These are the Issues we are currently engaged in here in Rockbridge County. We are active on each of these fronts, and always looking for help. If you have particular experience in any of these, please reach out . We need all the help we can get.
In ____ Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors approved a Special-Use Exception for a utility-scale solar installation in Fairfield, VA. At the time, friends and neighbors believed the project would allow for a degree of financial security for the landowner, but since its installation, concerns have grown over whether our county is well-suited to these industrial projects.
In 2007, BARC, a member-owned cooperative, applied for a Special-Use Exception to turn the Highland Belle school into a temporary "lay-down yard" for its community solar project and short-term fiber optic installation efforts. After FOUR re-applications, and at the deadline for its most recent expiration, BARC attempted a last-minute application for what would have equated to a defacto re-zoning, requesting to build a permanent, ______ square foot warehouse for equipment storage. Despite an energized neighborhood turnout in opposition to the application, your county Board of Supervisors refused to reject the application and instead offered ANOTHER extension to their TEMPORARY application.
We have obtained confirmation that the FAA is no longer exploring general aviation airports on the East Coast, saying, "." We have presented this information to the county Board of Supervisors, yet they continue to chase down this project. WHY are YOUR tax dollars being used for a "Feasibility Study" when the FAA says the project will never happen? YOU are paying for engineers and marketing gurus to study this project that 1) the community doesn't want, 2) the taxpayers can't afford and 3) ISN'T in keeping with our Comprehensive Plan. Who is behind this project? What crony capitalist stands to benefit while his neighbors endure (even) higher property taxes, environmental destruction, and the loss of quality of life?