Accomack planners briefed on Virginia Space plan to rezone 369 acres at Darby Farm for aerospace uses

Accomack County staff and Virginia Space on Thursday detailed a request to rezone roughly 369 acres at the Darby Farm property from agricultural to industrial to accommodate aerospace and defense tenants, county officials said at a Planning Commission work session.

Lee Pam, deputy county administrator for community and economic development, told commissioners the request includes proffers intended to limit uses and address public-safety readiness. "Proffers are voluntary. We cannot extract proffers. We can't make somebody proffer something," Pam said, adding that proffers, once offered, become binding as part of the zoning ordinance.

The county presented maps showing the 369-acre application area and described a small amount of wetlands and special flood hazard area along the eastern marsh edge. Pam said staff had solicited advisory comments from multiple agencies — the health department, VDOT, the electric utility, building inspections, Department of Public Safety and environmental reviewers — and that some agency responses remain pending.

John Custis, representing applicant Virginia Space, said the company envisions acting largely as a landlord for private tenants and preparing infrastructure for mobile telemetry and other tenant needs. "Virginia Space is looking to have the facilities ready for tenants to be able to come and use mobile telemetry for their rockets at this point," Custis said. He and staff explained that the site would be marketed to aerospace companies and that more detailed activities would require site-plan review and, for more intensive uses such as fueling or test firing, conditional use permits before the board.

A central element in the staff presentation and in negotiations with the applicant are proffers that would limit uses on the rezoned parcels to aerospace manufacturing, production and related support facilities. Pam described an annual training proffer to ensure volunteer fire and rescue companies that would respond to incidents at Darby Farm receive training for those responses. She also said the applicant had proffered out or prohibited many industrial uses not necessary for aerospace activity, but noted one important exception: hot test firing is not currently proffered out at Darby Farm, meaning it remains a potential future use that would require additional approvals.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on several public-safety and operational points. Commissioner Tyler asked what "telemetry" meant; Custis explained it is the real-time data link used to monitor rocket performance during a test or launch. Commissioner Smartman and others raised concerns about hazardous materials and rocket fuels — including references in public remarks to hydrazine transport — and asked how such uses would be regulated. Custis and staff said most intensive activities would trigger a return to the county for conditional use review and public hearings. "If any type of fueling is used, any type of hazardous materials are used... Virginia Space or the tenants have to come back to this board for a conditional use permit," Custis said.

Staff showed hazard-arc maps used for range safety that include 10,000- and 20,000-foot zones; the 20,000-foot hazard arc extends across a wide area and touches part of the seafood-plant parcel discussed separately at the meeting. Pam noted that the hazard arcs are primarily concerned with pressure/sound effects and property damage rather than an anticipated ground impact point.

Staff also described a pending survey proffer under discussion to more precisely separate an 86-acre portion (Tract 2) from the larger request to preserve adjacent land as agricultural. Pam said proffers may be negotiated up until Board of Supervisors action but that acreage and parcel boundaries established in the application generally are carried forward into the public-hearing packet.

The Planning Commission was told a full staff report, including comprehensive-plan analysis, would be delivered approximately one week before the public hearing. No formal vote on the rezoning occurred at the work session; staff said the public hearings before the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors will occur in coming weeks and that any conditional uses or site plans would return to the county for separate reviews.

Ending: County staff asked commissioners to submit questions ahead of the public hearing so staff can add answers to the packet. Pam said agency comments that are still outstanding will be included in the final staff report to accompany the public hearing notice.