Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

OK. I'll call this off. August 18, 2026, Board of Supervisors meeting to order. Roll call, please.

Mr. Holroyd? Here. Mrs. Noll? Here. Mr. Drury?

Present.

Mr. Rohn?

Here.

Mr. Shepherd? Here. Mr. Chairman, you have a quorum.

Thank you. Begin with the invocation. I'll call on Rabbi Elgbert of the Rudet Shalom Temple.

Thank you, sir. Supreme author of life, we thank you for the precious gift of life and the blessings of community. We are thankful for life itself, for the health we enjoy, which allows us to fulfill our callings. We are grateful for the abundance in the world which sustains us daily, deeply appreciate the friendships which support us, and the camaraderie of community which elevates us all. Fill our hearts with love and respect for our fellow citizens. Help us to see their virtues and the sanctity which you have planted in all of us who are created in your divine image. Revere yourself as a mirror wherein we can see ourselves reflected both as we are and as you see us filled with possibility. Politics can be a holy vocation when you choose to make it so. You are the custodians of this community and serve a unique role to provide for the needs of all its residents, while simultaneously being the stewards of those most vulnerable amongst us. Bless those who are here or have taken on the mantle of leadership with wisdom and insight. Help them to realize that all the power, wealth, and control that we possess are gifts. May you serve justly and righteously, wisely and compassionately, distributing our God-given gifts with a burning compassion for the oppressed and an abiding concern for all citizens. May the Holy One grant you the strength to confront difficult decisions with courage, to engage in challenging discussions with open-mindedness and with patience, to hear beyond the cacophony of voices that call for your attention. May you always have enough happiness to keep you sweet, enough trials to keep you strong, enough hope to keep you happy, enough failure to keep you humble, enough success to keep you eager, enough friendship to give you comfort, enough love from family to keep you at peace, enough wealth to meet your needs, enough enthusiasm to look forward, enough faith to thirst for justice and rightness, and enough determination to make each tomorrow better than yesterday. May this be the divine one's will. Amen.

Thank you, Rabbi. Next, for those able, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We'll begin with presentations. At this point, I'll ask my vice chair to take the lead.

Okay, first recognition, a call on Sheriff Montgomery to recognize Sergeant Crystal L. Minor.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Tonight, it's my privilege. to present to you Sergeant Crystal Miner, who in July of this year completed 20 years of distinguished service to the York-Pocotien Sheriff's Office. Sergeant Miner began her career in July of 2006 as a patrol deputy. She transferred to the court security division where she served from 2011 to 2018. She earned the distinction of becoming a deputy first class in 2014. She became a master deputy in 2020 and the same in 2021, she was promoted to her present position, which is a Sergeant in the uniform patrol division. And 2021, she became a graduate of the Hampton roads training academy leadership Institute. And in 2025, she graduated from the FBI law enforcement executive development series. And also in the year of 2025, she was deputy of the quarter for the sheriff's office. During her career here, she's been a member of the Honor Guard. She has a critical role in the Towing Advisory Board as she conducts all of the compliance inspections. And anybody that's aware of what goes on there knows that she does a heck of a job there, and it's not an easy job. She's joined here tonight by her family, her mother and father, Virginia and Ray Miner, her sister Connie, and her significant other, Ricky Harris. Please join me in congratulating Sergeant Crystal Miner.

Thank you, Kelly. Thank you, Chris.

OK. Next, service recognition. I'll call on Chief Baldwin. There he is. OK. To recognize Lieutenant Chasity D. Johnson, Fire Department. 20 years of service.

Chairman Holroyd, Vice Chairman Shepherd, distinguished members of the Super Board of Supervisors, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Hill, thank you. It's my pleasure to introduce Lieutenant Johnson. Senator Johnson has been with our department since 2006. She's currently assigned to Station 2 on a shift where she oversees operations of Station 2 and for those you know in the South End Station 2 is the busiest house in the county fire system, so she has her hands full every day. It's very active there. She was promoted to senior firefighter in 2018, promoted to Lieutenant in 2020. Her dedication to recruit the department, the county and those we serve doesn't stop when she goes home though. She's actively involved in the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association Women of Fire and is presenting at their upcoming conference. She also serves on the staff of Camp Fury, which is a fire, EMS, and law enforcement camp for teenage girls in the city of Hampton. I believe you've done that for several years, LT. She's also attended several courses at the National Fire Academy and recently has had an article published on work-life balance in the Commonwealth Chief Magazine, which is the magazine for the State Chiefs Association, and it's circulated throughout the Commonwealth and nationally. So well done job, Lieutenant, as always. Again, it's my pleasure, Mr. Holroyd, to present the lieutenant tonight.

Chief, please join us. That's quite a resume. Congratulations.

Okay, next service recognition. We'll call on Terry Hall to recognize Amy D. Morris, telecommunications shift leader for emergency communications, to honor her 25 years of service.

Members of the board, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Hill, thanks for the opportunity to do this rare occasion to stand in front of the board and recognize somebody with 25 years experience in dispatch. So she came to us from James City County as part of the consolidation, which was a little challenging for a short period of time, but she quickly became one of our key members of the team and helped with the transition flawlessly. So she helped lead that charge. She's embraced a career that 50% of the people that start will not make it through their training. 25% of the people that do make it through the training last less than three years. And less than 3% will retire from their career. And this is an international standard. Two years ago, USA Today said that a 911 dispatcher was one of the worst jobs to have in the country, and it has more turnover. They were in the top 10. So she stands before you looking a whole lot better than I do after her 25 years. So I want to tell you that for 25 years, she's been the calm voice of the other end of the telephone when people call in. Amy has a daughter, Lauren, who's here with her tonight, and her mother and father, John and Linda, and numerous 911 dispatchers coming to actually help recognize her. So in her spare time, believe it or not, after working 12-hour shifts, she likes to go home and look at crime shows on television. And I'm going to tell you, walking through the center sometimes, it's hard to tell what's real and fake. Walking through the center, you'll hear him talk about, I can't believe that homicide happened. What's going on? I'm like, well, hold on a minute. Where's this going on? How come I don't know about it? And they're talking about a crime TV show. So she's not the only one that enjoys it. She loves spending time with her family, her friends, her dogs. And it's a rumor that you just inherited a couple of cats too, so good luck with that. She likes to travel anywhere that has clear blue water. That's her special time. She is certified as an instructor through the Department of Criminal Justice Services. She is an APCO, Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, emergency medical dispatcher, communications training officer, and communications supervisor. She has received three lifesaving awards. She was named telecommunicative of the year by her peers. She's been recognized by the Virginia Gazette as a guardian angel. When I asked her why she chose this career, she said, I love the journey and being there to help 911 callers in their time of needs. So join me in thanking Amy for 25 years.

Yeah, we got to get you in the picture, too. Congratulations, Amy. Well done.

Okay, next we'll call, let's see, service recognition. We'll call on Sarah Webb to recognize Tanya Eskin. I hope I pronounced that right. Eskin, auditor for the Commissioner of the Revenue to honor her 30 years. And please tell me I got the name so right.

So Tanya has everyone beat with the 30 years. So thank you, Tanya. Good evening, board members. I had the honor of recognizing Tanya for her 30 years of service to York County and the commissioner's revenues office. Tanya currently serves as an auditor in our office. She's worked in many roles in the personal property division, worked up through the office, through my predecessor, and currently she's certified through UVA and the commission of the revenue association as a master commissioner deputy. And if you know that certification, it's a long hard process so congratulations tanya you've been through many technological changes office changes and you've been a resource through it all so on behalf of our office and everyone here thank you so much for your 30 years of service so thank you sarah can you join us

And congratulations. Well done. Thank you.

Mr. Okay. Well, the chairman comes up. I'm going to call Dominion Energy Update Presentation. Crystal Bright is the local affairs advisor. Crystal, welcome. Ms.

Thank you. Let me see if I can do this. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Crystal Bright, Dominion Energy, 30 years. I'm going to be talking about the bill rates and billing at Dominion Energy. And then I have my colleagues here, Will McCahill and Luke Schrader. They'll talk about Kings Creek Solar. Before I get into that, I do want to talk about what Dominion Energy is in York County to give you a general overview. We serve about 33,000 of your customers here. 30,000 of those are residential. 2,700 of those are commercial. Eight are industrial, and 435 are governmental. As far as constituents, we have 90 employees who live in York County, 15 who are working in York County still at the power station, 75 retirees and 895 shareholders. And I've had to check, you have more shareholders than Arlington. So I thought that was impressive. As far as the infrastructure, we have 230 distribution overhead lines, 410 underground lines, 90 transmission lines overhead, three miles of transmission lines underground, and 40 miles of fiber and rural broadband. As far as our contributions to York County, you've had 7,600 participants in our energy conservation programs, including our income and age qualifying programs. No one has applied for energy share, so no assistance has been given, but as far as energy share customers receiving bill assistance, it's been 120. Of that, $46,500 worth of assistance. $16,000 has been given to charitable contributions for organizations here in York County, 130 hours of volunteer time as employees have done here. We paid $3 million happily in taxes. And we have five vendor partners. Those we have given $100,000 to. But now the real meat of our presentation, or at least my presentation, the bill fundamentals. And excuse me if I read some of this, because I want to make sure you get all the information. So monthly bill is broken up into different parts. One part is a fixed charge. It's flat. It doesn't go up and down with usage. It's $7.58. Then there are volumetric charges, and like the name implies, it goes up and down based on usage. Then there's electric usage, and that's charged on kilowatt hours. You see that on your meter. And then state and local taxes, Dominion Energy gets nothing for state and local taxes. It all goes to the county, municipalities, and the state. We're just a billing partner that funnels the money, but we get nothing for it. So a key point that Dominion Energy cannot implement any rate changes without regulatory approval from the State Corporation Commission, otherwise known as the SCC. And the SCC is constantly reviewing the various components of the electric rates to assure that they are designed to be fairly recovered, only legitimate costs of providing electric service. So I want to break down the three components of that first. the three components of the volumetric charges. First is the base rates. Now the base rates provide the opportunity to recover reasonable and prudent cost, not handled through riders, otherwise known as rate adjustment clauses. They're designed to recover a fair return on equity, meaning that we get a profit on it. updated through periodic rate cases before the SEC every two years. And this started back in 2023. So our next rate review will be March, 2027. Now riders or racks rate adjustment clauses. They provide greater timeliness and certain certainty of recoverable for specific utility investments. Otherwise it's for the large capital projects. It's for like our offshore wind, it's for solar, it's for strategic underground. They're usually applied by themselves, not in a group with other requests. It's designed to allow recovery of a fair return on equity. So again, a profit. Updated annually to reflect new project costs and correct for any under recovery or over recovery from the previous year. And as far as the last aspect is the fuel factor. It recovers reasonable fuel costs, coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, plus purchase power expenses. So Dominion Energy, we generate, we transmit, and we just give your power to your homes or businesses throughout parts of Virginia, not all of Virginia, and parts of North Carolina. So a lot of times when the need is great and we don't have enough to generate, we have to purchase power from others. If we did not, if we had more generation, we want to get away from purchasing power. We want to generate our own power and for others to ask us to provide power to the grid. So dollar for dollar recovery, no return on equity. We get nothing for fuel factor is whatever it costs for one unit of nuclear to be made, that's what they get. We don't get any extra money for fuel. It's updated annually in regulatory proceedings like those conducted for riders, and interim adjustments typically allowed in July. So for 1,000 kilowatt hours, and this is a standard for all electric utilities across the country, they use 1,000 kilowatts to kind of judge what the billing will be. In Virginia, it would be $180.79. And the next screen will show you the breakdown of that. So there were two, actually more, two significant raises in the bill rate. First was the writer for, first was the writer, excuse me, for electric energy conservation programs, coastal Virginia offshore wind, nuclear upgrades and development costs, renewable portfolio standard, and electric transmission costs. So that happened in September. Then the next big raise was the base raise. That was raised up in January 1st, and that covers employees, materials, equipment, things like that. Then the fuel factor, that was raised after the SEC approved it in May 2025 on an interim basis in July, July 1st. So overall, $30 extra from July of last year to July of this year. So here is a breakdown of the 180. So green will be the riders. So you have riders like coal ash, Virginia Clean Energy Act, storage and solar, offshore wind, riders for wreck purchases. And then the orange is the fuel. So the fuel factor is including purchase power and all the generation that we use as far as nuclear, coal, biomass, gas. And then the bottom is the basic customer charge and the basic customer billing. So all of that equals to 180.79. Oops, there you go. Okay, as far as significant regulatory filings, in 2025 the fuel factor update occurred. It's necessary to recover costs during the extended cold winter in January 2025. So with that is a temporary fuel credit that's expiring And that's the reason why the fuel rate had gone up this year, because it expired last year. The 2025 biannual review of base rates, the last time the rates had been raised was 1992. We hadn't raised any rates since then. So because of the rising cost of labor, materials and equipment, investments were needed, and it was honestly long overdue. I mean, even Dollar Tree has raised their prices. Propose a separate rate class for high-energy user. This is going to be talking about data centers. And I'll get more into data centers later on, but we needed to address those entities that were drawing more than 25 megawatts. And we also proposed contract terms with high-energy customers. It's not just data centers. There are other customers that are using a lot of power, but it really targets them. So in 2026 fuel factor update, like I said, it was just raised July 1st. It was necessary because of high fuel commodity, purchase power costs, especially during the extreme weather. So in January of this year, January of last year, a lot of cold and a lot of heat. And I'll show you another screen where we've had a lot of high impact days. Securitization proposal will reduce near-term impact versus business-as-usual method. And fuel costs are a pass-through. Again, Dominion Energy gets no money. No, we don't get anything for the fuel cost. It's dollar for dollar pass-through. So we also added a transmission rider that's gonna be a downward trend for residential customers, meaning that over the years, their participation in the transmission portion of the rider will get lower, while other corporations and larger businesses will get higher. So here is the demand peaks, and this is the top 10. Of the 10, nine of them were this year. Five of the top 10 days were July, just the month of July, top 10 days. Only one from the top 10 list was last year. We're using a lot of power, and we need to bring on more. Right now, the fastest way to do that is to purchase the power. But we love to bring on our own generation. It just takes time. So summer peaks often in late afternoon and early evenings, winter peaks in the morning. Five of the 10 all-time records were set in July 2026 alone. Fuel costs are influenced by the need during the peak demand during extreme weather and more in-state generation, yes, to reduce exposure to imported power costs. So we would love to have more generation here. So this is the transmission rider I was mentioning before. It's a multi-year, and you'll see that the blue is a residential, and you'll see that the line is going down, which means that over the years, residential customers will have less to pay for as far as transmission than other customers. I know. So I know you probably heard this from us before, and it is true. In comparison to Dominion Energy versus the national and regional averages, our bills tend to be a lot less than everyone else's. That includes national, east coast, middle Atlantic, and New England. So as far as data centers, key concerns that everyone has, will the cost be unfairly passed on to customers? Is it more infrastructure being built faster than necessary? is demand growth jeopardizing electric grid reliability. In our framework, what we did was we addressed those concerns by creating a new class for the bills for those customers. So there are G65, and I'll go over what exactly they get for that. We created a new contracting process with multiple stages And we have a queue for service connections. So it's not, hey, can we come in and put in a data center? It takes a while. So our outcomes, data centers keep paying their fair share. The risk of overbuilding the grid is minimized, because we're not going to do anything that's going to jeopardize the reliability for our regular customers. The pace of new customer growth is controlled, and reliability remains the utility's top priority. So how do we get here? A study ordered by Virginia state government finds that data centers currently pay their full cost of service. So as far as their usage, they're paying their full cost. Customers are right to say, but it's going to raise my bill because we have to build the infrastructure in order to feed these data centers and other large customers. So in 2025, we filed during our biannual review a petition, including a request to create a new rate class and stronger contract rules. If they're going to commit to taking a big swath of land and looking at all different aspects of disrupting customers, disrupting the residents, then they need to make a commitment to staying here in Virginia and paying for it.

How is that helping us? helping you where? Well, I mean, you're talking about, when you talk here, you said that they're going to be paying their share, okay? So when the cost of infrastructure, I didn't hear you say anything about them paying for the infrastructure.

Got another slide.

Okay. I'm waiting.

But thank you for teeing that up. So newly enacted Virginia legislation could result in more costs being assigned to data centers going forward, and a new rate class and contract rules officially take effect. And that will be January 1, 2027. So this is here, Mr. Shepherd. So right now, many data centers are grouped with other large customers. Change is proposed and actually enacted. A new customer class of GS5 will capture many new and existing data centers for rate design purposes. So we looked at customers who are using 25 megawatts and higher and saying, OK, we're going to capture those data centers and more. Now, we actually looked at all customers who were using that now outside of data centers. There were 14. So those 14 will be grandfathered. So this will be just for data centers and any other new customers that come in who use as much power as a data center.

So when you say capture, what does that mean? I mean, what does that mean in terms of, I heard everything you said, but when you say you captured in this group, what does that mean to us? Don't assume anything. No, I mean, what does it mean? I mean, in terms of capture. When you say you capture that, what does that mean? Capture as far as? You used the term capture. Okay. I guess this new category of users. Okay, the bill writes for. And I assume this user group or capture or whatever is the data center.

Yes.

So what does that mean to us?

What that means for you is that you will not have to pay, customers will not have to pay extra for transmission lines, for the infrastructure needed to. Okay. fuel these data centers. So I'll keep going down the list and I'll talk about all the proposals for the net proposals, but the final contract for these data centers. So right now, certain minimum payments amounts are required by contract. January 1st, 2027, minimum charge is based on total requested capacity. Right now, minimum payments amount must be satisfied within four years. January 1, a standardized 14-year contract. Minimum charges apply even beyond the interim term. So if a data center comes in here, they say, yep, we'll sign the contract. We'll do 14 years. And after three or four years, they're like, you know what? No, I'm done. They still have to satisfy that 14-year term. They still have to pay, regardless if they stay here or not. There are exit fees equal to minimum charges the customer would have to pay over the initial contract term. So they're not going to get away scot-free. Limited ability for customers to downsize demand requests. So if they tell us, hey, we're going to do a 400 megawatt, and then they get out here and they start building and say, you know what, I'm doing 100. We contracted for 400. You're going to pay that 400 for 14 years. Deposit payments are required for equipment orders. That's right now. What will change January 1 is deposit payments are required for equipment orders plus enhanced collateral payments.

What about fuel? Because as you increase the amount of power, the last layer of fuel is a lot more expensive than the first layer. Data centers are generating that overwhelming demand. Are they paying fuel charges based on that last fuel in or on the average?

So the SEC will review the findings for the fuels, for the fuel rates, and they're going to make an adjustment based on what's being used. So they're not paying for the fuel. I mean, well, they are paying for the fuel, but the SEC will go ahead and raise the rates for the fuel for if there's using a lot.

For everybody or just them?

For them. Mm-hmm. So you may have seen some changes in your rates maybe like 16 or 17 changes, and that is because the SEC reviews our filings, and what they do is they take one part of the filing, review it, approve it, and then go to another part of that same filing, review it. And it's not a bad thing for our customers. It's actually a really good thing. They're not just approving anything like just cart launch, just looking at it and going, yep, let's just approve this whole thing. They are dissecting every part of everything that we submit to them.

But Crystal, I'm one of those government entities that receives all those riders, and it is impossible to work your way through it. And there's no cover page, there's no summary, there's nothing that goes along with this. That's my frustration. I've had 19 of them, I think, so far this year. And I couldn't tell you what's being asked for or what isn't. And if you try and open it, it's 200 pages of boilerplate. And somewhere in there, there's an answer, but I can't find it.

Right. Yeah, I understand the frustration. I don't know why they do it this way, but it really is better for the customer. That way they're not just approving everything at one fell swoop.

The customer can't read it, therefore he doesn't have a clue.

They're dissecting every part of the filing that we're sending them.

I think what we're recommending here is that there's somewhere in there, not only do you have the legalese that's put in there, but you also have a straightforward, clear statement of what is happening.

There needs to be an abstract. There needs to be a one-page summary of what this rider is for so that we can educate our community because we're responsible to the constituent.

I understand. You need someone from the SEC here. That's the next step. So we understand that customers are struggling. Everyone is struggling. I'll raise my hand. Over 30 years ago, I was one of the people who power was cut off for nonpayment before I got to Dominion Energy. That's just my fault. And I understand how it happens. So when I say I understand, I truly understand how it happens. A lot of customers, maybe they're embarrassed. Maybe they don't think we'll offer them payment extensions. We will. We would much rather work with customers to give them bill arrangements than cut them off. No one likes to disconnect customers. No one wants to repo cars. No one wants to foreclose on houses. We would rather work with customers. So we want to make sure that they're open to calling us any time. to make payment arrangements, and we offer several kinds. Short-term, long-term, budget billing, which is an average of what you've used, and you pay that amount every month. We have energy conservation programs, like Energy Share. A lot of people use Energy Share. It was 120 here in York County that used them. So they have bill assistance. We do weatherization, energy saving tips. If you go to our website, anybody can do this, as long as you have a Dominion Energy account, and go to virtual audit. You answer like maybe seven to 10 questions and like in two weeks you get a box full of items. I did it myself and I got light bulbs, I got an extension cord, I mean just all kinds of things. Anyone can do that as long as you have a Dominion Energy account and you don't have to be anyone that needs assistance, anyone can do it. So how they apply for energy share. They can call 211 or go to 211virginia.org for referral to their local energy share agency. United Way is one. There are several. I think Salvation Army is another. Go to our website for agent listings. Agency manages screening process to determine eligibility for the program. And once approved for bill assistance, agency may then refer the customer to managing agency for weatherization services. So we do go out to homes and we replace weather stripping and insulation. We do a little bit of everything for customers. So the bottom line for my section is customer usage is what's going to be driving up bills they need to conserve. But also we need to put on more generation on our system so that we are the ones to can give it out to others as opposed to us asking for assistance. Any questions?

I think before you leave the podium, I'll ask the board if they have questions.

No, I'm following what you're saying.

OK, thank you.

So, Crystal, I can't remember the name. There's a company in the grid, if you will, that monitors and manages the grid, right? PJM. PJM, okay.

Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland. And they monitor the electric transmission lines.

And one of the things they also do in here is they have a rate. You see the rates change. I mean, they sometimes will change by the minute. They'll change by, you know, who knows. But one of the things I have noticed was that you guys had the highest rate of anybody in the whole grid part that they covered. And it was pretty significant. It was described to me by one of the individual who works over in Chesapeake, and he says the problem that we run into with Dominion Power is that you guys don't generate more power, you actually just supply the power through somebody else. And I know you have a few, you have a few power plants here. And I know data centers, in one case that we were briefed on, where the data center actually went up in New Jersey and bought the whole power station so that when he put the power into the grid, that was their power. So, I mean, it can get pretty strange. But I'd like for you to comment on the difference. How do you how do you compare Dominion Power to other power providers, the ones that actually generate it? What is your I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

I mean, what is your thought? Tell me about this. I mean, I kind of my sense is that all you guys are doing almost standing like you're just you go over to some power company and another part of the grid. You buy their power and then you provide it to us. You're not generating enough power to provide the service.

We do have power generators. I mean, we have Surrey Power Station, North Anna, Chesterfield. We have several different power generators. That's part of what we do. Now, do we have enough power generators that feeds this whole system, especially when it's really hot or really cold and we have data centers? Right now, no. We need to have more generators. We need to have More nuclear, we need to have more natural gas or just more, not coal, but just more power generating stations. Because we are like 42% of what we do now is purchase power when we need to. And we wanna stop relying on others to get power.

Okay, well, just an observation and some research I was looking at. Now, one question, you just said that you don't use coal or you don't want to use coal. I don't know. Do you use coal?

Very little now. We still have some coal. I mean, we have Mount Storm, which is in West Virginia. That's all coal, but that's going to be Mount Storm in West Virginia.

Okay.

What is your primary source? What is your fuel source? Everything. Right now, natural gas is probably high. We have solar. We have nuclear, of course. We have biomass.

What is the big one? What is it? Is it fuel or some kind of, I mean, like, I don't know, what is it, diesel or something? What do you guys burn? What do you burn to generate the power?

It's cross between natural gas and we also use nuclear. But we also have solar and we have, you know, offshore wind. I know you have components.

I'm just wondering what is the largest of your components?

Yeah, we're doing it all. Yeah. Above all strategy.

OK. Thank you.

So thank you for that presentation. I want to piggyback on what Mr. Shepherd said. One is, why was the Yorktown plant shut down? Was it beyond its years and it wasn't worth putting the money into it to regenerate it?

So it was shut down because of the coal aspect. We wanted to get away from coal. We're doing that very slowly. Our biggest coal plant right now is Mount Storm. So that was the main reason. It's very costly to keep up a coal plant. because of how we have to get rid of the coal ash and all the EPA requirements. So that was the main reason.

So it was strictly coal?

Yes. Yeah.

So the next question is, what are you doing to start generating more power? Is there plans in the works to start another power plant somewhere? Actually, yeah.

Thank you for setting that up. Yes. We have something going on in Chesterfield. We call it CERT. It's Chesterfield Emergency, like, Response, I forget the actual, we use a lot of acronyms. But this will be a combined fuel station and what it'll be is if we've lost power, we're able to go to that station, flick a switch essentially, and it'll provide power to like I think over 600,000 customers in 11 minutes as opposed to a day or two days. It doesn't have to gear up like our old Yorktown Power Station did. For that, you'd have to wait like a day for it to warm up and get going before we could use it on our system.

So is this going to be a standby unit?

Yes. OK.

So you're not building a unit that's going to be powering 24-7. You don't have any plans in the works for that?

We have several plans. Right now, we have to get through municipality approval permitting. So yeah. But yeah, besides Chesterfield, we have another one that's in Northern Virginia. I'm trying to remember the name, but I can't recall the name. But right now, it's way too early for us to say, yes, this is going to be it, because we still have to go through permitting and get approval from the municipality.

So you're supplying about, did you say 40%? As far as purchase fuel?

Yeah. 40%, like 42% purchase fuel.

OK. Yeah, I was looking at the cost raise. It looks like it's up 20% in a year. That's a lot in one year's time. It is. $30 on $150. It is.

There's been a lot of changes out there. Start with the tariffs. I mean, gas is up. Everything is up. Like I said, I'm surprised that we waited so long since 1992 to review our rates. It's a long time. And there have been a lot of changes.

Well, I'm certainly glad to see that we're making data centers pay pay their fair share absolutely because it's not fair for the constituents do to have that role on their back. When there's they should be taking care of the infrastructure. I did have One more question. On the subsidized 14-year contracts, a data center comes in, they get up and running four or five years, six years down the road, and all of a sudden they go belly up. What happens then? You're not going to collect any money at that point. Do you have bond issues or something that would collect that? How would you get the money if somebody goes belly up bankrupt?

That would be for the lawyers to figure out.

We'll pass that on to your lawyers. Oh, yeah.

I'm sure they are very well aware of that.

Because that 14-year scares me when data centers can come and go.

And it should scare them. They need to know that if they're coming here, they need to make a commitment, not only for running a business, but also to the area that they're, I hate to say ruined, but coming into.

Yeah, but that would be tragic for somebody to go belly up and then you wouldn't be able to get their money.

So they need to have a solid plan.

Yeah, OK. Thank you very much.

You're very welcome. Any other. Yeah. So. Oh. Who turned it off? There we go.

I had it on. All right. Ms. Cruston, good to see you. Good to see you. Always like your informative messages, so please keep them coming. I will. There's a lot. I can do a deep dive on this with you, but I'll limit it to just a couple of questions. Reflecting back on some of the recent storms we have here that result in the power outages, I was wondering if Dominion Power has any active plans to help bury overhead lines, to help minimize those type of outages from branches knocking lines down, knocking poles down.

So the great thing about the last General Assembly is that our strategic underground program got approved again. So yes, we are still doing the strategic underground program, but that's for residential services, not the main lines. For the main lines, we're still doing tree trimmings. The problem here, and I just passed some, that they did a lot of tree trimming, is the bamboo. We trim them and they come back taller and stronger than ever, and that's what's getting into the lines. We don't own the property that's underneath it. All we can do is trim, and our trim schedule is usually like three to four years in between, but the bamboo grows up very quickly.

Okay, so there is an initiative to bury residential lines.

Yeah, we're still doing that. So what they do is they look at the areas that are prone for a lot of outages. So if they are having an outage like two, one or two a week, you know, for a year, that's going to be an area that they look at. And so they'll do a deep dive and see how if we can bury their lines underground and if it's feasible. then they'll go out and ask the customers for easements. Now that's where the rub is. So maybe all of you are on the same street and you say, no, I'm not signing that easement. It could ruin the project. We might say, no, we can't do it. Or we say, okay, well, we can get those underground, put you on a pole by yourself with your own transformer and put everyone else underground. So all the neighbors will know who didn't sign the easement.

Are there any active programs happening right now in the county?

I'll have to check, but there's a map on our website. If you go to our website and put in strategic underground program, there is a live map that you can see what programs are in York County.

I'll check that out. Second question, kind of follow up to Mr. Drury's comment about the $30 rate increase over over 12 month period. Some of that's being driven by fuel costs, so is it safe to assume that if we see a reduction in fuel prices in the future, that we'll also see a reduction in rates as well? Or what other initiatives are Dominion and Power involved in to help look for opportunities to lower the rate costs for its customers?

So it is possible for the rate costs, only because that is reviewed by the SEC every year. If you haven't noticed the theme here, the SEC controls everything. We're just a puppet in there. They say yes or no to rates and everything else. So we have that. Wait a minute. I have other stuff. Hold on. Got it. Hold on. Aha. Okay. So, and I apologize. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I thought I had it in my notes. I don't have it in my notes. Okay. But I will definitely get that back to you.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Crystal, great presentation as usual. Thank you. I have two questions, a little bit off the beaten path from your presentation. That's okay. First one was the merger. You didn't make any mention of Next Energy or Florida Next Energy. And I guess the question most people would have, most customers would have, is how does it help me? Any thoughts on that or anything that's been shared with employees at this point that you can provide to the audience?

Right now, it's still way too early. We're in the engagement phase. We just, a month ago, put in the application for the state to approve it. So it has to be approved by Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Not Florida, where they're based, but just those three states. And for Virginia, they have 180 days to say yes or no. So we probably won't hear anything until January. So right now, we're just kind of holding. Haven't heard anything much about anything about employees or for customers, just waiting.

Second question was a Washington Post article. I'll read it. It says, how utility and tech firms educate regulators with big donations and secret retreats. Dominion and Next Energy both got named in this article. It was about a week ago in Washington Post. My message back to your senior management is, don't get caught doing that kind of stuff. That's an ethics issue. And we would be very disappointed in Dominion if that were. case in point and happening. Absolutely. I don't like to see your name in the press.

I don't either, especially like that.

Thank you for a wonderful presentation.

Can I follow up with one, piggyback on Doug? So the merger, tell us the benefit of the merger.

That's what I just asked.

Well, I think she could tell us what the benefit could be.

So if we were to go through, NextEra is the biggest utility in the world, not just in North America, the world. So the extra capital, we'll be able to do more projects. And we'll be able to add more generation onto the system. I know that for customers, they're gonna get 2.25 billion back in credits on their bill. So there's that.

And eventually hope to save the customer some money because you're in a larger capacity now and things would go better, huh?

That's the hope. No guarantees, but that's the hope.

Okay, thank you. Who's approving that merger?

It's gonna be the SEC.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, if you were to be interested, I believe Ms. Bright has some colleagues with her that might be able to speak to the solar farm, if you're interested.

Yeah, that's the next part of the presentation. And if any of you are curious, we have a tour for our Surrey Power Station in October. So if any of you would like to take part of it, please let me know. All right, I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, Will.

First of all, good evening. Thank you very much for your time and the opportunity to present to you. My name is Will McCahill. I'm a project manager with Dominion's project construction team, and I'm currently responsible for the Kings Creek project. So happy to give you an update and answer any questions you have. So for a project overview, as most of you are probably aware, this is a 20 megawatt site. It is located east of Penniman Road between the Cheetah Manix and Water Country USA. The SUP was approved by this board in late 2019. And I've got a timeline that gets a little more granular here. But we received our land disturbance approval in August of 25. And then we are planning to mobilize this coming March in 27 with substantial completion in third quarter of 28. And I'm going to get into some of the reasons why these dates have slipped. beyond what was initially proposed.

Can you explain what we're looking at here? I know you've got the outline of the neighborhood and all that, but from the electric service perspective, what are we looking at?

Sure. So just for reference, the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation is just to the left of this image here. And then this is a private road that goes into our lease area. These blocks that you see are the solar arrays. And they collect medium voltage, and those go to inverters, and then the inverters tie into a pole farm that will be located in this region right here. Hopefully you can see my cursor. And that will be the point of interconnection between power generation and the utility, which in this case is Dominion Distribution.

What are you showing in that lower left-hand quadrant? Is that more solar cells?

Yes, sir. Okay. So this site has, it's surrounded by perennial streams, so there's a lot of RPA buffers that we have to avoid.

So how much power are you going to generate off this site?

20 megawatts.

20 megawatts? OK. Yes, sir. And they're up top, you know. OK.

So as I mentioned, some of the timelines have slipped for this project, and so I wanted to review with you some of the challenges that we've run into since we kicked it off. Number one, it is a brownfield site, and this was either our first or second brownfield site that we've undertaken. There's large underground storage tanks. which in the preliminary plan that the board approved showed panels over top of the arrays. Dominion is committed to safety amongst other things. We made the determination to remove those arrays from over top of the underground storage tanks to mitigate any risk. We don't want any heavy equipment falling through 100-year-old concrete tanks. There's also a lot of open valve pits that you can see here. These are all going to need to be covered or excluded with fences to make sure that the construction crews as well as the operation crews remain safe. The site is also heavily vegetated with kudzu and bamboo. This is important to note because we need to have the site adequately stabilized and we need to prevent the spread of invasive species within our site. So we're going to need to have a robust vegetation management plan, both during construction and in the operations phase. Um, in addition, this site is subject to a materials management plan through DEQ due to known hydrocarbon contamination. Um, we have done additional diligence on the site and in fact confirm that there are some hydrocarbon impacted soils. And so we are planning to take additional measures beyond the typical erosion and sediment control to prevent any infiltration of that groundwater into our stormwater. If we have any oil contamination that gets commingled with our stormwater, it would be a violation of our DEQ, construction general permit. And then the last item I want to talk about before I move on to the actual last one is the interconnection delay. Approximately a year ago, in coordination with our distribution partners, we identified that we do not have rights to install communication fiber on the distribution line that we're interconnecting to. And that line runs through the Navy property. And we don't have direct visibility into that process. Distribution is running point on that. But what we have been hearing from them, we check in monthly, is that the application process has proceeded through the environmental review process, anticipated to be wrapped up at the end of this month or sometime early next month. And then the real estate process begins with the Navy, which is anticipated to take 18 months. In addition to that permitting timeline, we will need to have the construction sequence at the end of that, which distribution anticipates six months to construct that line and install that fiber. So when we talk through the timeline in a later slide, that gives you some of the background with why there's such a delay from our anticipated mobilization to our energization and substantial completion.

Are you saying that the storage tanks you all are removing those. No, sir, you're not just not putting anything on top of correct.

You can see you can see that going in the wrong direction. Here we go. So I'm clicking back a slide. This is the approved site plan overlaid onto the altar. It might be difficult for you to see, but there's a storage tank here. There's a storage tank here.

Okay.

Here, here and here. I believe there's some storage tanks in this array, but they were backfilled long ago. So we are building over top of those.

I heard hippopotamuses like that kudzu.

Excuse me?

Hippos like the kudzu. So maybe you can get a few hippos out there.

Yeah, and if we can get some pandas underneath the lines, we can get rid of the bamboo while we're at it. Then we'll be run over by hippos.

I know, we'll be run over by hippos. Thank you.

Absolutely.

So I've got a timeline here that gets a little more granular into what I was just discussing. I struggled to have the dates align with the actual dates Um, call outs here, but for your awareness, the, um, the asset purchase agreement was executed by dominion at the end of 2021. And that's, what's reflected here. Um, from that point, we began, uh, we began the RFP process to identify a contractor, to, um, engineer, procure the materials and design the site and ultimately constructed. Um, and that, that began at the end of 2022. So that kicked off the design phase, which extended for 33 months until the LDP permit application approval. And I lost track. If you don't mind, I'd like to go back one slide. So the big ticket item here is the recontracting with a new EPC. due to all these complex issues with the site and also in conjunction with the performance that we've seen from this particular contractor on some of our other sites we made the determination to part ways with them and we are beginning a new rfp process to identify a new contractor sorry for going out of sequence so that puts us here it was not long after we received the ldp application that we just made the determination to seek a new contractor. And that process is where we currently are today and is ongoing. We intend to have the site mowed this month in order to facilitate a site visit and a pre-bid walk down with our bidder. Like I said, that should occur sometime early next month. And we anticipate having that new EPC contractor onboarded in early 2027.

May I ask a question? Is there any work being done on the property at all? Physical work?

Not within our lease area. Nothing within our lease area.

Okay. So no cuts, none of that stuff started being cleared up?

No, ma'am. There's several overgrown roads, and like I said, we're going to have someone out there later this month or early next month to mow those roads just to allow vehicular and pedestrian access so that our bidder can view the site and provide us with an accurate bid.

Okay. We're just looking at how long you've had the contract.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

How about the hydrocarbon impacts? I guess you guys are going to have to clean that up. Have you had a delineation of how much land that's going to be?

So, as I mentioned, the site is subject to DEQ's material management plan, so if we encounter hydrocarbon-impacted soils, we need to adhere to that plan and dispose of them properly. Our sites are generally cut-field balanced, so there shouldn't be any haul-off, but we're also not going to encounter contaminated soil and then spread it back on the site. Right, of course. If we get any... contaminated soil. We're going to dispose of it in accordance with that material management plan. Yeah. Um, I'm sorry, didn't cut you off. Um, I mentioned we're going to do some enhanced erosion and sediment control measures. Um, our current proposal is to install impermeable liners in the basins to prevent any any of that groundwater from infiltrating.

Uh, what's the life cycle on these panels?

Um, I believe they are anticipated the last 30 years. They're supposed to last the life of the project.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

The warranty is not for 30 years. Um, so as I mentioned, we're in the recontracting phase, anticipate mobilization in March of 2027. Um, we could probably construct this site, um, in less than two years, but, um, we can't We can't energize the site until we have back feed and are interconnected with the distribution. So that's the reason why the substantial completion is pushed out.

A question for our county administrator. This is an Evie-Riffa site. There is additional land there. Do we need to be considering a parallel path for others in that area to have access to ?

Certainly that'd be an EVRIFA decision, but we have people that are on our staff that sit. Ms. Noll, I believe you're on that.

I am.

That she could bring that to their attention. I think we need to.

Make me a note.

Thank you.

All right, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about our current focus. One of the major items is procurement of major equipment. When we settled with our former EPC contractor, they had already purchased all the major equipment for this project. And so part of that settlement was that Dominion would take title to that. We are finalizing the agreement to acquire two warehouses, lease two warehouses. Once we get those leases finalized, we are going to begin to ship those materials and have them in VEPCO's care, custody, and control. Another item is the permit transfer to VEPCO. I submitted the bonds and the development agreement to Mr. Robert Walters with Public Works. He acknowledged receipt last week. And so I believe I'm waiting on the county attorney and other county staff to review the bonds and the agreement, and then let us know if there's anything else I need. And at that point, our former contractors bonds will be released.

And the name I haven't heard in a long time, or is that a different VEPCO?

VEPCO? Yeah. We're still VEPCO. We're Dominion Energy, but owned by VEPCO.

Okay. All right.

We are our permit application still say VEPCO.

Okay. Interesting. All right.

As I mentioned, we're in the recontracting phase, planning a pre-bid, and I've walked through that timeline. And then finally, continued coordination with county staff and certainly to the board if you have any other questions. I'm going to continue to work with Mr. Walters until we have the land of service permit in VEPCO's name, and then we will be reaching out to coordinate a pre-application meeting at some point if we get to go ahead to build it.

Okay, thank you. Questions? No, thank you. I have a couple. And we are running out of time.

I know. So help me conceptualize 20 megawatts. How many average York County homes can that power? If I have a plus capacitor in my DeLorean, can I go back through time? Help me wrap my head around 20 megawatts.

What year is your flux capacitor? It's totally compliant. I'm not sure if I'm best equipped to answer that, but it's something if we don't have that readily available, I'd be happy to follow up.

20 megawatts is the nameplate capacity. So that should be what it's generating. The site itself generates slightly more DC.

Once it gets converted to AC, there's some losses there.

Second question, at the end of 30 years, this project terminates, what happens to that property and that facility? Do you all remove the panels and return it back to a bare land? What happens in 30 years?

So we have a decommissioning plan that has been submitted and approved to the county, along with a decommissioning bond. And so Dominion will be responsible for decommissioning the site, and we would like to return it to its previous hydrologic function so that we can close out our BMPs.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Any other questions?

No, thank you.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

I'll call on Christy Olson to review the Virginia Arts Festival.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Hill. It's my pleasure this evening to introduce some fine folks here from the Virginia Arts Festival. Mr. Rob Cross, Executive Director and Perry Artistic Director, Diana Starkey, the Marketing and Communications Director, and John Martin, festival advisor for the williamsburg and historic triangle area they are here this evening to provide an update and share with you a new event exciting event that's coming to yorktown next spring as each of you know we celebrated the 20th anniversary of riverwalk landing last year and it has been a long-term goal of mine personally and our departments to establish a collaboration and partnership with the virginia arts festival like many of our surrounding municipalities. And thanks to these fine folks and our friends that visit Williamsburg, we are going to be able to make that happen next year. And along with all of our returning events and some of our most popular events, we are always looking for ways to reinvent and bring new things and new experiences to Yorktown. So my pleasure to introduce them.

Good afternoon. Thank you for letting us take a few moments of your time. I thought we'd just give you a kind of a brief update and talk about exciting events for next spring. You've got the least tech savvy person in the building here. Thank you. So we're really excited to bring this new event to Yorktown and work in partnership with York County and visit Yorktown. The dates are the weekend of May 15th, 16th. We'll be on the Riverwalk Landing. And over that two-day period, we'll have eight artists on the waterfront, food trucks, craft beer, wine, and cider. Just a little bit of background on the Virginia Arts Festival. This coming year, we'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary. And kind of the four pillars of the festival are bringing world-class artists to the greater Hampton Roads area. Education outreach is a really big part of what the festival does. We reach over 40,000 young people each year with workshops, master classes, and student matinees. The festival's original goal was to increase tourism in the shoulder season of Hampton Roads. So our dates have always been mid-April through mid-June. We're also willing to bring new product and new works to the stage. We mentioned the economic impact. The festival works really, really closely with Virginia Tourism and the local visitors convention bureaus. We use the same company that Virginia Tourism Corporation does to gauge our economic impact. And very conservatively, our annual impact on the state of Virginia is $20 million. And then we advertise very heavily outside of Virginia and Greater Hampton Roads. 32% of our ticket buyers are people from outside the area that are coming in through the festival, coming to our events, staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants. Now I'm going to invite Diana Starkey, who is our director of marketing communications, to talk a little bit about the marketing issues and the next steps of the festival. Thank you very much.

Good evening. Thank you for having us. We are very excited about this new festival and this new product. And as Rob was talking about economic impact and how we're bringing visitors to the area, I thought I would share a little bit about how we do that and what our plan is moving forward. We really like to drive cultural tourism. It's really part of the key mission of the Virginia Arts Festival, and we do that a couple of ways. We do attend quite a few tourism and travel conferences throughout the state and also around the country. And on the screen here are a few of those that our staff will actually go to and promote this event as well as the 30th anniversary season. We're taking flyers and brochures and such and going there and saying, this is a really great place for you to come and visit, whether you're a traveler interregionally or throughout the Mid-Atlantic or around the country. Basically, we want more people to come here and stay in your hotels and eat in your restaurants, stay longer, spend more money. Next slide. One of the ways that we do that is we also create quite a bit of brochures. We brought some copies of those here for you. We do fall brochures, spring brochures, rack brochures. We distribute them all over and through Virginia Tourism Corporation and lots of mailings of those brochures. And we're happy to say that with this timeline, we are going to be able to have Yorktown featured in the first brochure that we'll do, which will come out in late October, early November. Next slide. We also will have quite a bit of digital exposure that this festival will be included in, and that's both with social media, website, digital advertising, video promotions, sort of you name it. It will be included in all of what our promotions and marketing efforts are for this weekend. Now, I said video, but I want to introduce to you John Martin. He's going to queue up the video that we're here to show with you. John Martin, please.

Thank you. Well, before I play the video, and I'm going to share with you the impact and what we've talked a little bit about with the economic development team of what kind of festival makes sense in Yorktown and what resonated. And we put together a little video for you to share with you A vision that I sort of saw online and thought I'd grab a little piece of this and a little piece of that. It's to give you a flavor of what we plan on doing down on the waterfront. And I think it sums up and I'm going to share that. I'm going to let the video share the name. Here it is. Thank you.

Well, I'm standing all alone by the river of my home, thinking about the days I've left behind. All the years I roam, not a nickel can I show, and the river helps tease my worried mind. runs all day I can't run no more cause I'm here to stay I've had a lot of trouble and I've lived a life of pain I sit back and let that water heal my brain I'm letting go of all my trouble I think I'll be right here to stay Well the water keeps churning while my poor heart is burning Muddy water take my pain away

it's deliverance on the York River so Diana mentioned this typically we announce the festival in late April late October early November we'll announce the overall festival put out our fall brochure so we can get it out to tour operators throughout the mid-atlantic area then we'll come back in early January late January early February with a specific artists lineup and really get into the heavy local marketing. So we're very excited to be working with your team here. And if we don't have answers to questions now, we'll bring them back to you. But we're really looking forward to the partnership.

Thank you, Robert. Any questions from the board?

Yeah, how many people do you expect to be down here in historic Yorktown at any given time?

So we're working really closely with your public safety folks to agree what the capacity is for that site over a two-day period. I think the numbers we've been working is in the three

3,500 to 4,000 per day.

But we want to make sure that we've got enough safety in place to be able to do that properly.

Well, I'm a bluegrass fan, and I've just got a feeling, hey. I can see this getting out of control.

The fun part about it for us is there's really no great bluegrass festival in the greater Hampton Roads area, so I think we're bringing new product to the region, and we know fans of bluegrass will travel to see great bluegrass bands.

I'm a huge bluegrass fan, so I can't wait.

Great. Have you announced this to any artists yet? Anybody interested?

We're putting feelers out with the artist agents that we work with on a year-round basis. So kind of the cycle right now, a lot of the bands are kind of wrapping up their summer tours, and they're starting to decide if they will tour next year when they're going to be on the East Coast, when they're going to be on the West Coast. So we've got a lot of feelers out there.

Okay. All right.

Thank you so much for your time. Robert, John, Diana, thank you very much.

Thank you for your help.

So I just wanted to mention on the Bluegrass Festival, this is not a one-time thing. So as we become part of the Virginia Arts Festival, this is an annual event and will be on their calendar year after year after year. So we're looking to establish something and be known for bluegrass in the Southeast Virginia area. So I just wanted to mention that this is something that will reoccur every single year. It's just not a one-off thing. Awesome.

Great. Excellent. Great. We'll now move to citizen comment period. We normally have some comments I'd raise at the beginning, but it's only two people signed up and both people know the rules. So I'll start with Pam Busho, please.

Good evening. My name is Pam Pusho. I reside at 103 Kimberley Court, 23692. Quite a few Republicans have told me they do not like Trump, but still support their Republican members of Congress. These members have thrown away their constitutional powers, subjugating themselves to the rule of Trump. Trump is the most corrupt president in history in a Republican state. He is doing it out in the open, so no big deal. Where is Rob Whitman, and why hasn't he spoken out? How often does he say he supports a project while having voted against it? Trump spends billions of your dollars to recreate Washington in his image and name. He sued his treasury to give himself $1.776 billion for giving his debt of over $100 million in taxes while his family and businesses are protected from past tax fraud. The 4,500 National Guard troops in DC cost us $3 million daily. We are spending billions a day on a failing war. Trump sells pardons, Oval Office access, insider investment information, and forgives hundreds of millions owed by convicted fraudsters. He orders the bombing of boats with no evidence of drug running. He logs ICE murders without consequences. His Qatari jet has cost us at least a billion dollars. His wealth increases by the billions from his numerous grifts. Trump wants to reward convicted insurrectionists who assaulted police. He violates the Constitution and the rule of law. Trump could be stopped if Republicans would vote for not one more day of this corruption. They could restore programs and qualified personnel to do the jobs that have been ravaged. Health care, education, renewable energy, environmental safety, Medicaid, SNAP, more jobs in manufacturing, helping farmers, funding FEMA and NOAA, stopping discrimination, the military occupation of our cities, and the current attempt at rigging elections, and a myriad of other programs could be funded if they just said no to Trump. Trump embraces godless communist dictators. On Truth Social, he portrays himself as Superman and Jesus. He attacks the press when asked tough questions. Truth is always fake. He protects wealthy pedophiles, not the victims, because he is among those in the Epstein files being accused of pedophilia. Trump's DOJ prosecutes innocent people whose only crime is pissing him off. Trump's tariffs are illegal. Unemployment and inflation are rising. Trump is rewriting history. Cruelty, hatred, and discrimination define his regime. Trump's mental decline is obvious, as he can't even stay awake. Unless you can afford to heavily invest in the stock market, you are probably suffering economically. Remember that at the ballot box. Who will stand up for you and who remains silent? Matthew 25 speaks of Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, feeding the hungry and thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner and the sick. Verily I say unto you, and as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, He have done it unto me. Jesus says, of all those who fail to help those in need, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. You choose what is righteous. Please vote accordingly. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker is Mark Williams.

Mark Williams, 513 Charles Road, Grafton, Virginia. District 4, whoop, whoop. The rabbi has left the building, but I'll say and . If I had a glass, I could break it. Chair? District 3 was right on the money with that 14-year with the Dominion and the Main Country question. That was my first, so thank you for taking care of that. I have already sent two of the five board members some information regarding that merger that's potential that it's got 180 days to be approved between the power companies that be between the three states. Not everything can be discussed out in public. But take a review of that once you have a time to do so. There's some interesting information regarding some of that. For those that didn't know, there's something called a demand controller. Sometimes Dominion offers ways to be able to change your demand, but if you sign on to it, then they're in control of your AC. There's other corporations that do things that allow you to be in control of your own home that you pay for. That'll be in the information that you can see in reviewing your own time. I believe another district board of supervisor referred to the underground project of wiring versus overheads. There's a cost balance between the two overhead that does suck when a branch falls through the lines and takes out your power for a day or two or 15 minutes, depending on what's going on in your life. When they're underground, they have to be dug back up. And if you own your own property and you have azalea bushes and they come and rip your azaleas back out until they get to a maintenance problem, there's pluses and minuses in everything in life, including me standing here at this podium. Thank you very much. So the thing I was talking about was called time of use demand. You have to be on a special billing cycle. Moving on to bigger and better things than the United States of America and how it's being run and who it's being led by. Watching that presentation, watching everybody in this room tap their feet to some bluegrass music, it's going to coincide greatly with what Virginia's doing with their 420 project with legalizing marijuana. So I'll say it when nobody else can say it. I've smoked bluegrass before. It's tasty. So let's welcome in the new marketplaces. There is a band called the Seldom Seen Perfect Great Bluegrass Band. For those that didn't know, Bristol, Virginia, was going to be the Nashville of the music industry until Nashville moved to Nashville. So Virginia has a lot of firsts, first presidents, first time to win a war for a nation. And let's see how this sheriff's office works on a program that can make everybody happy for Yorktown events while still being safe. Thank you for your time, board.

Thank you, sir. At this point, I'll ask is there anyone else who wishes to make a citizen comment? Seeing none, I'll close the citizen comment period. I'm going to ask the board to delay the remaining topics on the first part to the end of our meeting so that we can move to the public meeting. So we will take a five minute recess and come back on at 7.30. Jenny Carver, senior planner, to present the application on Marquee Crossing.

Thank you. Good evening. So this application is a request to rezone a portion of 200 Water Country Parkway. The request is to rezone a 22 acre portion of a 32 acre parcel located at 200 Water Country Parkway from conditional economic opportunity to plan development mixed use subject to voluntary proffered conditions. The subject parcel is designated economic opportunity in the comprehensive plan. Surrounding development includes Water Country USA and the Marquis Shopping Center to the east, Wyndham Garden Hotel and Enterprise Fleet Management to the south, and Whitaker's Mill plan development and miscellaneous industrial uses across Penniman Road to the west. The proposed project, Marquis Crossing, is projected upon completion to have a maximum of 125 townhouse units, a convenience gas and food use, and two additional commercial out parcels. So the property has been zoned EO since 1995 and designated economic opportunity and the comprehensive plan since 1991. A mixed use overlay was applied from 2013 until it was removed with the adoption of the current comprehensive plan in 2023. In 2014, a 32 acre parcel, the 32 acre parcel was rezoned from EO to conditional EO. in conjunction with the adjacent Whitaker's Mill development. The proffers included preparing two commercial pad sites and dedicating right-of-way for the planned Water Country Parkway realignment. In 2017, the Board approved a proffer amendment at the request of the Whitaker's Mill developer to require $150,000 to be contributed to the county for road improvements in connection with the Water Country Parkway realignment project in lieu of preparing the commercial pad sites. The Water Country Parkway realignment project was later canceled after the property owners decided not to participate because of the design had to be changed to meet VDOT concerns. In February 2024, the Planning Commission considered an application to rezone the subject property from EO to PDMU to allow 314 luxury apartments. three and a half acres of convenience gas and food uses and 15 acres of commercial development. The commission recommended denial after which the applicants requested an indefinite deferral under the terms of the code. The application expired one year later. So during the last comprehensive plan update process, there was significant discussion on the part of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee of this property in particular. The Comprehensive Plan identifies the subject property as being potentially appropriate for mixed-use development, but with the caveat that residential development should be part of the development or redevelopment plan for the marquee. In making this recommendation, the Steering Committee's principal concern was not to promote any more purely residential rezonings in this area, like Whitaker's Mill. So let's take a closer look at what's being proposed. Land Bay B, a 13.2-acre portion of the property, is proposed to be developed with 125 three-story townhome units, a pocket park, a community green, including a stormwater retention pond. Land Bay A, a 3.3-acre site, would be set aside for a Sheetz convenience store, gas station, and food use. The applicants have proffered that a site plan will be approved and a foundation poured for a commercial use in Land Bay A or C prior to the issuance of more than 80 final certificates of occupancy for townhome units on the property. Land Bay C, which is 5.4 acres, is planned for future commercial development, including approximately 4,000 square feet designated for fast food restaurants. The sketch plan is illustrative only, and the final mix of uses will depend on market demand. The remaining 10 acres would remain conditional EO with no proposed development. The PDMU district includes guidelines for the mix of residential and commercial uses, which the board may modify during rezoning. Because marquee crossing encompasses less than 50 acres, it's classified as a minor PDMU and is subject to the following conditions. Guidelines for the commercial component recommend at least 1,000 square feet of non-residential floor area per developable acre. With 8.7 acres designated for commercial use, the guideline is approximately 8,700 square feet. This proposal includes approximately 10,150 square feet of commercial space. Guidelines for the residential component include a maximum density of 10 dwelling units per developable acre. The proposal includes 125 units on 13.2 acres, meeting the 10 unit per acre maximum guideline. The guidelines also call for at least 40% of dwelling units to be located above ground floor commercial uses. The proposal does not include this building type, reflecting limited local market demand for such development at the proposed density. PDMU regulations require 10% of the gross site area to be reserved as open space, preferably in central areas that serve as community focal points. Much of the reserved open space is located in required landscape yards and buffers, including a 45-foot green belt along Marquis Center Parkway, a 35-foot buffer along Water Country Parkway, and a 20-foot setback along Penniman Road. The 22-acre site requires 2.2 acres of open space, and the proposal provides 2.7 acres, including a 2.4-acre community green and a three-tenths of an acre pocket park. According to the applicant's narrative, the community green would include benches, walking paths and a historical interpretive display. PDMU standards require shared recreation areas and encourage walkable mixed use development. Although the proposed commercial uses are primarily automobile oriented, the plan includes sidewalks connecting residential and commercial areas. It also includes a bike lane connection to a possible future bike lane located outside of the subject property and not associated with the applicant's proposal. PDMU standards require high quality, cohesive architectural design. The applicants have submitted residential, commercial, and signage guidelines that provide consistency throughout the residential and commercial components through shared materials and design elements. The design guidelines for signage are acceptable, but do not stipulate the size or height of signage. Language has been included in the ordinance that would limit signage to ground mounted monuments no larger than 32 square feet and 10 feet in height. PDMU regulations require an approved phasing plan to ensure both residential and non-residential components are developed. The applicants propose constructing the townhomes and preparing a 3.3-acre pad-ready commercial site, possibly for sheets, and most proffered traffic improvements immediately following rezoning and site plan approval. Development of the commercial pad sites in Land Bay C will occur as tenants are secured. The applicant's traffic impact analysis, or TIA, estimates that the fully built project will generate approximately 8,510 daily trips. Staff submitted the applicant's TIA to VDOT for review. Based on the approved analysis, the following improvements are recommended. They plan to upgrade the existing traffic signal and turn lanes at the intersection of Route 199 and Marquis Parkway. the proposed entrance of off water country parkway across from the wyndham hotel entrance a full access driveway is proposed a full access driveway for the residential site entrance is proposed off water country parkway the final recommended improvement is to extend the northbound left turn lane at the intersection of marquee center parkway and mark and water country parkway the route 99 access road the entrance from water country parkway into land bay a and an extension of the northbound left turn lane at 199 Water Country Parkway must be completed before a certificate of occupancy is issued for Land Bay A. The residential entrance from Water Country Parkway must be completed prior to the issuance of certificate of occupancy for Land Bay B. The proposed development is estimated to generate 47 public school students. While the York County School Division expressed concerns about additional enrollment in schools that are currently near or at capacity, particularly Magruder Elementary, the applicants note that the project is not expected to be complete until 2030 when, according to most recent data published by the school division, enrollment projections indicate sufficient capacity at the affected schools. The proposal meets the zoning ordinances, parking requirements, providing 308 spaces for the town homes, including visitor parking. Parking is also shown for the commercial areas and the proposed ordinance would require all residential and commercial uses to meet applicable parking standards. The applicant's fiscal impact analysis estimates that the development will increase county operating costs by $1,475 per household and $925 per business, while each household would increase school costs by $1,160. However, it will also generate real estate, personal property, sales, and meals tax revenue. The analysis projects approximately $410,000 in annual real estate tax revenue, which it concludes would exceed the estimated general government and school costs associated with the development. So the proposal generally meets the intent of the PDMU district by providing a mix of residential and commercial uses, open space, pedestrian connections, and adequate transportation improvements. It complies with the residential density guideline and exceeds the maximum commercial floor area guideline. The primary issue is whether the proposed land use is appropriate for this location. The comprehensive plan provides mixed guidance, suggesting the property's suitability for mixed-use development, while stating that residential development should only occur as part of an overall mixed-use strategy for the marquee North Pod, which is commercial. The comprehensive plan supports mixed-use development but emphasizes that it should include a genuine commitment to both residential and commercial uses. It acknowledges the challenges of achieving this balance, given the current market demand is greater for high-density housing than it is for commercial development, and recommends that future mixed-use proposals receive careful scrutiny to ensure they create cohesive, walkable communities where people can live, work, and play. Relevant considerations in evaluating this application include the following. The county has an abundance of EO zoned land relative to demand. Although the proposal would convert 13.2 acres to residential use, 19 acres would remain available for commercial development and substantial vacant commercial land exists nearby. The marquee continues to struggle due to the lack of food uses and surrounding residential density. Approval of this application would increase nearby approved housing units and likely add at least one food use, helping support existing and future businesses in the area. The applicants may develop a sheets on the proposed 3.3 acre out parcel and have committed to no more than 80 townhomes receiving certificates of occupancy before construction begins in land base A or C. So while the application has some positive aspects, the lack of a guarantee that commercial development will occur before residential development is a concern. The application is not fully consistent with the comprehensive plan, and approval could allow up to 80 townhomes without a commercial component. Staff therefore recommends denial, but has prepared ordinance number 26-17 should the board choose to approve the application. So at its July 8th, 2026 meeting, the Planning Commission heard from six members of the public, with four opposing the application and two supporting it. Key concerns included traffic, site history, commercial commitments, and the fiscal impact analysis. Supporters cited the need for a nearby gas station and potential site improvements. The Commission ultimately voted three to four to recommend denial. Letters were sent to adjacent property owners, three signs were posted on the property, and four advertisements were published in the daily press. Staff received five emails from citizens after the Planning Commission meeting and prior to tonight. Three emails expressed concern or expressed support for the application, while two others expressed opposition. The supporting emails cited the potential to increase affordable housing, commercial activity, expand the tax base, attract investment, and make better use of existing infrastructure, while other residents urged denial of the proposal due to the concerns about traffic safety, blind curves, litter, crime, overdevelopment, limited walkability, and live-work-play amenities, and the lack of need for another gas station given nearby alternatives. The opposition emails specifically asked for the parcel to remain EO rather than be rezoned to PDMU and emphasize preserving the area's quieter character. So that's all I have for you. Thank you. And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. And the applicants are here as well.

Thank you Jeannie. I'm prerogative of the chair. I'm going to go first because this is in my district. You know, I I'm going to start with a comment that 570 page document is just. not reasonable for this board to have to go through and dig through. The traffic component alone, the TIA is 250 or 270 pages. That could have been summarized. And I look at ourselves, I look at our planning staff, and I look at the developer to do a better job of making it presentable to this board. So that's just an overview of concern that I have with the package. When something of that magnitude lands on our desk on Friday and we're expected to do a reasonable job of preparing ourselves for a meeting on Tuesday, it's insufficient.

Right, they are required to include certain those tables at the end for V dot, but we can take those out for your consumption.

I would accept a chat GPT summary of the traffic study, you know, on one page.

Thank you 100%.

Let me move on to parking. So what are the number of spaces required by the county for the townhouse portion of this development?

So if it's going to be 125 townhomes, that's 313 parking spaces. If it's 123 townhomes, that's 308 parking spaces. If it's 117 townhomes, it's 293 parking spaces. Their proposal has changed throughout the time slightly, between 125 and 117. Okay, thank you.

I'll hold that question until the developer is on. The fiscal impact study, would you kindly summarize why the county requested a third-party service to analyze the study issued by Ted Figuera, Inc.?

It was requested by citizens, so my director took it to county administration, and they decided to go ahead with it.

Don't think it was just citizens. I think there were some board members involved in that as well. What were the primary conclusions of that independent study?

So the review found that the FIA does not provide sufficient documentation. School operating costs appear materially understated. The FIA largely omits capital facility impacts. The FIA's conclusions about school capacity are questionable. And overall, marquee crossing may still be fiscally neutral or positive because of market rate housing, online sales tax allocations, and commercial uses. However, the conclusion that revenues will substantially exceed public costs should be treated cautiously until a more complete analysis accounts for operating capital and commercial service costs.

So the numbers you presented in the earlier package are based on the earlier submission and do not reflect the corrections made by the independent consultant.

That's correct. Yes.

On schools, let's talk about Magruder. It was over capacity two years ago by about 150 children. We went through a redistricting and most of those children ended up where? Watermill School. We're now in the throes of a capital campaign to correct Watermill School or build on capacity at Watermill. We're also on addressing a significant capital increase on Queens Lake. Am I correct in that?

I believe so.

Yeah. I guess the issue I have is initially the fiscal study said there was no impact on schools. There was no need for increased capacity and therefore cash proffer was not required. I just want to go on record stating that that was an incorrect assumption by Mr. Figueroa. Let me move on to the archaeological study. On two separate occasions, the project has come before the Planning Commission. Oh, this is the first time it's come before the Board of Supervisors. In each of the presentations to the Planning Commission, representatives from the Battlefield Trust have documented and commented on the significance of the site, the historical value of the original Whitaker Mill House. The house, and for that matter, the mill, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, has not been identified on any of the maps included in the study by Circa Inc. Why have we not asked for an independent consultant review of that study also be submitted?

So up until a few years ago, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources would be that independent consultant. They would review these archaeological studies and tell us if they're sufficient. This was done in 2016 for this application, and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources approved it and said that there was no further review of the site necessary. So after they've stopped doing that, now we hire independent consultants, but the need wasn't there then.

I just find that there were several gaps in that study and disappointed with the overall quality of that study. Since then, I've met with the developer and we have done a lot of work to identify where the Whitaker House is and what we should have in terms of signage. I'll let him speak to that during the discussion. But it behooves us to do a better job of analyzing the independent reports that come in. And so it's archaeology, it's fiscal study, it's any other study that comes in with these developments. I think we have as a board and as a county have the responsibility to ensure that the information is accurate.

And how do you do that?

On item 10 of the proffers, It indicates that no further residential take place without approval of the board. Does that require an SUP to be considered at that time, or is it simply sufficient for it to come as a presentation to the board?

An SUP would not be required, but a rezoning would be.

Rezoning, OK. That's all I had. Other questions for Jeannie?

Yeah. You have one slide that mentioned you you the county received 2 letters. It's actually did not application. I think you mean the county received through the shared mailbox because I think some of us have received substantially more letters to not asking to deny the application just clarify what you're talking about went to the shared mailbox individually we receive more.

These are the ones that I've been made aware of.

I understand. I just want to make, because I'm sure there's people out there like, wait a minute, I sent a message. How can there only be two? So can you go back to the slide that talked about?

I think we've had 12 just today. So there's a substantial number above the number you reported.

And can you go back to the slide that talked about the financial impact to homeowners, individuals? So let's explore that a little bit. right. Okay, so increase county operating costs. I mean we're not talking about and this the Adam together so we look 20 this is a slide that I said is an actor, yeah, those of this is the end of this does not have the latest on it. So what would the latest look like that.

so the independent review didn't go into what the costs what it would generate it just reviewed what they submitted they haven't updated their financial impact analysis so these numbers remain the same all right so we don't really know what the increased operating cost per household per school is yet

we just have the original that we will when I question the developer you're getting that okay.

All right, the projected so we've got a bullet point for the projected real estate tax revenue so that is on the just that piece of property. What about other projected revenue gains from from this year to go to full build that we have those numbers.

No, these are the numbers that they provided to us. They didn't provide anything additional. They just noted that there would be additional revenue sources like personal property, meals tax, sales tax. They didn't give numbers on those.

All right. Okay. We'll get into that, what Ms. Hallward has. Okay.

I'm holding. Mrs. Norman.

I don't have any questions. Okay.

I have no questions. Thank you, Jeannie. I'll call on the applicant. Greetings, Vernon.

Mr. Chairman, members of the board, I'm Vernon Getty of 1177 Jamestown Roads. Pleasure to be here tonight representing the applicants and developers. We have ROCA partners. Dan Hargett, the CEO and founder of ROCA, is here. Stanley Martin Homes, you have Hunter Taylor, who's the area president for Stanley Martin. As you know, this property is currently zoned EO and has been since 1995. It could be put to a full range of EO uses, including many that I think folks would find much less desirable than this proposal. Industrial parks, hotels, auto parts stores, secondhand stores. a host of less desirable retail uses. As Gene detailed, this is the property that was before the county three years ago with a large apartment complex and the sheets and undefined commercial development. And that project was allowed to lapse. And we are back before you seeking this PDMU mixed-use project that would include a Sheetz, an Arby's, and up to 125 residential townhomes and another commercial out-partial site. Staff recommends a comprehensive plan recognizes that a mixed use project on this site could be appropriate. And two things are hurting the marquee are a lack of residential customers in this area and the lack of any gas station, convenience store, or food uses that you would normally find with a development like the marquee. This project will meet both those needs. It brings quality, moderately priced for sale housing and a much needed gas convenience food use. As Gene said, it meets the intent of the PDMU ordinance. The applicant has offered proffers to ensure early commercial development. And Roca Partners, the commercial developer, has signed binding agreements with both Sheetz and Arby's and work on those developments. Their site plan and approval process would kick off immediately after rezoning with the hope of getting under construction in early 2027. This is the updated plan. And this version is actually slightly different than the one you were looking at before, this has the updated parking plan with the addition of several overflow parking areas. And this actually shows 117 townhouse units. Looking back at the former project, the message we got was very clear and unequivocal that the county does not want apartments on this site. So what they were looking for is moderately priced for sale residential units. And so Rocha and Stanley Martin have partnered and reduced the density of this development and changed the product type. The 3.5 acre sheet site, if I can find the cursor, remains in the same place right there. And Arby's would be right across the entrance road on this out parcel. This would be the third out parcel site. And this is the remainder of the property that would remain EO with the additional proffer that it couldn't be put to a residential use without you all's approval. And that would be the case even if there was a change in state law that might come along that says residential developments permitted on undeveloped commercial land. So that would prevent that from happening. There have been a number of changes made in this proposal since the Planning Commission meeting. First, we touched on briefly the townhouse parking has been revised to avoid issues. Folks pointed out a number of existing townhouse projects in the county that experience parking problems. Our folks went and looked at those and completely revised the parking layout. They increased the parking count, added the overflow parking areas I showed. The main public streets through that section are 50 feet right of ways, and the alleys are 26 feet. All of the driveways are 20 feet long to accommodate even full-size big vehicles without intruding into any sidewalks or alleys or anything like that. While not a new property, They've also proffered street lights and speed limit signs along Water Country Parkway, which is dark and overgrown today. So that will be a substantial safety improvement there. While we've had a proffer on historic significance of the site all along, it's been greatly beefed up working with folks interested in the history of this site. Marker has been relocated. Originally it was going to be in this area. It will be back here now near the trail and with a parking area right beside it so people interested could actually go park and look at the facility. We will work with the Civil War Trails Group in coming up with the content of the sign, working with the chairman, we've actually had an independent archaeologist go back into the research on the history of this site and locate the original Whitaker house, which is actually across Route 199 near the entrance to the marquee. So we will have a sign that notes the significance of that house, its location, and its relation to the property. The fiscal impact.

I only had 20 or so maps to show you.

You had done quite a bit of research, Mr. Chairman. We've offered a cash proffer. While we are highly confident in the estimates of the revenue this project will generate in taking into account all those other taxes, it will be over $800,000 a year. We recognize there was issues with the expense side of the fiscal impact. And so we've offered a cash proffer of $1,360 per residential unit to offset any impacts from this project. And we think that we'll ensure it will be a fiscal positive for the county.

When would those be paid?

It's paid on a per unit basis after the final inspection before the issuance of a CO. We've also offered to dedicate the long, narrow parcel on Penniman Road you saw as a trailhead for the Cheetahman X Trail that looks like it's coming to fruition. So that'll be dedicated to the county. And I've described the proffer on the 10 acres. The commercial uses, the RVs and the sheets will generate 50 new jobs. It's a $12 million initial investment and will generate long-term tax revenue for the county. This will provide quality moderately priced housing for sale housing with attractive amenities and a walkable mixed use community price. 380 to 450. And the folks at Stanley Martin actually looked earlier this week in that price range in the county. There are currently seven homes for sale. So there's a great demand for the ability to purchase in that price range. It creates the opportunity for home ownership. The comment we got when the apartments were on the table is, listen, what I want is somewhere my son or daughter can afford to buy and live in York County.

What kind of square footage? What kind of square footage for these houses?

28. 1950.

1930. So both Rocha and Stanley Martin are well respected local developers. They've done work in the county before. They have worked tirelessly with staff, with neighbors, county officials, with you all. Chairman Holroyd has been exceptionally helpful in helping us work through issues on this. And we think we've mitigated any potential impacts from the project. and address the concerns of neighbors. This is a good design fit for a very challenging piece of property. The sites remain vacant. It was zoned residential initially in 1985. It went to commercial and sits today. This project, we think, will generate tax revenue for the county. creates the opportunity for home ownership and quality residential units at reasonable prices, and activates vacant EO land that will provide much needed services, including food, gas, convenience store, in an area that currently has none of that. So we would.

Please continue if you have.

Yeah, I would just say we think this will be a win-win for the county and the developers. We think it will be good for local residents, for the marquee, for the local attractions, and for the county as a whole. And we would, of course, be glad to answer any questions, but respectfully ask you to approve it.

I think I'll jump in again. So so we heard from this. Carter that 313 parking spaces were required. You covered parking, but you didn't tell us how many are now approved in your new revised site plan.

343

And that includes the half per garage? Yeah, it does.

What was the last thing you asked?

Well, every two units, you can include a garage for one out of every two units as per our code when we've changed the parking guidelines. So that would be 60-ish that are garage-based parking spots. The other 280 would be standalone. Right, okay. on the fiscal impact. So yes, we've had many discussions on this. We had identified the need for required deputies in that area based on the number of developments that we have in the marquee area, be it Southpaw or be it The new Tranquility or Whitaker's Mill are now Marquis Crossing. Sheriff was here earlier, but he had clearly indicated the need for a new deputy patrol in that area. And we calculated that based on the cost per unit, assuming all of those houses in that region paid the same cost. And that was about $1,600 that was not in our original plan. Capital required for schools. Again, we took the debt load increase between now and six years out, which is 2032. And that increase in debt load is estimated at $13 million per year debt load. and we divided by the number of students in the school system, 13,000, so it was $1,000 per head. The 47 new students coming in, we took that cost of 47,000 and divided by the number of units operating costs for the schools. And this was just a hack. The Figueres study had 1,100 and something. The revised study by Bichelle was 2,139 per unit. And we accepted that number. And that's based on the capital cost or the number shown in our own capital plan of a little over $5,000 per student per year in our 2027 fiscal year plan.

How much per student?

Little over 5 little over 5500 per student.

Today it's pretty close to what it will spend already. Yeah, that is the number.

Yeah, that's the number we used. Then County operating costs were added to that and the total came out at. $5044 per unit, a little over $630,000 per year, so that's the all in expenses side of this project.

How would they like total to?

So I said $630,000 a year.

Oh, for per student? No, no.

Total expenses per this crossing. Oh, for this crossing, okay. $5,044 per unit for all of those costs. Now, would you now explain or cover the revenue side? Because I know you've worked through the revenue side. You've provided that to us, but it was not in your review tonight.

Bear with me for one minute, get my eyes on. So on the revenue side, we have looked at real estate tax revenue from the residential, real estate tax revenue from the commercial, personal property tax, car tax on residential units, the business personal property tax, the local option sales tax, business license fees and meals tax. And we've applied that we've gotten actual sales numbers from both sheets and Arby's and use that to calculate the revenue the county should expect from those.

Which the total is $879,000 a year.

Again 630,000 expenses is what you said? Correct. However,

The commercial aspect or commercial portion of that number, if I calculated correctly, is $430,000. In other words, the balance comes from residential, but we have $430,000 per year that's dependent on the commercial business operating.

In a reasonable time, yeah.

So a deficit of $200,000 if you only did residential. which we've said all along this requires commercial right against the commercial.

Is is 100% is any of that revenue tied back to. The bond obligations we have for from rookie market shops are they police over totally separate only separate okay.

Construction. Page 8 of the county letter states that the PDMU provision requires that construction is in a mixed use development is sequenced in accordance with the project build out schedule and approved by the board. I haven't heard how you plan to do that in this discussion. Are you confirming that the project will be done as a single phase?

the project would begin as a single phase yes the approvals for both the residential and the commercials would appear would be processed simultaneously and the commercial will take significantly less time to build than the build out of the residential. So the commercial will be online first.

You're not going to wait for the build out of the housing? No. I want time. You're going to do it in phases. Yeah, the houses will be built in phases, absolutely. So you'll have people living in there.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

What's the commitment from these two out parcels with sheets and Arby's? I heard somebody say. I'll get to that. Okay, sorry.

So schools, you volunteered cash proffer, we understand that. And that's to cover both the operating cost and the capital for new construction. And that is essentially based on the new fiscal impact study that we've done. The archeological study.

Can I ask a question about that? Yes. So the $800,000 was what you proffered?

That's what we project the revenue for the county will be.

OK, so what is the proffered amount?

$1,360 per unit. Comes down to what? $159,000. Comes down to what? $160,000. No, no, no.

It's times five years.

That's annual.

It's $850,000 over a five-year period. OK, so how is that going to address schools? How is that going to address schools?

You're over capacity in one school, and you're saying $800,000, that's just one time, a proffer. How does that address in a school?

It's per unit for the number of students that they're putting in the school.

And the $800,000 is annual tax revenue that will come into the county every year.

OK. Well, my concern is that we're going to be close to building a $50 million school. that's what we're getting close to almost triggering that okay unless I mean and if you don't that's a new school and if you just add on a couple extra rooms because you know you got what twenty four kids per room you know that's not going to come in at this kind of this night close.

But the fifty million is across the entire population of students not forty seven They're adding $47,000 to $13,000. I understand, but we're about to trigger.

This is what the board's got to consider. We're about to trigger a new school or some real huge thing.

That's not as a result of this project. They're paying their share of what that capital debt is.

All right but I'm just saying I'm just saying that I got that I understand you're not buying the whole school right now but right to Mister Shepard's point if that requires us to add even one additional

classroom built out.

It's six to eight classrooms in both Watermill and Queens Lane.

Well, $800,000 isn't going to cover that.

No, it's not. Our capital plan is about $30 million. That's what I'm saying.

It just triggers. That's all we're doing. I've heard this before, that we reach a point where we actually trigger the requirement for $30, $40 million worth of investment in schools. That's just something that's going to happen. But what you are is just, I don't know how I would describe it, maybe the match to the dynamite. So no, it's not your fault. I'm just saying this is what happens in a development of the whole community.

Right. Yeah. I mean, I guess our point is between the $800,000 plus in annual revenue, plus the one-time cash profit, we are paying our fair share of those costs.

Well, we can't hide from it, so.

I'll continue.

Thank you.

So the archeological study. And yes, I've had many conversations with you. I've had conversations with Glen David Brasher, who was probably the leading historian on the Civil War and the Williamsburg War. And he had written a letter to the board in March of 24, basically recognizing this site as one of the most historic sites emanating from the Civil War. He felt that this was, in fact, the genesis of the Emancipation Proclamation. That's why we've been so fussed about finding the location of this house, making a proper historic marker for it.

We're happy to recognize that. It'll be a benefit for the project as well as the community.

I'm pleased you've done that. Thank you.

Proffers, I think I've addressed item 10. Jeannie has answered that for us. Item 3, I have a question as to why the C of O requirement is set for 80 units before the foundation is poured on land base A and C. That's just, you know, when will the 80th unit be complete? Why is it gonna take that long? Sheets' inability to complete and Arby's inability to complete is based on that foundation, that pad being ready. And I just do not accept that it's three, four, five years down the line because that's what it may take to get to 80 units. And I'm struggling with that.

Well, the concept behind it was to give you assurance that you're not going to have the full residential build out and no commercial.

I would much rather have zero residential build out before I had commercial. I mean, we don't make money until we have commercial up and running. I think that's still a question back before this board in terms of what number we're willing to accept. That's got me very concerned. I've heard from both Tony Caruso from Sheetz. I've heard from Angela Rickman from Arby's. Both of them have specifically have builders ready to go they have they have an organization that builds these either restaurants or or gas stations across the country they can i think the sheets total time from from land permit to to completion was 30 months angela was about half of that right we want to see those economic elements in place long before we get to 80 townhouses.

Right. And we believe they will be. But it's very difficult. These are two different developers to tie how many units the residential developer can build to something entirely outside of their control.

Why are you holding up two businesses? That's my question. We're not holding them up. You are. They will go immediately. You are. Tell me that you have to wait till the 80th unit. You're holding them up.

No. No, those businesses will start in immediately. In fact, we look forward to working with your new Mr. Clayton, the business facilitator, to help them through the process as quickly as possible. They will go in immediately, and then that proffer will become irrelevant.

one said that that's that was my question or 20 what's what's the what's the commitment and how do we hold that commitment.

So yeah, I have to hear from Mr Hargett can speak to that.

Thank you for your time. I'm Dan Hargett on the applicant and developer of the overall project. The reason that that 80 unit threshold came in was actually a conversation with planning staff around the concern about the commercial happening. It wasn't set up as a restriction such that the 80 would have to be built before we built the commercial. I've got binding long-term commitments with two national retailers that could get open tomorrow if we could get them open tomorrow. And the conversation that I've had with those retailers is if we can get approved at zoning, we will move as fast as we can to get site plan approval and start construction. Having said that, you also have two different uses. You have a residential use and you have a commercial use. And you have two companies that are managing those project schedules. So to tie them together takes two major companies. Stanley Martin Homes is a major company. and myself, and we're trying to match up project schedules. The reality is that the residential will get built as we develop the site and put in the off-site improvements and do all the work that we have to do. But I can promise you there's no one that wants to be on the site faster than Sheetz and Arby's. And I ask them to be here tonight if you'd like to ask them any questions. But they are here. But the 80 was not a restriction in that we wouldn't start until 80. The 80 was we're not going any further, and we wouldn't be able to develop any more townhouses. So we take all of the potential benefit of those last 45 units off the table if we haven't gotten the commercial. I can tell you personally, I have a mandate from Sheets to get this open as soon as possible.

I'd like- So the- Normally, as I understand this over the years, is that we put a restriction on how many homes can be built simply to drive the development of commercial space. Normally, it was the building. This is when we would go, you've got to build a commercial building And whether you've got a customer or not, you've got to build it, right? And that became a challenge. And that was what was driving it. It sounds like you don't have that challenge. You sound like you've already got the businesses lined up and ready to go. So what's the 80? I don't understand what's the 80.

So the 80 was to set a threshold where we could still develop the residential and get started with the overall project. Remember, I have to finance this entire project. So I have to.

Why not set it lower? Why not set the 40 or 50?

I think that supports prerogative.

Excuse me? What was that?

I believe that's the board's prerogative. We'll have that discussion as we...

Okay, but I'm asking him.

I mean, what's... Yeah, there's a certain threshold where we have to go out and finance the overall project, and we have to get Sheetz and Arby's to come on board. Part of this and part of the allure for Sheetz and Arby's, I'm not going to speak on their behalf, was the mixed-use nature of this project, and they liked the idea of having these residents. So when planning staff brought it up, they said, well, Would you consider not building all the townhouses because we don't want to run into a situation where we have 125 townhouses and no commercial? And I said, absolutely. How about if we moved it back to 80? Still gives me enough of a project to get financed and get started, but at the same time holds my feet to the fire and creates an incentive that I don't get to do the last 45 units unless I have Sheetz or Arby's moving forward.

So your investors, you're saying your investors in this, the banks or whatever, loan companies are They're saying you need to have at least 80. We got to see that this is going to go to 80 units.

Yeah, there are no investors. I'm the only investor. But a lender is going to look at the overall collateral and the overall project moving forward. So we just said, look, how about 80? If it needs to be 75, it could be 75.

It's an arbitrary number.

Yeah, it's not arbitrary, but it's not 15. So if we needed to cut that back a little bit, we could certainly do that.

So the loan company is interested I don't know how you phrase obviously the loan people loan you money or whatever. Yeah. They've got to make sure there's going to be equity there in case you go belly up or something. And can I clarify something?

Yeah. One thing. So we're two separate developers. So we will be buying the residential land from Dan if the project is approved. So we will we will close it. We'll do a minor subdivision plot. We'll buy the residential. And so for us to buy that land and put the infrastructure in, we need a certain number of homes. So Dan's not developing the residential section. We'll be developing the residential section.

Dan, you got the land, and you'll sell it to the builder.

Correct. But then I have the obligations, which is what I'll go out and get financing for, to do the road improvements and the turn lanes.

You need 80 to be able to make it a viable product. Correct. That's exactly right. Correct. OK. Now that makes sense. OK. All right. Thank you.

I would like to hear from Arby's and Sheetz.

Yeah, I think they've signed up. OK. I'm happy to have them come up now if you'd like.

Let's do it now, yeah.

OK.

While we're on the subject. No sense in going backwards.

OK. Tony, thank you.

Yep. Good evening, board. My name's Tony Caruso. I represent Sheets. Here to answer questions you might have.

Well, you heard some of them, right?

I work for Sheetz. I'm a licensed professional engineer. I work for Sheetz in the capacity of a permitting and entitlements manager. So when we have a site that's under agreement, in this case, we're under agreement with ROCA. We have a signed contract for us to build a site here. In this contract, It is Dan's responsibility to us to get this site zoned. And then he builds us a pad site. And then we build a store on top. So in terms of timing, procedure, that's kind of how this one's set up for us. But my capacity is to get a Sheets plan approved so that we can go to construction.

So Dan, when would you build a pad?

As fast as I can get site plan approval.

So you have to sell the land to Stanley Homes to build a pad?

No, that's commercial. That's the commercial side.

Well, I mean, he's got to get money from somewhere.

So our our agreement with Dan and Roka is that we have certain timelines to do things he had a certain timeline to get the site the the property rezoned and approved for our use and then the other uses for the mix plan development and then he has a certain amount of time line and we have a certain amount of time line to get his infrastructure plans approved in the sheets plans approved.

I think our I think our interests is your commitment.

Yeah, that's mine. I want to hear from you that you guys are ready to go tomorrow if you had a pad.

As soon as you and your staff can get us approved, we are going to construction.

When did Travis Sheets sign off on it?

What, like three years ago? A lot. yeah I mean we would love to have been under construction two years ago you know we we understand the concerns the difficulty with some of the uses some of the historic nature of the property we're happy to work with staff with the county but we would love to put a sheets here I don't know how to restate our commitment to the site but we'd love to be here if we could be here tomorrow we would be

I think the question I phrased was there's about six Sheets locations across Williamsburg, York County that are on the books or at least planned and being thought about. Where would this rank in terms of those six?

All six are number one.

And that's not the right answer. All six are number one. You just blew it.

No, it's part of it.

Six times zero is still zero.

Well, six times one is still six, and we'd love to have all six. No, we would love to be at all of them. We'd absolutely love to be at this one. You guys are in the development world. You know about it. Not every project can move through. Master plan projects like this that get approved, they move through. So for us, as soon as we get through this rezoning process, it's a shoe in. We're going to have a store here. We're going to move forward. You know, I get to count plus one on my tally. You know, we have a couple other stores that are under construction in the area that are going to get open within the next few months. And we would love to get this one as close to being open during the time frame of those other couple because we'd like to have more together because we're our own distributor. we send all of the supplies to our stores from our DC. So to send from that DC to two stores is kind of a tough ask for our operations team, for our distribution team. If we can get 10, 15 stores out here and this be one of them in a relatively short amount of time, as short as you guys will let us. We'd love to do plus one out here. So I'm struggling to find more ways to say yes, please.

And is there further approvals required by VDOT for this site?

I'd kind of have to defer to Dan on VDOT's review.

No. That's the difference. That's why it's higher.

We do have some difficulties there in terms of access and DOT. And again, master plan developments usually have all of that worked out on the front end. We know what we're going to get. We know what we're getting into. We like what we get here, and we'd love to be here.

I guess I'm curious if Mr. Sheets was so interested in this property three years ago and your eagerness to come there, why haven't you pursued this independently?

I mean, as you can kind of tell from some of the other developers that have been up here, it It's a larger piece of property. It takes more investment than just what we can do on a parcel. I don't think that there's an opportunity for a single user to come in and be here. I think it takes the full development to fund the infrastructure that's necessary. I think one of the things the planning department outlined was all of the signal upgrades and road improvements. By ourselves, we couldn't fund something on that scale. I don't know. Is that about right?

We got a couple things going on. We have a seller that owns 32 acres and will only sell 32 acres, number one. Number two, we have significant off-site road improvements as required by VDOT that can't be shouldered by just the Sheets use, right? And then number three, we've been working on this thing for four years, so we've stayed steadfast in our commitment to the location as has Sheets, which is the reason they signed a 50-year commitment signed by the CEO of Sheets.

Can we hear from Arby's?

Can we hear from Edgewood, please?

Hi, I'm Angela Rickman. I'm an Arby's franchisee. I'm super excited to be part of this project, if it's approved. I've had a relationship with Dan Hargett and Roca Partners for over 15 years. And he has developed one of my Arby's locations. I have four currently, one under construction. This would be my sixth, if it's approved by you guys. I have already taken it to corporate. I can be excited and thrilled about it, but I alone can't make that decision. I have to go to corporate Arby's for approval, which has been done. They have approved it. It has become part of my contractual development agreement with them. So I am bound to that legally. I am bound financially with financial consequences. to get it open and not just open, but open timely. So there is also financial accountability if I don't open by the time frame that has been set by them.

So is Dan holding you up?

Yes. So we are ready when you're ready.

Okay.

Thank you. Questions?

I'm good.

I don't have any questions for you. Thank you, Angela. Thank you.

this point.

The question for the builder. All right. One question for the bill or Vernon you can it's like in it. The question I've got actually is that he correctly did you have a 20 foot offset off a road set back off a road. Major road up there 20 feet.

There will be a 20 foot driveway.

If that's what you said back off. There's a okay, there's what's the I was a pen and wrote up the They're going back right here once you're back right there.

Yeah, I think that is a 20 foot setback.

No, it's it's it's not a 20 foot setback. It's a 20 foot buffer from the edge of the railroad right away to the lot line for the town and buildings that are back there. Then the townhomes will have a 15 to 20 foot deep backyard before you get to the building on the lot.

back there so the reason i bring that up is for you guys that when they build a legacy of pocosin there's a 20 foot setback or 25 foot setback is ridiculous it was right up against the road victory boulevard that is not the case here okay all right great thank you

I think the other point worth mentioning is you did widen the roads to allow parking on both sides of even the private roads. And that's how they increase the number of parking spots. So we've I think learn from help stations on the court used to some of our down locations. Yeah, that were parking challenge and and the commercials not come in. Thank you. Great, thank you all. I'll open the public hearing. First speaker I have signed up is Steve Kennedy.

Good evening, what time is it? Steve Kennedy, 104 Penn Drive, Williamsburg, York County. Stockbroker by day, 41 years now. I commit financial assets for living, so the tangible assets crowd, forgive me, high on the ignorance factor, right?

But I have a lot of questions.

Also, officer and co-founder of the Conserve York County Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit. Check out our Facebook page, slash, Conserve York County. We have thousands of followers. The Marquee Crossing fiscal opinion letter was addressed to Earl Anderson. Earl, thank you for requesting it. I know you've seen it. the Tischler-Bice piece, I challenge anybody in this room or watching to read the Fragura piece first, all six pages, and read this one after it. And if so, lady and gentlemen, I respectfully say you cannot approve this rezoning.

Yes, we can.

There are too many questions that are unanswered. It's just mind blowing. I could not put a prospectus out, Mr. Hill, or an OM to an investor with the amount of unanswered questions that you have. The process is flawed. The consulting piece in April then went to August. I would not invest in this. We keep saying schools, schools, schools, and commercial. Let's talk about this. Sales and Marketing 101, I feel sorry for our EDA people. I really do because we hear about wonderful schools in York County all the time, most recently from Colonel Tom. Yes, we agree that's why a lot of people moved here, but here's what your new marketing slogan's gonna look at. How about bring your children to Magruder Elementary School where they can learn in classroom trailers right now. You want the single wide or the double wide? It just kind of rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? Like right now, not one or two or three years from now, not the blue sky that are in these wonderful proposals, but right now they're going to be in trailers. I don't care if it's 17 or 117, you have too many variables and you cannot, you cannot invest capital or commit to a project like that with that many variables that are unanswered. Um, I would remind you of things like Springfield road, and I'm going to ask you again to consider what happens if you're wrong on your votes. Before you do that, please listen to Mr. Bellamy in the 515 pages of stuff tonight. God, you guys are amazing. I don't know how you do it. It is mind-numbing to work your way through this stuff. But somewhere in there, Mr. Bellamy is quoted as saying, in summary, there are positive features. Yes. However, without guarantees that the commercial development will come, I cannot support the request. By the way, I'll be the first one in line at Arby's, sir. I'll be the first one in line at the Sheetz. I have a picture of my granddaughter at the Sheetz Opal right now. But none of this complicated stuff was there around residential. Finally, remember this, basic economics. First, do no harm or at least do less harm with economic policies. It is especially important to do no harm to people who may already be in painful economic circumstances If you don't have a copy of Basic Economics, I'll make it your stocking stuffer. I'll give it to everyone on staff. I'll give it to anyone that's in a planning commission. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. And every one of you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for listening. Respectfully, no rezoning on this deal. Thank you. Good night.

Mr. Struble, and I'll have next up also stand in line and be ready, and that would be Martin Bank.

Good evening, Ron Struble, 205 Shady Bluff Point. I'm the president of the Conserve York County I want to make a couple comments, both positive and concerning to me on this project. We were first approached, I want to say, three, four years ago by a developer who's no longer here in this project, it seems, who pitched us like a timeshare sales pitch on apartments multiple times. And we did not like that, and that ultimately didn't make it through. I want to come in a couple things. Number one, Mr. Bellamy and staff, supervisors, the rigor applied to this rezoning, I've watched every rezoning, highly entertaining, for the last 15 years. They're all online. The rigor applied to this thing is something that I haven't seen and I appreciate that from staff and everyone. Assumptions have been challenged and that's a good thing because I've always believed that some of the problems we've had in York County in the past some of these rezoning decisions is because the board many times was left to be like the the the question asker and to decide on things with a lack of good data and so i think we're getting there i don't think we're completely there but i think we're getting there we've got great process improvements i want to thank the developers for moving away from apartments thank the developers for the inclusion of a historical marker i think that's hugely important in this area I want to thank the developers for increasing the parking situation there. We've all lived through these. Also, I want to thank them for adding the one acre for a parking area. Frankly, I think that we could do a little more there. There's a lot of green up there. I'd certainly like to see two, three, four acres for a parking area up there and some green space. since we are the conserve york county foundation and we are about land conservation i share the concerns about the commercial we don't need to go into all the the failures we've had in the commercial including this parcel itself is a failed commercial project so i i have real concerns about the 80. it's been explained but I still have concerns. I just don't think that's a county problem. I think that's a developer problem on the capital and the investment to make this happen. Get the sheets in here, get this Arby's in here, and then build your townhouses. The fiscal analysis. We've got some good data, but our chairman has been the one to do the math. That shouldn't happen. That shouldn't be. We have a business person on the board. I appreciate that. But we need to really know the numbers here. And we don't really know the numbers. I know the chairman has done that, but we need to validate those numbers and ensure we really know what you're voting for. So I think that it's just not time yet. Maybe there's a deferral. Maybe there's some tabling on this thing. I've talked about green space. And finally, the schools issue. I don't know a way around it. The elementary schools, the middle schools up there, I just don't have a solution for you. And that's just a big hanging shoe in this room. Thank you very much.

I have Martin Bank followed by Dean Rich.

Good evening, everybody. Martin Bank, 129 Clements Mill Trace in the Whitaker's Mill subdivision. Our home backs right up to this new parcel here. I'm going to just talk briefly because I know you've already heard a lot. First of all, Water Country is a very snaky road, very dark road. Any more entrances and exits are going to be dangerous. We have a lot of 18 wheeler traffic that comes out of the park right next to us all day long, probably close to 100 trucks, maybe more. This might bring additional trucks off the highway to get gas at the sheet station. Also, If you've ever gone to a Sheetz or any other major gas station, there's always litter. And we already have a litter situation on Water Country. I've provided everybody with a picture if you'd like to look at those. There's already currently regular heavy traffic on Water Country, even without the 18-wheelers. Sheetz going in would... cause noise, light, and trash issues into our neighborhood. And the personal and property issues, again, more 18 wheelers, probably people loitering in that area. I'd just like to bring one thing up here, which may or may not be appropriate, but within the last two weeks, the Wawa, which is about two miles away, maybe a little less, had a police incident where the chase ended up in the Wawa parking lot. What I don't want to see is that happen in our neighborhood. We live in a wonderful neighborhood, and I'd like it to stay that way. Thank you for your time.

I have Dean Rich followed by Marvin and Ruth Staley.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the board. My name's Dean Rich. I live at 113 Clements Mill Trace, and I'm right up against this new development. I'm here in opposition to the proposed rezoning at 200 Water County Parkway for the I guess it's now 80. I had 125 townhomes, the convenience store and gas station, and associated commercial development. This is the third version of this development I have addressed. In October of 24, I raised concerns about traffic, lighting, noise, and environmental impact. I appreciate that changes have been made. However, reducing a problematic proposal does not necessarily make the resulting proposal appropriate at this site. My greatest concern is traffic and safety. The traffic analysis projects approximately 8,510 vehicle trips per day. And we were just talking about 4,000 being at this bluegrass festival. This is per day twice that. well above VDOT's 5,000 trip threshold for development and substantial effective transportation. Water Country Parkway, as stated before, is a relatively narrow winding roadway with curves and limited site distance. This development would add new access points and thousands of additional turning movement into a road network where Route 199 and much smaller local road meet. My concern is not simply congestion, it is whether the traffic can be absorbed safely day after day. Those vehicles do not disappear at the property line. They enter the same road network serving Whitaker's Mill, Marquise Hills, the shopping center, and surrounding communities. There's also an environmental concern. A gasoline station introduces storage, delivery, and dispensing of large quantities of fuel near established residential communities. Modern controls reduce emissions and risk, but they do not make gasoline storage and dispensing environmentally neutral. My concern is cumulative. We are not considering only 80 or 125 homes and only a convenience store or only a gas station. We are considering all of these together. I also consider concerns, I also understand concerns about possible alternate uses. Those possibilities deserve consideration. But possible does not mean inevitable. And permitted does not tell us their actual impact. If those alternatives are serious possibilities, compare their traffic, truck movements, noise, operating hours, and environment impact with this proposition. We should compare impact, not labels. And I recognize this property will likely be developed someday, but we should not approve a development with identifiable concerns today because of fear of over a hypothetical development tomorrow. Possible does not mean inevitable. By right does not mean impact free. I ask you to follow the paneling commission's recommendation and deny this application. Development should fit the infrastructure and surrounding community. The infrastructure and community should not have to be reshaped to fit the development. Thank you.

Thank you. I have Barbara and Ruth Staley followed by Lee Houlin.

Good evening. My name is Ruth Staley, my husband Marvin Staley, and we reside at 212 Clemens Mill Trace, Williamsburg, and that's in Whitaker's Mill. Mr. Getty and Dan Hargett with ROCA, along with their representatives, have spoken to our community numerous times. as the Planning Commission and all. And the project was scaled back, and every objection has been met with compromise on their part. Consideration has been given to the design, scale, green space. They included recognition of the historical significance, whereas no markers currently exist. There have been studies on the impact to the area regarding traffic and school capacity. We are a desert to the convenience of fueling our vehicles or grabbing a quick sandwich, coffee, or other convenience store items, as well as other eateries. And proximity to the highway is a plus to this project. I'm originally from a nearby rural county where after 50 years, They're finally getting a new school, so I recognize the struggle it presents, and this proposed project can't bear all the blunt of that. York County realizes that with the proposed referendum to increase the sales tax. And it will take more projects, such as marquee project, to support our community and attract and retain future residents, both old and young, to offset this needed tax revenue. Therefore, we recommend approval for this project. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Lee, followed by Pilgrim Hyman.

Good evening. I'm Lee Hoagland, 101 Bowstring Drive. I'm here in support of the project. I also serve as a chair of the Marquee Community Development Authority, which is the entity across the street which supports the bonds, which doesn't support, but organized the bonds, which built the infrastructure for the Marquee Shopping Center. I also served on the Comprehensive Planning Steering Committee, and I can say, at least speaking for myself, If this project had come up in front of us, we would have been very excited about the potential for this. I think it does a lot of great things. As many of you know, the Marquee Shopping Center has suffered. We've lost a lot of the tenants, JC Penney's, Dick's, Kohl's. And quite frankly, I worry about the future for Target and Best Buy. The Marquee Crossing project would help this center by increasing density, rooftops, bring vehicles off of 64 to buy gas, coffee, roast beef sandwiches. and then go by Target and get some sunscreen or Best Buy to get a new CD. So the additional density will serve both projects well. I've also polled the other members of the marquee community development authority, and they're all in favor of the project as well. So very supportive. We think we need this to support the infrastructure that's there, and I think it's going to be beneficial to the county. So thank you.

Thank you, Lee. I had Naomi Pilaro-Hyman, followed by Daryl Henson.

Good evening, board members. My name is Noemi Pizarro-Hyman. I live in Whitaker's Mill as well. And I am here, first of all, thanking you all for the opportunity to address you on this matter. And I'm going to open my brief remarks saying that the only thing that is constant in in our lives has changed. I came down here seven years ago from Northern Virginia, where the change is constant, where traffic is crazy. And if people think that this is something to fear, for me, it's the norm. So my concern has to do with keeping the community viable, pristine, and I've heard that from other individuals, but I like the idea of the positive impact, the positive economic impact. Allowing this project to occur will bring growth to the area and will increase revenue for the county. I am not a person who knows math. Math is not my thing. I don't know anything about economics other than I like to have things close to me like I did have in Northern Virginia because sometimes I'm hungry and I want to go and I don't want to go 200 miles down the road. That's my perspective. But I also don't want for this project to end the way that it happened to JCPenney, to Coles, and to Dick's Sporting Goods. So what would that look like as it relates to our property values, right? I would also like to ensure that these revenues whatever they are, are used to build our infrastructure, especially in support of our schools. I mentioned that as well. And their needs. We need to ensure that the schools that serve our communities are at our top tier communities, just like others in the county. I have a little granddaughter. She's my only granddaughter. And she told me the other day, Nana, do you know that I'm going to fourth grade and my class is going to be meeting in a trailer? And I'm like, well, I know what that looks like. But those are the things that I like to see addressed. These gentlemen have been in our community. They have talked to us. And so we want to give them the opportunity. I understand everything, but I believe that when you work in a multidisciplinary team approach, things can be done. So thank you for the opportunity to address you.

Thank you. Mr. Henson. And next up is Tonya.

Good evening. I'm Daryl Henson. I live in Whitaker's Mill in the single family homes. This area has really been something that I've loved living in, so I'll just say in my humble opinion, the proposed development represents a significant positive step forward for the York County community, transforming an unmarked and inaccessible wooded area into a vibrant, economically productive neighborhood. By bringing the modern sheets and a thoughtfully designed town home community to the area, the project would generate substantial tax revenue, create local jobs while replacing neglected brush and visually appealing architecture and professional landscaping. While the site currently hides important historical elements, including the Whitaker-Mill archeological complex and revolutionary and Civil War remnants, the wooded area offers no markers to educate or inform the public. Rather than leaving these milestones forgotten into overgrowth, the developer's formal commitment to install a dedicated bench and commemorative plaque ensures that the vital history is actually honored and integrated into the community's daily life. Finally, giving the site the public recognition it deserves. Without this developer's funded marker, the historic site would remain completely hidden in overgrowth, entirely unknown to people passing by. Addressing traffic concerns is a crucial component as well, because Route 199 and Water Country Parkway serves as major corridors, especially with high seasonal traffic, A proactive engineering first approach is essential to keep traffic moving smoothly. Fortunately, modern mixed use developments utilize a standard suite of highly effective traffic mitigation strategies to handle high volume convenience sites without disrupting local residents. The developer has already committed to a comprehensive VDOT approved traffic study to mathematically model vehicle trips and fund the precise roadway improvements required to keep the surrounding level of service and traffic flow stable. This would also improve visibility by removing the roughage that extends into driver's field of vision when turning onto Pentamon from Water Country Parkway. Therefore, by leveraging proactive designs such as dedicated turn lanes and capitalizing on the site's existing intersection, York County, in conjunction with VDOT and the developer, can ensure that the economic, and community benefits of the sheets and townhomes are delivered without compromising neighborhood safety or daily commutes. Lastly, successful integration relies on buffer by design. By treating the space between the residential units, including our community, as an active park-like transition zone rather than just a property line, the development can become a cohesive, highly functional neighborhood where residents can enjoy both peaceful living and walking distance convenience. Lastly, residents should understand that if this plan development is not accepted, the site would most likely become other options that can be erected without additional approval. These options are less appealing to the eye, generate less revenue, and will not recognize the historical importance. So for me, I recommend approval for this. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Simpson, followed by William Miller.

Good evening, members of the Board of Supervisors. I thank you for your time today. Really, what I would like to say has probably been said by everyone who has stepped forth. I will just say, first of all, I am a member of the Whitaker's Mill community. I am the president of the community HOA, though I'm not here speaking in that vein tonight. I'm speaking as a homeowner in Whitaker's Mill. I believe that this is an appropriate and beneficial use of the site, particularly given its location and its current condition. For those of us who live nearby, this property is highly visible. Unfortunately, today, it is not as attractive entrance or gateway to our community. This property is frequently unsightly with accumulated trash, overgrown and unkempt trees and vegetation, and an overall appearance does not reflect the quality of the surrounding neighborhood that we live in. When I bring visitors into our community, this is one of the first areas that they see. It is disappointing that the current condition of this property creates such a poor first impression. As a member of the, as the president of the Whitaker's Mill Homeowners Association, I frequently have to have members of the board call VDOT because they also have a portion of that area that they are to maintain. We have to call them on a regular basis to come out and keep up their portion of that. Unfortunately, we are bumped up against the property that they're speaking on. And right now, people ride by there, they dump bags of trash, they throw bags of trash out there, and it's unsightly. It's just I don't know that there are any other words for it. The marquee crossing proposal provides an opportunity to transform this underutilized and unattractive property into a planned development that can improve the appearance of this area while providing much needed services. The proposed sheets and convenience and gas component is particularly beneficial because of its proximity to our community and the surrounding area. Residents currently have limited convenience Access to these types of services, meaning the gas station or grabbing a coffee or those sorts of things, as well as having a well-designed, professionally maintained business located nearby would provide convenience for residents while also serving the broader traveling public along 64's roadways. Currently, I actually purchase the vast majority of my gas in Newport News. When I am up in that area grabbing things, I go there because I don't want to drive up 199 to Harris Teeter to grab gas. I don't want to go over to Richmond Road and grab gas or over to the Wawa to grab gas. So I try to grab it where it's most convenient, and it's not in York County for me. Most importantly, this is not simply about putting a development on an empty piece of land. It is about taking a property that is currently in eyesore and replacing it with a planned, maintained, and professionally developed community. I understand that developments bring legitimate concerns, including traffic safety and compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods. Those concerns should be addressed through appropriate conditions and careful site planning. However, I believe those issues can be managed while still allowing this property to be put to a much better use. For these reasons, I respectfully ask the Board of Supervisors to support the Marquee Crossing application and give this project the opportunity to turn an unattractive and underutilized property into an asset for the surrounding community. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, I have William Miller.

I'm Bill Miller, 108 David's Way, District 4. I have in my hand a copy of a book entitled The Peninsula Campaign and the Necessity of Emancipation.

So do I.

Good man. Dr. Glenn Brasher, a professor of history at the University of Alabama, published this work in 2012. It reveals the roles of enslaved African Americans to provide manpower and intelligence to insist the efforts of the Union Army during the spring of 1862. The tangible outreach of the enslaved African Americans is documented to have occurred on the Whitaker property during the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th. That event took place in the near vicinity of the applicant's zoning request, and the applicant has made proffers to interpret this event, which convinced many in the north that the time for emancipation had come. Discussions have been held with the members of the applicant's team to establish a park-like setting close to the proposed county's rails to trails project and to provide interpretive markers to highlight the significance of this pre emancipation event. As a proponent of historical preservation, I'm encouraged by the applicant's vision to incorporate this element of our local history into their current request. I'm well aware that development in this overall area has been challenging for the county. In my view, future establishment of warehousing and or industrial facilities on this property does not offer the historic preservation opportunities that I support. In summary, I believe that the applicant's vision to establish attractive housing and to provide an interpretive area with appropriate markers may be the last best opportunity to memorialize the development of the Emancipation Proclamation. I urge the commissioners to approve this application. Thank you.

Thank you. First, I heard Vernon Getty. Do you wish to speak again?

Thank you.

Thank you. Next is Brendan Neese.

Perfect. Who's on deck? Who's on deck?

On deck is David Floyd.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Brandon Nice. I currently reside at 4700 Fitton Mill Road and serve as the president of David Nice Builders. I'm here tonight to speak in support of the application put before you. Our company has been in construction business for more than 50 years here locally and remains family owned and operated to this day. And during that time period, privilege and honor of completing a lot of projects in York County, um, and partnering with you guys most recently on the blessing of being able to bring child development resources, new home to life right over in the water mill area, which you guys were so supportive of. So thank you for that. It was a huge need for the community. But although our company specifically is based in James City County, we employ about 170 employees across all of our divisions. And the majority of my employees are traveling from Richmond, Newport News, Hampton, New Kent, much further locations than we would want. And then what many of the new applicants and people that we're getting would want to travel for. We have a lot of need in our area for affordable and attainable housing to promote a solid workforce, not just for our business, but for many businesses, including those like CDR and other commercial and private businesses around the area. Speaking for myself, I appreciate the value of land and a rural community very much. I'm an avid outdoorsman. I'm a huge land conservationist proponent. And I understand that by just being outdoors, the joy and the healing that can bring to people just being in the woods or seeing trees and being in a rural community of itself. So I fully understand the constituents and the people that want to maintain that rural character of their community. But I also believe that we can respect those rural areas and recognize that responsible development, such as something like this, could take place. Marquis Crossing makes a lot of sense to me. It has a proximity. to major interstate exchange hotels, other businesses, significant tourist attraction attractions like water country and bush. Um, I've personally watched the area across the street my entire life to be developed and struggled to gain much momentum for almost two decades now, despite having an incredible location to get to with infrastructure already in place. Um, a well planned project like this with the additional residential population could help revitalize the area and be much needed to bring in more businesses and investment and eventually help support additional services like school growth and other businesses that would help generate tax revenue. I think it would be a massive benefit to the surrounding areas and other communities like James City County and Williamsburg. to provide that attainable housing. So I would encourage the board to continue supporting responsible developments like this one and would recommend approval. Thank you for your time.

I have David Floyd, followed by Chris Thompson.

Good evening. My name is David Floyd. I live at 2635 Forge Road. Although I live in James County, I do have 100 employees that do work for me. And one of my struggles of late has been affordable housing. I've got guys living in Charles City, Newport News, Hampton. We do a lot of work in the Peninsula Corridor. We're in Williamsburg, York County, and I'm just struggling keeping guys. As you all know, housing is outrageous, and I'm in that world. I've worked with Stanley Martin for many years. I've seen the way they develop. I've seen the way they build. I'm a proponent for them. Green space, that's always important. I'm an environmental contractor, so what I do is to preserve those areas, wetlands, RPAs, green space. It's very important in my opinion, and they take it very seriously. I've been in the Williamsburg area for 20 years now, moved from Chesapeake up in 2004. I used to go over to Marquee. I take my kids to go to Dix. We'd go over there, border country. And I go over there now, and it's depressing. I mean, there's nothing. You drive, try to slide off the interstate to grab something. There's nothing there. I'm on the road all over. you know, unfortunately from Stanton to Carolina. But, you know, you're trying to come up through the middle and there's just nothing there. I need fuel. My guys need fuel, you know, to pick up diesel, gas. Sheets is a big outlet. They have gas. They have diesel. It makes it convenient. It's right there. I just think it's a win. I think it just does the community well, and I think it helps guys like me with employees that are looking for affordable housing. Most of my guys are 30 to 40 years old, and they have a wife and maybe one child, two children, and, you know, there's just nothing available right now. $380,000 to $450,000, it's doable with a mom and dad working. $500,000, $600,000, it's just impossible. So I just hope you guys see the positive in this project and Accept it. I appreciate y'all's time.

Thank you. Chris Thompson.

Good evening. My name's Chris Thompson. I live at 142 Banneker Drive here in Williamsburg, Virginia, York County, just down the road from the Marquise development. I want to kind of propose favor for this development project because I like home ownership and I bought my house a few years back and it's really helped my wife and I kind of like get solid ground financially. So I'm a huge proponent of home ownership. Also, when people own homes in a community, they care a lot more about their community. Like I talk to my neighbors, If I don't mow my lawn for two weeks, I'm going to probably hear it, and the shame is going to make me get out there a little bit. So there's a good part of that and having accountability of neighbors and caring about your community and picking up trash and loving people. And so I think home ownership brings just strong community to an area. And I'm no economic expert. I haven't written any books or anything about that. But... I do know that the law of supply and demand and when you have more houses and less demand, typically prices go down and so I'm a proponent for my financial standing with buying a house. I want other people my age to be able to get out there, buy a house, find themselves on some solid stable ground. So I love that this project is single family dwelling. I love sheets. I think everybody here. enjoys sheets. I think that's awesome. But another thing is, uh, I live next to the marquee shopping center, as we know, down the road. And that is like, it's like the eyesore of, of Williamsburg. Like I go by and I'm like, ah, man, this is just not, it's not good. There's so much more that could come out of there. And I've lived here for, for eight years. And I've seen it progressively just get worse and worse and the roads get worse and worse. And I'm like, man, what's the best chance at this place actually getting better? And so if you get, I don't know, 125 homes in there, sheets and some commercial, you have more traffic coming in, more business, maybe some other businesses will be incentivized to come in there. Also, I'm part of a church congregation called Foundations Church, and we worked tirelessly to buy the JCPenney building. We poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, but there were stakeholders that were in the marquee center building. ownership structure somewhere that kept preventing us from buying it, even though good things were going to happen. So I think if you can raise the business in that area, maybe those people will be incentivized to sell. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next up, I had Angela Rickman. No. OK. Ann Gregorian. And then Pam Pushaw.

Hi, Ann Gregorian, 117 Baldrick Place. I'll be really brief. I agreed with a lot of the comments here, but I do want to raise my objection to approving this at least tonight. There's a lot of confusion with the data. I think Mr. Shepherd thought that they were going to give $800,000 in proffers, but if I was able to catch the math, I think it's more like $159,000. No, it's per year times five years.

It's $850,000.

It's what?

It's $850,000.

they're going to do per year, 159,000. Okay. Okay. Well, I did want to, I still think that the data is a little murky. I think that they really should clean up the data. I think our County administration, uh, you know, should have been a little bit more on top of that. The things identified in the third party analysis could have easily been identified with our own people. Um, uh, they don't mention special education children who are twice the amount in general to take care of for our schools. So seven kids, that's $30,000 a year just in special education. The analysis mentions buses that might need to be purchased. Also, they don't mention that 7%, on average, according to the commissioner of revenue of our households here in York County, are exempt from taxes. So I don't know if that applies to this development or not. But if it does, at 125 or 117, it's around seven to eight homes. And at the tax amount that they're talking, that's another $40,000. exempt, not including the property tax that the disabled and surviving spouses are available for. So I think the data is still too murky. And so I hope the board, at least until they clarify some of these points, does not approve this project tonight. Thank you.

Pam Pucho, 103 Kimberley Court. I didn't plan to speak tonight. I don't live up in that area, so it does not personally affect me. But I will say when Marquis Shopping Center was built, I told my husband at that time that it would fail eventually. Why? Because it had no grocery store and it did not have several restaurants like a Texas Roadhouse or an Olive Garden. That brings in people who eat buy their groceries, and then shop in other stores. That was the mistake that happened. Now, for what's going on here, profits for schools are wonderful. I appreciate it. However, the cost of the staffing of those schools never goes away. We were first told tonight that these were luxury units. And then we were told they're moderate units. Which one are they? I honestly don't know. if i was going to live in a luxury unit i don't want to be next door to a water park they're noisy in the summer produce a lot of light i would imagine if they i don't know how late they stay i've never been there um but it's not exactly a luxury neighborhood in my opinion fast food is not luxury it's quick in and out same as a gas station um I think it would be better for the community if we put in there affordable housing, under 300,000, if that's even available these days, with about 1,400 square foot per unit. That's what is needed in this county. Most of the people in this county who work here can't afford to live here. And I find that absolutely horrendous. We also have... Questions about, and I don't know, I guess it doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but if you're in a three-story unit and you're handicapped, you're not going to live in a three-story unit. I've heard people here talk about the trash that is accumulated along the roadway there and how it's overgrown and entangled. Why don't you make the owner maintain the property? know if it's your property clean it up or have water country do it because it's their folks coming through that are making the mess that's out there um I also don't know what type of stores they want to put in the housing where there are units above the stores. I wouldn't want to live above a Chinese takeout place because they stink. I mean, the food's great, but they stink. We don't know what's coming in, and that will affect whether people want to buy it or not. So just some things to consider. I think the way it stands right now, it's not a particularly good idea. But again, I won't live there. Other than my tax base, I don't have to live with the results. But thank you anyway.

Thank you. That was all the citizens I had signed up. Are there any others who wish to speak?

Right here.

No, of course.

Go ahead.

Mark Williams, 513 Charles Road. I'm only going to use half the time because I realize it's going to be a very long meeting, but I promise you if anybody else says roast beef tonight, somebody has to do meal delivery service. To allay one gentleman's concerns regarding the loitering. I happen to wear a special t-shirt tonight. This is not York County. I think the board could do well by letting them know we have a crime prevention unit. Doesn't mean we can stop every negative thing that could ever happen. But going through our crime prevention unit and you as a board member being able to convey to the developers and to somebody who may have a concern about somebody loitering lighting, cameras, and getting in touch with our crime prevention unit with Kevin Taylor and the captains and the staff that work in that division can certainly make the best recommendations as to what works like we have here in the Grafton Shopping Centers. Having a community that is a community as far as trash and the suggestion that the other person made Having the property owner have a stake in the matter of keeping cleanliness and the other gentleman was talking about youth being able to get onto stable grounds. Those are a lot of positive things and having a positive community. I myself occasionally you may find me on Route 17 picking up a nail or two. It just helps me burn off my coffee. I've gone 15 seconds over. I'm going to end my discussion. I think it's a wonderful project. given privy to it tonight by the developers. The last thing I'll say is I heard, and I'm going to reiterate, the fact that being able to redevelop the roadways and having that cost spread upon the two or three investors rather than one having to do it all themselves, I think it makes perfect sense.

Thank you.

I'll close the public hearing. I think she won. Oh, I'm sorry. Missed you. Mrs. Howell, go ahead.

Thank you. I'm Diane Howell. I live at 104 Horseshoe in Williamsburg, Upper York County, District 1. I intentionally left home tonight and drove 199. I didn't take 64 and get off on Fort Eustis, and I'm so thankful the parkway is open now. I'm here. I want to challenge you. I do feel like this is not ready. I would encourage you to table it. to think about all that's been shared tonight. I see you as stewards of the land in this county from District 1 to the lower districts. In our comprehensive plan, this parcel is referred to as the gateway to York County. As I rode tonight, I saw the beautiful timber, the woods, And I thought, that'll all be removed. There'll be some green space. I've had a vision for this piece of property and only wish the county or the Battlefield Trust would purchase it because of the bike trail. And I saw it as recreation. I saw books and beer and barbecue, not sheets. I am asking you to think, is what is proposed the best we can do? for this parcel. It is a beautiful piece of land. It opens up, you drive a few miles, and you've got the breathtaking York River to your left. We've had the developers and their attorneys talk about what could be there. That infuriates me. to sort of make me feel like, well, this is it. We had someone speak to the historical significance. It's pretty sad if the way to protect the historical significance is to build 100 plus homes. So I just ask you to think about it. I'm troubled in that I had the privilege of meeting with an early developer on this, and he put out his luxury pictures. And someone in the group said, well, where's the commercial? He was speechless. And this other individual said the conversation would have gone a lot better. if there had been a commercial aspect. Even with Sheets and Arby's speaking tonight, I don't wanna see a townhouse occupied until I can pump gas. Thank you.

Any others? Close the public hearing. I have a request from one of the board members. Mr. Hargett, if you could get up and address the proffer, make sure that we have clear understanding of what you have proposed. I assume it's a financial question. Okay. Sorry. From our county attorney.

There were statements about every pay for five years, the same amount. I don't think that's what's in the language. I just wanted it. There were some statements made about maybe an understanding that there was going to be the same amount paid per unit reduce for 5 years or continuously and I don't think the language.

Right. I can't hear you.

Yeah. An understanding that there might have been proffered an annual payment that would continue every year.

I heard that.

And I just don't think that's what the language says.

It's not. It's not. It's a one-time payment.

I heard that statement. Correct. And the idea behind the five-year breakout was to try to get us to go as fast as possible.

But it reduces and the amount of the payment is designed once once the commercial pad. The payment is structured to reduce 20%. Right here for 5 years so it'll go essentially down to 0 after 5 years.

Yeah, the unit the idea was we as a developer would be willing to commit that we could do it faster. And if we could do it faster, the proffer would go down over time to incentivize us to get these commercial users open and operating as fast as physically possible.

Offset by the revenue generated by the business. Exactly.

And the revenue generated by the commercial users offset the reduction.

Okay. You're clear?

Yeah, I just wanted to make sure everybody else was clear.

Thank you.

I appreciate all the people who came to speak for and against this project. That land has been open for development for a long time. And I think the project are scheduled to build homes that young people can still afford. And I think that's what we really need in York County. And I think the gas station up there is a wasteland. There has been a gas station in that area for a while. And I think that would help the people who are commuting or have to get off the highway to get gas all of a sudden when the light comes on. It looks to me to be a worthwhile development. I like the idea. that the trail is going to be there and there's going to be some amenities attached to the trail. I really hope that it's going to help the marquee development across the street because once they start seeing more rooftops, if you will, There'll be more reason for them, I would think, to think twice about the stories. And I like the man who came up and said something about the church, because that was something we were all looking forward to. And it's unfortunate that it didn't go through. But maybe times will change. We've looked at this piece of property for a long time. We've talked to the developers. We've looked at the changes that they've made. And every change has been a good change. And I will compliment our chairman for the hard work that he's put into this because he represents that area. And I would hope that he's satisfied and that this is not going to be delayed any longer. It's been on and on and on. And money needs to be spent. Money needs to be made. And I'm looking at the tax rate that's going to help. And the schools is a problem, always has been a problem. And perhaps the referendum will help take care of some of that. But we know that we have older schools that have been 50 years old, and I think we've got a couple that are 72 years old, approaching that date. I appreciate the proffers for the education of our students because we're always going to have students and we've worked on this for a long time. I've looked at it and looked at it and talked about it and and I think it's a good use of the property. So I will support it.

Mr. Shepherd, let me ask a question first. It's a point of order. We're going to make a motion on the ordinance and discuss it. Or are we just now doing the preamble? Are we going to warm up again here for a second swing or what?

Well, I would like to have a discussion on the 80% or 80 units for CFO and whether we agree on that point or whether there needs to be an adjustment.

So we can just talk about it and then make a motion and move on.

And then move on. All right.

Well, I can give you my perspective. First of all, Earl, this is The planning. I mean, I appreciate what the planning guys did. I mean, but oh my gosh, this is so over the top. In my 25 years on the board, I have never seen that much paper on any proposal. No. And including the marquee, OK? I mean, itself. and and and I in the staff appreciate you taking the time to put it together. But the straps don't hold it is so sick. Okay was 4, 4, 8, 4, 5, I think I ended up losing 50 pages and damn if I'm going to sit around every you know we call it this stuff okay. So so some I think we need less and and and no in fact with my take away from the the whole thing was I looked at the level of service for the track transportation and I looked on there and I saw nowhere did it go below C and in in having victory Boulevard in my district. Okay. Are you guys got to order the airport road there? So you can get the D and E real quick. So anyway, the transportation, it was too, that was too much. Okay. Just think about toning it down a little bit. I'm not carrying a tome out of here again. Um, all right, let's see. Um, I think the developer, I really appreciate the discussion about the 80, that 80 number, okay? And actually how that actually was really driven by the builder, okay? And that's the kind of, that was the kind of information that really explained a lot of stuff to us. Because we, like I said, when we look at these, we look at these kind of like a trip wire. You get to this point, you haven't done your job, therefore you're not going any further. We've run into several of those over the years and this just that actually didn't apply here. It applied to the financial aspects of this project. So you got the commercial stuff already lined up. I mean the commercial presentation convinced me, okay. I've never seen people come in here for the businesses so eager to go to build it. It was nice having that, having that presented to us. So I really appreciate the explanation. It was noted several times about the historical marker aspects of this. I didn't know about the historical aspects of it when I started reading the package, when I finally could get to it. But that commitment, that's important. It's not only important. to the community. It's important to the history of York County. We've got, you're not very far from the battle of, I don't guess what it would be, Williamsburg, whatever they call it, the readout there, Jones Pond, and all that, and I've walked through that. So you're in that historical area, but you've been able to incorporate that in there, and I was very pleased to see that. One of the things supervisors have to do that's different than a planning commission, the planning commission looks at land use. The supervisors look at land use and everything else that goes with it okay be at the political parts of it be at the overall development and the thing it came back to mind every time we've gone up here talk about this and Sheila and I've been on the board when the marquee was proposed completely different than what it was it went to 3 iterations. And and we've been kind of wondering what's what's going to end up with it okay now the nice thing is that when we first did the marquee got involved with it it was designed the negotiations that if that thing blows up and none of it sticks to the county okay and that was People ask us how, other municipalities ask us how we did that. The point was, like many folks said, you know, we don't know what's going to happen down there, and it was sort of a high risk, you know, building this really fancy shopping center in the middle of a hilly, wooded area, backwoods, if you will. So, and we've seen what's happened. It's been going downhill, downhill. So, people have been begging, trying to get, you know, the old roofs, business and the roofs kind of go together, right? So, So there's 127 units. This is not a big neighborhood. Talk to this lady right here. She lives in a neighborhood with 3,000 homes. I've got one in my neighborhood. You've got Coventry, too. That's another big one. That's another one. And in my district, I've got one easy 600. And we've got another one down the road that's going over 600, I think, soon. Not in my district, but in the municipality. So I'm wondering, I didn't know, if we talk about the 127 units, is that really going to provide that much emphasis to the saving of the marquee? But if you don't do something, it's just going to go down the tube. We see it marching. And we've approved neighborhoods across the street. We've approved neighborhoods around there trying to get more business so we can save the marquee and maybe draw some of it back. And I agree about the comment, no restaurants, no grocery stores. You could build a Taj Mahal. But if you don't have the food and the stuff to go with it, and the marquee is not a tourist attraction. The 380,000 to 450, is that what I heard? Okay, so I hate to say this, but in York County, that's affordable housing. Okay, the bottom line is affordable housing. Stanley Homes, just got Celestial Way going up there, 44 homes next to another neighborhood, and... You know, people that have been living in this part of the county for a while, you go in there and you see this, and I walked in, and there were beautiful homes. God, great big steps. It was like, you know, stairway to heaven kind of thing. You know, there's really big roofs, all this kind of stuff. I think the cheapest home I saw in there was like $630,000. Now they're over $700,000, and they're not going to be cheaper. They're going to go up. We looked at so we see what goes on its Smith farms. Those were supposed to be $350,000 homes. They're now there's not house in there a couple years ago and starts on there's no house in under 550,000 and many of them are over a million dollars. So it is so this is the affordable housing. Okay and my concern is if we don't provide some sort of means for people can afford the houses move in there. then the state's going to probably come down and jam it down our throats. And finally, the thought here is this is not our property. Somebody wants to sell it. You guys want to make the investment in the businesses. And I'm not going to dictate the business as long as you're not building a nuclear reactor or another car wash. you know, you're stepping out on this, okay? And appreciate the investment in your county. I think this is going to fit. I think this, you guys have really gone to, and thanks to the chairman for all the detail. I mean, he was wringing his hands on this. You really did a Yeoman's work here and working with everybody and talking to them. So that made it actually easier to go through. So I really appreciate the inputs tonight because I didn't have any thoughts on which way I was going to go with this. But I think I'll probably end up supporting it. So thank you.

Mister well, I think most my comments are more appropriate for the board discussion after the motion, but I think we need to get back to the question. Mister Shepard part of her originally about the the 80 number is that is that appropriate. We still need to discuss that 80 represent 68% of the 117 homes and I think that numbers need to be at a level that still provides incentive for the for the developer to continue to push the the opening of the sheets and they are in the Arby's because it's not enough homes built yet so that number needs to be somewhat lower, you know to the 25% to 40% range is it would be more appropriate and I And based on time frames, I think you mentioned it's going to take 30 months, so a little bit more than a couple of years to get, what, two and a half years to get the doors open. They also have to have a lot of site work done a lot of work need to do on the on the site on the development itself before they start building homes. So there's a time frame in there that that I think fits a let they should less the number of homes that lower than that 80 and I think we really ought to consider. What that number is and and going with that we should get the stores open first.

The good question Steve for your thoughts okay. So based on what I heard from the developer of Stanley Homes, particularly Stanley Homes, that was the one that's driving the 80. So the builder got the lots. He's going to sell the lots. And the 80 number had actually, the way I understood this was driven by the financing for the Stanley Homes. Stanley Homes is a big company, and they've got developments everywhere. So that 80, I mean, so we mess with the 80. they've got to mess with it or they can't get their financing. I mean that was the whole way I understood this. So it's not just us picking forty and saying that's it. If you can't get financing for the whole project, then you've got another problem.

And that tells me they're not confident that those retail establishments will get opened up in a timely manner.

But it's not Stanley Homes, it's the bank.

It's about somebody about cop.

If they're not confident, why are we going to be looking at this is where you do find that you've got to be fine arts. A large project. I mean I didn't come back to maybe ask about it clarified that that for us and we can say 40 and then you can get financing that we just shot the project we just shut the project down.

I'm encouraged what I heard from the the sheep representative of the Auburn representative but their enthusiasm to come into the county coming in and I believe every word of that tonight. but I've also been around corporate America long enough to know that overnight a decision could be made at the corporate level. We're going to walk away from that. I have seen corporate America in my experience or projects I've worked on walk away from millions and billions of dollars in investment because it made a financial incentive at that moment. So again it's about incentives and confidence that this will happen and we've got to build that into the project.

I mean the number the number then is to me what you're saying is numbers not important what's important is the business component go in for us.

Yeah, but don't be the only mechanism we have to work against that is is the manage of the number of homes that have that the limit of number of me bill before the business open. I don't know what other mechanism we have to manage that.

There's two businesses here. The business is a business and the residential is a residential. So it's up to the developer to say, okay, I'll build your platform first. You get them in here, but I've got to get the homes going. So how does he do that if he can't get financing?

and they get the homes going but it would but I 80 is to have a number within the bill bill 80 homes before the businesses open up because that puts them and I believe that puts them at a level where they lose incentive to continue to do the work to make sure that this is open first.

I don't know how you guarantee that. I don't understand it that way.

We can't dictate that, as much as we would like to, we can't dictate you have to open the businesses before you build your first home. We can't do that and I understand that. So what other mechanisms do we have to make sure the incentive is there to get the business open up as soon as possible? Other than the number of homes.

Let me ask you this question. So we've got several developments up in your district. We've had this discussion before. I think here's the one up before Eustis, right? Yeah, it's a tragedy. We had a business component that was around behind Arby's there. They never built it, or never got to it, right? We waived it off. So they built the apartments. All right, and now we've got publics and sheets going in there. That came in much years later, right?

I don't know about the sheets, but you know, and that's an example right there. I mean, we sat in this room and heard from the corporate representatives of what they're going to do. How many how long ago was that and what what's happened there so again we there are so many examples of development projects in this county that were based upon promises that were never kept and we and the county is in a foot in the bill because the revenue that were with a proposed a promise out of that never materialized and it cost the county more money for those things exist today and we don't need to replicate that here I need to give them

I hear what you're saying, but I don't want to shoot the project in the foot here by us arbitrarily picking a number. I mean, unless you know an actual good number, unless he stands up here and tells us he can have something less, then I don't know what we'd be able to do, because you could kill, maybe, very likely kill the project.

let me let's finish the discussion come back I've got a solution or a suggestion okay okay Wayne has something I want to hear from Wayne first yeah I have a suggestion too but first of all I really want to commend Doug our chairman you guys don't know the half of the time that he's put in to getting the information that he's gotten He secured the proffers, which weren't secured. He's worked with the developer. He's worked with Arby's. He's worked with Sheetz. I mean, he's gone so far above and beyond, I couldn't have done it. I mean I work full time fortune he's retired, but it's not really retired anymore. But he puts hundreds of hours into this stuff so I want to make sure people understand the hard work that he's put into this project to make it happen right if we're going to vote it right. So I want that to be known right off the bat for all of our constituents out there and the people are sitting in this room. I too have a problem. with the commercial development not getting done because my district is sitting there waiting on a Publix that was supposed to be started a long time ago. Now, part of that is we've got some rare bat that's living up in the woods and we can't do anything until we get the bat out of the woods. Okay, so my understanding from Earl's office is they're looking to do some site work in the fall, but they've got to wait for this crazy bat to get out of here. Um, but I do have a quote. I do have a suggestion on this issue that you have Steven. Um, and it would be to the developers that they don't get their site plan to start doing the residential until they get the site plan committed and approved on the commercial. That would be my that would be my ask you get that site plan done for those 2 pads. Yes, and you're free to go to but that has to be done first or simultaneously you don't get the residential done you don't get approved until the site plan so those commercial sites are done and ready to go. That would be my okay so that holds you got your feet to the fire, you're not going to townhouse until are these and sheets is able to get going okay so that would be my suggestion on that okay. The other thing I think people need to understand tonight because I think there's some probably some misunderstanding confusion. The planning commission voted this down the county administrator denied this but they didn't have all the information that we have tonight. Doug worked his butt off to secure these proffers and to make this work. So I want people to understand that was way before all the work that Doug and Earl's team and the planning team did to get the information that we've gotten tonight. So I want you guys to just understand that. So let's talk about the positives. I'm sitting here thinking, I'm writing down positives, okay? I've heard it over and over and over tonight. Affordable living, affordable housing. Number one on people's list right now in York County. This does that, okay? Number two, it's gotta be commercial ready. If we do what we just asked, that's number two that's ready to go. Number three, the historical marker and the value of the history of this land. That's already in there, proffered in. Number four, people always complaining about green space. It's already in there. Number five, it brings in business revenue. If you haven't heard me bark about that since I've been on this board, it's about bringing good business to York County to help take the tax burden off of the taxpayers. These two businesses are going to help in that regard. They will. They'll be successful there, because if you run up and down 64, there is no gas station, no fast food there. Nowhere close. And I guarantee you, they're going to be loaded up in there all the time with people traveling through here. Six, I've already talked about it. The proffers were negotiated. That's done. It's a done deal. 100% of what Doug asked for, these guys came back and said, we'll make it happen. OK? So I appreciate that. Most people that spoke, I wrote notes on. Most people, probably 70% to 80%, said it's a positive impact for that area. And number eight, this development was shot down some years ago because of the apartments. And these guys came back and said, OK, we're not going to do apartments. We're going to do what you ask us to do. And so I appreciate that because I would have voted against apartments. But I'll vote for condominiums or townhouses because people own them. And then they care about them. Apartments, people don't own. They rent. They trash them. And they become a blight to our county. So I'm in favor of the townhouse concept. And I think it's going to clean up that area. I think it's going to look good there. I think people can afford being there. And it's going to bring good business to there. All right, let me talk about the negatives school. Everybody loves as as we heard Mister Kennedy say tonight. Everybody comes to York County for schools and so that is always on our minds. OK, we've got this referendum that we put it out to the voters coming up here to vote to take care of our schools, whether the voters want to say yes or no, that's going to be up to the voters. If they say no we still have an issue with the sea IP coming up is Tom said we we've got a 30 $40 million schools probably needs to be built here in the next few years we're still going to have that issue here respective of 47 students that are going to load up one of these schools are 2 of these schools. The second thing is traffic. I've heard that tonight, traffic. VDOT's going to regulate that to some degree. They're going to make those roads get wider. They're going to make the turn signals in there. They're going to do all that stuff, and these guys are not going to be able to do the development unless they go by VDOT standards. So that's really up to VDOT. It's not up to these guys to tell people how to do their traffic. That's something out of their purview. That's, to me... Really, to me, there's the balance. And I see way more positives than I do the negatives. And I know there's some other people that talked about trash and noise and lights and that's gonna come with any development. It just is. And so I think that to me is kind of on a bubble for me. And then I've heard some people tonight say, We need to table it and get more information. I think Doug has gotten so much information that we're going to be paralysis by analysis if we keep on going. I really do. You guys don't know what we've been doing behind the scenes. Doug and I have talked about this a number of times. I'm sure all these other guys, we've talked and talked and talked. Doug cleared these numbers out. Are they perfect? No, they're never perfect. But I think he's done a fantastic job of getting us the best numbers in the amount of time that we've had to do this. I'm not sure I'm willing to wait and try to get any more numbers. I think these guys have done, they've gone over and above the things that we've asked them as far as proffers. And I feel like more people are positive on this and not negative. So that's all I got.

Well, thanks for the compliments. I'm not sure that I earned all of them.

I think you do.

I'm going to start a little bit of history here. Marquee Shopping Center. You've seen some of the emails that we've received and you've heard some of the comments about we should really be focused on Marquee and improving that and making the businesses work there. We have a very difficult owner. That went through bankruptcy. It was bought by a gentleman out of Dallas. He is almost impossible to work with. Foundation Church learned that the hard way. There's a Sam's Club set aside in Marquee Shopping Center and never built. So there was a grocery store. But again, it's the same issue. Do you have an owner that you can work with and know that your business and your investment is going to be protected? And we have a challenge there. um we do not receive any taxes from those businesses in marquee nor do we owe anything on the bonds that's the way it was set up um they pay for the cops and they have to they have to pay for the services we provide but but certainly the tax revenue from sales goes back to the bonds um You know, we have very little decision making regarding that particular location, marquee development. And in 20 years, they've had an opportunity to build a restaurant and a gas station on the site of the marquee. In their approved plot plan, they have a site for a gas station. They have a site for a fast food. They never did it. For 20 years, it's just been ignored. So you finally have an opportunity to build one right next door. I think you can see where I'm headed. It's heartbreaking and disappointing, but it's out of the board's control. So we can start to do things that improve that area, but I cannot necessarily improve Marquis. Not until I get a certain owner, the name is Sean Todd, out of there. Let me go to the comprehensive plan. You know, an extensive amount of time during the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and Lee referred to it tonight, but we talked about marquee and marquee crossing for hours. And I wasn't on the Comprehensive Plan, but I attended every single one of those meetings and listened to that. The only land remaining in York County that has a mixed use overlay is those two properties, marquee crossing and marquee shopping center. So this application is technically a rezoning application from EO to mixed use, but it is supported by the comp plan, which is unusual, but that is the case. But it must generate revenue. And Mark's recommendation was based on I need to see the revenue before I'm gonna support this. And I think that's been the focus certainly the past couple of weeks. Without those associated businesses, as identified in the application, there would be no residential component. It is approved today for EO. We could have that restaurant and that gas station start up tomorrow. They have approval. What isn't approved is whether or not you add residential housing. But what we need to get those businesses started is the infrastructure, the backbone of a housing unit that can do the undergrounds, can do the roads, can do everything that's associated with a development. That's not going to happen from a standalone business. They just do not have the horsepower to be able to do that. I would say this board has listened extensively. We've asked for the independent studies. We've asked for the independent fiscal review. The developer, let's be clear, there's a term I reacted to which is negotiate. The developer listened to us. He understood what that fiscal study read, and he knew that there was a gap to fill, and he volunteered it. And that's where we are. We have an $850,000 proffer over a five-year period. And it's assumed that the revenue kicks in by then, that we have a business in place. And that proffer actually reduces, if he gets those businesses up and running a year early or two years early, his incentive. It's a million-dollar incentive to get moving on that development and on those two land-based sites. That's built in and that's the difference. I think for me that's what drives us to be successful for this one. We've done 11 PDM use in the county and they've all failed. I want this to be a successful one. I think we've got it. I think we've got the structure in place. I think we've got the right the right businesses in place and I think we've got the commitment. feedback from the citizens. You know, tonight I was just taking a tally as we went through the citizens comment period, and it was about two to one yeses to nos. On the emails we've received over the last few days, it's been the opposite. It's been probably two to one nos over yeses. But it's a pretty small fraction. and and you know despite 17 people coming out tonight i i thank you i thank you for that input and it's valued input and we listen to it but sometimes there's a little bit more information behind the scenes on this project than necessarily available to the public and i think that might be the case here My conclusions, I've listened to the applicant. I've reviewed these proposals. I don't know how many times. Process of listening and reviewing began in 2022 when I was a planning commissioner. Mrs. Howell referred to that meeting. Monty Johns and myself as a previous planning commissioner and myself as a new planning commissioner sat down with Mr. Gellner and had a discussion on this project. And yes, I did say to him, where's the commercial? And walked out of the room. And he complained that the planning commissioner was being too hard on him. Well, he was. He was. We needed to see a commercial aspect of this to make the revenue work. And you've seen it tonight. Generate $890,000 a year of revenue, but only because of the commercial piece. $470,000 of that money is from the commercial side. There's not enough money coming in from tax revenue to justify the housing. We have to have the commercial. I've made it worthwhile for the developer to see my logic. I'm willing to support this application. I do have an issue with the linkage of the CEOs. I think we still need to have some discussion on that. I like the idea that Wayne projected. If I read resolution one C today. It says the final certificates of occupancy for the townhouse residential units. Being allowed on on the property before the site. plan and approval and foundation poured on commercial units. I would like to see that language. I would like to link if we're going to stick with the 80, then you have to have the site plan approved and the foundation poured for both units for both commercial areas.

And that's not before you start the house.

I'm not sure you can before you go past 80.

Oh, before you go past 80. Okay. So, but no, the pants need to be done up front.

And I think the developer's looking at it. It needs to be done right up front.

So 1C right now says he doesn't have to do that. No, he has to.

He only has to start. No, it has to be done, in my opinion.

And so we need to work that resolution, that particular one.

I'd like for him to come back up and see if he can tell us he can do that. I mean, I don't want to shoot this thing down.

I'm more than willing to have the developer come back up here. But I would want to see site plan approved and foundation poured before we move forward beyond 80.

Yeah, and to not only agree with that, Supervisor Drury asked specifically that the site plans would be approved on the commercial prior to the site plans being issued for the residential, and we will have poured a pad. Right now it says on one or the other. I can agree to pour on both.

I said both.

Prior to it. I'm happy to agree to that.

Okay. Well, yours doesn't even need the 80, but we just wanted to know.

the work with but just just track just to be sure though that the site plan idea is a good idea but it is not legally bond and that will will will require anybody to do you build a site plan to site plan we've asked like plants a minute and then get pulled and nothing ever happens which is why I said you had to have the poor and the power but and and right here you pull the pad and you go well you know what it's just it's just a gospel pad what you want to do we can't build homes right He's got you got you can pull the you pull the pad and have a slight plan approved check that box off and you start building homes and then we we never see the commercial get built up.

So let me ask a question can you or the pad for the commercial commercial and build it.

We're not going to be the ones to build it, and this is the conversation we've had in the past, is that the national retailer is going to build their own building. So I can admit to you that I will invest. It's going to cost us upward of $400,000 to invest in the civil engineering to deliver site plan approval for this project. I will personally invest in those dollars, and I'll agree that I will not only do that and get site plan approval, but I'll also build those pads. prior to site plan approval for the residential.

Yeah. And if it's not sheets, it'll be somebody else. The pad will be there. The pad will be there.

Right. OK. Yeah. I can live with that.

I would not be able to walk away from that significant skin in the game. Yeah, no. I know.

So Mr. Chairman, can you all hear me now? Yes. Can you hear me now? So there was an R draft resolution that was presented that should be in front of you. That has the one that paper copy yet that has and it's not the changes are not that significant from what's in the thing, but it was I just wanted to know Mister chairman if you are also interested in also including additional verbiage on the parking.

Yes, I guess.

And the historical marker.

I had 2 additional requirements that the

Yeah, that's where the parking's been taken care of, according to their plan. That's correct.

In Section 1E on residential townhouse development, I've added one word, one line at the end. Notwithstanding the above, the development shall contain a minimum of 250 parking spaces for residential use. I've heard you've already met that, and then some.

343. Yeah, there's 343. That's what they've agreed. Do you? Is that?

He said 343, so put 343 in there. Well, I can do that. OK. 343? Yeah.

OK.

And then under Section 5, we've added a new one. And this, I think, is straightforward. It's 5D, and it's any historical marker constructed shall meet any requirements of the Virginia Department of Historical Resources. So there may be some requirements set aside by the state that are binding here that are outside of the sign ordinance for the county. So you'll need to go and check that.

But you're going to put a bench in there? Is that what you guys? I heard somebody talk about a bench. Historical marker. Historical marker and all those kind of things. There's a bench or something with it.

Yeah, and work with Civil War Trails, Inc. to design all that.

We're back so worse all this had stuff.

Well, I had some probably yet I had some suggest language for that that if you want to consider that it's got to be in one section see right. It should it should read no resident. So if I understand what you all are trying to accomplish you want to make it so that the site plan for the residential cannot be approved until the site plans can be released for the can be approved but not released. OK, so what I said was no residential units may be built until a site plan has been approved either for or including commercial uses in Land Bay A and at least one commercial use in Land Bay C. He said he would do both.

And concrete port. He said he would do both.