Fluvanna planning commission backs text amendment to allow stack-height waivers for new power plants

The Fluvanna County Planning Commission voted on Feb. 24 to recommend approval of zoning text amendment ZTA 2509, which would let the Board of Supervisors grant waivers or modifications to the county's maximum stack-height limits for new power-production plants.

Staff and the applicant told the commission that modern gas-turbine equipment and building heights can require taller exhaust stacks to meet air-dispersion modeling used by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Laurie Schweller, the applicant's attorney, described a proposed condition limiting stacks for the Expedition project to 199 feet, with a maximum of 230 feet only if state modeling and Good Engineering Practice require it.

The amendment would alter section 22-17-16 of the county code to allow the board to grant such waivers or modifications on a case-by-case basis. Staff explained the change is procedural: the planning commission cannot itself grant waivers under Virginia case law and so the code must authorize the board to do so.

Commissioners asked why the text amendment is being considered before the current special use permit (SUP) application is finally decided, and whether the language should explicitly limit the waivers to new SUPs. Staff and counsel said the wording is intended to create a clear process and to give the board conditional authority tied to the issuance of a special use permit; staff agreed to clarify language by adding the word "new" where helpful.

After discussion the commission voted to recommend the amendment by a 3–1 margin with one abstention. The recommendation will move to the Board of Supervisors for final action.

What this means: If the board adopts ZTA 2509, future applicants for new power-production plants could obtain localized permission from the board to exceed the county's previously fixed stack-height limit when state air-quality modeling or engineering practice indicates a taller stack would reduce ground-level pollutant concentrations. The amendment does not itself approve any particular stack height; it simply changes who can grant a waiver and under what process.