Serious Concerns

Should so few decide for so many?

Should unelected Economic Development board members with considerable power get to spend hundreds of millions of your tax dollars? And where's the accountability?

EDA April Community Meeting Presentation PowerPoint We asked for this file to be included on the megasite webpage, but the county did not follow-through. We had to make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Roads and Rail - we have a new page for this!

COUNTY'S PAST DEVELOPMENT HISTORY SPURS MORE QUESTIONS

1. See notes below about Tranlin (Environmental and Project Costs sections)

2. Meadowville Technology Park land acquired in 2005.

Interchange begun in 2011 (due to lack of tenant interest)
Meadowville was approved as a Bio-Tech Park. Now, it's morphed into logistics and data centers.
Traffic snags continue with little interest from county leaders

3. Tranlin project announced in 2014 with 2,000 promised jobs by 2020. No jobs yet, no building yet, just delays and wasted tax dollars. News is worsening and Tranlin project won't happen most likely: Chinese paper company Tranlin misses deadline to pay back $5M public grant (RTD, Oct. 25, 2017)

OUR QUESTIONS:

Will the land grabs ever end? County says it won't build infrastructure until it has a tenant. Can we believe them? We need only look at Meadowville (see above). Randolph County, NC, after a few years, began community meetings about acquiring right-of-way for water, sewer, and power lines.

ZONING CONCERNS

The 1,675 acres in question are currently zoned residential. This land is nestled between major residential neighborhoods and agricultural parcels.
Zoning recommendations in County Zoning Ordinance for I-3 contains the following language: "This district should not be located adjacent to existing or proposed residential, office or commercial areas."
The zoning of I-3 allows for light to heavy manufacturing involving the processing of raw materials and so forth. The county cannot assure nearby residents that all environmental concerns would be mitigated by a buffer. See Item #14 on Matoaca Rezoning which reads in part, "This distance, including a tree buffer, should insulate local residents from most of the noise."
Zoning requirements for I-3 also identify the need for existing arterial roads and water access. This site does NOT meet those requirements, so a height variance request for a water tower is also included in the plan.
Matoaca Rezoning FAQ's page employs imprecise terms such as, should, depend, and hope.
Buffers -- It is unclear even to county officials exactly how the CEDA will handle the land in question. Newspaper quotes vary between using 500 to 1,000 acres for a potential plant site. No guarantees available about how much buffer from the site that surrounding residents can expect.
Is this project a "trojan horse" intended to get the East-West Parkway, water-sewer, and other infrastructure built, thereby increasing access to additional land south and west of the proposed megasite? The additional land could eventually become more residential/industrial increasing burden on all county resources. This includes land south of the megasite as well as west into Matoaca District.
Chesterfield Observer Oct. 25, 2017 article highlights comprehensive plan's land use edits in the wings. Allowing heavy manufacturing in I-2 --really?
Where are other megasites located? NOT NEAR NEIGHBORHOODS! that's for sure. (2014 story)
- "It's worth remembering that this vast industrial expanse is surrounded by fields, woods, the meanderings of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterways, and other touches of the underdeveloped rural South."

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Ponds and wetlands on the property.
Traffic noise from the trucks on East-West Parkway will impact all in its path. Here's a decibel comparison. Note that 80 dB is 2 times as loud as 70 dB. Some highlights:
- Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB); freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge 10 a.m. (76 dB).
- Diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); Freight train (at 15 meters) (89 dB); Diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB).
- Garbage truck (106 dB).
- Possible damage in 8 hour exposure to 80 dB.
- Quiet Rural Area 30 dB is 1/16 the intensity of 70 dB.
Trucks hitting the rumble strips will be heard for miles. (ask those living near 288)
Without adjacent water sources, a water tower will be required and the purchase of water from Richmond will increase. What assurances do we have against future water availability/limitations and rising water costs as demand increases.
The preferred route of East-West Pkwy requires taking out the current Harrowgate Elementary and placing in the Harrowgate Park space. The community will lose its public park, shelter, and ball fields.
What environmental concessions will the County and Virginia make?
- Permitting for the Tranlin Paper project caused delays (From Chesterfield Observer, May 3, 2017, "The delays in the project, the company said last year, were partly due to complications in applying for more than 20 environmental permits.")
- Tranlin Paper received an Air Quality exception from the state. Read about it here
- Companies are allowed to purchase "credits" (i.e., permission to pollute) within a state-managed system. Read a little about it here

7. On the Matoaca Rezoning webpage, the CEDA answers this question:

How can a large manufacturing facility coexist next to residential communities? The (sic) Many types of manufacturing facilities would not be a good fit on this property. The types of uses we would pursue are clean, advanced manufacturing facilities that have successfully been sited in suburban and urban areas in recent years. They emit much lower levels of emissions, generate less noise, don’t include smokestacks, and can coexist in more suburban settings.
- QUESTION -- Why then was Tranlin Paper required to obtain 20 environmental permits? (And it obtained only 1 --which was a "concession" from the state before stalling the project?)

8. The disadvantages of deforestation: soil erosion, habitat destruction, increased C02, reduction in biological diversity

9. Proximity of homes to new proposed roads -- Health concerns, for example:

L.A. keeps building near freeways, even though living there makes people sick

Advisory for putting homes within 1000 feet of freeway

Residential Proximity to Major Highways — United States, 2010

"The worst air quality in the United States can be found within about 5 football fields of any highway — where 1 in 10 Americans live. Millions of Americans breathe this air every day. And as a result, they suffer from an increased risk of cardiac disease, according to a new study from researchers at Tufts University and Boston University." Source

PROJECT COSTS

$15.5 million is quoted cost of the megasite acreage. $11,000 per acre. (No documentation has been provided to FOIA requests for any land appraisals used.) -- County is currently paying $55,000 every 6 months to hold an option on said property -- this is covering the landowners' real estate tax bills.
Ten years ago, the projected cost of the East-West Freeway was over $70 million. It's projected to be at least $194.5 million today. (According to the county's Capital Improvement Plan 2019-2023) The County admits this will be funded by local, state, and federal funds. (Let us add -- IF they can get the funding from state/federal. That's still your $$, by the way.)
Infrastructure for water delivery - Isle of Wight County spent $1 million on a water booster pump. Martinsville received a water-related USEDA grant of $2.6 million. **They WILL have to put in infrastructure to court tenants, don't be fooled by the promises of waiting for interested businesses.
County will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to court businesses from around the world. Ex: Henry County, VA budgeted over $200,000 a year for seeking tenants. CEDA is likely to spend much more.
The county has hired outside legal help for the zoning case, rather than rely upon the legal staff we already employ. More $$ spent!
Millions to be spent acquiring land for roads, easements, etc. for roads alone.
Tranlin Paper example: $5 million already spent (and down the drain)
Subsidies will be offered from every faction of local and state government. Check out our Research page for details.
Look what is happening elsewhere:
- Developers seek another $72 million for Tennessee Megasite (after it loses chance for Toyota/Mazda partnership)

COUNTY COMMUNICATION AND PROCESSES

The Governor of Virginia announced this megasite on August 31, 2017. It was the first time that county residents heard about it.
Media reports of county official statements offer a mix of promises with no accompanying data - unsubstantiated job estimates, potential for rising home values, "we will do it right", acreage used for buffers varies wildly
Citizen meetings set up were very disappointing. Even Town Hall settings provided little to no information that citizens could use to evaluate this project.

See County Responses page on this website for answers to written questions. More questions are awaiting replies.

### Update March 2018 - County is moving forward with completed rezoning application. Stay tuned for community meetings in April.

REALITY VS. WHAT THEY'RE TELLING US

1. Now, this is a most curious thing. They (county officials) tell us different things. Is the East-West Parkway a done deal, irrespective of the megasite zoning case? The answer depends on the day and the answering party. Of course, the thoroughfare plan map tells its own story.

2. Is the county going to install infrastructure first in order to attract a tenant? It says "no" but Meadowville Technology Park didn't attract a tenant until the 295 interchange was completed some 7 years after the project first began.

And there's this POTENTIAL REALITY: "But location isn’t everything. For a mega site to be competitive, it must promise that any development on it will proceed quickly. As a result, many mega sites undergo elaborate preparation. Infrastructure for transportation and utilities may be upgraded." ~ Kevin M. Mayer, Trade & Industry Development, April 30, 2007

3. Read this "About Megasites" summary

4. The "New Virginia Economy" (page 11) says this about megasite development:

Support site creation and development

• Explore the prudence of developing a state infrastructure loan program to fund last stages of development.

• Identify one or two mega and medium, and five or six, mini sites each year scattered. Throughout the state to invest significant money to develop the sites.

• Accelerate the state permitting process required for site development.

• Work with the Army Corps of Engineers to accelerate the federal permitting process.

• Provide more state grant monies to collaborate with localities on development.

• Enhance opportunities for VRA to provide funding assistance for megasite development.

• Investigate ways to create possible incentives to reduce initial energy costs for companies bringing new jobs to Virginia.

Market sites to all audiences

• Advocate for and track data on all sites so state can assist economic developers.

• Advertise Virginia’s commitment to developing sites for any business.

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