Tazewell County staff recommends denial of Sauder Family Trust rezoning request; neighbors cite farmland, access and watershed concerns

Sauder Family Trust trustee Brad Sauder asked the Tazewell County land-use committee to rezone about 25.6 acres near Lake Windermere from A-1 (agricultural preservation) to RR (rural residential), saying he intends to divide the tract into four single-family lots with a fifth rear parcel kept in agriculture.

County land-use staff recommended denial, citing the Tazewell County Comprehensive Plan and the site’s productive soils. "Staff does recommend denial of the request of rezone from A-1 to RR, primarily due to the site being utilized for agricultural currently and being still being productive soil," a county planner told the committee.

The dispute centered on competing claims about soil quality, access and local character. Sauder said the lots would be about four to five acres each, "very similar to the properties that are adjacent right across the road," and that the rear five-acre parcel would remain in farm use to provide a buffer. He said the majority of the 25 acres is a soil type with a productivity index…