Board approves Wildlife Rescue League rehabilitation facility with conditions after contested public hearing

The Board of Supervisors voted June 10 to grant a special‑exception permit to the Wildlife Rescue League to operate a wildlife rehabilitation facility on a 94.5‑acre parcel in the Woodford area, subject to conditions set by the planning commission and a set of additional conditions added during board discussion.

Planning staff described the request as a proposal to use an existing 1,568‑square‑foot dwelling and, later in a second phase, a 2,500‑square‑foot education building to receive, rehabilitate and release small native wildlife. The parcel is subject to a conservation easement that allows an education/rehab building of up to 2,500 square feet. The applicant said it intends to accept small mammals, songbirds, waterfowl and reptiles initially; state rules limit certain species and require federal permits for migratory birds and waterfowl.

The applicant’s representative, Beth Axelrod, said the Wildlife Rescue League operates a regional helpline and coordinates volunteer rehabilitators; the facility would provide indoor housing for short‑term care and secure outdoor enclosures for animals preparing for release. Her presentation estimated the facility could rehabilitate “300–500 animals per year,” roughly 1.5 admissions/releases per day on average, and said animals typically are released at or near their location of origin.

Opposition from several adjacent landowners and hunting‑club members focused on floodplain concerns, potential disease and carcass disposal, and increased traffic on narrow Edge Hill Academy Road. Several speakers urged the board to deny the permit or impose additional safeguards, saying the site floods occasionally and the surrounding properties are managed for hunting and timber. Speakers also worried about predators, carcass burial and potential water‑quality impacts to the nearby Mattaponi watershed.

Supporters included wildlife rehabilitators and the director of an established regional center who described high regional demand for rehabilitative capacity and said large seasonal caseloads are common. Blue Ridge Wildlife Center’s director told the board high intake numbers do not translate into many daily vehicle trips and said euthanized animals are handled under regulatory requirements and local cremation services or off‑county landfill disposal where needed.

The planning commission voted to recommend approval with 16 conditions addressing site layout, building permits, septic and well reviews, DWR licensing and fenced perimeter for the education area. During board debate supervisors added clarifying edits and three conditions the planning commission had requested in the staff report: (1) language that deceased animals be cremated or otherwise disposed of outside Caroline County or at a facility in County capable of cremating (board language clarified that cremation within the county is permissible); (2) a minimum 48‑inch fence and evergreen screening around the phase‑2 education center; and (3) a one‑year compliance review to begin after issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

The final motion to approve included an explicit prohibition on treatment of domestic animals at the facility. The board recorded one vote in opposition (Supervisor Floyd Thomas) and the motion passed.