Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

ing. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to the uh January 14th, 2026 meeting of the McGomery County Planning Commission. Miss Stein, would you determine a quorum, please? Mr. Walls. Mr. Cor here. Mr. Rice here. Mr. Miller here. Mr. Workman. Miss Simkins here. Miss Sharp Robinson. Vice Chair Lincolnis here. Chair Foster

here. Thank you. We have a quorum. Next item on the U agenda is to approve it. Uh and there are two uh changes that I would like to note. Let me get here. Um one is that the date of the December meeting 2025 was December the 17th, not December the 10th as previously published. And under new business, we're going to remove item A, which is a uh resolution of uh appreciation. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

I move. All those in in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Uh next item is the approval of the consent agenda. Uh, are there any corrections or additions to the minutes? Second. A second. Have a second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I.

Opposed. Motion carries. Next item is um the first of two public hearings. And uh I'm going to turn it over at this time to Mrs. Wright. Um the first public hearing I guess relates to Okay, you want two votes on that. Um, RZ2026969, a request from RWWW36 LLC and RWWW34 LLC, uh, to reszone 67 acres located at the intersection of Tyler Road, US Route 177, and Barn Road, State Route 627 from Agricultural A1 to general business GB with profered conditions and part B of that is to request is a request to reszone a portion of 43 acre area of vacated rightway identified as Young's Lane currently held by the Virginia Department of Transportation from Conservation C1 to general business GB. and a 988 portion of vacated rightway between Meadow Creek Road, Tyler Road and I 81 currently held by the Virginia Department of Transportation from Conservation C1 to general business GB. Miss Wright Lightness

There we go.

Tonight we have you before you just as Chair Foster explained, it is in this portion of the county at the exit 109 and the 177 corridor. And on the right you have the subject property which is a little zoomed in and it shows where it is in relation to ID1 and the interchange there. Here we have on the left the aerial map. Highlighted in yellow are the parcels that um are in question that we're hearing the resoning request for tonight. And on the right is the zoning map showing the existing zoning. You can see in this parcel nearest 81, it is zoned GB and I'll explain more about that in a minute. And the parcel along Barn Road is currently zoned A1. Some background information for these parcels is that in September 20 of 2009, it was requested to and reszone to general business with profered conditions. That included a master plan that allowed a general store convenience store with motor fuel sales and an attached drive-through restaurant. In May of 2010, an amendment to re to the resoning and profers was approved that allowed for realignment for of Meadow Creek Road and the acquisition of additional property. This revised the master plan to also allow for additional construction of a hotel and medical offices on the property. Then, as recently as August of 2024 is what that should say. Sorry about that. Um it was approved to amend the proper conditions and the concept plan which further excluded some byite uses therefore amending the concept plan.

This this um shows the area that is going to that is requested to be reszoned from agricultural and the area that is requested to be reszoned from C1. This is the Young's Road. If you can see where the mouse is, that is being vacated. And then you can see the lot line right here. That is A1. The other parcel that's being requested is this parcel along Meadow Creek Road and I 81 Tyler Road. You can see the existing property line right here along my mouse. And they are acquiring the the rest of the property from VOTE. That will make that lot 2.156 total acres. The applicant acquired 670 parcel on Barn Road in 2015. Reszoning this parcel plus the 43 acre portion of the unimproved rideway to general business is the request tonight. County code requires that any territory that is added to the jurisdictional area, which is what we're talking about with the unimproved rightaway, it's automatically classified as C1, which in this case requires it to be reszoned to general business along with everything else. A boundary line revision will make that parcel that's already owned by the applicant a 4.095 acre parcel. In addition, the applicant acquired 988 acre portion of rightway from VOTE. Again, the county code requires that any territory that's being added to the jurisdictional area is automatically classed as classified as conservation and requiring a reszoning.

This boundary line revision will make the 1.168 parcel into a 2.156 acre parcel. Here we have pictured the barn road reszoning master plan as amended um on December 15th, 2025 which includes the area that we're requesting resoning for here along with the Met Creek Road. These are aerial photos and drone footage of the site. This has not changed. These photos are from 2024, but they have not changed. On the left, you can see here is the Meadow Creek Road right here, Tyler Road, and the I 81 entrance onto 81 North right here. This grass area is what is basically what they have are purchasing from VOTE. On [snorts] the right for Barn Road, this is Barn Road right here. And the parcel that they're requesting reszone is right here. And you can see a portion of Young's Lane that is being requested to be vacated and brought into general business as well. On the left is the sign of the public hearing sign that was posted at the Barn Road site and on the right is the public hearing sign that was posted at the Meadow Creek Road site. [snorts] Impacts for transportation. There have been no requested changes from the previously approved concept plan in 2024. The property will still be accessed via two entrances from Tyler Road which will be right in right out only [snorts] required to be constructed prior to a certificate of occupancy.

And then a full access entrance is um already built from Medicare Creek Road. Sidewalks have been constructed on both sides of Medicare Creek Road. This request to reszone does not exceed previous traffic estimates. It also does not meet the threshold for a VOTE mandated traffic impact analysis at this point and [snorts] the applicant acknowledges that all future developments will provide updated trip generation data and turn lane analysis. A VOTE land use permit would be required for the for any improvements and for this request VOTE takes notes exception. The impacts from emergency services environment infrastructure in infrastructure have not changed. It is still within the RER fire and rescue service area. There's confirmed location of a fire hydrant on Barn Road. Does not lie within a FEMA designated flood zone. The owner has a ma an active massgrading ENS permit through Department of Environmental Services and additional storm water regulations will be reviewed during any new site plan processes. McGomery County Utilities, water, and sewer are available at the site. Coordination for future development will be necessary to ensure that the pump station is upgraded if needed. This is part of the route 177 corridor plan which calls for joint review of land proposals. In 2010, the city of Ratford's planning commission stated that the development met the goals outlined in the corridor plan and the city of Radford stated that they have no comments or concerns regarding this revision. The project area is also located in an urban development area which is a

preferred location for new residential and non-residential development. It also describ is described as areas that are adjacent to Blackburg, Christiansburg or Radford and is intended to be a natural expansion area for uses occurring within town and city boundaries. The comprehensive plan is um some goals are met that are outlined here as the proposal is consistent with urban expansion planned commercial transportation and environmental chapters. It meets the land use and zoning criteria set forth in the route 177 corridor plan. The proposed reasonzoning with profers and the concept plan provides flexibility in the building locations. It allows that changes um allows uses remained unchanged and attention should be given to exterior lighting in order to preserve the nighttime skies since property is adjacent to resource stewardship. land uses and preservation of the rural nature is important. Staff recommends approval of the request to revise the re well to revise the resoning as follows with the offered conditions. These were the same profer conditions that were approved for in 2024. Nothing has changed. Those were all outlined in your packets. All adjacent property owners were notified in accordance with county and state code. As you saw, public hearing signs were placed on both properties. Legal ads were placed in the local media and staff has received no inquiries from the public. However, additional comments may be received during tonight's public hearing. Steve Simonus with Westwood is

also here tonight to answer any questions and provide some information. Do you have any questions for me? Thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Simone. All right. Please join us. Happy New Year.

Good evening. Steve Simonus, Westwood Professional Services. It's not used to saying that yet. um 80 College Street here in Christiansburg. Um Kim gave the background. I'm not going to re I'm not going to go over that a lot, but um I just first want to say if you all remember when we were back here in 2025, the main reason we were here is for some cleanup. You know, as Meadow Creek was um rerouted differently than the original master plan we had approved. Um we had a user coming in for a convenience store and and quick service restaurant. We are currently in process right now of site plans on this. So, this project here is moving forward. And we thought we were clean. We thought everything was good to go from our last one. And as we as our client um is now under contract with somebody to purchase this parcel for a hotel, uh we realized the right of way, we we assumed the right of way would go towards the it would be zoned based on the adjacent zoning. We just had never had this pop up in in the county before. So when we saw it was zone C1, we obviously can't build a hotel on Z on C1 property. So that's why we're back. Hopefully the last time in front of you on this for some cleanup. Um so what that would do is as Kim mentioned, all this would be um you know work with the GB. This area down here on Barn Road uh would also be GB. Um, I don't really have anything else to add, but I did want to just touch on a few things. Are uh the contract purchaser on this project here is um one of their partners is the same group that's developing the convenience store. So, they're putting a lot of infrastructure, a lot of money into this and he provided a letter and he he sent it to to Jude. Um, but I just want to touch on a few items. I think it's important. Um, so this would be a Woodr Suites extended stay hotel. So, this would be something that would help visiting doctors, nurses, university staff at at Radford as well as Virginia

Tech. They're estimating about 11 million uh construction um investment into the project itself. They're um looking at probably 20 to 25 permanent local jobs that would be generated from this project and estimates between 5 and $10,000 per month in lodging tax revenue for the county and approximately 15 to $30,000 annually in real estate tax. Um and they're also, as I said, he's also a partner in the in the the other gas station and and um quick service restaurant, which is going to be about another $6 million worth of investment. um in construction. So, these folks are putting a lot into this exit which has been sitting after we got all this stuff reszoned initially back in 2009. We're excited to see some movement. I know Mr. Woody is. Uh hopefully the county is as well. So, uh we'd appreciate your support tonight and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Are there any questions of Mr. Simone's? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I I just for clarification, I'm not sure if if Steve that you answer this or perhaps staff, but in the staff report, it did mention concern about lighting because of proximity to the stewardship resource stewardship. We we'll have to meet the the county requirements for for lighting at the at the property lines at the right of way and the phototrics. So, we don't have anything special planned for the lighting, but everything I was just curious why staff had flagged that in.

I was a little curious myself, but we'll we'll still have to provide down lighting. Everything will have to meet those standards. It has become a customary statement that staff puts in there because a lot of focus from our citizens has been that it shouldn't create night sky damage down, you know, pointed downwards, that type of thing. So it has become a standard statement that we put in our staff reports. Um we do require a lighting plan when they go through the site plan process that shows spill of lighting and that type of thing. So I I I do not foresee any issues. So our language should say shall require rather than should.

We [clears throat] cannot change it because this is a reasonzoning. Um, so we cannot add conditions to a resoning. Are you talking about tonight or perspectively? Anytime we have a reasonzoning, we cannot add conditions. That is that is up to the owner to offer those conditions. Well, I'm not a good enough lawyer to know the difference between shall and should. I think in zoning terms shall means it is absolutely required right um should leave some ambiguity and it's not required at that point

right so shall it shall be so that comment in the staff report was just a comment that wasn't part of the profers though it was not no okay that would just be addressed during site plan approval correct that is correct so the lighting would remain um without control.

The lighting will have to comply with all ordinance regulations. So, we do have ordinance regulations that prevents glare onto adjoining properties. Um it would prevent spillover onto the adjoining roadways and that type of thing. So, there there are requirements. I cannot tell you what the exact candle feet are, but it has to meet a certain candle at the property lines. Do you know if that includes night sky friendly? It does not include night sky friendly. Okay, that's a deal breaker.

And I think most of the night sky items that we look at that you're not having you're not having flood lights that are coming off the side of your building pointed out towards your property lines, things like that, or you don't have any you don't have any spot lights. We don't have a bat signal, you know, coming up off of the the top of the hotel. So, you know, everything we'd have around the hotel itself would be security lighting on the building. Um, you know, building lighting itself. There might be some uplighting on the landscaping at the entrance, but beyond that, you just have your normal parking lot lighting, which again, we'll have to meet the height requirements as as prescribed in the county code as well as the downward lighting. We can't do uh we can't do upward lighting on our on our the heads of our lamps. They all have to be, you know,

correct. And normally that downward lighting is what it takes to be in compliance with dark sky. But not necessarily. Not necessarily. But that is normally. So if we require something to be dark sky friendly, that is what we look for on the site plan that the light fixtures be pointed downwards. But we don't have that presently. We do not have that written into code. No.

Okay. It's concerning because there's lots of light spillage in that area already and I would think any of the older um developments on the north side of the interstate would pro were probably be done before the current county code. So the the new store that we're showing here on the screen and the hotel would certainly meet all the standards that the county has.

Correct. and the new store that was constructed, they do have downward lighting. And both of the new hotels do have, well, newer hotels, I guess, since 2000, um, they have the downward shielded lighting as well. [sighs] Any other comments, questions? Thank you.

I'd [snorts] now like to open a public hearing uh for this subject. uh anyone who wishes to address the commission um may do so at this time. We have three minute windows to give you the opportunity for your comments. I have uh no signups at this point. So if there's anyone in the audience, seeing none, I will close the public hearing and um we will move on to uh any additional comments or questions that may have arisen since we last opined.

Okay. Tell me a bit more about Barn Road and how it will be accessed if at all.

So, Barn Road has officially been closed um by VOTE. That was done. It was a couple of years ago through a revenue sharing project. Um so that road has been closed and it is now just to the culde-sac. Um from the culde-sac on that is Young Lane and um so that services Mr. Wagner Young's property. My understanding you can you can access his property through that. Um but it is no longer public rightway and it was in the agreement with VOTE through the revenue sharing that once that was abandoned um it would be dedicated to this property since they were the other part of the revenue sharing project. So, this property, they are now transferring that in to the RWWW 36, I believe, not 34 um property to make it part of that.

And it will be public. It It will not It is public to the culde-sac, but there is not a road that will extend through there anymore. It does not currently extend through there. It is closed. And that was recommendation by VOTE. Okay. Mr. Chairman, if I may, um I was checking code. Um so the measurement at property line is 0.25 foot candles. Um and that excludes street lighting in that review,

but it wouldn't preclude [clears throat] any form of lighting uh from the previous approval. The Okay. So, they could have flood lights in there if they chose. I understand the site plan wouldn't be approved if they had flood lights that were flooding adjacent properties. Correct. If it goes onto adjacent properties, no, we would not. Okay. And this resoning is just for the little strips of land that were vacated.

This resoning is only for the property, the small pieces of property that are being added because of the vacated rideway. Okay. Um the way our ordinance is written, any undesated land, which is state roads, um any undesated land once it comes into the jurisdiction, it then is automatically zoned conservation C1.

And so once they abandon those right ofways and the state turned it over, because it was undesated, it was the county attorney's opinion that it came in as C1. So we had to correct that to make it general business um like the adjoining property. The other was the small subject parcel there that was acquired after the initial resoning. And so when they came through to do cleanup the last time we saw that that was a future phase. So we didn't realize that they were intending to reszone it to general business like the rest of it. We we just thought it was a future phase and um it it came up while we were doing some planning work and so they came in to have that reszone to general business as well. Um they had acquired that after the initial resoning. So the property is already zoned general business. It is already subject to the profers. Um they have not proposed a change to the profers other than a date of the concept plan to show those additional properties that they've acquired from VOTE. And all of these properties are owned by [clears throat] RWWW.

Um, it's owned by the same entity. I believe he has it listed under two different LLC's. One's an RWWW36 and one's an RWWW34, I believe. And the piece of property that excludes um night night friendly skylighting um would be eligible for a profer from the owner regarding the lighting. I mean we're approving all of this in one in in one group.

Correct. This is this is being approved all as one. Yes. Thank you. It's not relaxing any previous profers. Those profers still stay. So So we're just It's just clean up the zoning. Right now it's [clears throat] commercial. C something. It's general business. No, currently it's So currently the vacated right ofway area and the small parcel there that used to be on Barn Road, right? um are zoned differently. So the vacated right ofway is zoned con conservation C1 C1. Okay. C1. Okay.

And the subject par the small parcel there is zoned agriculture A1. So they are wanting to change that to general business to make it in compliance with the rest of the master plan. So the question before us then is do we want do we want it to stay C1 or do we want to uh let it become general business so it can be developed with the other property at the same time. Correct. Correct. And I think on that question I'm I'm in favor. I'm in so I'd like to make a motion that we approve the resoning request.

Uh we need to have two motions. Um the first let's identify it as the subtitle A at Barn Road. Um and I'll entertain a motion for that subtitle A. I'll make that motion. Motion's made. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Lincolnis. Um Miss Stein, would you do a roll call, please? Mr. Croll. Yes. Mr. Rice, yes. Mr. Miller, no. Mr. Workman, Miss Simkins,

yes. Miss Sharp Robinson, Mr. Walls. Vice Chair Lincolnis, yes. Chair Foster, yes. Motion carries. And I'll now entertain a motion for the subsection B, which I'll identify as uh Young's Lane. Is there a motion to approve or disapprove? Before a motion, could we again look at the large map on the screen and dim the lights? And do you have a I I do not have a clicker.

Clicker. Okay. I think Justin has one. Do you want to step?

And for clarification purposes, you identified subsection A is Barn Road. Then the other one needs to be Meadow Creek because Barnode and Youngs Lane are the same. Okay. Which one were you wanting to see? Um, [snorts] no. Was it the aerial map with the zoning? Uh, the one you just passed

there. Okay, that's the master plan. So, can Justin, can you u clarify which one we're now considering? Kim, can you use the mouse? And so, this is the portion that Mr. Foster referred to as subsection A, which is the barn road.

This is the culde-sac for Barn Road, and this is the Youngs Lane. And then what uh Chair Foster was referring to as subsection B, which would be the Meta Creek portion of the application, is this area right here that is going to be um vacating the V dot right away along the I81 northbound entrance. So the question before us now is this second this second parcel that you just met. Meta Creek. Okay. Along Yes, sir. along Interstate 81. Yes, sir. Okay. And the larger

the larger portion of that, Kim, if you'll show them where that property line is, that is already zoned general business. So, we are just adding between the two dash lines there to this property. And because it comes in as C1, we have to zone it appropriately. Correct. So, what about the property at the bottom of the screen? This area with the dotted line, the dashed line around it is already zoned general business. This area right here is zoned agricultural and that was the lot that was purchased in 2015.

And then this area, this sin strip right here is the lot that came in as conservation that was vacated that is being applied to be reszoned to general business. And then once these if the resoning is approved, then these interior lot lines are going to be vacated and it's going to create one large parcel and all of that those two properties will be served by Barn Road. Yes. There's a Steve. Okay.

Right. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wright. So, do we have a motion to approve the Met Creek portion? I'll get it right. Um, request subsection B. I'll make the motion that we approve the request. Rice, is there a second? Second. Mr. Lincolnis, Miss Stein, would you do the honors?

Mr. Rice, yes. Mr. Miller, no. Mr. Workman? Miss Simkins? Yes. Miss Sharp Robinson? Mr. Walls? Mr. Croll, yes. Vice Chair Lincolnis, yes. Chair Foster, yes.

Motion carries. And we will now move to um the next public hearing which is a request by Shaw Development LLC for special use permit uh to allow for a contractor storage yard on a property located off of Flanigan Drive. Mr. Ward, floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Foster. Yeah, as Mr. Foster has mentioned this is a request by Shell Development LLC for a special permit to allow a contractor storage yard on Flanken Drive.

Um, is this better? Awesome. Thank you.

Oh, yeah. So, to start off with, we have a couple of vicinity maps for you to view. The general vicinity of the parcel in question. Um, looking on the left hand side, you can see that the parcel is located close towards the boundary of the town of Christiansburg. And looking on the right hand side of the map, you can see that the parcel is currently located between Interstate 81 and Rhino Road, also known as Route 8. Here we have a couple a couple of maps. We have the aerial zoning map on the left hand side. Um, this will give you just a general sense of of where the parser is located in in a conjunction to Interstate 81. As you can see, it is primarily on the villa agricultural land with contracted storage yards and a greenhouse located around the vic vicinity. On the right hand side, we also have the zoning map and it is primarily agric agricultural zoning districts. And if you cannot tell by indicated in the light green, the area is considered part of the resource stewardship designation based on our comprehensive plan. So the background for this application is that the applicant has has approached plan staff to to to request for an SUP to allow the contractor storage yard on Blankens Drive. The contractor storage yards are allowed by approval on prior by an approved SUP on agricultural zone in an agricultural zone district. The property is located at the end of Flanken Drive which is adjacent to interstate 81 and does intersect with route 8. The subject property does have roof franch along flanken drive and is accessed by a 3- foot wide access easement. The subject to totals 41 acres and has an existing structure previously used for the storage of agricultural equipment. Roughly 9 acres of the property will be used to will be developed as the proposed storage yard. The remaining acreage will remain an agricultural use based on the zone and ordinance. A contracted storage yard is an area that is used for the storage of equipment and/or materials used for providing construction related to contracting services including but not

limited to flooring, heen, plumbing, roof and landscaping and excavation. Um, other details worth known with the surrounding uses of the land. Um, parcel ID 290036 to the south of the subject parcel is also currently being used as a contractor storage yard which was approved by the board of supervisors May 12th, 2025 for Shaw Development, but has since been acquired by the Kesler Construction Company. Additionally, Shaw Development also owns 75 acres of undeveloped land, also zone agriculture. Um, this is parcel 026101, which lies west of the subject parcel along along the 40ft wide axis road. So Shaw development is requesting a location for a contracted storage yard to store equipment, vehicles, materials used for their development operations. The property and the existing 27500 foot structure were previously used for the agricultural operations and are still currently being used for the storage of some agricultural equipment. Employees of Shaw development will be the primary users of the property, transporting equipment and materials to and from job sites as necessary. These will be typically between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Employees will be transient in nature with no full-time with no full-time on-site employees. Five to seven trips can be anticipated for the site per week. Typical equipment to be stored on site include trailers, trucks, skids, skid steers, excavators, tractors, equipment attachments, construction boxes, and tools. And typical materials to be stored on site includes metal building materials, block, stone, fencing, and deck materials. Most materials will be stored inside the building in order to keep them out of adverse weather conditions, but some materials are expected to be located outside the structure in the existing gravel areas. So here we have a uh conceptual site site plan map. Um the bright green on the map indicates the location of prop gravel area and the contracted storage

yard and it and is expected that they will be bound by fencing. Um other details of worth of note here is that in the southeast and the and the side part and on the side of the parcel we also have buffer yards proposed. These will be type four rear buffer yards and type four side buffer yards respectively due to the adjacent residential parcels right right next door. The blue the blue lines indicates that is that that fence will be waved for the for for for this part for this portion of the uh site plan because of the topography because of the topography shields way the the uh general view of the um property itself. So here we have a couple of pictures just to give you give you a general idea of what is going on with the with this current subject parcel. On the left hand side we have the public hearing notice at the terminus of flank and drive and on the right hand side that we have a we have the 40 foot wide axis easement that I've mentioned before that leads to the subject parcel from flank and drive's culdeac. Oops. Um here's two images of the general structure in general. The left hand side is the front of the parcel. The right hand side is the rear of the parcel. Please also note the surrounding gravel area as met as mentioned before. On the left hand side we have a picture of the waste disposal that will be used by SH development. Um also please know it also faces away from the boundary lines and we also have an image that of the current fencing that is currently in place of SH development. Here's another picture of the rear view of the of the parcel structure. As mentioned before, some objects will be lying outside within the gravel area as mentioned before. And also we and also this is just gives you a general better view of what's going on on the rear end of rear end of the structure. These pictures also just demonstrate the current topography of the structure in

relation to relation relations to its elevation. The left hand side search for the property on the adjacent property facing north show showing how how generally well concealed the structure is from that property. And the on the left hand side shows the property facing facing south onto the adjacent property highlighting how high up it is on the current hill. So for the impacts of this uh SGP um not not not too much is anticipated. The Virginia Department of Transportation has commented that no visible encroachments are visible on site and VAR has stated that no significant traffic impacts are anticipated on state roads. The driveway for the ex existing access easement will continue to be owned and maintained by shot development. No water or sewage no water or sewage is needed for the proposed site as it is transitory in nature and landscaping, screaming, parking, signage and other requirements will be reviewed as part of the site plan review process. It is currently not located in a FEMA flood zone hazard and compliance with all erosion and sediment control measures will be verified at the site plan review phase of the project. No significant increase in noise is anticipated as the primary function of the use would be for material and equipment storage. Noticeable noise increases would only be attributable to the mobilization of equipment and materials to and from the yard. Existing exterior wall mount lighting will be used. Existing light does not spill on two adjacent properties and the applicant does not attend on adding more light. If we so choose, the installation of any additional lighting must comply with all requirements in the zoning ordinance. Fencson is proposed to bound the contracted storage yard. As mentioned before, all fentin must be stalled also in compliance with the zoning ordinance. Type four rear and side buffer yards are required the adjacent properties being low density residential as mentioned beforehand and is also required by zone ordinance. storage containing as box trailer shall be screened from the view of the adjacent uses.

Looking once again at the comprehensive plan as I've mentioned before the subject parcel lies within this resource within the resource stewardship area designation and um this is defined as rural areas with high resource value based on soil types environmental sensitivity and other unique land characteristics. The comprehensive plans also goes on further to say that the county may permit new new non-aggriculturally related institution institutional uses by special exemption provided provided that it is compatible in scale and intensity with the agricultural and rural residential uses and poses no threat to the public health safety and welfare. So based on the data provided, staff has come up with the analysis that the portfolio contractor's use storage yard would provide a viable use to the existing structure and lot. The proposed use will will generate limited impacts on surrounding properties with storage and with a storage of equipment and materials located out of sight of the adjacent properties. The project would not generate any significant noise or or traffic to the area other than the movement equipment. Proposed buffer yards and topography will help conceal the contracted storage yard from the adjacent residential uses. Furthermore, the lies access through land owned by the subject property owner and therefore reduces any potential traffic noise concerns. Based on staff analysis, plan staff recommends the approval of the request for a special use permit to allow for a contracted storage yard with the following conditions. Site plan the the site shall be developing a general conformance with the submit concepts get submit December 5th 2025. The basic site plan addressing zoning conformance with zone landscaping screen and parking signage and other requirements shall be approved prior to the issuance of any county permits. The contractor storage yard shall not be open to the public. The contractor storage yard should not create any significant exterior impacts including noise, vibration, glare, odors or electrical interference. There shall be

no trash, litter, debris, junk, or con or construction waste stored on site. The typical hours of operation shall be from 7 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Any exterior line installed on the property shall be designed to prevent glare onto adjacent properties and comply with dark sky friendly standards. Contractors equipment and vehicles stolen on property shall be in good working conditions at all times. And lastly, any outdoor storage shall be screened from the view of adjacent properties with opaque fencing at least six feet in height. Um, we have we have notified the joint property owners in accordance with county code section 10523 and the code of Virginia and public hearing signs were placed at at the property. Legal ads are running Cardinal News and at this time staff have received no comments from the public but we may receive additional public during the public hearing. Do we have any questions for staff?

Not 100% sure. or I'm going to have to refer to the applicant really quick. It it would um so they with that they could use it for the contractor storage yard 7 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Um but they would not be allowed to use it outside those hours for a contractor storage yard. So if someone called and complained, we would have to investigate and go from there. Saturday. Yes. And and we can ask Mr. Neil, okay,

about those hours and and if that impacts him. Um, this is a special use permit, so you all can make changes. Um, these were just recommended by staff. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Uh, does the applicant wish to address the planning commission? Mr. Neil, it's good to have you with us tonight. You, too. I'm gonna pass this around for you all. [clears throat]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of planning commission. Appreciate your time this evening. Um, [clears throat] Liam did a great job of explaining our proposal. I'm passing around a a kind of a a large scale uh drawing just to kind of help you see some of those waiverss that we've requested. And I think that's the one thing that I wanted to point out to all of you all. Um Shaw came before you about a year ago and requested a SUP for a contractor storage yard. Uh they uh they had a staff member handle that themselves. Um and then Mr. Kesler promptly bought that off of Shaw Development. So, uh, we unfortunately need to come back and and ask for another one, uh, effectively on the same same property, just, uh, downhill a little bit. And with, uh, the way the, uh, hemp and things are going on, we're able to, uh, convert this the barn as well as some of this adjacent, uh, gravel area, and we like to request that for this contractor storage yard. Um, Shaw Development also recently or relatively recently uh acquired one of their uh one of their subcontractors that has done a lot of grading work and and those types of work for them. Uh they've they've been able to acquire that business. Um help that owner out as he was transitioning into kind of f further into uh his retirement area. Uh not quite there yet. And so [clears throat] we have have a need for a little bit larger area. Um, it is right at 9 acres. I think we we had a typo or something. I I think it might be uh the 8 and a half acres was for the actual contractor storage yard and then the nine includes the area of the of the buffer yards and stuff. I think that might what be what that is. I'm not 100% sure. Um, we would uh certainly request uh that those waiverss be granted and we would certainly appreciate any opportunity to expand the hours a little

bit. Um we understand uh that's at your all's discretion. Uh we we'd love to have the opportunity to to work on Saturdays. It's going to be few and far between, but every now and then that that might be a requirement. Um and be happy to answer any questions you have. There any questions of Mr. Neil?

Mr. Neil. the Riverbend Nursery. Yes, sir. Has that was that existing previously? Um, it has been existing for a for a little while. And that's on agricultural A1 land. Yes, sir. And and Riverbend that is just their uh growhouse. It's not a retail or anything like that. Um, we cut off. Uh, so it doesn't have any kind of customers or anything coming to it. Thank you. Mr. Neil, can you tell me what the type four buffer yard is? What what does that mean? Type four.

Uh, so the type four has kind of some specific planting requirements. I think it's in the upper right hand corner of that sketch there. You might it might be a little small. Um, I don't know off the top of my head, but we have trees required and then some shrubs and things like that. Um, and we are proposing that for kind of that adjacent residential use. I think it's still zoned agriculture, but it's residential use. Uh, so we are we aren't asking for a waiver waver there. We've certainly put in that buffer. Um,

so the main difference with a type four buffer is it does require opaque screening. Um, so it means they have to put some type of fencing. In the past, instead of fencing, we have allowed them to do like evergreen trees similar to like Leland Cyprus because it it gives the same visibility buffer um from the property. So, we've allowed we've allowed the evergreens in place of the opaque screening. But the biggest thing with a type four, there are a few additional trees, but normally it's not about the number of trees that's required. It's it's about that fence requirement for the opaque fencing.

Okay. Thank you. And one other item to mention, certainly we have a whole lot of acreage still left and we'll continue to be using that as agricultural land.

Are there other questions of Mr. Neil? Mr. control.

Does anybody know um what the current hours of operation are for the previously approved SUP on the adjacent property? It seems to me that um I I don't have a problem with um relaxing those requirements to allow Saturday, but I would want to make sure that we're at least consistent with what was done before because we wouldn't want to allow this one or vice versa. They since they're adjacent to each other, it's the exact same use under a special use permit. Do you recall, Mr. Ch? I

think we need to have some consistency. I do not. I actually I didn't handle that. Uh it was a Shaw staff member. I'm sorry. I'm pulling it right now. Yeah. Um we'll look that if we can continue, we'll look that up and then can get you an answer on it. We'll pull the previous ordinance and see what it says. So, and the existing operations for um the retail meat um packing that's is that affected by this area that's being repurposed for the Yes, sir. that this this will convert to the contractor storage yard.

Okay. So, the existing building there, that's what they're currently using for the meat processing operation. Uh what's the hemp processing? Hemp. Isn't there also a uh I seem to remember processing a store that was open few days a week. Yeah. That uh it was a retail outlet. Yeah. I don't think they processed. I think they just sold. Yeah. Retail. They did. It was open for a brief period of time. Um I think he sold some of the beef from that location. And it it was an aggra tourism like a farm in business. My understanding is he's no longer selling [clears throat] anything from that site now.

No, that's correct. Um they're just they still and only a portion a small portion of that building was used for the farm stand. The rest was used for the for the hemp operations. U one other question, Mr. J. The power line, does it go across this property? The power lines? Yes, sir. Uh there is a power line that goes across. Mhm. I don't know if you can see it in any of those pictures or not. It's It looks like the three parallel lines that run run um parallel to I 81. They do. Mhm. That's just the easement, right? Yeah. Oh, no.

Okay. the power line in the in the two sides of the easement. Right. It crosses I 81 about a mile west of that site. [snorts] Yeah. The those three lines you see like Mr. Cor says the two outer lines are the outside edges of the easement and then that center line has the rest of the power lines are attached to the uh structures going along that way.

Mr. Chairman, um to clarify the question about the previous contractor storage yard, uh in the conditions approved by the board of supervisors in ordinance FY25-25, typical hours of operation shall be 7 to 5 Monday through Saturday. Um for the previous Well, I I would suggest if we do approve this that we amend the conditions to have it consistent with the adjacent use, please. I think we can just make it part of the motion. Yeah, I think so. When we get to the motion instead of making it consistent with

Right. I'm just saying that whoever makes that motion, I would defer to whoever's district that is in and if they choose not to, then I'll make the motion. Okay. [clears throat] All right. Any other questions of Mr. Neil? Thank you, sir. Let me uh open the public hearing. Um, noting that we have no one signed up and looking at this audience, I suspect no one wishes to

offer comments. Uh, so I will close the the uh public hearing. Um, and turn again to the commission to see if you have comments, observations, questions. I have no concern about the hours of operation and [clears throat] while this is not gerine to uh our discussion I would like to see we clean our language so that we don't end up with should bees and approximately and u those weasel words that anyone could use uh at their will

well I think it's um appropriate use of the property and I think it has minimal impact to the residential areas. So uh I'm in favor of the condition use permit with the change in hours to uh 75 Monday through Saturday. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Miller. seconds. Miss Stein, would you please call the role? Mr. Miller, yes. Mr. Workman. Miss Simpkins. Yes. Miss Sharp Robinson. Mr. Walls. Mr. Croll?

Yes. Mr. Rice? Yes. Vice Chair Lincolnis? Yes. Chair Foster? Yes.

Motion carries. Thank you. Uh I would now like to uh go to item six on our agenda which is the public address. Again, if there's anyone who wishes to address the commission on any topic other than the public hearings, now's the time. Having seen no one sign up and seeing no one any audience, I will close public address and we will work go to item seven which is a work session um to discuss Montgomery matters and I will entertain a motion to enter into work session.

So moved. Mr. Miller second moves. Second. Mr. Rice seconds. All those in favor in favor, please signify by saying I. I I

opposed. Motion carries. Um, Mr. Sanders. Thank you, Mr. Foster. Um, so again, just some background on where we have been and where we are still to go in our comprehensive plan update. As I reminded you last meeting, our engagement efforts for McGomery Matters have been ongoing since June of last or June of 2024. Um September the 9th we completed our first round of village meetings and then in November we had our final countywide meeting. Uh we reviewed parts one and two of McGomery Matters with you in December. Um and we will be going over parts one and two with the board of supervisors at their meeting on January the 26th. Um our plan is to bring the comprehensive plan forward for public hearing with you next month on February 11th. Um that is so that we can get public feedback that we can integrate into the final document. Uh and our hope is that you will adopt uh recommend adoption of McGomery Matters at your March meeting. Uh a little bit of the information regarding the feedback that was integrated. uh final plan actions will be integrated into the final document that will go to public hearing. That survey closed at the end of December. Um those are those concrete actions and program recommendations that will be part of the comprehensive plan. And as you'll remember uh last month I I spoke with you about a tracking sheet and a tracking tool that we will be creating. Those are the actions that we'll be tracking through that sheet. um that will give us an opportunity uh yearly and then every five years uh to track progress on our various goals that we've established within the comprehensive plan. Um there was a note uh at our last uh session regarding a table of contents and page numbering. Um that was intentionally not done in the draft document because we were continuing to

drop uh portions of the plan in. Um we have had some conversations with our consulting team about how we're going to approach page numbering. Um so in the final version of the plan that will be going to public hearing, you'll see that reflected. Um we've integrated all the grammatical and typographical revisions that we received from you after the last meeting. Um and I did wanted I just wanted to note again the intentional focus uh of the document to reflect the community's voice. Um and that's integrating phrasing and themes that were drawn directly from citizen interaction, survey comments, and stakeholder engagement. Um and again that is reflected in the language that you're reading in the plan. So just as a reminder as we go through the various chapters um each chapter is organized with an introduction and a vision statement related to the theme of the chapter. There's a section related to McGomery's voice. Again this is that direct feedback that we've received from the public um that we have used as a framework for the narrative for the chapter. Uh each chapter also contains a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. Then we outline the goals and then each chapter also has some data snapshots to support the development of the goals as they've been presented. So going into part three, this is our community development part of the plan. In this uh portion of the plan, we cover land use, economic resources and development, housing and transportation. So, starting off with our land use vision, these are the general themes uh within the land use vision. Many of these are carried over from our 2025 comprehensive plan. Um, one of the tasks that we gave to the citizens were to evaluate the existing goals and themes in the comprehensive plan to determine if those should carry forward or if

those needed to be edited uh to reflect our our modern world. Um, but our general themes here are balanced growth, fiscal planning, collaboration and coordination, innovative technology, scale and sighting, and resilient and inclusive communities. So in each section of the plan, we call out these needs to be addressed. And again, this is that portion where we're really trying to bring forward the concerns as they were articulated to us by the citizens. And in the land use section, these are the four uh needs that we heard most often addressed by the citizens. Protection of farmland and agricultural landscape. Preservation of natural habitat such as forest waterways and native species. The preservation of the county's natural beauty and concentrated growth for better emergency response times, infrastructure, and community development. So in this section, we have uh outlined a few goals. Again, our balanced growth goal. Uh this really will tie into our future land use map which we will cover in part five of the plan. Um but really this is prioritizing where we would like to see development over the next 20 years as we've identified with our citizens and stakeholders. Um and I mentioned this to you last month again that first priority will still remain development within the two towns. Um obviously the two towns have the most robust amount of infrastructure that can support that growth. Um but as we have seen through our various uh processes to analyze available land in the county, we know that land within the two towns is at a premium. Um the second priority area that we've discussed with you are the creation of two growth areas. Uh the first being the Marramac growth area

which is located between the town of Christensburg and the town of Blackburg around Route 460 business and then a new growth area along the route 177 corridor that we've we've named the Bethl growth area. Um and again these are areas that infrastructure already exists and has we've identified the need for additional infrastructure improvements along those corridors. However, the transportation infrastructure that's already in place would support that future growth. And then our third priority for growth areas would be the four villages. And I will note this is down from our current six villages. As I mentioned with you last month, both the Plum Creek and Belleview villages will be considered rural villages in the new comprehensive plan. um they would receive limited growth, but again the four uh the four villages that remain would also be a a growth area for us. And as Brie mentioned to you last month, all of our village areas, all six of the current villages are already designated as urban development areas. We would continue to designate both Plum Creek and Belleview as urban development areas to be able to uh capture funding opportunities that are available to us in those regions. transportation funding sort of high among them. Um but again this really reflects uh what we heard when we were in our village meetings that the villages wanted some growth area to protect them uh between what we were seeing in the town and what was happening in the villages. Um so again strategies that we've developed to support a balanced growth goal focusing new development in the villages and the growth areas encouraging infield development and redevelopment in villages and growth areas focusing on higher densities where existing infrastructure is located protecting prime and important farmland and prioritizing natural and cultural resources for preservation and conservation.

And as I've noted to you when we met last month, each section also contains metrics that we can review yearly and on those five-year required increments that we have in state code to review the comprehensive plan. Those are outlined for you there. And then we also identify partner organizations or institutions that we can work with to achieve those goals as we go through as well. Our second land use goal deals with resilient and inclusive communities. Um again our strategies here are restricting development in riskprone areas, supporting relocation options for residents in buildings that in hazardous or sensitive areas, protecting and expanding areas considered resilient, providing diverse housing types, integrating open space and recreational access in new developments, and improving connections and proximity to services. Uh and this really reflects, I think, the time in which we were meeting with citizens. This was as the county uh and the rest of southwest Virginia and North Carolina were recovering from Hurricane Helen. So the idea of resiliency was really at the forefront of a lot of people's minds as we were going through this process. As we move into economic development and resources, again, general themes here, some of these did carry over from our 2025 comprehensive plan. Uh but we talk a lot here about economic development and its impact on quality of life. We talk about workforce development uh appropriate locations and land use for projects, attraction and retention of businesses and industry, expanding our local tax base and local revenue, diversification of our local economy, and then higher wages. again the areas that were addressed by our citizen comments. There was a lot of conversation about how we can retain a younger workforce. Um there were a lot of comments from our stakeholder

community about reliance on limited sectors of employment. Um so diversifying beyond healthcare and education. Uh we had a lot of conversations surrounding household affordability. Uh and again that balanced growth that preserves rural qualities. So in our economic development section, uh goal A focuses on location and land use. Again, focusing development on the villages and growth areas. Again, creating infill economic development opportunities within those areas. Allowing higher commercial densities where existing infrastructure and transportation networks are located. uh but also balancing our needs to protect our prime farmland and agricultural operations and our natural resources and cultural resources. We also talked quite a deal with our stakeholder groups about outdoor recreation and tourism. Um we sit in a unique area that we have a lot of natural resources here in the county but the larger New River Valley as well. Um so really leveraging our cultural and recreation AC assets as tourism drivers for the community. Goal B talks about diversification. We talk about about small businesses here in these strategies. Um support for local farmers and agricultural operations. Um this again was from our stakeholder groups working with Virginia Farm Bureau and farmers in the community supporting our existing businesses and then again developing tourism for the local economy. Goal C within economic development really ties into that quality of life uh pursuing and strategies here pursuing economic development efforts that foster higher household incomes and wages. We heard a lot from our stakeholders about investing in the technology sector and advanced manufacturing and then expanding the local tax base while maintaining the qualities that

make McGomery County a desirable place to live and work. And then we talked extensively about workforce development with our stakeholder groups and there was a lot of cross-pollination here between economic development and education. So again talking about uh trade profession education and adult learning as an economic strategy aiding in the development of careers. This is working with our university partners and then supporting partnerships with regional organizations and institutions. Um we had a very robust group of stakeholders that contributed to our economic development section uh in coordination with our economic development staff here at the county. housing. Uh this is arguably what we heard the most about throughout our comprehensive planning efforts. Um housing affordability and housing availability are are major issues here in the region and nationally now. Um so really the themes that sort of emerged here, if you'll remember in our last comprehensive plan, we had one housing goal. Um, and when we were going through things with citizens, these ideas of neighborhoods being livable, the idea that they're mixed income and diverse housing options within neighborhoods, the idea of safe housing, and this came up a lot when we talked about uh maintenance of existing housing stock. Uh, we have a number of residents in our community who have expressed concerns that they are unable to maintain the homes that they live in. This also goes to individuals who are aging in place who have a larger home and maybe don't have the resources to support the maintenance on that facility. Um so safe housing emerged as a theme and then again attainable and diverse housing. This is really about having enough variety that uh at every cost point at every need for a family or an individual we have a type of housing available to

them to suit their needs. The three uh needs that were addressed most often by citizen again affordable housing availability and overall supply uh housing for the county's diverse needs and housing in areas with public services and infrastructure. This is something that we uh talk about extensively later in our um public safety goals. making sure that communities are within the service areas of our existing fire and rescue facilities uh and making sure that they have the infrastructure to support development. [clears throat]

So again, housing goal A, attain attainable and diverse housing, raising public awareness of housing affordability, facilitating the development of mixed income neighborhoods, helping residents stay in their existing homes, supporting aging in place for county residents, supporting individuals who are unhoused, and fostering affordability in new housing developments. uh in our thriving neighborhoods goal. The strategies we've identified there are fostering redevelopment and infill within existing neighborhoods, creating neighborhoods with multimmodal design features. This is um making sure that sidewalk connectivity is is prioritized, making sure we are planning for future mult uh mass transit in communities. uh preserving the county's unique qualities in new and existing developments and integrating neighborhood amenities to support communities. In our safe housing goal, we talk about looking at highquality materials and innovative building practices uh to maybe defer maintenance. And here, think about things like hardy plank, which can replace traditional wood clabard sighting. It's a much lower maintenance cost. ensuring that housing is accessible for people of all abilities. Again, that goes with aging in place, but it also ensures that individuals who have mobility issues uh have housing that will accommodate them. uh supporting and collaborating with organizations to support housing quality, preparing vulnerable populations for hazard events, supporting relocation options for residents and buildings in hazardous or sensitive areas, and supporting aging in place. Moving into transportation, as you all will remember, back in 2023, we adopted Transportation Matters as our county's first standalone transportation plan. We wanted to make sure that McGomery Matters integrated the work that was

done in transportation matters. Uh it will remain a standalone document but we integrated the goals and themes from the larger document into McGomery Matters. Um again so talking about safety for all users, congestion relief, multimmodal transit, connectivity, economic competitiveness, environmental preservation, regional coordination, participatory planning and land use coordination. Um those were themes again that we identified several years ago that are carrying forward here in McGomery Matters. So what we've done is we've we've sort of taken the highlights and the high points of transportation matters um worked to update the formatting so they look and feel like the rest of the plan. Um and then we also went through and ensured that all of our priority projects that have been awarded funding or we're currently in construction on have been removed from our lists so that we can focus on additional projects as we go through the plan. Um, so again, I won't run through all of these again because we we've looked at transportation matters multiple times, but again, goal A, safety for users, congestion relief as goal B, multimodal transit options in goal C, and then connectivity in goal D, and then economic competitiveness and prosperity. Um the the way we looked at transportation really was how does how do our transportation goals support all of our other goals that have been identified. Um obviously transportation connects directly to our economic success. Uh individuals who utilize transit to get to their places of employment. Um connections for individuals in their communities to other resources both commercial and recreational. Um so so making sure that our goals uh that were outlined in

transportation matters are really supporting uh the rest of the comprehensive plan. Excuse me. Justin, can I interrupt for a quick question? Absolutely. Can you go back? What what is the equity emphasis area under the metrics?

So equity emphasis areas that is um a standard established by the National Department of Transportation. Um I'm not sure of the current status uh since there have been several changes at DOT. Um but it's looking at uh looking at census block tracks to ensure that disadvantaged communities or underrepresented populations have the same access to services and transportation as their their less underprivileged counterparts.

Okay. Thank you. So again, uh the road projects that have been identified uh on our priority list here, uh I won't go too deep into the tier structure. Um but again, when we developed transportation matters, we developed a a formula to evaluate these projects uh and rank them in these various tiers and how we can move forward with improvements. I will stop there before we move into part four and see if there are any questions on part three.

Well, you can bet I have a question. Okay, [laughter] if you don't mind. um just in general and I'm I'm trying to reconcile in my mind from a a practical application of this revised comp plan assuming it gets adopted which I'm hoping it will and in and close to its present form but when uh an applicant is applying for a reasonzoning currently there's a list of um comp plan items that they compare their proposed project to and justify that it is in substantial compliance with the comp plan which is a requirement. Do you see the way this is structured differing from the current comp plan structure to where there's easily defined criteria to evaluate an application and its merits against the overall goals or strategies or items in the comp plan so that we can make an assessment in our recommendations to the forward whether we feel it is in compliance with the plan. So I'm having a hard time in looking at this kind of in the pieces that we're going through and um trying to reconcile in my mind how we've evaluated these projects and applications in the past. Can you kind of walk us through or walk me through moving forward how you see that comparing?

[snorts]

So there I will answer that in a couple of different prongs if you will allow me. So one just sort of as a general sort of level set for comprehensive planning at large. Um comprehensive planning now is done extensively differently than it was done 20 years ago. Um the assumption in previous ways of writing comp plans were that a comp plan and a zoning ordinance need to stand independently of each other. Um in our current review of development applications, yes, we do measure um the development proposals ability to advance goals in the comprehensive plan, but there are also an extensive list of checklist requirements that are contained within the zoning ordinance and the subdivision ordinance that we also measure developments against. So while we are measuring developments against the goals in the existing comp plan, there's a lot more information in both the zoning ordinance and the subdivision ordinance that we are prioritizing in our evaluation as staff. The the second piece of that is now what comprehensive plans have sort of shifted toward is again more aspirational in the way that goals are written. Um, and the piece again that you're missing that we'll have for you, um, I'm hoping in the next week so that you all can review are those specific targeted actions that are going to be included in the plan. My opinion in working with with staff is that that list is going to be the more measurable for our development applications. Um, so that is the piece that is missing right now. Um, in terms of your role as a commission in the land use determination, again, we will be creating a new future land use map as part of this process. Um, there will be small area plans developed for both of the growth areas and the villages that we'll also use as a a way to measure. And again, those those small area plans

are going to more reflect community character, identity, materiality. Uh is parking in the rear? Those those more specific development uh goals will be outlined in those small area plans. Um so I I hope that answers your question. Again, it is a bit of a shift in the way comp plans have been written over the past 20 years. Um, but I believe that there's still going to be for staff as we go through our analysis goals that we'll be able to showcase as being supported by those development applications.

That perfect. Thank you. That very much is helpful. I appreciate it. I might uh mention and I don't know if I'm I'll be able to say this right but u uh under under our land use part here it's talking about u several places where we want to protect farmland or protect heritage land or what so are are we talking about being proactive in um in uh um promoting other land or are we restricting the ability of current owners to use their land? [clears throat] In other words, I'm kind of sensitive where we have a small group of people on one side of the county saying, you know, we don't want you to develop your land, you know, on the other side of the county. In other words, non-owners being able to control owners, you know, and and so I'm just wondering when we when we talk about, you know, protecting heritage land, what one person's definition of heritage lands might be another family's definition of of assets, you know, for retirement and and so forth.

So, the way that I'll answer that question, Mr. price is what we have heard again and I think it focuses in here on the balanced growth goal in encouraging more concentrated development in the towns, the growth areas and the villages. We are preventing sprawl into our more rural communities. What we also use this balance balanced growth for in future planning and capital planning is to determine where we should place infrastructure here in the county. Um, as you know, all six of our villages currently have public water and sewer access. Um, the growth areas have public water and sewer access and then obviously there's water and sewer in the two towns. Um, but also looking at what can our transportation network realistically support as well in terms of density. So, there's a balance there in prioritizing these three priority areas to prevent that sprawl out into the rural parts of the county. Um, again, in the actions that will be detailed, um, and again, we're still compiling those because the survey only recently closed, we will be balancing encouraging development in these areas with infrastructure, but also making sure our citizens are aware of the tools that they do have to protect those rural assets. And that's conservation easements. That's our agricultural and forestal district program. There are a number of preservation strategies that individuals who are wanting to protect their land will have. This is not in any way recommending that we don't allow folks to develop in small ways in the more rural parts of the county. Again, it's just not focusing the density there.

Right. Yeah. I'm I'm all for encouraging growth or encouraging development with several tools, but but what I don't want to see is us then blanket large areas and say, "Well, this you can't develop this, you know, so because that would affect people's livelihoods and assets and so forth.

So, so I also want to add there's another way to look at this too. Um, there's a lot of ways we can protect prime farmland. One of the main issues with farmland right now, and we hear it all the time, newer generations, one no longer want to farm. Um they they don't want to inherit the family farm. They they want to go work somewhere else. Um and it is not financially feasible like it was before. Costs have went up. Um and so it is harder to farm land. So another way you can look at this strategy of protecting prime and important farmland is we need to do a better job through our zoning ordinance through the tools that we have available to support those farmers to expand their agricultural operations to do agurism um to bring people that brings people into the county. It helps protect those farmlands because you're then supporting the farmers financially through a different means so they can continue to farm and hopefully those generational farms stay in the families that that they have been in for years. Um, so there's a couple of different ways to do that. At the same time, we don't want to tell someone, no, you can't develop your land at all, but we also don't want someone who is in the middle. I'm I'm going to use Childris just because to me that's one of the biggest farm areas. Um we don't want to say, "Hey, that's a great place to put 150 apartment units." It's not. We don't have water and sewer there. We don't have transportation network there. So, we want to be sure that we're pushing and encouraging and we have tools to help people locate those denser developments in those growth areas where the infrastructure can support them. At the same time, if I've got a 150 acre farm and I want to divide it and and have places for my

five kids to live, like I don't think we want to restrict that there. Um, but we we don't want it to be the 150, you know, apartment units there in in the middle of Childris where our prime farmland is, right? Yeah. I'm all for encouraging and not prohibiting.

Yeah. Uh and I and one of the actions and I think the the community development section is is going to be the area that's going to require the the most in terms of zoning ordinance updates. Um and that is as as we've mentioned to you, the the next step after adoption of the comprehensive plan is an update of our zoning ordinance. Uh currently, uh to give you an example, we have a minimum lot size in our A1 zoning district of 1 acre. Um, we are going to be looking at whether we should look at that minimum lot size and maybe shrink that down in our agricultural areas. That could allow individuals to maybe place some single family houses on land that's subdivided. I'm thinking also Brie mentioned agriurism. Our current zoning ordinance really doesn't address agurism operations. So, if we can address that and define that as a use in our new zoning ordinance, that gives those rural property owners alternatives of how to use their land that maybe is not selling to a developer and subdividing into hundreds of homes. Um, so again, as I as I said, they they really do the zoning ordinance and the comp plan really act in tandem. Um, and as we go through that process, we're going to be looking at strategies, particularly in our agricultural areas, which currently 90% of the county is zoned agricultural, um, ways that we can look in those areas in new new ways through the zoning.

Yeah, sound good. Thank you. All right. If there are no other questions, yes.

Thank you. I'm going to learn to operate this in another five years. Uh we have incentives um with agon forestal districts their tax incentives there. No incentives uh for the um I noticed we have partners of record including Virginia Outdoors Foundation and New River Land Trust. There are no incentives for land which is uh under an easement or a um protective covenant. And I think as a step toward looking at doing something to that, I'd love to see us have an overlay showing where those areas are. And especially in my neighborhood, [clears throat] there's public water and public sewer and people knocking on the door at least once a month. And some of them rather aggressively because they want to

put 150 houses or whatever. And I'm not sure we're looking consistently to see where those areas are.

And I will say there are a number of other tools that are available that other communities use. I'm thinking specifically about a transfer of development rights program um that our neighbors up in Alberl and Rockingham County utilize um that allows a property owner who who doesn't wish to develop their property to to take those rights and transfer them to someone in a in a more urban area. Um there are a number of programs and initiatives that we can look at uh that are modeled in other communities that we can bring in to again widen our portfolio of options for property owners. Again to your point, how can we incentivize that? Now obviously as Supervisor Gravy is sitting in the room, um any tax incentives or tax abatements that we provide to facilitate that obviously has to be measured against revenue for the county and is a decision at the board of supervisors level. Sure. Sure. Uh my last comment or question is how are farms defined? I mean A1 is a partial definition but there are lots of farms that are not an A1 and there are lots of A1 that are not farms.

That's exactly right. And so when we've been going through this process and we looked at this a bit when we did our solar amendment several years ago, um really looking at the USDA soils index of what is considered prime farmland. Um but also understanding and we have provisions in our existing zoning ordinance to talk about urban agriculture and and small operations that may be in more residential areas. Um so again, I think that's something that we're going to be looking at as we go through the zoning ordinance update. Um, one thing that we've talked about a lot with citizens is that our current comprehensive plan doesn't do a very good job at defining what rural is. Um, so particularly, uh, as we look to the villages and the growth areas and future land uses within those boundaries, how do we again balance the farm with the need for developable area?

Thank you, Mr. Sanders. Yes, sir. Um am I correct that most of this has been written by the consultants? So the the process that we have had is again we we get our feedback uh we do do our surveys and the consultants do a first pass on drafting and then staff goes through um we have multiple meetings with the consultants in the drafting of every chapter. Um so it is a collaborative effort between staff and the consulting team.

Okay. I'm This is out of sequence, but Mr. Rice's question kind of brought it to mind. I'm my issue right now, my problem with this is that the narrative, [snorts] the embracing warm, fuzzy, flowery, high level of adjectives, um, narrative that I'm reading creates a lot of conflicts. We want development to go here. We don't want it there. But it doesn't matter because utilities aren't in either place kind of thing. So it's it's kind of like one section says we're going to do this and the other one section se section says you can't because there's a common sense reason why you can't. Um so I have comments and questions that I'll send along to you. I don't know how we we reconcile it and I just want you to know I don't have my head around it yet. Maybe when we get to more specificity I will. But right now it's it's just a sea of of verbiage that doesn't lead me to a conclusion for what it's worth. Okay. Part four.

Yes sir. [clears throat] So far part part four uh concerns our health and services section. Uh within this part we deal with issues related to education, health and human services, public infrastructure and public safety and welfare. Um again, educational themes, uh focusing on our educational facilities and programs, uh lifelong learning, child care and early intervention, and then our McGomery Floyd Regional Library System. So it needs to be addressed. Limited and uncertain funding streams, overall student wellness and how that can affect learning, uh awareness of programs, poor internet access in many areas, and limited child care options. So our goals that emerged uh through the process here, lifelong learning, supporting services and provisions for early childhood education, fostering afterchool programs and facilities, supporting atrisisk youth programs and facilities, supporting continued access to higher education and technical training for young adults, and continuing to build adult and senior educational opportunities. Uh on the programming side, uh removing language barriers from education, building life skills like media literacy, career preparation and advancement and other skills, and ensuring that all students receive the support that they need. Goal C, educational facilities. Ensuring that all county facilities have adequate capacity, supporting students of all abilities, supporting afterchool facilities and programming, fostering student health, and ensuring that schools meet instructional and technological needs of students. And then I'll point out that again we're we're unique in Virginia in that both the board of supervisors the board of supervisors is the controller of the

funding for the schools but the direction and programming of schools is the responsibility of the school board. Um so in our evaluation of existing documents we looked at uh the strategic plans that have been created by the schools. We looked at capacity numbers as presented by the schools and the schools served as a stakeholder as we were developing these goals. Um so just wanted to to note that connection and that parallel there. Similarly um the McGomery Floyd Regional Library System also has a strategic plan. So we wanted to ensure that anything that we were recommending in our education goals was uh compatible with the work that the library board had done. Um so again the the strategies here fostering libraries as integral community centers. Um again this is something that emerged from all of our stakeholder discussions and citizen engagement that the libraries are not just libraries. They really do function as um a provider of multiple services whether that be health services whether that be food access. Um so really rethinking of libraries as not just a place that houses books but providing a variety of different services. Um along those lines increasing the libraries capacity and their offerings and access to the libraries. Moving into health and services. Again, there's again overlap here with when we were talking about housing, ensuring that we're planning for livable communities, encouraging regional cooperation and collaboration, focusing on health and well-being, human services and facilities, and then food access. So needs that were identified here in the health and services section, lack of medical specialists in the area, growing strain on health care from an aging population, limited mental health crisis response and resources, food insecurity,

and information on health gaps. So looking at our goals in this section, health and well-being, supporting residents with physical and mobility needs, supporting residents with cognitive disabilities, developing a supportive infrastructure for those experiencing mental health emergencies, and supporting youth and adults who require behavioral health services in our facilities. Uh looking at supporting services and provisions for early childhood education, fostering afterchool programs and facilities, supporting at risk youth programs and facilities, supporting continued access to higher education and technical training for young adults, and building adult and senior educational opportunities. There's an overlap here you'll see with education um because when we worked with our stakeholder groups, it was identified that students need to be healthy in order to learn. Um and there's a huge educational aspect. Um and we've we've learned and we've seen through our work with the schools that uh a number of students receive health care through the school system. So making sure that we continue to bridge the gaps between those two different focus areas. And then food access is something that that we've heard a lot discussed in the community. Um, obviously the county um is a partner in the live, work, eat, grow program that's housed in the old Prices Fork School. Um, but understanding that food insecurity is something that is often hidden um that we discover through health interventions and education. Um, so understanding what our food access needs are in the community is a strategy that was identified. Um there was a need again to connect with our agricultural community and supporting local farmers and producers as a means to provide food access. Um supporting food processing

operations and retail of local products, increasing access to healthy foods for vulnerable communities and then again raising awareness of services and the importance of healthy eating habits. Uh moving on to public infrastructure. Again, we we think about infrastructure in terms of our water and sewer, um, electric and gas utilities, but we also talk here about solid waste, broadband and internet access, solar energy, and then innovative utilities. Needs that were identified, limited internet access, public investments outside of the designated growth areas, and aging infrastructure and facilities. Um so looking here at infrastructure our first goal focuses on communication access. This is uh related to both our um telephone but also our broadband and um this also factors into public safety as well due to uh to telecommunications. Um, so looking at expanding wireless internet connections and cellular connections, helping low to moderate income homeowners and renters benefit from innovations in utilities, expand broadband access, and then provide quality internet access. When we look at energy and innovative utilities, um, this brought in a lot of the work that we did on our solar energy amendment. Um, but we also looked here at at trying to be as proactive as we can for technology that we may not have available to us currently. Um, we know every year that there is an increased pressure um on communities as it relates to solar energy, wind energy. We've had discussions about small nuclear reactors in Southwest Virginia. Um, so ensuring that we're being as proactive as we can be for those technologies. So promoting renewable energy and energy efficient practices and development, supporting

agro energy and dual use energy systems that allow energy generation alongside agricultural activity. Mr. Miller, that goes to your point again for what can we provide for alternatives for folks with large farms. Installing and expanding renewable energy systems on county-owned properties, encouraging retrofits of existing development to incorporate innovative or alter alternative utility systems, and establishing clear sighting and review standards for high energy use facilities to ensure compatibility with surrounding land uses and infrastructure capacity. Um, high energy use facilities um is sort of the formal term for data centers and solar energy systems. Um, so again, just making sure that we're planning for that in our comprehensive plan as we move forward. Looking at water and sewer, ensuring that water and sewer is restricting public water and sewer to villages and growth areas again to prevent that sprawl out into the rural areas. Providing communication during service interruptions. Uh, again, uh, sort of a product of the times when we were working with citizens. This was during our boil water notice last year. So, we heard that a lot from citizens during that process. offering education and resources to those with well systems uh and those with septic systems. Encouraging proactive capital planning for future growth and expansion, proactive maintenance of our existing facilities and updating and maintaining the regional water management plan. Um I will note that uh in the list of partners here uh we work very closely with the Virginia Department of Health and their environmental uh environmental health division um but also working directly with the public service authority which is now the county utilities department and the two towns to make sure that all of our systems are working compatibly. And then moving into public safety and welfare, which is our last chapter in this section, talking about public safety and emergency service, collaboration and cooperation, and then

vulnerable communities. And again, that's a tie-in with our public health because we know that there are some unique circumstances that our first responders have to deal with in addition to the their regular response dealing with individuals who are suffering from substance use disorder or who have physical or mental health challenges. So again, staffing capacity was identified as as as a need, burnout and turnover that's in both our career and our volunteer forces, funding for modernizing equipment and software, coverage issues across the county, strain on services because of the growing need of the senior population, and then repeat offenders and substance abuse were identified as needs. Um so when we were structuring our goals here, we originally had public safety um identified uh sort of collaboratively between police, fire, and EMS. Um as we continued to meet with the citizens and as we worked with our emergency services contacts, they really wanted to see this section structured to identify police, fire, and EMS all separately as individual goals. Um while there are overlaps between the needs of these three branches um there are some also specific needs that these individuals have. So uh in our police goal set and meet police response times build the capacity of police staffing. Ensure that the police department has modern equipment and software. Diversify emergency response teams that specialize in vulnerable community needs and recognize substance use disorder as a health issue. Um, in our fire goals, talking about meeting fire response times, uh, concentrating future growth around emergency centers, coordinating volunteer and professional services, prioritizing new fire facilities and growth areas affiliated with village growth areas as well. Ensure that the fire department has modern equipment,

apparatus, and software, and build the capacity of regional and local public safety units. And then in our rescue goal, very similar strategies. Setting and meeting emergency response times. Uh concentrating future growth around emergency centers. Again, coordination between our volunteer and professional services, new emergency facilities in those growth areas and villages, equipment apparatus, and software, and building capacity of the regional public safety units. Um again, we talk about emergency preparedness in this section as well. um diversifying our emergency response teams to specialize in vulnerable community needs and again recognizing substance use disorder as a health issue. Um, I will note um here particularly in the public safety area, the county is also in the process of working with a a firm uh to develop a public safety plan for for fire and EMS that will serve as a supplement to the comprehensive plan and we're continuing to work uh with that other firm again to make sure that any recommendations that we have in the plan are not contradictory um to what we're hearing from our fire and EMS folks as as part of that study. And with that, I have uh that's my last slide on section four, but I'll take any questions that you have.

Any questions of Mr. Sanders? Yes. Like to you mentioned earlier the Montgomery Floyd Regional Library and coordinating their plan with Montgomery Matters. Yes.

I wonder if our public schools have such a process in place. So the public schools were engaged at every step of the process. Uh they worked through our survey process with us. They were part of our stakeholder meetings. Um they have been invited to participate in and other activities as well. Um so so they were really with us from the development of the plan on forward. We've also been looking again we got a number of pieces of data from them uh that informed us particularly around capacity and facilities. Um the schools are currently developing a um a facilities master plan um that again we will look at. I'm not sure on the timeline of when they're going to be completing that study. Um but again because we are going to have these actions in the tracking sheet again mandate mandated by state code we have to look at this every five years but that tracking sheet will allow us at a yearly increment if we get that facilities plan from the schools and we see that we need to make some changes to the strategies we've identified in education. We'll have the opportunity to do that. Um and I'm I'm hopeful as we go forward with communication between the school board and the board of supervisors that we'll continue that conversation. Well, I am concerned. We have uh we have beautiful schools and beautifully renewed schools renovated. Um but we also have great disparity. We have schools that are terribly overcrowded even though they're virtually new and we have schools that are way under capacity that were overbuilt [snorts] for the community. And I hope that our school board is going to be a bit more proactive as they move forward.

And again, that unique relationship that we have in Virginia between those who control funding and those who set policy for schools, um, we we'll hopefully continue to be able to improve those relationships as we continue forward. Um, and again, we were very careful as we were developing goals not to recommend policy for the school board. um particularly as it comes to issues related to redistricting or or any school additions or or renovations. Um again, understanding that relationship as it exists. Thank you. Any other [snorts] questions? I have one more. One more. Okay.

What is Onward New River Valley? I noticed it's a partner and I'm not familiar with it. Um Onward New River Valley is our regional economic development authority. They work um to promote uh the region to businesses uh who may want to locate here. They provide support services um for businesses that are existing here. They're an independent nonprofit um that the county, the two towns and all of the counties in the New River Valley participate in. It's really a way to market the entire region um not just McGomery County for business development. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well done.

Um so I will ask um as we did last time, if you have any edits that you'd like to see integrated into the document, um if you can get those to us within the next week, um we will integrate that feedback. Um we'll be taking this again as I mentioned parts one and two to the board of supervisors and getting their feedback. Um, and our goal would be after everything is integrated in, after those actions and are integrated into the document, um, getting this to you all as early as possible prior to your next meeting so that you'll have an opportunity to review the full document. You also should have received an email, um, with a a link to access a SharePoint drive that has the entire comprehensive plan, all the appendices, all the supporting documentation. So if you want to go into any of those appendices and look for the references that we bring out in the goals and that gives you an opportunity to explore all of that. Um we will also be uh linking that for the public so that everyone can go and and view the respective parts of the plan that they want to review. Um and we will continue to update mcgomery matters.com with all that information as well.

Thank you for what you've done. Thank you. I appreciate your presentation and I applaud the fact that you've memorized the whole plan. [laughter] I had to take a few sips of water, but we're okay.

Um, I just wanted to note cuz because it's come up a couple of times tonight. Um, I think we would be remiss to to not voice how much of a collaborative effort that has this has been. Um, first of all, I have a wonderful team of staff. Um, they have worked very hard, spent many hours. Um, Justin has been the point person on this project and and I don't even think we could add up the number of hours that that he has spent. Um, Kim has been very involved. Liam has been involved since he come on. Um, of course myself, at some point, every member of our staff has been involved. And for the first time in the history of the planning department, I can say at almost every public engagement event that we held, my entire team was there. Um, and at some some public events we actually had members of other departments that came to help us field the community. Um, so we really do appreciate that. We appreciate um the PRCE department. Um, engineering has has helped. Meredith has has participated a couple of times. County administration has been a huge support. Of course, the board of supervisors ha have had our back the entire way. Um but then we also have to recognize the folks. So, you know, you asked if this was completely done by the consultant and um it has not been. Um it's not just been the consultant and staff though. We had an entire steering committee who has reviewed all the citizen comments and the citizen feedback that we had and um they've commented on these strategies and goals and and some of the text that you're seeing here before you. While it may not have all been in one concise document, they have looked at it at some point in time um and seen the language. It just

may not have been in this format. Um so we have had multiple people help and work and um I as planning director thank them all um because we we would not have made it this far. This is a project that has stayed on time. Um we have stayed under budget which um makes me very happy and um it it has been a good process and to be at the point that we are almost ready to have a public hearing is a huge sigh of relief. Um we do still have more work to go. We have village plans. That's where you're going to see more specifics. Um we have the actual action steps that will be coming up. Again, you'll see some more specifics there. Um but the one thing to remember is this is not code. This is a guiding document. Um, so it is there to just guide us. It's not going to have that specific language in it. Um, because that is the next round which is going to be the zoning ordinance rewrite and that will be another huge undertaking. And um, I'm just glad I still have my full team on board for that one, too, because they'll they'll knock it out of the park just like they did this one. So, thank you all. Um, as Justin said, if you have any comments, send them to us. and we will be sure to incorporate them. Um, we're excited to bring this next month for public hearing.

I [clears throat] would like to echo that our appreciation to the board of supervisors. We have an adjacent municipality that has one person that does everything. I don't know how, but she does. And it's impossible to do this quality work without a a competent and honorable staff. So, thank you. Will you convey that message? Thank Thank you. Um, with that, I'll entertain a motion to leave the work session. So moved.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I I

opposed. Motion carries. Now, new business. We have no old business. Uh the only item in new business is the uh taking a look at the 2026 liaison appointments. Um I think you have a list and I guess we need to um inquire. If uh everyone's happy with their current situation, I know Mr. Graphsky, you don't have a vote one way or the other on this. Um somebody will direct whoever the next uh people are, whether it's Mr. King, Miss Karen, you, someone else. Um the um Blackburg Planning Commission will have to get in touch with Miss Sharp Robinson. Mr. Rice, what do your pleasure on Christiansburg?

I'll be glad to monitor. Appreciate. Thank you, sir. Miss Simpkins, can you continue with Radford or I can. Okay. And will Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. We're seeing some shortfalls in tourism. So, we want you to redouble your efforts. I will uh visit as often as they meet. We can't ask for much more than that unless you want to sit in an empty room by yourself. Um, Mr. Workman's not here. We'll get in touch with him. And do you want to continue as planning director? I I think I'll take that on for another year or two.

All right. So, we're in pretty fair shape there. Um, and let's go back to the same list and look at uh liaison appointments or liaison reports. Um, excuse me for the uh evening. Mr. Gravity, do you have any comments you'd care to share on the board of supervisors or the Can he speak for the utilities department still? He can speak for the PSA board. Yes.

Oh, okay. I can do that. Well, good evening everybody. Happy new year. Um, so just a couple of housekeeping updates on the board of supervisor side. So, we welcomed uh as you mentioned our newest member to the board of supervisors uh Miss Gunnan Kieran who's now representing district A uh for the uh exiting Sarah Bone. Um I'm excited to announce that we reelected supervisors Damas and Fijacowski to be our chair and vice chair for 2026 again. Um, and I'm sad that I won't be coming back uh to our planning commission meetings, at least not as a liaison, but maybe as a as an attendee, a spectator. Um, when you don't have anybody else for public comment, I'll just make something up. Um, you know, we had a work session uh this past Saturday. Um and it it was a great opportunity to talk about the year ahead and and things like that. But um we held our first meeting of the year on Monday and uh as we were giving our board reports um we had a pretty robust discussion again uh as it related to data centers or a high what is it high energy use facilities. um you know and and I I was one of the first to admit that I was a little um misguided on my understanding of our current uh land use and zoning ordinances as it relates to data centers, you know, because a lot of our our concern was that, you know, there there could be some by rights or or SUP um ability to advance a data center if we, you know, we didn't do thing. Luckily, that is not the case, right?

Um, so, you know, as it stands today, nobody could site a data center in Montgomery County. At least that's my understanding. That's correct. Right. You were very correct. So, it is not a use to find in our ordinance. Right. Um, since we are a Dylan rule state, if it is not explicitly allowed, then it is not permitted at all. Permitted. Um, so we do not have anything in our ordinance currently for high energy use facilities um or data centers. So if we did have someone that approached us now, they would need to ask the board to do a text amendment to allow it before we could even consider the request. Correct.

Yes. Um, and you know, we received a lot of comment uh uh input from the citizens uh and their opposition uh to sighting of data centers in Montgomery County. You know, our big concern, I guess, going forward is continuing to advocate for local control as it relates to land use decisions and things like that. So, we'll continue to advocate and work with our colleagues in the um general assembly um to to maintain that. Uh on the the public utilities front, I think I announced last time, you know, that we we have our new director uh of utilities who came over from Christiansburg. Um we had our first meeting with him uh just before uh at our last meeting of 2025 and we'll be meeting in February. Uh the PSA will be convening in uh February and so hopefully uh either Supervisor King or Supervisor Kuran will have some updates for you as it relates to our utilities department. Then that's all I got for you.

Thank you very much. Thank you all. Good to see you. Uh I guess Mr. Rice, you would be up next. Chrisber planning. Um, I don't think they had any actual items. I think they did have a meeting scheduled and it was more housekeeping and and maybe some training, I think, but uh but yeah, I don't think they have any items that they're working on now. Okay. Thank you, Miss Simpkins. Uh, the Bradford Planning Commission did meet on 12:15, but I think I reported that last time, so I haven't heard anything from them for January.

Thank you, Mr. Miller. Tourism Council will meet next Monday and I will give a report at the next meeting. We will wait with baited breath for that uh voluminous report. Would you like to send that out in advance or just do it verbally? I'll take that under advisement. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Miss Hopkins.

Yes. Um happy new year. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Um, I have a couple of things. So, on January 5th, our department and the building department and environmental services went live with a new software. It is called OpenGV. And we now have our first ever in the history of our department citizen portal. Um, so citizens can go online at montva.comv and put in all of their permit or application requests and upload all their documents and submit everything. They can also track the process so they can see exactly what is next to be done. Um, who needs to review it. If we have any comments regarding anything, we just type it in the system. They get an automatic email. Um, we get emails when they upload things, so we know immediately that the application has been updated. And, um, I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with the process before, but it looked something like people would come in, they would go to the building department, building would say, "Oh, you got to go to zoning first." So, they would walk upstairs, come to my department, and we would be like, "Okay, so now you know you're building a house, you're on septic, now you got to go to the health department down the street." And then come back to us and bring us a bunch of paperwork. we're going to approve it and then you'll have to go back downstairs and apply for your building permit. And once you apply for that

V dot, yeah, you got to go to VOTE. Um and then when you go back downstairs and apply for your building permit, we're going to have to re-review it um to make sure it matches what we've already approved. And um then you'll get your building permit and work through the inspections department. Um now that process looks like I'm logged in. I see that I need this from the health department. I see that I need this from VOTE. I can go ahead and contact them, get it. I key everything in and it goes to zoning, building, and land disturbance. I also left them out all at one time and we are all reviewing the same information at the same time and approving everything simultaneously. Um, so it is much easier for our citizens. We are very excited about it. It has went well. Um, I am actually going to have a presentation slashdemo um for you guys in February. So, I'll walk you through it so you can see what it looks like. Um we are going to hold two two maybe three openhouse days here at the government center for members of the community um developers, contractors, citizens, whoever is interested um to come in and and we will assist them on setting up their accounts and logging into the system and if they want us to walk through a permit with them, we'll do it oneon-one. Um so we're really excited about that. The other good news is Blackburg has the same system. So, we have several contractors and um development firms that are already familiar with it and they do not have to create a new account. They can use their same account that they use in Blackburg. They'll just ex access the Montgomery County system with it and um complete our application instead of one in Blackburg. So, um we're very excited about it. It has been a huge benefit. It is been a very collaborative approach with all the departments which is hard

given our location in the government center and and that'll be you know another step that we hope to correct in the future. Um, but it has allowed us to work together and you know, I described it in a follow-up meeting that we had yesterday is I have my team that's planning and zoning and um, Bill Jagger and John Saunders, they have their team that's building inspections and and Meredith and and all of them, they've got their own little team, but at the end of the day, we're all one team. Um, we're all Montgomery County and we're all there for the citizens. and the fact that we've been able to pull this together and and work so well has has been a huge benefit um for our citizens and and the development community. So, we're excited.

Excuse me. Bri, c can you pay fees using that same system or is that

So, that's another cool thing. Um I did not mention that in our process. So when they would come into the zoning department, we would have to hand them a transmitt form or send them an email and they would have to go to another site to pay and then we would have to wait to get notice from the treasures office that it had been paid. Um, now it's all done through open gov. So as soon as they pay, we know the treasures office gets a report the next morning to show how much money goes into each account and it's all taken care of without us touching it. So much more efficient and user friendly. We we are very excited about that. I like the efficiency and regret that it'll exacerbate the growth in the county. Yeah, [laughter]

it has been wonderful so far. Um, so I did not bring your work program to this meeting because I knew we had several things and I knew the comp plan presentation would be a little longer with going over um a few sections. So the work program will be at your next meeting. Um, Mr. Dr. Foster and I will be going over that the Monday before your packet goes out. Um so that will be included in your packet. We um do have some save the dates here on the screen. Be sure to take a look. April 2nd we will be in Shawville and Ellison for the next village meeting. So we've already scheduled that. April 22nd will be your regional planning commissioners training. I am believing that will still be here held here at the government center. Um and then the very next night, April 23rd, because we are an ambitious planning staff, we are going to be in Riner at their village meeting um that evening. The two village meetings will start at 5:00 p.m. Um and the regional planning commissioner training. We don't have the actual schedule yet. I would say it will start like it did last year around 5:30. Um and then go into some training after dinner. Um the other reminders that I have been asked to pass along, financial disclosure forms are due. Um you can bring those to my department. We will be glad to take them to county administration. You can take them to county administration or you can bring them here to the meeting and we will be glad to pass them along. Um the other thing my IT department did notify me that a few people had not completed a no before training that they sent out. Um, so you do have to complete that because you have a county issued iPad and it's a security issue. Um, they are going to send me a list of who those folks are. So you will get another email from no before, but I will also email you when that goes out so you know to expect it. And if you could just complete that training, I promise it's not too bad. We

did it as staff. Um, but if you could complete that so that way it can get you checked off and and in the security box, I would appreciate it. I'll save you some time. I'm one of them. You're one of them. Okay. Two. Okay. Um Yes. And if you need resources to complete that training, um I know Mr. Miller, you sometimes don't have great internet access. Um just come to the office and we can get you set up. That's all I've got. Is the March 18th meeting that's um in the information on the agenda is not you're not having it now? We have not um decided whether to cancel or or keep it yet. We will let you know in February.

Okay. we'll have more of a clear idea of what our workload will be based on February 1 applications. Um so we'll see what comes in February 1st. Um you mentioned the village meetings. Yes.

Are there some plans to have meetings in those two enhanced growth areas to form some kind of conduit? the the plan as of right now is not to hold community meetings in the growth areas just because again we don't have a large amount of population in those areas as they've been defined. Um more than likely we will have a countywide meeting um to again capture anyone who wasn't able to come to one of the individual village meetings but we would cover the two growth areas at that meeting. I'll advise them to be vocal.

That's all I have. Okay. I want to before we depart uh encourage you to circle your calendars for these events, April 2nd, 22nd, 23rd, uh so we can attend and show the flag that um and express our interest in what's going on. to the residents in the villages.

And I should note also there will be a Prices Fork village plan meeting as well. We have not confirmed that location yet. So until we get that location confirmed, we've not confirmed a date to pass along, but we will send that to you as soon as we know. It will likely be early May. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And I'll advise you that staff takes roll call so they know whether we're there or not. They're checking on us. We know if you're there. Yeah, I know. I will entertain a motion for adjournment. Yeah. Second.

We took off. Yes. It will be in February. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much.