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Wythe County planners set June 22 work session after resident urges zoning to limit data centers
Summary
The Planning Commission scheduled a June 22 work session on a proposed Land Use Classification Ordinance after resident Andy Kegley urged stricter controls on data centers, elimination or narrowing of a transportation corridor designation, and mapping of conservation easements; staff will deliver a revised draft for review July 6.
Chair David P. Midkiff called the Wythe County Planning Commission to order June 2 and the panel agreed to hold a work session on the Land Use Classification Ordinance on June 22 at 6:00 p.m., staff said.
Resident Andy Kegley of 840 Rose Hill Rd urged commissioners during Citizens’ Time to adopt zoning changes that would prohibit data centers in commercial or industrial districts outside Progress Park, remove or narrow the transportation corridor designation, and 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, calling public hearings "the heartbeat of our democracy." (Andy Kegley)
Deputy County Administrator Matt Hankins told the Commission the Board of Supervisors referred the draft ordinance back for further consideration and asked staff to summarize public suggestions; Hankins said staff would compile the comments in a spreadsheet and that the Board does not want to drag out the process. "We will get the information together and send it out to you in a spreadsheet," Hankins said. The Commission agreed a separate work session was needed and set the June 22 date.
At a reconvened work session on June 22, Hankins reviewed the items submitted by residents and discussed staff suggestions; he said he will prepare a revised draft incorporating the Commission's directions for review at the Commission's July 6 meeting.
Why it matters: The ordinance would create formal land-use classifications and mapping that could shape where industrial uses, solar sites and large facilities such as data centers may locate in Wythe County. Commissioners and residents raised both landowner rights and the value of public hearings as central considerations in how the ordinance is drafted.
What’s next: Staff will circulate a revised draft before the July 6 meeting after incorporating the Commission's directions during the June 22 work session. The Commission will review the draft July 6 and decide whether to forward recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.
