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Residents press council on cemetery safety, industrial rezoning impacts and traffic near Greenbrier
Summary
Multiple residents urged the council to require soil testing at a suspected cemetery site, deliver promised neighborhood protections after industrial rezoning, and address traffic safety at Greenbrier and Shell Road; staff described steps the city is taking and explained claim procedures.
Residents used the Aug. 14 public comment period to press the City Council on several neighborhood issues, focusing on a suspected burial site at 217 Woodland Road, industrial rezoning impacts in the Greenbrier area, and persistent traffic safety concerns.
Teresa Roundy told council she had submitted FOIA records and a 2023 ground‑penetrating radar report for 217 Woodland Road and warned that disturbing soil could release arsenic, copper and mercury from historic burials. She said private ground‑penetrating radar firms lack the geophysicist qualifications to resolve cemetery questions and urged the city to require appropriate testing before issuing building permits.
"They have to prove there's no bodies where they're gonna build," Roundy said, urging rigorous GPR analysis and laboratory testing of soils for contaminants.
Ursula Barcas told council the Greenbrier neighborhood had been rezoned to industrial and blamed prior council decisions that she said allowed out‑of‑state developers to build large facilities that now generate continual noise, dust and heavy truck traffic. She demanded the city deliver promised sound walls, traffic improvements and environmental protections and asked when the city would take responsibility for the neighborhood's quality of life.
Other residents asked for a traffic study and quicker mitigation at the intersection of Greenbrier Avenue and Shell Road. Bob Smith and Aaron Weaver described motorists running stop signs, blind spots at the intersection and repeated property damage tied to traffic changes after a Pine Avenue vacation. Staff said a traffic signal could take 12–16 months and cost about $250,000, and that temporary measures such as four‑way stops had been installed while the city evaluates longer‑term solutions.
City Manager Mary Bunting and staff responded that no building permit will be issued for 217 Woodland Road unless the city receives evidence from qualified testing that no graves exist; the city will continue to work with residents on cemetery concerns and the museum exhibit request related to the Virginia State School for the Deaf and Blind. On traffic, staff described short‑term improvements and said the city's risk management office (accessible via 311) handles individual claims and reimbursements.
Residents said they will hold the city accountable for promised remediation and asked for more direct communication and follow‑up on the actions described tonight.
