Permits, plan see approval

Published 6:16 pm Thursday, June 14, 2018

The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors approved two conditional use permits in the county, and a six-year plan with Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) — which generated concerns related to the proposed landfill in the county — during its regular board meeting Tuesday.

VDOT’s six-year plan would cover 10 priority routes and three proposed routes, chosen by the board, VDOT Assistant Resident Engineer Carrie Shepheard said during the meeting. The 10 priority routes include Route 685, Miller Lane; Route 669, Criss Road; Route 681, Bransford Road; Route 653, High Hill Road; Route 635, Pleasant Valley Road; Route 612, Trices Lake Road; Route 697, Jenkins Ridge Road; and three sections of Sports Lake Road.

Proposed roads include Route 664, Angola Road; Route 679, Angola Lane and Route 715, Giles Road.

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Tim Kennell, a member of the public, spoke during the hearing and noted Route 685, Miller Lane, is adjacent to the proposed Green Ridge disposal and recycling facility, which would be located off Route 60 at the Cumberland and Powhatan county line. Kennel said Miller Lane and Route 654, Pinegrove Road, may potentially be moved if the proposed landfill develops.

“I think that Route 685 should be stricken from the six-year plan because the landfill should be responsible for paying for the movement of that road, and not the citizens of the state of Virginia,” Kennell said, also addressing whether there would be protection of the road and motorists on Route 60 if landfill trucks potentially travel the road.

Members of the board considered whether the road’s proximity to the proposed facility would have an effect on VDOT’s work, and asked if the roadwork could be moved back.

Shepheard said the board could potentially switch Miller Lane with another road.

“That would be your decision,” Shepheard said.

District Two Supervisor Lloyd Banks suggested that the roadwork projection for Miller Lane stay as it is, citing the potential benefit the roadwork could have for housing value.

“It hasn’t been approved,” Banks said about Green Ridge. “Even if it is approved, we’re looking at three to four years down the road before construction even begins. And so what I’d hate to do is penalize the people who are already living on Miller Lane who anticipate that they were going to have a hard surface road.”

Members of the board voted unanimously in favor of passing the six-year plan as it was written.

The conditional use permit hearing for 4-Wheel Drive Specialty Conversion Division in Cartersville saw one speaker, Rick Boyer, who represents the business and owner Mo Duncan.

Planning and Zoning Administrator JP Duncan confirmed Wednesday that members of the commission voted unanimously in favor of approving the permit for Mo Duncan during its June 7 meeting at 6:30, prior to the community meeting held for the Green Ridge facility at 7 p.m.

Boyer, an attorney with Integrity Law Firm in Lynchburg, said the approved conditions will allow Mo Duncan to make the changes needed without sacrificing the business operations itself.

He said Mo Duncan is set to remove the hay bales that blocked the business from the road and replace with an 8-foot board fence. Boyer said Mo Duncan has 120 days after the permit is approved to build the fence.

“Mr. Duncan does employ a lot of Cumberland County residents … he provides a fair amount of tax revenue to Cumberland County,” Boyer said. “We would ask you all to give him the opportunity to do that.”

Members of the board voted unanimously to approve the permit.

Another permit hearing, in which no members of the public spoke, was in reference to a porch installation by Shirley Barksdale at an Anderson Highway property.

JP Duncan said the porch is 113 feet from the centerline of the road, and the porch would need to be 130 feet from the centerline, meaning that the current measurement is in violation of the county code.

Duncan said the conditional use permit and the subsequent building inspection would bring the porch back to compliance.

The permit was unanimously approved by the board.