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Planning Commission backs adding six VDOT SMART SCALE projects to county Comprehensive Plan
Summary
Following a joint public hearing, Smyth County’s planning commissioners recommended adding descriptions of six VDOT SMART SCALE transportation projects to the Comprehensive Plan to improve their competitiveness for state funding; the motion passed with one commissioner opposing.
The Smyth County Planning Commission voted to recommend that six proposed Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) SMART SCALE projects be added to the county’s Comprehensive Plan so the projects can score more competitively for state funding.
Staff read statutory authority for the hearing and the public notice at a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 27, 2020, citing Sections 15.2-2204, 15.2-2223 and 15.2-2225 of the Code of Virginia as the basis for the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. Zoning Administrator Clegg Williams explained that four of the six projects had already been approved and two remained in application; adding the projects to the transportation chapter of the Comprehensive Plan would improve the county’s SMART SCALE scoring and prioritization.
Why it matters: SMART SCALE is the Commonwealth’s quantitative scoring system for prioritizing transportation projects for funding. Projects included in the Comprehensive Plan can demonstrate local support and planning consistency, factors that can strengthen an application to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for funding.
Commissioner David Spence moved to recommend that the six projects be added to the Comprehensive Plan; Commissioner Robert Campbell seconded. The motion passed with ayes from Joel Pugh, David Spence, Hazel Wagoner, Paul Shepherd, Graham Davidson Jr. and Robert Campbell. Commissioner Tony Dean voted no. No public speakers addressed the proposal during the hearing.
Staff clarified that adding the projects to the Comprehensive Plan does not itself fund construction; it is a planning step intended to improve the projects’ competitiveness for future SMART SCALE funding rounds. The Planning Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for final action.