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Wythe County planners set June 22 work session after resident urges ban on most data centers and mapping changes
Summary
The Wythe County Planning Commission agreed to a June 22 work session to continue review of a proposed Land Use Classification Ordinance after the Board of Supervisors referred it back; resident Andy Kegley urged banning data centers in Commercial and Industrial districts (except Progress Park) and adding conservation easement mapping.
The Wythe County Planning Commission on June 2 agreed to hold a Land Use Classification work session on June 22 after the Board of Supervisors asked the commission to review suggested changes from public input. Deputy County Administrator Matt Hankins told commissioners staff would compile the suggested edits into a spreadsheet and that the Board did not want to prolong the process.
The decision followed public comment from resident Andy Kegley, who urged the commission to prohibit data centers in Commercial and Industrial districts outside Progress Park and to show conservation easements and agricultural/Forestal districts on zoning maps. "What you really mean is, if you're against zoning, is that you're against the opportunity for a public hearing," Kegley said, framing zoning as a mechanism to ensure community input.
Why it matters: Commissioners are revising a broad land-use ordinance that could determine where large projects such as data centers and solar farms may locate in Wythe County. State legislation discussed by commissioners has been scaled back, Hankins said, giving localities more authority to determine siting of solar farms but creating reporting requirements if a locality denies an application.
At the meeting, Ex-officio Jesse Burnett said the Board of Supervisors had referred the ordinance back for "further consideration" and recommended a joint session; commissioners settled on a Planning Commission work session for June 22 at 6 p.m. Hankins told the commission he will prepare recommended ordinance text changes and provide a revised draft for the commission’s review at the July 6 meeting.
Commissioners did not take a formal vote on ordinance language at the June 2 meeting. The work session will be the next formal opportunity for commissioners to give direction to staff and consider whether to include public-suggested changes, including whether to keep or narrow the county's "transportation corridor" overlay and how to map protections such as conservation easements. Hankins told the commission staff would present suggested edits and the Commission would then decide whether to proceed with a joint meeting with the Board.
The commission recessed and reconvened for the work session on June 22, where Hankins reviewed resident comments and staff recommendations and said he would prepare a revised draft for the July 6 meeting.
