Planning Commission tables rezoning for Mauzy truck stop

Published: Jul. 5, 2022 at 10:37 PM EDT

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - The Rockingham County Planning Commission met on Tuesday night and voted unanimously to table a request to rezone 31 acres of property in Mauzy where a developer hopes to build a truck stop.

Leesburg-based Gas City LLC requested the rezoning of a property it purchased just off exit 257 on Interstate 81 in Mauzy near the existing Liberty gas station. The request is to rezone the property from A-2 General Agriculture to BX Business Interchange.

The commissioners elected to table the request to give county staff more time to look into the environmental impacts of the project and the level of water usage it would require.

During a public hearing, 10 people spoke in opposition to the rezoning citing various traffic and environmental concerns and arguing that the proposal does not fit with the county’s comprehensive plan.

“The county will maintain its rural agricultural nature by directing new development to areas in our new existing towns and communities served by public water and sewer and by curtailing development in rural areas served by private wells and septic systems,” Tom Melby, a Mauzy resident read from the comprehensive plan. “How can this conceivably be promoted when there is no public water or sewer system?”

Several Mazuy residents also expressed concerns about how the truck stop would affect traffic which they said is already a problem getting on and off exit 257.

“Putting any new development at this interchange will be a terrible mistake. There are several times a day when traffic already backs up down the exit ramp and onto I-81,” said Watt Bradshaw, who lives near the property in question.

Bradshaw and his family also run a farm near Smith Creek and he expressed concerns about the damage that runoff from the truck stop could do to the stream that he and others have spent years working to restore.

The lack of a public water and sewer connection to the property was also brought up by several speakers as a primary concern about the truck stop.

“I’m sorry but that is going to truly affect our water table and I’ve got a feeling we will be without water, so how’s it going to get provided to us? There is no public water and sewer we have no other choice,” said Teressa Kem, a Mazuy resident who lives near the property.

The rezoning request will remain tabled until at least the planning commission’s meeting next month. Once the commissioners make their recommendation the rezoning request will go to the Board of Supervisors for final approval or denial.

Supervisors will also have to consider a public use permit that would allow Gas City LLC to construct the truck stop.

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