Planning Commission Regular Meeting   8/11/2026

We are now live.

That we call to order, Madam Clerk, can we get a roll call for quorum, please?

Mr. Moore?

I am here.

Mr. Murray?

Here.

Mr. Carrazana?

Here.

I'll note what time it is when they get here.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Madam Clerk?

Mr. Carrazana.

Aye.

Mr. Murray.

Abstain.

Thank you.

Did we get the staff report, please?

Caroline, can you bring that up?

Good evening.

I'm happy to revisit any of the slides and take questions from the commission.

Commissioners, do we have any questions for staff?

And so in this circumstance is RWSA planning to do any kind of mitigation, tree planting somewhere else to accommodate for the impact of the buffer that is gonna occur as part of this.

So no, a mitigation plan is not required.

So even if this was a private application and they were clearing trees within the buffer to do fill, we wouldn't require mitigation for that?

Frank, you want to jump in?

It's in the by right section of the ordinance.

Okay, because it's a public facility.

Yeah, so the, if it were private, that might be a different outcome.

So I'll just put that out there.

Thank you.

You're already up here.

So just just for mostly for the public's benefit, could you just say a little bit about how this site was selected and the importance of the pump station being that in that proximity?

I think they are the ones who selected the site and that would be best for them to discuss.

Do you have any other questions for staff?

All right.

I wasn't sure if you wanted me to address that within my presentation or at this time.

So you have the applicant would like to come up and.

Thank you for that to open up.

So you'll have five minutes for your comments.

OK, I do have some slides.

They're on the desktop.

Any questions?

And so I was wondering what measures are being taken to protect that stream while the construction is going on.

but we have you know for the during construction obviously and then in the future condition we have maybe Jonathan can speak better to the the stormwater management components at that point.

You're just filling in behind the retaining wall.

So that expanded the overall footprint of that fill into the flip lane.

Am I understanding that correctly?

Thank you.

So we're talking like this dais to about where the chairs are from the wall to wall, give or take.

Do you anticipate like wildlife who are using that riparian edge right now to be able to continue to access that stream under the bridge?

We will be reestablishing that as part of the overall plan.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So their conditions have been satisfied.

And I was wondering, have you considered converting any of that grass to native wildflowers or something else to help, which is proven to discourage geese if you have taller native vegetation?

You're talking about on the dam itself?

I can't see the whole reservoir there.

Let's see, this one?

Yeah, so it's more like there's a steep, some steep areas around sort of where the parking lot is.

Yeah, on the north side of the dam.

Yeah, if you look over there, if when you go out there and just look, this, I know that there's a limit to what you can do on the dam because you have to mow that to keep the vegetation down.

I believe they would be permitted to do so per dam safety standard.

Okay, and then what do you do, are you doing anything for like to discourage geese there because I know they are kind of a big

So I don't know that that falls necessarily within our purview, but you know, that's something we could discuss with the Albemarle County staff who does the maintenance of the algae blooms.

So I don't know if that's something that

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Seeing none, are there any online?

No, sir.

and may we have a staff report for SP 2026-2 watermarks.

Discussion and emotion.

I think I said that I was a little bit, I'm moving right along.

Any discussions?

It's a different situation and I just wanted to point that out for the record.

So, yeah.

So, your district, anyone else want to comment or just like make a motion?

I'll take a motion if someone's ready to make one.

Do we have a motion up on there?

Second.

Madam Clerk?

Mr. Moore?

Aye.

Mr. Murray?

Aye.

Mr. Carrazana?

Aye.

Thank you.

Okay, now we're moving to SB 2026-2, Camp Watermarks.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mr.

And with that, I can take any questions that you might have.

The amount of people coming onto this site and the amount of time it's open throughout the year, I'm just wondering what the risk is for how to manage a potential transition that we don't anticipate now.

I think I understand your question to be asking, do these conditions only apply to the boarding camp use or would they also apply to other rural area uses?

How do special use permit conditions usually handle that or not?

And so if that's something that's permitted by right, the property can still enjoy other by right uses, but if it rose to the level of something that needed a special use permit, then it would require a separate special use permit.

That's helpful.

Other questions for Seth?

Well, I'll let you answer that first, and then I have another follow-up question.

So there are things that don't necessarily rise to the level of a structure, but they nevertheless exist as accessory to permitted recreational use in the floodplain.

Okay and then it shows roads there and we do have within the water protection ordinance it does talk about roads and floodplains as something that we don't encourage so I'd love to know how that's being handled and I guess is that a pre-existing road or is that a proposed road?

It's more of a travel lane for access back and forth to that portion of the site.

So the clearing of trees for activity areas within, could you address the clearing of trees within activity areas within the stream buffer or within the flood zone?

And I'm sorry, I think there's a second part of your question.

So I was just saying, so you're saying that in the activity areas, including the ones that we just spoke of on the floodplain, they're currently not trees there.

Correct.

What are they doing in the other one that they need to add that to their camp area?

Well, as I looked at the concept plan, I believe I could get the laser pointer up.

Tell me what that is.

This is, I believe, 9A2, and they're bringing in 9A1 to, I think, reflect this activity area here.

So they're coming into compliance by adding in a parcel they're currently using for this use.

And so this would, this would bring the site.

So it's not that you are the applicant, but just from what you know from the county side.

So far, the applicant has been ready and willing to address those things and bring it into compliance with code.

So it's your sense that the applicant understands that they can't necessarily just expand a building anywhere, that they have to actually make sure about setbacks, or if they're doing some big upgrade to the kitchen area, that they might need to get a permit for that, all of those things.

What they've seen and experienced and learned through this process of identifying the gap between where they are now and what compliance requires.

Thank you.

Any other questions for Steph?

And how is that negotiated?

In the planning division that then goes to building and zoning, that then goes to the land use validation office, there's a chain effect of these different applications that bring the site into compliance.

What set of regulations apply and where in those circumstances when you have two uses overlaid on top of each other?

Thank you.

to manage sound levels other than amplified music that might be something to consider here.

having those established at a rate at a level that's appropriate for the setting.

agree that that is not within a forestal use or ag use.

If we have no more questions, we'll invite the applicant.

They wish to speak.

I'm not sure he heard you, Chair.

Help the applicant.

Yeah.

When it goes from green to yellow, then you'll have five minutes.

Well, I don't have any slides, but I do have something prepared just to read.

And then any questions you guys have, I'm more than willing to answer any questions as well.

Thank you for your time and consideration in letting us continue to operate and be able to hold onto the family land and make a difference at the same time.

Do we have any questions for the applicant?

I think that just buses and no personal cars.

100%, and they handle the registration and all that stuff.

How'd you end up with a bunch of buildings that weren't permitted or up to code?

So

Got it.

The suggestion from the county was just apply for a new construction permit and then those buildings would be inspected to today's code not when they were built so it just makes it safe for everybody.

structural safety of the buildings and also things like zip lines and ropes courses and all that.

and then as far as buildings whenever they we've had a lot of inspections as of late and they've all been gone through as of today's code not when they were built as well so there there have been plenty of eyes the past couple of months throughout this process and we have walked through with everyone and are totally open to to anyone coming to look to ensure that that's the case but we do have staff on site they go through the buildings annually routinely just to ensure that everything's looking good as well.

I know you sort of indicated in the narrative it's not going to go from 75 kids to 220 kids like, you know, like next year, but kind of what is your trajectory that you're hoping for?

I just want the kids that we're blessed with to be able to come and have fun.

It's a potential scale up and yeah, I don't think anybody thinks of family run church camps as a way to make their- Indeed, I picked a hard line of work, I can tell you so.

Yeah.

And I was just wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about kind of the trends in that over the years.

So nothing is happening on those.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah.

Okay.

What is your procedure that you have for, if you do have campers out by the river and you get one of the, and there is a severe storm watch, what are your procedures that you have developed to make sure that we get those campers, have the floodplain quickly?

So we can see when storms are coming really quick.

Absolutely.

Well, my questions have been answered.

They would come back for that or how would that work?

Can I answer first?

Thank you guys.

And once you, you get that yellow light, that means you got a minute to finish up any remarks, please state your name and magisterial district.

Thank you very much.

Sunny night and then Connie night.

Sorry.

Sorry, Tommy Tapscott is on deck.

Thank you.

Tommy Tapscott and Jesse Gibson is on deck.

Thanks.

So Jesse Gibson and Paul Bryant.

Good evening.

And like I said, I commend them for trying to find a way to keep a farm a farm and keep the rural lifestyle that we've all grown to love in our area.

Paul Bryant and Mickey Sedarth, I pronounced that right.

Thank y'all.

Tapscott.

Thank you for your consideration.

And on deck I believe is Sarah Eck.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any online?

No, sir.

Any comments, conversations?

They're planning for the future.

I agree.

I also played paintball and got lunch with a blob years ago.

I didn't go very high, but my son did.

With that, anybody would like to make a motion?

I would like to move that we recommend approval of Special Use Permit 2026-00002 Camp Watermark Special Use Permit with conditions 1 through 7 as provided by staff for the reasons stated in the staff report.

Second.

Madam Clerk?

I'm sorry, who seconded?

Commissioner Murray.

Aye Ms. Firehock Aye Mr. Carrazana Aye Mr. Murray Aye Mr. Moore Aye Ms. Brown Aye Thank you

Do we have any committee reports?

So I thought I'd bring it up.

We could do it two at a time.

Well, we could call it a public meeting, right, if we announced it.

I'm sure we could try and figure out a way to make something like that.

I've already taken people on tours because I think it's fun.

you know, interesting conversation.

Like that seems like really helpful information, like updates to learn about.

I'm sure we can investigate what we need to do to make that happen.

Here is good too.

Thank you for that, by the way.

Any other reports?

So I'm personally very excited about that.

I do think that that would be a good presentation to bring here once that plan is developed.

Sometimes these things come to us, sometimes these things come fully fleshed out to the point where it's hard to make adjustments or changes to them.

And so I think- To the MPO, yeah.

Well, I was just saying, well- But to come here.

Usually, transportation planning in the past has been just an update, not an input session.

Yeah, it's just been an update, but I think even on the MPO and PLTAC.

I agree.

Mr. Barnes, you're on deck.

I think the board is looking at that issue as something which has been raised by numerous citizens in the county.

And if there's anything you have about when that might be in front of us.

But we're attempting to try and bundle those together to try and get some economies of scale so that hopefully both roads can be built.

Any word when, will there be some presentation or any information to us about the Eastern Connector?

The plan is essentially the same as it has been in years past.

Okay, so after you've seen it before?

Yes.

Okay.

Obviously that project never moved forward so I'm not sure that that would come back in that form but there is latitude in the design when you do a design build.

So I think that, you know.

I know that our next meeting is not July 14th, so we will adjourn till August 25th at 6 p.m.