Board approves rezoning and special exceptions for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative campus on Route 1/207

The Caroline County Board of Supervisors voted March 24 to approve rezoning case RZ042025 and several special‑exception permits allowing the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) to redevelop a roughly 60.5‑acre site at the US Route 1 / Route 207 intersection into a corporate campus with offices, maintenance and fleet facilities, fueling infrastructure, outdoor storage and a communications tower.

Planning staff (S11) described the proposal as a proffer amendment to the 2005 campus rezoning that would repurpose the Atlantic Union Bankshares building, add an office expansion, and allow ancillary uses. Staff said the applicant proffered right‑of‑way dedication, a right‑turn lane on Route 207, shared‑use path construction along US‑1 and Route‑207, and roughly 25.38 acres of preserved open space and stormwater areas. The county’s traffic‑impact analysis, reviewed by VDOT and staff, projects roughly 2,488 additional daily trips for the site and recommends no additional entrance improvements at the existing driveways beyond the proffered turn lane.

Applicant counsel Charlie Payne (S12) described the site layout and the operational need for private internal roads for truck and maintenance access; he said the campus would consolidate roughly 405 REC employees (about 10% net new) and relocate staff from existing Bowling Green and Fredericksburg offices. "They're growing very, very fast," Payne said of REC, emphasizing jobs and a projected positive real‑estate tax impact. The board approved the rezoning and each special‑exception item by voice vote, adding a staff‑suggested condition that all parking areas visible from US‑1 be screened with evergreen vegetation. The approvals also remove certain prior proffers tied to internal public road improvements because the applicant intends to keep internal roadways private until and unless they are dedicated to public use in the future.