Board of Supervisors Meeting   3/8/2022

All right.

Mr. Barton, you ready?

I'm ready.

Mr. Barton.

Yes, sir.

Great.

I call this Nelson County Board of Supervisors meeting, March 8, the regular meeting, to order.

If we could all rise for a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

All right.

It's nice to have a crowd on a Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you all for being here.

We are going to go ahead and begin the public

We already have item 8, which is a closed session.

I wanted to add to the motion for convening 2.2-3711 A3 and A6.

So moved.

Second.

We have support.

Thank you sir for the housekeeping.

Moving into public comments, we have some folks who've signed up to speak today and we will be giving you all three minutes to speak.

If you are speaking with a group, if you could identify the group and let in your comment and

You'll be given five minutes.

It'll be at my discretion if we're going to give you 30 seconds.

I do have this handy-dandy little sign here that I'm going to do my best to use in this meeting.

I'll have to keep in time.

So I'll try to give you 30 seconds heads up before you get close to the end.

Other than that, if you could, just state your name and state your address for the record.

And we'll get out of here later this afternoon.

All right.

First, you got time to read your timekeeper.

All right.

My name is Charles Edwards, a homeowner at 241 Truslow's Lane, which is an adjacent property to the proposed tiny house counter.

I'm opposed to the special use permit for a commercial establishment within our neighborhood.

The approval of this commercial undertaking could negatively affect the property values of the residents who chose this location for its rural quality.

It's not appropriate to mix commercial and residential properties within the same footprint, as the character of our rural neighborhood will be diminished by having transient visitors traveling to and from this commercial property with little regard for the residents who have invested in the neighborhood.

The applicants for the special use permit cited Getaway, Shenandoah, and Green County as an example of what they wanted to do at Trestler's.

At their recommendation, my wife and I traveled to Green County to view Getaway.

What we found was not comparable to what the applicants were requesting at Trestler's.

The property was not located within or adjacent to a residential area as this project would be.

The service road was a quarter of a mile from Route 230 to the development of over 45 tiny homes, which were not viewable from any of the roads that served the area.

This project's trailers would be located just 75 feet from Treslow's Lane, viewable by anyone traveling the road.

The roads to get away, Route 33 and Virginia 230, were wide, and the entrance road had a great view of Virginia 230 in both directions.

The roads into Treslow were narrow, with many blind herds, and the proposed entrance at the top of Hill, 185 feet from a blind intersection with bottom lane.

There was 24-7 on-site management at Getaway.

The applicant proposes to supervise the property from afar, thus leaving supervision to residents who must then call away for management intervention of potential problems within our neighborhood.

I agree with the applicants that Yetaway, Shenandoah is a great example of how a tiny house campground should look and operate.

However, this is not what the applicants are proposing.

They have indeed compared apples and oranges.

I urge the board to deny the request and protect the property owners and taxpayers of Trestler's Lake, Bottom Lake, and Berryhill Road.

Our collective concerns of over 40 residents should outweigh the vision

Thank you, sir.

Good afternoon.

My name is Michael Walters.

I live at 119 Old Ridge Road.

Same complaint

but I think the zoning board and VDOT created such a liability within this county.

So specifically Old Ridge Road and Woodsmill Lane or State Route 786.

There's turning right onto Old Ridge Road off 29 North is a nightmare.

There's already been accidents.

I'm gonna be back here and say I told you so.

You guys, not you guys, but the zoning board issued a permit five, six years ago.

I don't know how that went down, but I think now we got support, right?

The road can't support two-way traffic.

I mean, it probably has a thousand cars up there on a weekend.

There's 50 houses back on Old Ridge Road.

Hopefully VDOT will do something.

All right, Mr. Piercy.

I'm William Piercy.

I just like to acknowledge the project pipeline survey that's online now that the citizens of our county

should take advantage of to give some feedback on what the options that they're considering for the intersection near 29 and Front Street or 56 there.

It's a very good survey and it's nice to know that they are requesting or looking for some feedback.

So that was my main point, just to acknowledge that there is a survey online that we should take advantage of

And I appreciate you guys' time.

And if you could give assistance here in the county, the feedback.

I'm sure this organization is called Project Pipeline.

It's got nothing to do with pipelines.

It's a survey about the roads.

And they're regional, just Nelson County.

But none of the five options that they are presenting for evaluation one through five, according to which ones we like the best or the worst, acknowledges an idea that I think it would be very practical and it would allow the traffic on Highway 29 to travel without impediments, without any stoplights.

And I call it a flyover.

Roundabout.

So without a stoplight the traffic north to south would just continue overhead and down below there'd be roundabout for the local traffic.

Sounds complicated but it's really not.

There's several of them around.

I made up a little sketch if I could submit it.

That'd be all right.

Just in those cases, my overhead roundabout would look like if you can't imagine, but that's what it is.

Anyhow, like most folks here are concerned about traffic, I'm probably coming at it as a very important thing to consider.

Again, I appreciate your time.

Perfect.

You give it to Mr. Carter and he'll add it to the record.

All right.

My name is Nancy Edwards.

I live at 241 Truslow's Lane.

We own the property that runs into part of this proposed pancreas.

And my concern, one of my concerns is the roads leading into this supposed campground.

It's Virginia Avenue, Lode Bar, Trepahoe, and Berry Hill.

There is line curves, it's a narrow road, it is 16 feet across with some places no burn and then in other places maybe a two foot burn.

And the homeowners keep that mode so we can step off the road when traffic's come.

It's a very steep road, and they're going up there.

There's no guardrails.

So any more traffic on that road is probably not the smartest thing in the world to do.

And then there's an intersection on our road, on Truslow's, that is bottom hill, and it's a blind intersection.

It comes down the hill where this proposed intersection is.

It's coming up.

If you're turning left, you cannot see.

You will be clipped every time you come out of there.

If anybody's going to speak,

So this would impede sight lines terribly.

We walk our dogs every day.

There's about 14 people that walk that road or walk their dogs on that road daily.

And as narrow as it is, and there's no burn in front of this sectional property, it falls off on the side.

So when it comes to that, you either step off the road and hope that traffic coming will stop or slow down where you're not hit.

There's about 30 homes that live on this road, on trust roads, and there's 10 on bottom lane, and it's a dead-end road, and it's 55 miles per hour.

So whatever comes in that road has to go back out that road, and that's about 80 vehicles coming on that road already.

So I just think it's a very poor plan to put anything else on there until something is done about the speed limit and about the road itself.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Frank Bishop, 350, Crustlow Lane, Nellysford, obviously.

We're opposed to this amendment to change to zoning.

We bought a home in Crustlow Lane a few years ago because of its country setting, its views,

and the General World Atmosphere.

I checked zoning very carefully and was satisfied it was free from commercial development.

We were told by real estate, we were told by neighbors, people who became neighbors, that the water was and could be an issue.

The house we bought by the previous

Owners have ended up with two wells being driven before we ever thought about being there.

And the gallons per minute out of that well is minimal.

I've talked to well drillers in the area.

They told me the same thing.

They're shy about trying to drill a well across Low Lane.

They all say the same thing.

Sometimes you go a thousand feet numerous times to come up with absolutely nothing.

Who's to pay for that?

There are some wells on Crustal Lane that are over a thousand feet with minimal gallons per minute.

The water issue is real.

The other question among many we have is if they find sufficient water for six trailers, mobile homes, whatever you want to call them, will that affect our water?

Apparently there's not a great deal under the ground there.

Will that affect the aquifer?

Will that affect my house?

to each and every one that lives there should we be diminished in the volume of water that we now have.

The developers said and explained these tiny pieces have water-saving devices on them.

Well, I have water-saving devices on my house.

And some of my neighbors, if they use the bathroom,

and try to wash dishes at a similar time if they run out of water.

What's going to happen when more water is pumped out across the lane?

I'm just wondering if that's an effect.

I've had experience with saving water and all these devices.

Sorry, try to wrap up your thoughts, sir.

Three for an individual.

I was told before it was five minutes, sir.

Okay, it's unfair.

With the proposed trailers, not only are they eyesore on that property, and we can go to the septic, I have the letter for the septic system in the forecast, that is almost irrelevant.

One passed and they want to put three separate dual septic systems on the property.

How does that work?

And why are they not multiple tests to begin with?

And I'm very upset that the five minutes was not used.

So just as a reminder, it's three minutes individual, five minutes a group.

If you're speaking on behalf of a group, please state the group that you're

My name is Joan Farrell.

I live at 350 Coast Coast Lane and I'm here to oppose the tiny homes.

My husband under the 350 Cuswells Lane bought our house in 2012.

We searched all over the area to find what we wanted, a quiet neighborhood away from businesses in a residential area.

We plan to retire here and enjoy our retirement in a peaceful environment.

The idea of having a campground down the road from us raises many concerns.

First, we live on the property that is next to the adjoining piece of land.

which is presently vacant.

One of our worries is if they wanted to expand them and acquire that property for their expansion, then the property could be right on top of us.

What would stop them from doing that?

If they can get a special permit for this, how difficult would it be to expand it further?

Another question is if they should sell the property in the future, will the commitment remain for the next owners?

If an area is zoned as agricultural and residential, it shouldn't be changed just because someone decides they want to put a business there.

People that come for a temporary stay and don't have any charge of the area consider they are on vacation and anything goes.

The fact that there is not going to be someone on site 24-7 is also concerning, as there is little policing in this area, especially at night.

This definitely needs to be addressed.

Other issues that are concerning, which perhaps need to be reiterated, are the traffic, the narrow winding roads in the area, the blind hill at the site, the typical access,

and the actual look and size of these tiny houses on wheels.

I will refer more to this last statement.

We have been shown seven different pictures of these homes, and we are not really sure what they will actually look like.

In the statement on the water drainage study, it mentioned the homes being two-bedroom, where we were informed that they were one-bedroom.

Which is it?

Or did they put in two-bedroom in case they wanted to expand later on?

Also, they would be on wheels, which makes them look more like trailers.

and Commissioner No.

516.

As a resident of the trust loan bottom line in this neighborhood, I'm asking that the application be denied as it fails to comply with three of the four general standards and criteria for a special use permit as specified in Appendix A of the Nelson County zoning regulations.

Specifically criteria A, B, and C of paragraph 12-3-2.

Criteria A reads,

our community in which it proposes to locate.

They're comparing photos of the existing homes which you guys have with the representative depiction of the proposed camper units.

Note that we really don't know what they look like because they have not provided pictures.

Shows that they will clearly change the character and established pattern of our neighborhood.

Criteria B reads, the use shall be in harmony with the uses permitted by right in the zoning district

The site in question is currently zoned for agriculture use and is surrounded by a residential neighborhood.

The proposed units are commercial, short-term, probably mostly weekend rentals, if we know the type people that will rent them.

They're clearly not in harmony with an agricultural residential neighborhood.

Criteria C reads, the proposed use shall be adequately served by central public or private services such as streets,

News, and public or private water and sewage facilities.

There have been valid concerns raised here today at the February Board of Supervisors meeting and in written correspondence to the Supervisors and the Planning Board regarding the inability of the neighborhood roads to

There is also a question as to whether the planned sewage drain system could pollute the stream and pond located at the bottom of the very steep grade on which the system would be placed.

Clearly, the proposed campground cannot adequately be served by the existing essential services.

These criteria constitute a covenant between Nelson County and its citizens.

As a final comment,

Throughout the application process, the developers have been vague and have made contradictory statements about their proposal.

It has been difficult to understand their proposal as their application did not include a written narrative of the project describing its compatibility with the comprehensive plan, the applicable zoning district, surrounding properties, current and future neighborhood conditions,

This narrative is required for the county's special use requirement and procedures and should, of course, include input from the impacted residents.

Thanks, sir.

All right.

John Mueller, 349 Trusslow Lane.

Nelson County has selected the Berkeley group to steer a major update to the county's comprehensive plan, which is a guide for future growth, development, land use, and subsequent revisions of accounting zoning and

subdivision ordinances.

The board approved the Berkeley Group contract for about $160,000, taxpayers' dollars.

And that was in December of last year.

Discussion for the Berkeley Group begins a little later this month.

So they're going to be starting soon.

The county hired the Berkeley group for their experience in helping us as a county to balance economic growth with rural preservation and quality of life for the residents.

We, the residents of Trusslow Lane, Bottom Lane, Berryhill Road are asking the board to deny this approval of a special use permit

and the rezoning application due to the fact that the comprehensive plan is being updated now.

Why put the cart before the horse?

It does not make logical sense to rezone a residential neighborhood, zone agricultural to commercial.

For a campground,

with little return to the county.

And again, against the wishes of the neighborhood residents.

The input of the county residents in this neighborhood must, I'll say that again, must be respected.

Do not approve the special use permit 516.

It is our

Thank you.

Right, Janet, port 17.

Thanks for not attending.

I was gonna say Roo.

Roo is right.

Hannah Brew, 417 Justice First Lane, Nellysport, Kidney.

I really have a lot of things that I'm objecting to about this permit.

One of them being that if this project fails at some point, we would still be stuck with a camping zone in our neighborhood.

And who knows what could happen.

I don't want a campground right on my street.

Thank you.

I don't think you would.

and that's really what I'm here to say.

It hadn't been brought up about we have six homes with possibly 12 cars parked and people coming and going that our nighttime serenity will be gone.

It's wonderful now.

We don't have streetlights.

We don't have any that says dark, but not like it's supposed to be.

You can go out and look up and see a beautiful starry sky.

And I don't have a feeling that is not going to happen after you put in all this commercial stuff.

This is not a commercial area.

Susan Sweet, 599 Trestles Lake.

I will be brief.

The proposal for tiny homes has been supported in the past because people are concerned about affordable living, that these are not going to be used as homes.

A tiny home or tiny house has to be 400 square feet or less, excluding lofts.

The house has to be put on a foundation, however, for it to be actually a home.

These will be on wheels.

It's in a recreational vehicle and less stringent code.

There will be under the RV code, and the status is as a trailer, and this is a trailer car in one instance, but because it's short-term rental, it becomes a campground.

and that is the right designation for it.

It's a commercial business in an established area of homes.

And for that reason, I ask you to vote no.

Hi, my name is Alex, everyone.

I live at 605.

My husband and I bought our property back in 94.

We bought 23 acres of the previous land.

We've got the Rockfish River covering three sides of our house.

Our family, my family, my husband's family, we go down there, we picnic, we have a good time.

Over the years, we've had people move in from California.

Her son came down, he abused a place, he killed one of their dogs.

It was a nightmare.

With that being said, I do not want a campground on my property.

and one other thing I'd like to bring up is my sister lives off the old Stony Creek Road and she has a beautiful home and hers is at the end of the road just like mine and then there's a neighbor to the right of her and the guy to the left owned an extra piece of property and he built a home for his sister who lives in Florida with an ailing husband she was to come up here and live in the house and he was going to help take care of her husband she came down here she didn't like Nelson County she wanted to go back to Florida

So he was left with a beautiful home.

So he put it up for an Airbnb.

And in the last two years, my sister has been miserable.

She's back in the back.

People come across her property.

She's got signs up and they walk it.

Her dogs go crazy.

It's been a nightmare.

In the meantime, the guy next to her, he lives in North Carolina.

and his family comes down and they get together, his two kids and his bare children and they live, they do their thing, they go out visiting and come back to their home.

They plan to retire there.

He has got photos of these people walking onto his property.

They go up to the front door.

They don't have blind curtains, just like I don't have curtains because I just love the beauty.

And he's got pictures of people doing this in his house.

I don't want that.

And I don't want to have to go through what I went through with the little guy breaking into my shed and killing my dog.

I don't want to go through that again.

It was horrible.

So I oppose.

Kathy Christensen, 221 Trustee Roseland.

You've heard the comments from our neighborhood.

Here I have a position of 76 signatures from all the neighbors.

One who doesn't live right in this neighborhood, so you can count it as 75.

They're all opposed to this project at this location.

It's a fine idea, but just not at this location.

Developers made no effort to mitigate our concerns at the meeting that they called on our property.

The vote was deferred last meeting to allow for more information on water availability and VDOT approval of adequacy of site for commercial entrance.

To my knowledge, this has not been completed.

The Ecosystem LLC report of November 2021 has, from what I can tell, no engineering stamp which renders the report unreliable and meaningless.

I'm asking the Board of Supervisors to deny the special use permit 516 for an RV campground on Trestles Lane

as it's not the right location.

Should this be approved, we request the following conditions be required.

This approval is for no more than six sites for transient lodging using a tiny home on wheels.

This approval does not allow for use of campers, recreational vehicles, tents, or transient lodging.

All tiny homes must be set back a minimum of 100 feet from the edge of the right way of Truss Hoes Lane.

Prior to occupying the tiny homes, a double row of evergreen trees, a minimum of four feet high, 10 feet on center, must be planted and maintain long tussle as lane frontage between the tiny homes and the road.

Should be on the side too.

Alternatively, a six foot high opaque fence can be constructed in a single row of evergreen trees.

Prior to installing the tiny homes, the applicant shall submit a draft of groundwater plan and aquifer testing work plan.

This branch will demonstrate to the planning director satisfaction that the neighbor's groundwater needs and the site's groundwater needs have all been considered.

Outfloor lighting must be directed below the horizontal to protect the dark night sky.

Lighting limited to porch lights is preferable.

There must be an onsite host to provide oversight and minimize offsite impacts 24-7.

Contact information for the onsite host must be provided to adjacent owners.

More than four people may occupy each tiny home.

No more than two vehicles park at each home.

Noise must comply with noise regulations.

Quiet time is established.

No outdoor amplified music or outdoor activities may occur after 10 p.m.

The property may be used for passive recreation for occupants of the tiny homes.

Motorcycles and ATVs may not be used for recreation on the property.

Firewood must be native to the area and or kiln drive to prevent infestation of pets.

earlier, I'm asking each of you to consider the impact that this campground would have on this residential neighborhood.

Once a campground, always a campground.

Yeah, just give it to Steve.

All right.

Thank you, Kathy.

Is there anyone else who has not signed up for public comments that wishes to speak?

Once, twice.

All right, close public comments at this time.

Get through a little bit of housekeeping before we get over to the special use permit.

Consent agenda, can we get a, unless there's any questions or amendments or questions about the budget amendment, can we get a motion to approve as presented?

So moved.

We have a motion for Mr. Bart, do we have support?

I'll second.

Second for Mr. Reed.

Any discussion?

Hearing no discussion, Ms. Spivey?

Thank you, Chair.

I'm going to hold off to an important day.

Many of you know we're still in the process of picking up trees in the working area from the worst storm we had back in January.

We are hoping to have that completed in the next few weeks.

and we can get on to some other things.

I have another matter I want to bring with you today.

As you know, each spring we'll be revising our six-year secondary road construction plan and send us some preliminary work on that and any of you will remember this.

This is our Nelson County rural rustic parking list for one-page roads.

We will be needing to add roads

We will be needing to prioritize those on this list that we have not prioritized.

You all prioritized a list last year one through seven.

Where's the deadline that you need that done by?

We need to schedule a public hearing.

But I just want to give you this information today.

This list where you could be talking and working.

Just be thinking about how you want to prioritize the rest of these roads on this list because we did not prioritize them all last year.

And we will be needing to add additional projects to the plan.

That's a good thing.

Yes, please do.

If you would.

We have a very pretty aggressive plan this year.

Great.

Well, he talked about last week a curve, warning about a curve in the road in which he completed and he did a great job.

All right.

Mr. Reed?

Yeah.

During a couple of comments, Mr. Walter's comments about Old Ridge Road and his request that he made for a possible traffic count there.

That's true.

There's an existing traffic count on that road.

I didn't bring my traffic counts with me today, but you know, there's a visit.

There's a new draft accounting review.

I think 21 counts have not been published yet, so the latest count will be the 21 counts.

That's Woodridge.

That's it, thank you.

Mr. Parr?

Nothing Mr. Parr.

Appreciate the tree cleaning up.

I think Laurel between Cragetown Road and Rockfish River Road, I know y'all are getting trees all over the place.

There's one

tree that's right there on the corner right across from Browning's Cove, it's a pine tree.

It's kind of a tight corner, so if you got a truck and a trailer coming on the other side of our school bus, you're kind of hugging it and you get to hit the tree.

So it's Laurel, it's the intersection of Laurel and Browning's Cove.

No, I don't think they got there yet, but just that tree would be great if we could knock that out, that'd be great.

I did have one more thing.

The county's picked up their Fort John and Nelson Wayside, and we have two new Fort John's up there.

One is ADA compatible, and the other is just on the whole part of the Fort John.

I look at them today, they're new, so hopefully that'll be maintained.

So that becomes your responsibility for maintenance?

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Yeah, I guess you might catch Bill on your way out.

Bill might want to talk to you about his little survey.

If y'all could talk out in the hallway and catch up on that, that'd be great.

Any other questions for VDOT this time?

Hearing none, thank you so much, Robert.

Have a great and safe travels down to Charlotte County.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

All right, moving on in the agenda.

We now have the special use permit 516.

Let's see, we have Emily today.

Hi, Emily.

Were we gonna display anything, or is there anything, any updates that our names don't have?

Okay, does the applicant have any quick updates you could summarize?

Good afternoon, Daniel Ricard, Adrian L. Nelson Highway.

A little over a week ago, Mike, who's my partner, and I hosted a meeting with many of the residents on Trestles Lane and the surrounding area to listen to the community's input on our project.

Mike and I were also able to communicate more clearly what we were planning on doing.

One of the questions that was raised was also a question that I heard in the last board meeting from one of the supervisors.

And that's the question of why tiny houses?

Why do we want to build tiny houses on this property?

And that's a good question.

I want to answer that question by posing this one.

What is our alternative?

We need the board's approval to move forward on this because of the nature of the project.

We're asking for just six tiny houses.

We will need this approval because of the non-permanent nature of tiny homes.

Our alternative to tiny homes is something that can be done at any time without the board of supervisors

or Planning Commission's approval.

By right, this 30 acre property can be subdivided and parceled out at least seven times.

Per zoning regulations, this means there's space for seven permanent structures that could be used for short term rentals, such as what we'd be using the tiny homes for.

Due to the cost of a permanent structure, each of these homes, if were to be used for short term rentals,

would need to be able to accommodate at least eight to 12 people so a higher nightly rate could be charged to compensate for the extra cost of the structure.

This would necessitate larger structures of four to five bedrooms each and take up a large footprint on this 30-acre property.

Our current tiny house plan would disturb less than two acres on this 30-acre park site.

Seven large permanent homes would each require their own well and septic

That's seven wells, which would disturb even more land.

Since the permanent homes would be much larger than tiny homes, they would have washers and dryers, dishwashers, large water heaters, and multiple bathrooms.

Each permanent home would use much more water than a single tiny home.

Tiny home would use much less.

Seven large permanent homes would allow for much more vehicle traffic.

With a four to five bedroom rental, multiple families or couples could stay in each of the seven homes.

Those would mean multiple vehicles per house.

In contrast, a tiny house would only be able to house about a couple.

That's one vehicle per six tiny homes.

I want to address also something that was brought up today, and that is the location of where we're doing this.

It's been brought up about the,

Commercial area versus residential area.

Right across the street where we are proposing this is Hilltop Berry Farm, and that's a commercial use area.

And the location of this property is at the beginning of Trucks Lopes Lane.

Every single one of the residents' homes that has come today, their houses are past where we are proposing the entry.

The only house that currently sits closer to the entrance to Truss Lewis Lane is a single-wide trailer that's very dilapidated.

The entrance where we're proposing for these tiny homes has a 300-foot view on either side coming from both directions.

It's not in the blind field, it's at the top, and it's visible from all directions.

As somebody who has a lot of extensive experience directing traffic and working in rural areas, I see no problem whatsoever in turning in and out due to only being a right hand and a left hand turn.

Larger homes and more occupants means more potential for noise and even parties.

And this is all could be done due right.

Seven homes would

completely changed the layout of the property and many of the homes would be impossible to hide.

Most of the house sites would need to be along Tristals Lane directly in front of neighbors due to the topography of the land.

Much of this land's rural beauty would be lost with this kind of development and mountain views would certainly be blocked in some locations.

I want to point out again that seven permanent structures, such as I have described, would require zero approval from the Board of Supervisors.

The reason that we want to do tiny homes is because of the low impact it has on the environment around it.

Six tiny homes will use minimal water.

They are eco-friendly.

They would only attract one vehicle per stay.

It will have fewer occupants than a standard home.

It would disturb less than two acres of the property and it will not be visible from any of the neighbors' homes.

If you stay on any of the current proposed sites, you cannot see any of the neighbors' homes that are before you today.

Finding houses simply make sense and allow us to have minimal impact on the surrounding community.

We want this project to highlight what Nelson County has to offer and compliment the rural beauty of the land not destroyed.

We want guests from all over to be attracted to the unique experience that can be had by staying in a tiny house.

We want to showcase Nelson County as a thought leader in these environmentally friendly tiny homes.

You know, Mike and I are just two regular guys trying to create something unique and special for Nelson County.

I am even willing to uproot my family and move just down the road from the property to be in a better position to manage it.

I am fully committed to this project as this is a pathway for me

to provide a better life for my own family.

Thank you for your time.

Yes, the first thing I'd like to address is a petition that was mentioned.

Not everybody on Trestle.

Yeah, state your name.

Mike Atherton in Radcliffe County.

The petition that was mentioned, my understanding is that not everyone on Trestle Lane was willing to sign it.

but I don't want to give the impression to be able to give everyone a trustful lane as opposed to Nelson.

The other thing that some, you know, negative comments that I've heard about our project are words like trailers, mobile homes, eyesores.

There are words that are detrimental to what we're talking about.

We have shared designs of the beautiful tiny homes we've done and when I hear words like this, like eyesores,

When you drive up and down Truslow's Lane, we've handed these out before.

This specific lot that we're buying has been neglected.

The areas around it have been neglected.

And so I disagree with the notion

of Trash, so to say that somehow tasteful tiny homes, I'm not sure how this tasteful tiny home would bother you, but these piles of trash that have been sitting there for years and years are of no concern.

So, I mean, our desire is to be part of beautifying the area.

As was mentioned, a similar idea to ours is actually being done just up the road in Stanhardsville at a place called Getaway

from D.C. where they have built 45 tiny homes in close proximity.

It's become very popular attraction for Greene County and it brings guests seeking to find peace and quiet.

And what I want to be clear about is we do not have aspirations to be away from D.C. We have zero desire to have 45 tiny homes.

We do not have any desire to do what they're doing on a large scale.

What we do have aspirations to do is offer what they offer on a much smaller scale.

When you read their reviews, the words you repetitively come across are words like unplug, escape, retreat from the demands of a busy life.

That's why the place is called Getaway

People are not going there to party.

They're not going there to have a crazy time.

They're going there to escape from those things.

If they want to find peace and quiet, if they wanted to party, look around.

The five bedroom houses in Nelson County are getting bought up and being turned into Airbnbs where big groups can go.

You can go to Charlotte

There are a lot of options for people to go if they want to be loud.

That's not what this is.

This is an escape.

This is an unplug.

We're not asking for 45 tiny homes.

We're just asking for six.

Six on 30 acres.

And we settled on the number six because we felt it did three things.

It's a compromise to offer an experience like this one.

It would allow us to fulfill our dream

but also it would allow us to preserve the landscape of the area which as we've mentioned is very important to us.

And I can assure you, Scout's Honor, you will not see us before you again requesting additional permits.

We will not be here requesting additional permits.

I don't care if this is a great success, we're not doing it for that.

We're not doing it for financial, just financial gain.

Do we want a pair of bills?

Sure.

We're doing it so people can create unique memories, so we can create something unique to Nelson County.

We believe we've found the perfect spot for this.

We will preserve the landscape.

We will be the most attractive option for at least 30 acres to utilize them to a much lesser extent than anyone else buying the property would be.

Mrs. Parshall

We will be a positive addition to the area.

We've met with the neighbors.

We are open to the suggestions of creating privacy.

And Daniel is willing to relocate from Lovingston to live with less than a mile away from the property or to even build himself a home on the property so he can literally see

He's willing to do that.

We are willing to do that.

We want our dreams and aspirations for this property carried out flawlessly.

And we're committed to this small, tasteful project and making it a success so that Nelson County can see firsthand the role that smaller homes can play for residents and guests alike.

and they can fit into the beautiful landscapes of Nelson County and we would be grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate all of those things.

The ramifications of this for Nelson County residents, not just visitors, is a tremendous one that's currently not being considered because of the costs of construction.

In closing, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my partner, Daniel.

He resides, as you probably know, in Lovingston as a police officer.

He works the 2 p.m. to the 12 a.m. shift.

Daniel and I share a dream for this project and for the love of tiny homes.

And I admire Daniel deeply for his desire to build things, but more so for him, his pursuit to build something better for his family.

Because your wife's staying up every night past midnight

to make sure you made it home safely is not a sustainable lifestyle for a family with small children.

I don't know what that's like.

I have no idea what that's like.

It's certainly very demanding.

And I love that Daniel wants an option for his family so he does not have to do this for the rest of his life.

He's committed.

He's committed to staying in Nelson County

and being one of the young families that this county needs more of.

And so I just wanted to share a little bit about his story and his motivation for this project.

Thank you.

All right.

At this time, does the board have any questions for staff or the applicant?

Are we prepared to discuss the special use permit?

And I know you're not required to do any pre-submission

water quality or water supply information to add to this in order to make your application for a special use permit.

Given that the area has such a problem with water already,

It certainly could be useful if that information might have been available ahead of time.

Of course, that was one of the things that was mentioned when we said maybe waiting 30 days would give us more information.

We don't have that.

I do wonder if you aren't able to get water from the ground, groundwater, to fulfill the quota of water you're going to need for your development,

What's the potential for the pond that is on your property?

I don't think we've really, we haven't considered the pond yet.

I know there's water collection opportunities out there and other avenues that we could explore.

We haven't explored any of those yet.

I think, you know, we did speak to some residents there that have great

And some that have had problems in the past.

And I think one point I'd like to point out is that this is 30 acres and it's one of the largest parcels on that road.

And all those houses do have water and some of them have grave water.

And it would be my hope that someone on that property will find

And I've always been able to do that.

I've always been able to locate water and follow it.

You know, this is where the water's going.

This is your waterline dig.

Yeah, there's a waterline right there.

In the past when I did construction, I've walked the property and I've identified multiple spots that have indicated there's water there.

You can take some stock into that, but until you start digging a well,

So I'd like to think based on those indicators, the large property and multiple people on the road tells us that they have plenty of water.

Some have had issues finding water.

I'd like to think on 30 acres we'd definitely be able to find water somewhere on there, especially since the topography does drop quite a ways.

I'm sure somewhere on that property we can find water.

I think the advantage that we have

from the soil ecologist that we knew his title was.

Where he came out and he did a lot of digging, primarily for septic but we asked him about well also and his point was you know looking at the types of soils

a lot.

It goes down deep into the valley and then back up.

And his estimate guess was that we would have no problem somewhere.

Would we not be able to find it up top?

You may not.

But it's somewhere down here, high likelihood that he said, I would recommend

buying the land, because I do believe you have that positive chance of finding it.

Is it going to be up here?

Can't promise you that, but on this whole space, feel very confident that we can find it.

Thanks.

Any other questions for the applicants before they sit down?

All right, thank y'all.

We're gone.

Any questions for staff?

And you know, it's funny.

Being here in this time which we live, I'm used to hearing things that are positive, you know, young people in Nelson County, small houses, that kind of thing.

But also, when a person comes to live in Nelson County,

They come for many reasons.

One of those reasons is they want to live in a rural area.

And even people who have spent their whole life here appreciate the beauty of the place and they want to live there.

And if you choose a place that is a mile or two from the main road, you should be

assured that you will not have a commercial business in your neighborhood.

It's almost like a covenant.

Now, I have no problem with the idea and the concept of what they're trying to do.

And I went to the property and I spent a half hour standing there.

and looking around and realized why they picked the spot because Wintergreen is in the snow and I could see the snow and it's kind of a beautiful place and you can sit on the porch and ski timely, et cetera.

But I also knew that people moved there because it did not have commercial businesses in the area.

And that has to be respected.

You must, you know, if the thing was there 151 or there can be the place in Nelson County where you don't have, you don't affect other residents, other people in there, you know, that's a great idea.

But I cannot support a commercial operation

All right, Mr. Eagle.

Yeah.

Having addressed this project at length various times, it's come before the Board and the Planning Commission.

and the comments that we've received today I think reflect the tone of the community on the project and the matters of concern which are significant, you know, water traffic and the complexion and the

pattern of development in the neighborhood.

I think the residents have done a very good job explaining those.

I can't get around the water issue, which is really significant to me because

unless item three of the proposed use should be adequately served by essential public or private water.

Without knowing that, it's really, I think, impossible to assume that it would.

You know,

I think the community is doing, in this case, has done an excellent job at holding our feet to the fire to make sure that we do what's in the best interest for the county.

And I think their comments have been well presented and well articulated.

everything from the inadequacy of our current zoning to address a specific issue like tiny homes to what it would mean if this permit was allowed and then transferred to a subsequent buyer of the property and what would be allowable there.

Neither of which would be necessarily what

We're looking for our county to look at in terms of our comprehensive plan that we're having to roll out within a week.

So this is a very important thing.

What I'm saying is by right, it could be a lot more land.

How many inches is it?

All right, so I believe it would be seven parcels if they were to break it up.

and do a subdivision.

If they were to just build houses on it, we would do one house per two acres.

This would require a major site plan for three or more houses on one parcel.

But a major site plan is only going to go to the planning commission.

And they're just going to be evaluating it based on whether or not it conforms with the requirements of the zoning ordinance.

It's not going to be like a special use permit or a rezoning

And then I also wanted to make sure that you guys saw those two letters from Ecosystem Services.

There was one from January 13th, and then one from February 24th to discuss the malware.

Yes, we have those.

Maybe, who knows?

Sit nearby.

You know, I concur with Mr. Harvey in the sense of, you know, the question is, is what is Bi-Rite?

What is more?

Obviously, we have several different areas that have very sensitive aquifers.

Woods Mill is one that comes to mind.

There's some locations out in Schuyler that have very sensitive aquifers and I guess this one as well in Trestles Lane and of course that exists with or without homes in many instances and the question is will it impact you know for the aquifer?

I mean the fact is that there are there is the ability to build six to seven homes and though the topography is a little bit different so I don't know if they never really pragmatically do seven but the right does exist

That would, in my mind, be more intense in terms of water usage through my experience and what I can imagine happening.

I don't necessarily think that these six homes would be more of an impact than seven homes.

But there are six tiny homes.

The question is, is if the board is to deny, or if it is to approve, you know, with what stipulations, or if any stipulations.

So I just wanted to put my two cents out there that I generally support with stipulations.

Okay.

Silence.

I think one of the issues, very important to look at this is, what does a person who moves in Nelson County, what can they think about the place that they're gonna move to?

I mean, if they move into, and this is,

extremely rural area, how much of a assurance will they have that it will remain rural?

I mean, all over the county you have the problem, you know, you have the right of this, the right of that, you know, and maybe the plan can address those things in the long run.

But until that time comes,

For the record, it's important that we echo this, comprehensive plans have no teeth.

It is a guidance, it's a general idea where the board perceives certain things should happen.

Where true teeth and where the by rights come from is zoning and how we define zoning from A1, R1, R2, definitions such as vacation homes and so many of those items that we've brought up before.

So it's not just the comprehensive plan, that's step one.

And comprehensive plan is going to take two years.

Probably, pragmatically.

It's gonna take two years to accomplish.

And then to add in those conversations, we'll do intermittent zoning changes without a doubt.

Zoning, if you're talking about the assurance, is the only way to do that.

And 90% of Nelson County is agriculture, if not more.

So there is that assurance that does exist.

There are certain things that are in place that some would say is not of a role character, which obviously we've had the argument about,

Farm Breweries, Farm Wires.

They can happen at any place that zone agriculture at any time via state code.

I mean, I'm not arguing what is buy right.

You know,

I don't imagine that the market will support seven houses in that area.

And these people are willing to take that risk, I think.

That's what they expressed.

The willingness to take that risk.

And are we saying we're protecting them by approving this?

I don't think, I think they have a right to decide that.

That we should be the ones.

Where does the rights of the property owner come in?

I think a lot of these people have thought about that.

Hence the application for a special use permit.

Correct.

So they're applying to do something that's not by right.

Therefore, we have criterion in our code that's supposed to

reflect whether when someone applies for something that can be done by special use permit would be approved.

I don't see that this at all fits that.

And in terms of what this property could have by right, Mr. Harvey is correct, as y'all are in terms of what currently this property could support by right.

But just because it's supported by right, it doesn't mean that they can do it.

It means they can apply for it because they still have to have water.

If they don't have water, they can't

do those developments.

So you can't have development rights unless you have water.

There's not a lot in this county that has a

You're right.

The threshold for water is an interesting piece because the health department does define that.

I believe there's a reservoir requirement.

But I understand.

Does anybody think that this use would not change the character and the pattern of development in the community?

I think if you do anything on any field, it changes the character.

I mean, you could put a pig farm.

You could put, you know, some buy, write stuff.

And that is an interesting piece there.

That's what a special use permit is.

You're supposed to take the process to define what that is.

And you talk about ownership.

People who are applying for this don't own the property.

They want to own the property.

They want to buy it.

I'd like to make a motion.

Okay.

Okay.

We have a motion to deny.

Do we have support?

Yes, I second.

Second from Mr. Barton.

Discussion?

Mr. Barton?

Yes.

Mr. Harvey?

No.

No.

All right, we have a motion to deny.

Recess.

Great.

Call this meeting back to order.

Moving on to reports, appointments, directives, and correspondence.

An update on the status of the COVID-19 virus in the county.

As of March 3rd, last Thursday afternoon, there were five new reported cases of the virus in the county.

That's for the Department of Health website.

And a seven-day average of just two new cases.

It's really extremely declining.

As an example, on January 14th, there was a high of 45 cases, and then, I think I'm mistaken, on March 1st, there was a minus of one, so less than one.

So I think, as with the country, the status of the virus is steadily improving, thank goodness.

and Gary Lanes, Wampanoag County's Assessor will be there available I think by Zoom because this questions the Board may have and just as a reminder applications for appeals to the Board are due not later than April 15th.

Planning, the comprehensive planning project as mentioned earlier, County and Berkeley group staff will conduct

There's essentially three projects, and we'll bring this back to the board between now and April 1st.

One is the intersectional improving at Route 29 in Cowley Hill Drive, the intersection at Food Line.

Another, which was applied for last year, or two years ago, is the roundabout at 6 and 151 in Martin Store, and then the intersection at 151 and 10 Mark Drive,

and Afton.

Pre-applications to VDOT are due by April 1st.

Then VDOT will screen those applications and find all applications that I think are due either in late July or in August.

Reaching the Johnson Service Authority, a hearing on the access revenue issue was conducted on February 25th at the Campbell County Circuit Court.

New County Office Building, county staff issued an RFP for architectural services for the design and construction of the new county office building that will include departments of social services, building and physical planning, and zoning.

The deadline for the proposal is from architectural forms as of March 25th at two.

Piney River Water and Sewer System has made extensive efforts to restore

Securing Proposals of the FY22-23 budget.

We'll discuss later.

I'll point to the general reassessment.

We'll also advise the board on what the general reassessment will actually yield in terms of new revenue.

Right.

As my report indicates, what you'll see, we think, if you meet on Thursday is that we're proposing to

What do we have and how much time do we have in order to sub what that rate is?

We have to decide what the tax rate will be no later than next week.

Well, to see if it's Thursday, I think it will be easier to decide once you see everything.

We have a week after Thursday's meeting to make that final decision if we don't make it on Thursday.

But see, I'm confused.

We don't know how much we're spending, how we... Well, we're going to present... You're going to find out on Thursday.

Well, we haven't...

Skip, I would say for Thursday, I think a lot of your questions would be hit on that.

Okay, that's what I'm asking.

Yeah, it's got it in there.

I sent the board snapshot last week.

or just to get you ready for work sessions.

I think it'll be February, which is the everything.

Yes, sir.

Hey, Steve.

I have one.

Can you let me know?

Okay.

Any other questions for Mr. Carter?

Here you go.

Thank you, sir.

Board reports.

Skip?

No.

No.

Mr. Reed?

I have a report that's from the service authority.

After years and years of laboring and budgets and COVID and everything else, the Service Authority is finally going to do a groundbreaking on the new Wintergreen Wastewater Treatment Plant.

There's going to be a groundbreaking ceremony this Friday at 11 o'clock at the current water treatment plant and

It's a big deal.

Clearly the biggest ticket item that the service authority has to deal with is the wintergreen stormwater.

And so it's been a long time in the making.

It's going to be state of the art.

It's going to be a wonderful thing for the mountain community.

All right, Ms. Parr?

All right.

I don't have anything of significance yet.

We'll touch on it after stuff, those sessions.

Appointments.

Opening at MACA, I think,

We have one email today from the interest that I have not gotten an application that may have a little traction on that.

Okay.

Could you send the details on the MACA board so that I can provide to the constituents?

Sure.

That'd be great.

All right.

And after that, correspondence, Mr. Barton.

Mr. Harvey.

Mr. Reed.

Mr. Parr.

I don't know if this is a correspondence, but it was a correspondence to me.

What's going on?

Something like that.

I think given what we've done recently and the timeline that we're working on, I mean we're in the short rows on this and I think it would be nice if we could get an update at each meeting or at least every other meeting.

I think it would be nice for us because they're looking, we said December, so I'd like to hear and plus I'm sure they're doing a lot of work in

Right.

If staff could get a quick inquiry from Mr. Wood or Creekmore, that would be great in the interim, but invite him to our April meeting.

Is that okay, Mr. Parr?

Yes, thank you.

Okay, correspondence.

All the correspondence I got was about the specialties permit this week.

Moving on into directives.

And there'll be opportunity for other business after our closed sessions too.

I'll make sure that's available.

I have one.

We've had the intention of setting a joint meeting with the school board and the board of supervisors for the last four months.

We're targeting next month to do that.

Do we have a date yet?

I haven't heard anything from school.

Can we?

Well, the zoopies, pretty quickly, they've been needing something from us.

And let's have two by twos and one on ones.

My request is a joint meeting.

They won't even respond to our questions.

I would like for us to maybe now that the ink is drying on the budget and we're getting ready to go over numbers on Thursday, have we given any thought to in years past or in this budget system, but something that we could

Oh, I was just going to say, I mean, currently in place there's an elderly and disabled tax relief program.

Is that something that's automatic or something that we have to apply for?

Yeah, I agree.

Being an elderly person,

I'm not going to be the elderly person here.

It would have to be based on me, because in our country today, it's old people who are rich.

I mean, Tommy, we're really rich.

We don't need any break.

And so if we are going to get the tax break, we have to target it to people who need it, and not just the general, just because you're old.

Maybe we could get Pam to come approach us because is it Pam who orchestrates us?

Yeah.

Is the county planning on doing any outreach to the 120 voters that are going to be relocated from the central district to the east?

Registrar.

Registrar, I'll do that.

So is that something that they'll be doing soon, later, waiting until the next?

Can I make a motion?

Yeah.

OK.

I'd like to move that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors convene in closed session to discuss the following as permitted by Virginia Code Sections 2.2-3711A1.

Discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body.

A3, discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a public purpose or discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.

Okay, and it will not necessarily be in that order.

We have a motion, do we have a second?

Second.

Second from Mr. Barton, any discussion?

Mr. Harvey?