Charles City boards approve 365-foot private pier on Chickahominy River with conditions

The Charles City County Wetlands and Chesapeake Bay Preservation boards voted on Oct. 7 to recommend approval of an application by property owner Clay Jackson to build a 365-foot pier with a 10-by-12-foot platform on the Chickahominy River.

Deputy Zoning Administrator Sheri Adams told the boards the pier would use about 80 or more marine-treated eight-inch pilings driven by compaction hammer and that construction mats would be used to move heavy equipment across vegetated wetland. Adams said staff recommended approval with conditions including a building permit, a site plan prepared by a licensed surveyor or engineer showing landscaping and erosion-and-sediment (E&S) measures, a pre-construction meeting with the CBPA inspector, and a $1,000 surety refundable after one year if plantings survive.

Board members questioned the contractor on construction methods. The contractor said traverse mats would be used, that the mats could handle the equipment being used and that the mats would remain in place for roughly three weeks; the contractor also said the dock would be about 4 feet high and 5 feet wide.

On a motion by board member Clyde L. Miles, seconded by Joanne Daniel, the Wetlands Board recommended approval of WB-02-2024 by a 4–0 vote. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Board likewise recommended approval of CBPA-03-2024 by a 4–0 vote after the board opened and closed a public hearing with no speakers.

The approvals are conditioned on the elements Adams listed, including native-species plantings (minimum heights for trees and shrubs specified), required temporary and permanent soil-stabilization measures under Virginia law, and the required pre-construction meeting. The boards recorded no public opposition during the hearings.