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Planning staff: former Mapsville seafood-plant site to be rezoned to industrial with proffers limiting test firing
Summary
County staff said Virginia Space seeks to rezone a 55-acre former seafood-plant site on Lankford Highway from agricultural to industrial for office, storage, education and support uses; the applicant has proffered out hot test firing and is pursuing building renovations and outreach to neighbors and schools.
Accomack County staff told the Planning Commission that Virginia Space has applied to rezone about 55 acres at the former seafood processing plant on Lankford Highway in Mapsville from agricultural to industrial, with proffers that would prohibit hot test firing at that location.
Lee Pam, deputy county administrator for community and economic development, said the 55-acre parcel historically hosted industrial uses and that the applicant is seeking to align zoning with historical use. "They're requesting to rezone it from Ag to Industrial with 2 proffers," Pam said, noting that the proffered uses match the Darby Farm application but that hot test firing is explicitly proffered out on the seafood-plant parcel.
Staff presented a concept floor plan showing proposed office, storage, conference and education space and said Virginia Space has filed a building permit to renovate a portion of the existing structure into offices. The plan includes an emergency operations center (EOC), educational facilities and space intended to host industry days and training.
Pam and applicant representative John Custis said environmental constraints are limited on the seafood-plant site. Staff noted two lagoon features that were subdivided from the main parcel; county and DEQ records show one pair of lagoons has been cleared by DEQ while two remaining lagoons are under active remediation plans with the state. Custis confirmed the lagoons remain the responsibility of a different owner (an investment group), and that Virginia Space does not intend to assume unresolved liability for those features.
Commissioners asked about ownership, tax status and notification. Pam said county GIS and tax records may lag recorded courthouse deeds and that ownership on online maps may not immediately reflect transfers to Virginia Space. She also said county notification procedures will follow state code requirements for public hearings and that staff had advised the applicant to conduct additional public outreach given the scale of the proposals.
Pam said staff has reached out to the local school system about educational partnerships tied to the Mapsville site and that the majority adjacent landowner had been contacted; additional neighbor outreach was continuing. Custis said Virginia Space intends to move some operations from an existing Route 13 facility into the larger seafood-plant building and to host tenants there for storage, office and education activities.
Ending: Staff will finalize the comprehensive-plan and environmental analyses for both rezoning applications in the next staff report ahead of the public hearings and will include agency comments, outreach summaries and any revised proffers.
