Neighbors Raise Water, Traffic Concerns
The plat for a 15-lot subdivision at the intersection of Wesley Chapel (Va. 699) and Poplar Hill (Va. 801) roads was approved July 27 by the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors, despite neighbors’ concerns about the planned subdivision’s impact on traffic and water.
David Ahrens of Lynchburg is planning to develop the subdivision on 16.68 acres. The lots range in size from 1.0 to 2.117 acres. The land being subdivided is part of a tract of 60.238 acres, leaving the residual parcel at 43.558 acres.
All lots have frontage along existing public roads. No new roads are planned. After consultation with the Virginia Department of Transportation, Ahrens is planning eight driveways to serve the 15 lots. Engineered drainfields and wells are planned. The minimum lot size in the general residential (R-1) district is 1.0 acre.
A road through the planned subdivision, said neighbor Mickey Cochrane, “is curvy, uphill and downhill, has no shoulder distance, has a very narrow bridge, and, in my opinion, is about 10 mph faster than it should be. We have many drivers who drive on or over the double-yellow line, which makes for some interesting chances for the rest of us.”
Cochrane said there are 15 homes within a half-mile of the planned development, a couple of which have already had problems with wells running dry. “With the proposed 100 percent increase in the number of houses … we’re very concerned about what that’s going to do to the water table.”
Christina Young said she too has concerns about traffic and water. The varying posted speed limits of roads through the area make no sense, she said, “and it is beyond me how 15 wells are going to support those houses.” She’s lived in the neighborhood three years and has already experienced having her well go dry. Young suggested decreasing the number of lots planned.
“Our number one concern is water and how this development will impact our wells and the water table in our community,” said Chris Nicely. “Our well ran dry in 2002 and this was a traumatic and extremely expensive ordeal. Adding this many homes with this many wells so close together could potentially be a disaster for the water table in our community.”
Ahrens, who was present at the meeting, said he understood the concerns about the water, having experienced a well go dry himself. “But without doing deep well exploration to see what’s underground, it’s a guess from everybody. … I know from having been there the last couple of years the stream that follows the back side of the property runs steady even in the midst of the droughts that happen in the summertime. So there is water underground.”
He said he’s “met every county regulation and requirement, gotten all the proper approvals based on what the county has zoned the property as.” He said he understands the issues with traffic, with vehicles driving too fast for the conditions of the road. He alluded to a traffic study that showed many folks speeding, including one driver who was clocked going 72 mph.
Supervisor Leslie Ayers, whose Buffalo District encompasses the property and who lives nearby, told Ahrens she has “serious concerns about your water. … the size of the lots and your ability to have wells, 15 of them, given the water problems in that area.”
She acknowledged that it’s a by-right subdivision and that the county has issues with its zoning regulations since allowable lot sizes don’t take into account the availability of water. She said it was too bad that the exploration of ground water isn’t being done until after the lots are sold. She encouraged Ahrens to reduce the number of lots planned so as not to add to the water problems in the area.
County Attorney John Dryden explained that the supervisors’ role in approving the plat for the subdivision is “ministerial. … The Board has no legislative authority here.” Because the developer has met all of the pertinent regulations, as confirmed by county staff, “if you were to turn this down, we’d be in violation of state law.”
Chris Slaydon, the county’s director of community development, reiterated that “This [subdivision approval] is a regulatory process – unlike special exceptions, which are a legislative process.” Slaydon verified that the VDOT traffic study did show excessive speeding on roads through the area. Those results have been turned over to the sheriff’s office.
A motion by Steve Hart, seconded by Tori Brown, to approve the plat for the subdivision passed 4-1, over Ayers’s dissent.
