The Essex County Board of Supervisors last week voted to delay a decision regarding the fate of a rezoning request that would create a mixed-use development at Brays Fork.
The supervisors agreed to postpone a vote until its December 12 meeting on the application submitted by Shiree and June Monterio for the project called Essex Point at Mt. Clement.
The 13.186 acre site is near the top of Brays Fork Hill adjacent to James River Equipment and the LaGrange Industrial Park.
That decision came on the heels of a 3-1 vote against approval on a motion by North District Supervisor Sidney Johnson, who has backed the project from the outset. The negative votes were cast by At-Large Supervisor Edwin E. “Bud” Smith and Central District Supervisor John Magruder.
Board Chairman Rob Akers only votes in the event of a tie, but ultimately his vote supports the majority decision, resulting in the 3-1 outcome.
Meanwhile, South District Supervisor Ronnie Gill recused himself from a vote. Gill, the chief lending officer for Colonial Farm Credit, informed the supervisors that he has had financial dealings with James River Equipment and Tidewater Lumber Corporation whose ownerships have opposed the rezoning.
The applicants are seeking the rezoning from B-1 Business to Planned United Development to accommodate the project.
Three exceptions are also requested:
• Less acreage than the 15-acre minimum requirement;
• The desire for private roads to be created within the project by Virginia Department of Transportation standards. Such roads would have public easements.
• A single entrance/exit off Route 360 with a secondary emergency only access while providing two future connector roads to adjoin Hospital Road. A right turn lane onto the entrance would also be created.
Certain proffers have been included in the proposal. Some of those were covenants (proximity to industrial, leasing office/ residential services), utility extensions, road improvements, and cash contributions to address utilities and transportation issues.
If approved, the development will bring a variety of housing and business opportunities, including housing for ages 55-plus and workforce housing for teachers, nurses, law enforcement and local government employees.
Before voicing their opinions, Akers encouraged his fellow supervisors to delay a vote only if more information is needed to be reviewed.
“We all must work together,” said Johnson, the lone African-American on the Board. “No one has all the answers…but if we work together we all win and benefit…. This project would be a stimulus for moving the industrial park forward.”
Smith said while he likes the project’s concept, he is most concerned about traffic issues.
The proposed location is s approximately 1,500 feet west of the Brays Fork interchange where approximately 12,000 vehicles pass through daily, Smith said.
He also said the intersection at the top of Brays Fork Hill is another concern of his.
“Those intersections are dangerous and will not get any better,” Smith remarked. “(The project) is a great idea, the right thing, but it’s the wrong place.”
Magruder, meanwhile, said he likes the concept he is continuing to read through project details and noted the supervisors received some updated changes to proffers/contingencies at four o’clock that afternoon.
He also said he was concerned that he had yet to receive any environmental justice information.
“That’s a very important issue,” Magruder said. “When you have residential areas against industrial areas there are going to be environmental implications to that and they need to be discussed.”
He also noted that if the site is rezoned it will always be designated as a PUD district.
“We want to get this right from the beginning,” he said.
Moreover, he noted that while the county’s Economic Development Authority recommended approval of the rezoning, the county’s staff, planning commission, and agriculture and forestry development committee “all don’t see where there is a substantial accordance with the comprehensive (land use) plan.”
Magruder said he desired to “read up” and get more facts about the project.
Near the end of a reconvened public hearing, attorney Nancyellen Keene made an 11th hour pitch regarding the project. Keene represents Tidewater Lumber which is owned by the Ball family.
She told the supervisors that the Ball family has proposed the Monterios move the project to a larger site at the bottom of Brays Fork.
“This would be substantially in accord with the comprehensive plan, compatible with surrounding property issues and would eliminated two exceptions in the pending application,” Keene said. “This would be a win-win for the applicant, the county, and the community.”
Keene said the Harris family owns approximately 10 acres at the bottom of the Brays Fork Hill, while the Ball family owns an adjacent parcel and is willing to sell five acres of that site.
“This would move the project to bottom of Brays Fork on a larger, 15-acre flat terrain location in the county on Harris family land in the Development Service District closer to water and sewer,” she said. “Placing the project at the bottom of Brays Fork is compatible with surrounding uses and would be nearly next door to an existing PUD, Hobbs Hole Golf Course/Community.”
She said the site would be eligible for two entrances and would alleviate traffic issues “identified in the pending application.”
She noted the site would also require a rezoning from B-1 to PUD.
During the reconvened public hearing, 14 other individuals spoke with all but one supporting the rezoning request.
“If approved, this project will not solve everything but it’s a step in the right direction,” Joseph Swonk said.
“Obviously, there is overwhelming support for this project,” Sarah Dixson said.
“Tappahannock was once known as the hub of the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck,”
Dr. Lorraine Justice said. “Now in the 21st century, I am disappointed how Tappahannock is. Support this, and let Essex County be known again as a progressive area.”
Jamie Segar, a write-in candidate for Central District Supervisor, said he supports the project despite the fact it is in opposition to some businesses operated by his family.
“Now we have a tremendous blessing laid before us in the financial kickback of a project of this magnitude,” he told the supervisors. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of this project in the pockets of people who oppose this project.”
Alexandria Hunt- Quarles, a sophomore at Essex High School, said she has been inspired by Shiree Monterio’s efforts.
‘This Mt. Clement project has motivated me to want to follow in her foot steps and try to continue to do well academically, so one day, I can come back to my community and have a major and successful impact in the economic development of Essex County,” she said.
Speaker Barry Bates questions about whether the proposed site is in a Chesapeake Bay preservation area such as a Resource Protection Area or Resource Management Area. He said that issue was a primary reason why as asphalt plant proposal was rejected for the industrial park.
Shiree Monterio briefly addressed the supervisors prior to the hearing, noting that information requested at the previous hearing had been provided.
“This project is about goodwill, humanity and the needs of the community,” she told the supervisors. “We think goodwill goes a long way and we hope that goodwill goes both ways.”
She also inquired that if the project was for VCU Health System or the La- Grange Industrial Park “would the fact-finding be the same, and would concerns about traffic and noise be concerns…. We want to see this community go back to a thriving county.”
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