married and I know they are too. So how do we get make sure that people are relatively

[04:05:32] quiet after after hours yeah and so after first of all there is I mean the venue has to shut down and people have to the the participants have to leave by no later than 10 o'clock okay from an indoor event so that's that's not only a rule that's that's kind of that's in the record that's part of the conditions so that's what that is as far as the and I can't and and I was kidding me with a a little bit when you say that you may kiss your bride that's probably the loudest that you'll hear anything during a certain wedding ceremony which is a as you well know is a clap of the hands and a

[04:06:10] couple of your or more vocal friends may be a little louder than others during that but it's a very you know 30 second situation thank you thank you thank you ma'am any other questions mr stoneman thank you mr chair i guess that it's not so much a question uh but just to for mr davis's point about the designation for the campground it's my understanding it's probably more for the uh to give the health department something so that when they do an inspection on it they they have to categorize it so it's not that's what a designation for a campground per se

[04:06:47] with amenities and all it's mainly just for housekeeping or for record keeping for uh the health department and that's a very good point um mr summing you're exactly right that's why it's designated that way anyone else I have a couple questions mr. Rogers thank you for your your presentation you did a really good job the use of the cottages says here this will make sure I understand can only be rented out as an accessory to the event venue may only be rented to guests affiliated with events

[04:07:26] on site so that that would be like wedding party people out of town guests would you be advertising these like motel style units where anybody could rental no sir okay and that could include like staff people that are working there could also include if you had a corporate function there and they were having a corporate retreat if you will and you may have a couple staff members of that corporation need to come a day or two before they'd have a place to stay okay and you indicated that you would be willing to install a fence on the

[04:08:04] Behind the cottages was at the four rail fence. It's correct. Okay So do you think that would help with people wandering away from the back of the cottages? It certainly won't it would be more Discouragement. Yes. Yeah, well, I think fence is a good for providing boundaries I've always I've always thought that so I think that's a good thing for you to do and you're willing to do that Is that right? Yes, sir. Okay

[04:08:36] So the next question I have is and I don't know that it's a conflict you understand the property what's happened better than I do So it says here only two amplified instruments are permitted at any time But in the community meeting notes, it says that one noise from outdoor music when the property be addressed There will be no amplified music outside. So where would the amplified music be and where would it not be?

[04:09:04] so again the outside can have up to two and up to two instruments that could be amplified and what we Modified from when we had the original community meeting is that we limited it to two hours. That was our That's how we limit it to make sure that we wouldn't be a Nuisance if you will to the adjacent owners, okay, so two amplified instruments Could you give us some examples of what those would be could be a guitar and

[04:09:36] they you know a piano what do you call them keyboard yeah sorry okay what does it mean when it said it's a community meeting there would be no amplified music outside again you mean like behind the cottages or something or yes so what we were speaking about there specifically is during the wedding events themselves during the receptions all of that amplified music is going to be inside inside that's what we were so in community meetings you can imagine a lot questions it's about interpretations of answers and taking that in context we

[04:10:14] were talking about the let's just use the wedding reception as the example the wedding reception music is going to be inside and that's what that was meant for okay I understand sir yeah and I think it's good that you do the turning lane that helps people get get into the property what type of the powers do you think people would be arriving do you think the school bus traffic the bus traffic is a concern at every school everywhere correct you have a hard time on cold harbor road

[04:10:49] in the mornings right and so um the uh afternoon traffic um as the gentleman was pointing out i've been there it's it is when school lets out between four and 4 45 it's not unlike any other high school we have in our county um that you're going to have that the entrance into this is not an issue at all as you can see it's regulated somewhat by the stoplight that's a little further south and gives brakes so people can get into the and using the turn lane would help if people are exiting at that time they're more

[04:11:25] than likely and I say this a lot water I mean traffic's just like water it's gonna find the path of least resistance if they come out and see that sea of cars they're not gonna try to turn left they're gonna go right go down the Whipperwill come back around go, you know, not some other way around so If traffic does back up on to our site that road is about 900 feet long I think it could handle a lot of cars backed up on it and that's that's on us It's not really hurting the public if you will that's on 301. It's on our site well, I think that's a good point there would need to be room for stacking and it sounds like there is and

[04:12:06] The staff and your guests would just have to wait. Correct. If they decide to exit between 4:00 and 4:45. Yes, sir. They just have to wait. Just have to wait or turn right. Okay. All right. I think that's all I have. Mr. Stoneman.

[04:12:24] So would it be possible to to I mean alleviate the the Potential to go left by the island the concrete island where it just forces them to go right? I mean coming out because on the majority of the day. Yeah, yeah, I guess 45 and stuff median cut right there There's no conflict at all. I mean, yeah, I wouldn't want to have They call that a pork choppers. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't want to have one of those there. Okay I mean, well, you know, there's there's a temporary I mean temporary solution

[04:12:59] I mean during if you had events exiting during I mean to put something put a no left turn between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. you know, 4 and 5 p.m. during the weekday. I mean, just something to try. I mean, obviously you can't force people to do the right thing, but, I mean, I guess do everything you can to try to make that happen.

[04:13:18] And I think, again, maybe I just think differently, but I really think you see a traffic, you're going to turn right. I mean, you're not going to attempt to try to come across during that segment.

[04:13:34] Your optimism for human nature is a little better. Thank you, sir. Any other questions or comments? Okay, Mr. Rogers. Thank you. Okay, this is in Henry District. Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a unique property in so much as it has a very long history and properties around it have some history, too.

[04:14:02] I'm not going to ask Mr. Rogers how many times he's attempted to place this in the suburban services area. Much to his, and I will say this, him and Mr. Schnault both, we've had conversations in the years that I've been on the board now, almost a decade and a half, I guess, and I've broken their heart every single time it's come up.

[04:14:23] And I want to thank board members for that. This area is not in the suburban services area, and I see a business case where a board member, Maybe if it wasn't me sitting in this seat, would have said, dig under the road and put public water and sewer there and put it in the suburban services area.

[04:14:40] I could see a business case for that. It wasn't one that I saw that I could support. And so for years, there have been opportunities to try to place this in a suburban services area. And with, I guess, my initiative and the support of my esteemed colleagues, that has never taken place.

[04:14:59] If you go a little farther north, and these are some of the folks that live back there off of Smithport and things like that, years ago where now the Dollar General is located and sports reality and those types of things, years ago the initial plan when that was purchased by a consortium of property owners was to put some soccer fields there.

[04:15:21] And the community said no. They said they didn't want those. And so it kind of laid fallow for a number of years. It was a local restaurant owner and some of his business associates. And then Dollar General came in under a plan that was done maybe 50 years ago, commercial nodes back in those days, which were designed to have facilities that would service the rural area, maybe a gas station or something.

[04:15:48] And the Dollar General came in there under a buy right, which has nothing to do with this property, but I'm trying to give some context to this. And they searched out those kinds of properties, and that property was zoned, I believe, went to a commercial node in 1972.

[04:16:06] And so when Dollar General came in and dropped their application with Director Maloney at the time, it came to the board. It was just for site plan approval. It did not come to the board. It was just site plan approval. And some folks came back and said, hey, we'd like to go back to those soccer fields.

[04:16:23] And Mr. Falala Giovanni no longer had that opportunity available. So there's been some movement in that area. But by and large, that property's been preserved for non-suburban service use.

[04:16:39] And so now you have agribusiness, which is a growing industry in the area. And before we get to land use, I don't think you could have a better plan than what you have here as it relates to the facilities. And we're somewhat limited in that. We don't get to design buildings, but to Ms. Pritchard's point, it's a great site design, and it's a great facility.

[04:16:59] So let's talk about land use. So the no trespassing signs, Mr. Rogers, I spoke with him about that, and that was not a point of contention, but it was something that I approached in a little bit different manner in my view of governance because generally no trespassing signs are the responsibility of the person who doesn't want somebody on their property placed on the interior of a property. But I asked Mr. Rogers if he'd be willing to do that and place those on the interior of his property so someone would be notified not to trespass on a neighbor's property. He did agree to that. The fencing, I had a discussion about

[04:17:39] that. Ultimately, Mr. Rogers said he would put that fencing up. The cottage as accessory use, We covered that. We covered the music events. One of the things I wanted to be very clear about is we weren't looking for a concert venue, and Mr. Rogers wasn't looking for a concert venue either.

[04:17:57] We had discussions about that. Sir, as it relates to the dam, thank you for being here. You brought this up on some other issues, and I know during one of the storms many years ago, I believe your dam was breached. You thought it was because of the high school, and I think the county went out there, and deemed that maybe it was, and there was some restoration done.

[04:18:19] And so I understand those concerns, and we're still monitoring all of the dams in the county, and yours is not one that has come off the table since it's been worked on, and Director Hardman is very mindful of that. So I understand your concerns.

[04:18:37] As it relates to traffic, I do have to say, you know, Folks being backed up on the interior of the event venue is likely to be an issue for Mr. Rogers and his business associates or whomever the owners will ultimately be.

[04:18:54] And if that affects the ability to leave the event venue and not get on 301, that's likely to be a business problem for you, much like subdivisions are when people say, well, how are folks going to turn left? I said, that'll be up to the folks who buy the houses inside those subdivisions.

[04:19:13] You know, if it's backed up, they'll have to kind of address their neighbors. But every school zone is very difficult. You really can't take a traffic study in front of a school during, you know, pick up and drop off times. But you're right. I mean, if there was an event there, I think you're going to find some opportunity for folks to say, I'm going to go north.

[04:19:34] Mr. Stoneman brings up a point. I don't believe that a permanent no left turn lane would work. that would actually hinder but i do think some signage uh to say hey during these times uh turn right but if somebody decides to turn left they're going to deal with their fellow event goers uh being upset with them but i hear it from churches all the time as a matter of fact pastors make announcements quite often over at compass said uh you know don't turn left when you leave here you know on 360. so um we hear that a lot and i think some of the comments from my fellow board

[04:20:09] members and the applicant are true. So there's a lot of things that could go on here. Much lower impact use. It's one of those interesting things. I know this was not the ultimate desire of the applicant to be here some probably 20 some years later after the property was purchased and be doing this. I think there were probably some desires to have a much more intensive use, have it placed in the suburban services area, and that didn't happen. But as it relates to this plan i think i do think it's a good plan i want to briefly address just a few a few issues uh as

[04:20:47] far as this being a lower impact use than some other things um mr davis i know you've lived there for for 10 years but uh consistently folks said no houses on that uh and and that was a a big concern uh the profit motive uh for a lot too or any of the others is is unknown and not a consideration that that the board can can take as to what a private property owner might might do in the future of course if it required conditional use permits they would have to to come here um

[04:21:19] the uh the attracted nuisance terrible term but it is legal term uh of your pond um you know i'd never seen your pond i did a site survey of this property not for this purposes uh maybe 15 or 16 17 years ago or longer with a friend of mine Mr. Smith we surveyed the property a number of afternoons and I we never wandered with permission but we never wandered over to your to your pond until I was in office I didn't even know there was was a pond there but beautiful fish I know you don't want people poaching

[04:21:56] but I have asked the applicant to put up signs on the interior of their property for those purposes the camping I believe that was covered I believe that's probably a legal definition term to be to say a campground and I don't think that uh having folks there in what we would consider camping as part of the business model of people being there it's designed to be used in conjunction with the with the event venue and then lastly you know while this isn't a

[04:22:32] consideration. Some folks say this is really needed in Hanover. I hear that. I receive that information. It's not something that we can really consider whether this would be good business model for someone. That's solely up to the folks who have a business case to be made for their private business. And if they have a legitimate business interest, they're certainly free to pursue it. But I do feel that with a lot of the revisions on these restrictions and some of these conditions. The idea is to have a wedding or an event venue, having the amphitheater for

[04:23:08] outdoor use that is almost, in some sense, really accessory to the main hall, but not designed for entertainment purposes. And while the applicant has stated that, they also voluntarily agreed to these revisions. So I do understand that, and these are pretty significant restrictions that had been placed on the property to ensure that that that that doesn't happen so we do have an agreement on those revisions so with that after a number of years looking at this property some of

[04:23:47] the other things that are going there that the church and then I don't know when the when the farmers market's going to be open and but that's a separate property separate ownership but it seems to be consistent with that agribusiness the only thing that doesn't seem to be consistent is the is is the church and that was the one that had no opposition to it whatsoever so so it's an interesting way to use that property so with that i'm going to move for approval of conditional use permit 2025 00013 second there is a motion and a second any discussion it does i added those in

[04:24:27] prior to to say this is what we were considering however i'll withdraw my motion and i will move approval of conditional use permit twenty twenty five zero zero zero one three with the inclusion of the revised conditions second there is a motion and a second any discussion all in favor please indicate by saying aye aye any opposed application approved thank you very much okay we're going to take a five-minute break current time is 8:11 board members please be back at our

[04:25:04] places at 816. Time is 818. The board is back in session. Mr. Pompey. The next planning public

[04:32:16] hearing is a request in the South Anna District to amend the sketch plan associated with the campus of the International Mission Board to add some additional features and we'll go into more detail about what's being proposed. But this property again is in the South Anna District off of South Anna Drive and it is designated rural agricultural on the comprehensive plan.

[04:32:34] It is outside of the suburban service area northeast of Rockville. Most of the property is zone A1 agricultural with a few portions zoned R1 residential. Most of the surrounding properties are zoned A1 except for a few residential subdivisions along South Anna Drive.

[04:32:54] This is an aerial view of the site and you can see most of the existing buildings are on the northern portion of the site and that will continue to be the place as we look at the case as we look at the sketch plan moving forward. The northern boundary of the property is the South Anna River, and there was some discussion about that during the Planning Commission meeting.

[04:33:12] So again, this is a request to amend the conditions of an existing previously approved conditional use permit, which allowed the development of a missionary center near Rockville. The property in its entirety is 259 acres, and again, it's a campus used to train missionaries. The original conditional use permit was approved in 1981, and there have been two amendments since that original approval.

[04:33:33] As part of this request, the sketch plan would be amended to allow a new storage and graphics building and multiple picnic pavilions. And then some of the existing buildings would be expanded to allow more assembly and meeting space, classrooms, and administrative space. With these proposed expansions, if approved, 265 employees would be able to work on the property, relocating from offices in Richmond.

[04:33:57] Here's an overall view of the sketch plan, and we'll zoom in to where the proposed improvements are located. But one of the main things to see in this particular slide is that all of the new parking and building areas are within the developed compound or a developed area of this campus.

[04:34:13] And then most of the site will remain undeveloped. And zooming into the campus area, you can see the new parking in the yellow gold color that will support the building expansions. And then the new buildings and new additions are shown in that orange color, generally filling in where the existing buildings are.

[04:34:30] And as we discussed with the previous case with all conditional use permits, building elevations and sketch plans must be submitted and adhered to if the request is approved. Here are some of the elevations of the proposed additions. This is the administration building and here are some of the other support buildings that will be constructed.

[04:34:50] And they all have a similar appearance compatible with the existing buildings that are on the property. In terms of traffic, with the relocation of the additional employees, there will be additional trip generation, which triggered the requirement for a local traffic study, just under 1,100 daily trips on the site once these expansions are complete if the request is approved.

[04:35:18] A TIA was submitted and indicated that no improvements are necessary or recommended at the study intersections and all operate at a level of service B or better. And there is one thing to note, there's already an existing right turn lane from Pouncey Tracked Road into South Indiana Drive, and that was one of the intersections studied.

[04:35:36] At the community meeting, traffic was one of the major concerns brought up by participants, as well as some other concerns related to noise and some camping that occurred previously on the site. But the major concern was traffic and additional traffic in the area based on this expansion.

[04:35:52] Because of that feedback received, the applicant did revise the TIA. They looked at traffic again and the traffic counts when schools were in session, and they also conducted those counts when there was an event occurring on-site. And based on the revised counts and the revision to the TIA, there was no change in the recommended improvements or impacts to the area.

[04:36:13] So the additional count validated the original findings that no additional improvements would be necessary in the area. And again, all intersections study will operate at a level of service B or better. In terms of the surrounding area, it's largely rural residential with some rural residential subdivisions along South Anna Drive, primarily South Anna Estates.

[04:36:32] In that rural agricultural land use designation, it calls for low-density residential development, agriculture and forestry as the primary uses. Institutional uses can be appropriate, and many of the conditions and design features of the sketch plan reflect recommendations in the comprehensive plan for this type of use in rural areas.

[04:36:49] In terms of this current request, as I mentioned, there was an original condition use permit in the 1980s with subsequent amendments. As part of this update, there are 11 recommended conditions. Some conditions are proposed for removal since they're outdated and no longer needed.

[04:37:05] The use and sketch plan, which I showed you earlier, has been updated in that condition related to the sketch plan. It's been updated to reflect the new master plan. And then as we go through the 11 proposed conditions, there's some entirely new conditions that are in green based on community feedback and Planning Commission feedback.

[04:37:24] Based on feedback from the community at the Planning Commission meeting, there are some revisions that are reflected in the staff report and in the presentation. there's additional measures regarding parking lot lighting limiting light pollution and spillage onto adjacent properties limiting wind generators can be tested and further refining the limitation on outdoor activities to prohibit events from sunset to sunrise those were all recommendations from the planning commission as part of their motion and those are reflecting the conditions you all have in the packet and on the screen so diving into these adherence to that sketch plan

[04:38:00] that's been updated to reference the master plan you saw. Condition two is from the existing CUP. All construction traffic must come from South Anna Drive, with condition three stating that emergency access only is allowed to the west from Henley Road. Any signs must be monument signs, parking lock lightings limited to 25 feet in height with house side shields, and then at night it must be dimmed when the parking lot's not in use. Building mounted lighting must be fully shielded neutral colors must be used to help the buildings blend in with the landscape parking will occur in accordance with the zoning ordinance within the deviation support approved by the

[04:38:37] planning director outdoor activities are prohibited between sunset and sunrise i think that's one thing to note on this is programmed activities like the campus cannot organize an event between sunset and sunrise and then generators there is an on-site generator that is currently tested based on some of the concerns from the neighbors and their existing experience generator testing may only occur on monday through friday between 9 a.m and 5 p.m and then the final condition is a standard condition for all our conditional use permits that they must adhere to all development related regulations so again the planning commission held a public hearing on this request they heard some

[04:39:14] concerns and comments about traffic impacts potential environmental impacts concerns about lighting and noise as well as emergency response based on that feedback the planning commission did recommend those new conditions that we discussed and recommended a vote recommend approval to vote of six to zero that concludes staff's presentation the applicant is here tonight the representative mr conland to answer any questions the board may have as well thank you for your presentation sir any questions or comments from board members seeing none thank you very much mr conland please

[04:39:51] approach would you like to make a presentation okay sir you will have up to 30 minutes for you and your entire team that includes rebuttal i will now open the public hearing for the record please state your name and the entity you represent sure my name is uh andy kahn from roth jackson representing the international mission board have with me alan hawkins representatives from timmins and glave and holmes as well to answer any questions i'm very honored to present to you tonight from the international mission board a couple people have joked on this committee that says probably making up for some of the other applications i've brought before you at other

[04:40:27] times, but I think it's a fantastic organization serving over 48,000 churches in the United States, and it began in Richmond in 1845. It opened a learning center at this location, an international learning center in 1981 with the first CUP approval, and the International Mission Board uses this campus to train missionaries to travel throughout the world to share the gospel and provide compassionate care, such as social care and medical care, as well as clean water.

[04:40:55] Before the missionaries go overseas, they come on this campus, and their entire family comes on this campus for a seven-week training course to cover, that being parents and children, to cover cultural training, theological training, and learn to live in a community and create positive relationships.

[04:41:11] Currently, there are about 3,600 active missionaries in over 155 countries. One thing that I found astounding that they told me is that the average mission is 15 years, is in excess of 15 years that people stay overseas. So it's quite a commitment by those that come, and they all come from Rockville, Virginia, to go out throughout the world.

[04:41:30] This property also acts as a transition for when missionaries come back to visit or when they end their tour to acclimate back to the United States and have a transition back to living in the U.S. And then finally, International Mission Board uses their facilities and spaces for conferences, for leadership, and religious instruction.

[04:41:48] It's not open to the public. No one can just go and rent it. It's for their members only that they use that. So the property is 259 acres. I would like to point out that of that 259, and I'll go quickly to the plan that Mr. Pompei, and thank you for that presentation, over 90% of the property is in green space or open space. So 235 of the 259 acres is in green space and open space.

[04:42:12] We've tried really hard to limit the additional campus improvements within the actual footprint that we're providing otherwise. And the whole reason that we're coming before you is because the last CUP was in 1999, was specifically this campus needs updating both the buildings themselves but the operations as we've continued to increase.

[04:42:34] And one of the things that we wanted to be able to do from a standpoint of allowing for the missionary training is to allow the employees to be near instead of coming and going from the various locations during the training and during other events, they're actually on location itself. So that's a very important concept and proposal that they're providing for.

[04:42:54] So zooming in specifically, I'm happy to answer any specific questions. We are trying to create new buildings and additions of new buildings, as Mr. Pompey has already described. He also described the idea of the two traffic studies because during the community meeting, were concerned about the fact that we did not cover when schools were in session so we created a second traffic study in September, first one being in June. In that September we did it over three days specifically while there was events happening, not mission training events, but

[04:43:27] conference events happening in those three days that happened to have about 260 overnight guests. We thought that was a nice correlation between the 265. While it is a little bit less traffic, We were able to identify, and it did show the traffic that would be occurring with the additional employees.

[04:43:45] So that second traffic study had the exact same results, but all the traffic that currently is operating at level service A continued to operate at level service A. The two instances where it was operating at level service B continued to operate at level service B.

[04:44:02] So all traffic in the area at the intersections are operating at both level of service A and be and obviously no improvements are warranted because of the right turn lane that's already located off the Poncey track down to South Anna drawing. I'm happy to go over any of the details with respect to that as you need to and as you have questions for but the Planning Commission specifically heard a number of concerns that were related as Mr. Pompey described. Those questions were addressed with respect to the conditions. We're in agreement with the conditions that have been proposed by staff. We think they address the concerns that have been raised at the community meeting and the additional conversations that we've had since then.

[04:44:36] So this campus and the buildings as it exists today and is currently operating today does need upgrading and we want to be able to upgrade it and update it pursuant to this plan. And while there may be an increase in traffic, we've already proven through two different studies that there will be no impact that's necessitating any improvements and that the existing road network can handle the traffic.

[04:44:57] And finally, we do believe we've met all legislative prerequisites for an approval of a conditional use permit. follow the recommendation of the planning commission and approve this request and i'll be happy to answer any questions thank you for your presentation sir any questions from board members seeing none thank you very much the public hearing is open is there anyone here who wishes to speak in support of the application is there anyone here who wishes to speak in opposition seeing none the public hearing is closed south anna district thank you mr chairman i must say that

[04:45:36] this particular project was um quite an experience for me because Myself, like most people that live in South Anna and even on South Anna Drive, don't even know that this facility is there. That's how truly quiet they are.

[04:45:52] And in the middle of a residential development and you enter through a gate and to see so much green space, so much openness, it's just a phenomenal campus. And as our attorney said, it's a worldwide campus.

[04:46:12] It's the only training campus in the world, and it's right here in beautiful South Anna. So I appreciate that. We began this process at a community meeting with almost 200 people. There was a lot of concerns, the main concern being traffic.

[04:46:30] The interesting part about this facility is that these folks that are coming and spending seven weeks training to be missionaries, they don't bring cars. They literally sell everything they have, and so there is not any traffic from those.

[04:46:46] So trying to produce a traffic report that fit into a specific category, we couldn't find a real category. So that's when I asked the applicant to please do another traffic study that would give us real numbers.

[04:47:03] And so we did that, and I think that everybody at that point pretty much understood that we really weren't going to be adding a whole lot of traffic and the other point being that this particular traffic would be going in the opposite direction of the morning and the evening rush hour so we've worked really hard on this some folks adjacent neighbors had some concerns but I have to commend these fellows and their team that they listen we had a lot of concerns as you can

[04:47:37] imagine 200 people in a room had a lot of concerns but we listened we responded and you know that's the best thing in the world when you show up with no opposition tonight and I also want to commend the the Planning Commission for I always say I have the best Planning Commissioner because I always tell Larry I said when it comes to me I really want it to have a bow on it so you know the Planning Commissioner listened again to the public and they revised the parking lot lighting to minimize the light pollution they added conditions

[04:48:15] that limit the times that the generators can be tested and they also revised the outdoor activities to prevent them from happening from sunset to sun up so again I commend all seven of those Planning Commission members for putting a nice big bow i could go on and on about this because it truly has been a great process but um uh where it's late in the hour we've done our job and with that i would like to approve cup 2025-0009

[04:48:50] with the conditions as presented second there is a motion and a second any discussion i'd just like Mr. Sturman. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to say that I am familiar with the International Mission Boy in this facility for a number of years, and I can think of nothing we could use more in this world today than training up folks to send out into the world to share the gospel. And so with that, I truly support this project.

[04:49:22] Anyone else? Call for the vote. All in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Application approved. Congratulations. Mr. Pompei. You got one, Andy. Don't be used to it.

[04:49:41] They may have found this niche. The next two public hearings are for ordinance amendments. The first one is a request to amend the provisions related to family divisions in the RS single-family residential district.

[04:49:57] It includes revisions to Section 26-61 and then a new Section 26-61.1. This is something that was reviewed by the Community Development Committee in March and August, and the board authorized public hearings Recently, so as we've been implementing this ordinance staff has identified a gap in the zoning ordinance related to the timing of When family divisions have to be recorded and developed as established in the RS district there are certain requirements and we'll go through these milestones that Applicants must meet if there are RS family divisions approved, but there's no mechanism that says what happens if these milestones are not met.

[04:50:37] So this ordinance will address what happens and what processes must be followed if the approved family division in the RS zoning district does not meet certain milestones. So a family division in our zoning ordinance and aligning with state code, a family division is one that's conveyed to an eligible family member as defined in state code.

[04:50:58] and there are relaxed standards for family divisions versus conventional subdivisions and residential development. In the suburban service area, landowners can request rezoning to RS for a family division. And what this particular ordinance is working or ordinance amendments working to address are these timelines highlighted in yellow.

[04:51:17] If you go through the rezoning process for an RS family division, you have to record the subdivision within one year of rezoning approval. You have to get a building permit within one year of the lots being recorded, and you have to have the new house complete, a CO issued within three years of the rezoning being approved. So this really requires the landowner to diligently pursue subdivision and building their property in accordance with the family division that has been approved. With this proposed ordinance amendment, family divisions in the RS district will have their own section right now. They're jumbled in

[04:51:55] with the conventional subdivisions, they'll be clearly stated out in their own section and it will establish the process for what happens when the landowner doesn't meet those timeframes. They can request one extension from the planning director describing why in writing they need an extension. If they still cannot fulfill those timeline requirements and those milestones, they may come to the Board of Supervisors asking for another extension.

[04:52:20] These extensions cannot exceed two years. If they still can't meet these requirements, they either go back through the RS rezoning process for a family division or they can build a conventional subdivision and meet all those regulatory requirements which are much more stringent than what a family division must meet. The Planning Commission reviewed this ordinance amendment and recommended approval with a vote of six to zero. No members of the public spoke during the public hearing and that concludes staff's presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have. Thank you for your presentation. Any questions from board

[04:52:56] members seeing none thank you this is on the agenda for a public hearing will now open the public hearing is there anyone here who wishes to speak in support or opposition seeing none the public hearing is now closed Community Development Supervisor Floyd thank you so this ordinance is just cleaning up what we already had so with that I'm going to move to approve ordinance 25 - 09 as proposed

[04:53:31] Second there is a motion and a second any discussion all in favor. Please indicate by saying aye aye motion approves Mr. Pompey The next ordinance amendment is a request to amend multiple sections of the zoning ordinance to defined Car wash or vehicle washing facility remove car wash from the list of permitted uses within the b3 zoning district and make that a conditional use in the b3 zoning district this is something that was reviewed by the community development committee in august and the board authorized public hearings

[04:54:09] in october so when we were completing the public outreach for the comrades and plan our small area plans are really whenever we do a presentation to community groups there is generally a comment that there are concerns about the number of car washes throughout the county that be constructed as well as some other uses some of the citizen concerns relate to the water usage storm water runoff and chemical discharge in particular increased traffic noise and community aesthetics right now this is where car washes are permitted either with a conditional use permit or by right in the b3 zoning district the current ordinance allows this use by right with some special

[04:54:49] standards that require increased plantings within buffers and then a car wash can be constructed in the m2 and m3 zoning districts with a conditional use permit car wash is not currently defined so there is a proposed definition that describes what a car wash is and then with the proposed ordinance a conditional use permit would be required to open a car wash in the b3 zoning district versus a by right use and then no change in the m2 and m3 where that use already requires a conditional use permit so if this ordinance amendment is approved existing car washes within the b3 zoning

[04:55:28] district would be considered non-conforming uses they can continue to operate but if they wanted to expand they would have to go back through the conditional use permit process and then if a car wash has a site plan or conceptual plan or rezoning that's already been approved they are grandfathered in the Planning Commission reviewed this request at a previous meeting no one from the public spoke during the public hearing and the Planning Commission ultimately recommended approval with a vote of six to zero that concludes staff's presentation I'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have thank you for your presentation any questions from

[04:56:03] board members mr. Hudson I for one am very grateful to see this ordinance change I'm a capitalist but enough is enough and this is a great example for all the folks out there watching of the people's voice being heard and but I will add that car washes come here because their their research marketing research is saying that Hanover likes clean cars. So there is some logic behind their business

[04:56:38] model. But I'll just check this one off. Thank you, sir. Anyone else? Supervisor Pritchard. I will just add to that capitalist point of view that there is some logic behind why car washes come here and what you say may be part of it. But it is also true that investment bankers are currently advising folks who own gas stations to add car washes because they are a tax benefit.

[04:57:09] And while I think that's just fine, I think we have the responsibility of limiting them up against residential neighborhoods and all kinds of places where they don't belong. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else? Thank you, sir. This is on the agenda for a public hearing. The public hearing is now open. Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in support or opposition? Seeing none, The public hearing is closed community development supervisor Floyd. Thank you

[04:57:43] So we have received a lot of public feedback about the abundance of car washes in our county and we hear you I'm surprised. We don't have a room full right now for this one So with that being said, I'm going to motion to approve ordinance 25 - 15 as proposed Second there is a motion and a second any discussion. Mr. Chairman if I may just a Clarical point mr. Walter. Um, you may notice in the ordinance that is in the packet on the final page. There are a number of Highlighted areas that talked about the date of adoption by the board's action tonight

[04:58:21] It will include substituting today, which is December 10 2025 For those three areas that will apply for those that are grandfathered But that will be filled in as part of the motion. That's the way staff is interpreting So for clarification mr. Walter you're saying that the list of existing car washes on page 5 are grandfathered in Yes, those provisions which currently talk about the uses that are already in existence or those that a site plan has been approved There are dates that are referenced there But since staff did not know when the board would actually adopt that it was sort of left as a

[04:59:00] date of adoption and That will be substituted should the board pass the motion that is before you. Okay Any questions or comments for the county attorney from board members seeing none all in favor, please indicate by saying aye motion approved Next on the agenda is announcements and the announcements from board members. Mr. Bedeski seeing none We are adjourned until 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 14th 2026 for a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors to be held right here. I

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