Campbell supervisors approve rezoning at Seneca Commerce Park after heated public hearing over countywide park

Campbell County supervisors voted to rezone 36.186 acres of county-owned land at the end of Ewing Drive from agricultural to heavy industrial, approving a request that county staff said is intended to make Seneca Commerce Park eligible for state and federal site-development grants.

The item prompted a lengthy public hearing in which dozens of residents, youth coaches and community groups urged the board not to convert the larger, 136-acre stretch into industrial zoning and to preserve it as a countywide park instead. "I would like to speak against the proposed zoning request and in favor of a county wide park located in the current Seneca Industrial Complex," said Kristen Clay of Altavista during the public comment period.

The county's director of economic development, Nina Rezai, said the rezoning request is intended to unlock specific grant opportunities aimed at making sites "market ready" for employers. "The purpose of our rezoning request has just been in keeping with our history of grant funding, development taking place in the park. We're in need of more acreage in order to be eligible," Rezai told the board. She and staff said some programs — notably the Virginia Business Ready Sites program — require a contiguous block of roughly 50 acres to qualify and that this parcel would allow the county to apply now rather than wait another funding cycle.

Supporters of leaving the site in its current agricultural designation said Campbell already has limited parkland and that sports tourism and youth recreation create sustained economic and community benefits. "This park is not just a piece of land. It is an investment in the future of our community," said Eddie Fielder, who identified himself as a member of the Recreation Advisory Committee. Several coaches and parents said the county lacks fields and facilities to host tournaments that bring visitors and hotel, restaurant and retail revenue to the area.

Planning staff told the board the planning commission recommended denial of the rezoning by a 4–3 vote, noting the parcel is designated "transitional" in the county comprehensive plan. Staff said the parcel would be served by public water and sewer "as funding allows" and that a traffic impact analysis was not required for the zoning change. Rezai estimated additional water infrastructure to serve the site would run about $3,000,000 and observed that several funding sources require a locality to have property ready before the award window closes.

The vote on the motion to approve the rezoning passed after the board debated whether the rezoned land could still incorporate recreational amenities and whether the county should pursue both industrial development and park planning in parallel. "As long as in your map plan, your cumulative total of acres developed for industrial is fulfilling the requirements of the grant, you're in good shape," Rezai said when asked whether park space could be preserved alongside industrial lots.

Supervisor John Hardy, who moved to deny the rezoning during the meeting before a subsequent motion to approve carried, urged colleagues to protect the parcel for recreation. "If this land is rezoned, the dream dies here tonight," Hardy told the board during his remarks. The approving vote ended a public hearing that drew residents, parents, coaches and representatives from the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and the Industrial Development Authority.

Board members directed staff to pursue a master planning process that would consider both industrial infrastructure and recreational amenities and asked staff to return with modeling showing how proceeds from future lot sales could be used to support parks and recreation investment. Rezai told supervisors she would pursue grant applications in the current funding round — applications that staff said could be withdrawn if the board later decides against pursuing a particular award.

The rezoning clears a legal hurdle that staff said will allow the county to pursue the Virginia Business Ready Sites program, Tobacco Commission funding and other state and regional site-development programs. Planning staff also recorded that the planning commission had cited "good zoning practice" when it took its nearly split vote for denial. The board's approval reverses the commission recommendation and places the property under industrial-heavy zoning, allowing heavier manufacturing and industrial uses by right while preserving the county's option to include parks in a future site plan or master plan.

The board asked staff to return with a plan for public engagement on any resulting master plan and requested a staff memo that models potential proceeds from future lot sales and the possible uses of those revenues for park capital projects.

Ending: The rezoning decision launches a new phase of planning for Seneca Commerce Park. Supervisors approved the change to qualify the site for grant funds staff says are time-sensitive; at the same time the board asked staff to pursue a parallel planning process to identify whether and how recreational amenities can be secured in any future development.