Land rezoning approved

Published 12:32 pm Thursday, April 19, 2018

A rezoning request for a parcel of property in the area of Route 605, River Road, was approved by the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors Monday.

Steven Connor

According to a public notice of the hearing, the land containing the parcel is approximately 8 acres. The property, currently designated as Agricultural 1, was proposed to be divided into three lots, or plats, and rezoned as Residential 1.

The owner of the property is Steven Connor with STC Investments, LLC and WCB Construction Inc. The land would be for sale and available for potential consumers.

Email newsletter signup

According to the meeting board packet, the rezoning comes with eight conditions recommended by the Buckingham County Planning Commission, including having an erosion and sediment control plan that all land plats have adequate easements along nearby bodies of water and that street signs or address markers be installed for plats in the event they become residential properties.

David Ball, of Buckingham, expressed concern about the parcel’s close proximity to the James River and seeing few measures to ensure environmental protection of the river.

“That is a pretty significant and substantial waterway,” Ball said about the James River, noting that the previous month’s board packet showed designs for areas for septic drainage fields and noted concerns about soil, after rain, percolating into the sewage and running the risk of transporting into the river.

“My big concern is if this is going to get built, developed, where are the floodplain boundaries? Where is the soil analysis? Where is the determination of hydrology? Those are very, very important concerns about developing a piece of property that’s right on the banks of the James River.”

Connor said the parcel was approved by the health department.

“There are no existing septic systems there,” Connor said. “But they have all been approved by the health department.”

District Four Supervisor Morgan Dunnavant asked if the parcel has a floodplain, or areas vulnerable to flooding.

Connor said a part of the land, located along a nearby road, is in the floodplain.

County Administrator Rebecca Carter said the soil work had been reviewed in the area. Carter also said a well and septic permit would be needed in the event of a septic system being built.