Prince George supervisors deny rezoning for 47-acre River Road distribution center

Prince George County supervisors voted to deny RZ26-0001, a conditional rezoning request for 47.2 acres on River Road that the applicant proposed to develop as a warehouse/distribution facility.

Staff opened the public hearing and summarized the case as a request to reclassify the parcel from A-1 (general agriculture) to M-2 (general industrial) to permit a distribution center. Planning staff noted proffers submitted by the applicant, two prior planning commission hearings and the planning commission’s recommendation of denial following public comments.

The applicant, Clayton Bridal of Provident Industrial, told the board the project would include a 501,000-square-foot building, two truck courts and on‑site stormwater controls. He said the team spent roughly $250,000 on environmental, historic and traffic studies and that their most likely traffic model predicted about 900 vehicle trips per day, including 216 truck trips. “At 900 vehicles per day added to the 6,500, we’re only at 7,400 vehicles per day, which is about 61% capacity of River Road,” Bridal said, urging the board that VDOT had raised no objection to the submitted traffic analyses.

Neighbors urged denial. Multiple residents described flooding on River Road, limited sight lines at rail crossings, school-bus safety concerns and the cumulative effect of added truck traffic. “Imagine over 1,800 heavy diesel trucks tearing up our narrow local roads,” Jill Hibner told supervisors, citing the higher end of numbers that residents had circulated. Eric Beasley, who said he had reviewed the application and attended hearings, called the site “the wrong project in the wrong location” and urged denial.

Board members debated whether to defer for further study or act. Supervisor Hamill moved to deny, a motion seconded by another member; roll call votes followed and the board approved the denial. The chair declared the rezoning failed. The record shows the planning commission had earlier voted to recommend denial after hearing neighbors’ concerns, and several supervisors referenced that prior recommendation in their remarks.

The denial ends the applicant’s request for a conditional M-2 rezoning on this parcel; the developer said the application remains on the record and offered to do additional studies if requested by the board. The board signaled interest in continued outreach around the county’s 2045 comprehensive plan and said further work sessions would be scheduled to address residents’ questions.