Resident urges public hearing after seaside area was removed from Chesapeake Bay Act

Paul Burge, who identified himself during public comment as a longtime property owner on Bunting Point Road, told the Accomack County Planning Commission he and other shoreline residents only learned after the county meeting that a portion of the seaside had been removed from the Chesapeake Bay Act. "The first time I saw anything about it was after the meeting in the Shore Daily News," Burge said, and he asked the commission to request a public hearing from the Board of Supervisors and provide a recommendation.

Burge said his family owns roughly a 70-acre property with about 3,800 feet of shoreline on Nickawampus Creek and recounted past work with the Northampton Planning District Commission. He expressed concern that removing seaside protections could encourage tree clearing and waterfront development that would change the area’s character. "I worry that if the Bay Act is taken away from the seaside, those kind of trees ... would be torn down just to secure a view," he said.

Burge asked the commission to ask the Board of Supervisors to hold a public hearing because, he said, the change was a "dramatic" one that had not been sufficiently advertised to the public. The commission did not take formal action on his request during the public-comment period; staff or the Board of Supervisors would need to schedule any such hearing. The commission chair closed the public comment period and moved on to new business.