Authority finds proposed underground utility easements permitted, asks Dominion to abandon older overhead easements; declines portion that would serve other tr>

The authority reviewed three Dominion Energy requests to place underground electric and data distribution lines across conserved parcels and took mixed action: it found new, single-property service easements to be permitted under the conservation deeds and requested that Dominion abandon overlapping older overhead easements, approved the eastern portion of an easement for the Nature Pond property, and declined to take action on a western Nature Pond crossing that would serve other parcels.

At the meeting staff presented maps showing existing overhead distribution lines and proposed new underground lines on three properties northwest of Charlottesville, including the Kudravitz (also spelled in materials as Kondratz/Kudravets) parcel, a parcel with a 2005 ACE (Huckleberry Hill) easement, and the Nature Pond parcel near Ivy Creek and Ivy Nursery. Staff told members the proposed new easements are 15-foot underground easements and that, on the segments intended to serve only a single dwelling or the host property, the conservation deeds expressly permit utilities that are customary and consistent with the easement terms.

After discussion about whether the proposals would impair conservation purposes — including riparian buffers, floodplain and critical slopes protection, and water-quality interests — the authority moved and approved a finding that the new single-property service easements are permitted under the applicable conservation easements and requested that Dominion take steps to abandon or vacate any superseded overhead easements where those older easements would otherwise remain on the property record. Staff and several members emphasized that asking Dominion to vacate prior, broader overhead easements was a request rather than a condition the authority could legally force because, in some cases, prior transmission easements may belong to separate deeds and rights-of-way.

On the Nature Pond parcel staff separated the proposal into two portions. The eastern portion — a spur to serve a new farm office and a small solar array and not crossing the protected forest- or pond-buffer areas — was recommended as permitted and the authority approved that finding. The western portion, however, would cross the parcel solely to serve other properties and therefore required explicit written approval under the conservation deed. During the meeting a landowner online said she had not requested that western crossing and did not want it; members concluded that because the western segment would serve third-party parcels and the landowner did not desire it, the authority would take no action on that segment and asked Dominion to return if it had a demonstration of need or a route that avoided conservation values.

Members also asked staff to seek clearer mapping from Dominion showing any above-ground equipment locations (transformers or splice points) and to confirm whether state right-of-way (VDOT) access or other public-rights-of-way could be used instead of crossing conserved parcels. Staff noted that Dominion sometimes uses available VDOT right-of-way and that Dominion is typically able to tell whether an existing overhead easement exists on the title and whether it will be vacated.

Outcome: the authority adopted formal findings that the proposed new underground easements that serve only the host parcels are permitted under the relevant conservation deeds, requested abandonment of prior overhead easements where appropriate, approved the eastern Nature Pond spur to serve the farm office and solar array, and took no action on the Nature Pond western crossing that would serve other parcels.

The authority directed staff to: obtain definitive easement documents and maps from Dominion; ask Dominion to identify any above-ground facilities before construction; ask whether Dominion will vacate any superseded overhead easements; and return to the authority for any proposed easement that would serve multiple properties or that risks encroaching on riparian or other protected buffers.