The King George County Board of Supervisors is taking an incremental approach toward supporting a proposed project to build 21 affordable homes for essential workers in the county.
The board voted unanimously to draft a resolution in support of the Exodus Family Institute’s application for a $100,000 Community Development Block Grant for a feasibility study on its project.
Board member T.C. Collins, however, expressed apprehension about supporting a resolution for Exodus’ application for a separate, $1 million grant for the project’s infrastructure work.
After the feasibility study concludes, Exodus President Mary Parnell, who is also the co-founder of the organization, will return to the supervisors and request additional support.
The funding won’t come from the county, but staff must work with Exodus on implementation and managerial aspects of the project, Interim County Attorney Richard Stuart said.
“There is no endgame to this,” Collins told Parnell and his fellow board members. “The county is not in the housing business. I do support your goal. I want you to go ahead and build your houses, but I don’t want the county in the business of doing that.”
The supervisors stressed that since Exodus owns the land, they can build homes whenever they want. But Parnell noted that the grant funds will be needed for the study and for infrastructure such as roads, sewer and water services.
Parnell attempted to assure the board that once the study and the infrastructure is secure, Exodus has the ability to complete the project, which will be aimed at supplying teachers, first responders and other essential workers with affordable housing.
She said although there is no “solid commitment” from a builder or developer and this will be the first project for Exodus, “we have partners that have been in this arena” such as Habitat for Humanity.
“We have the wherewithal and all that we need,” Parnell said. “We have builders we’ve been working with, and other developers. We have not applied for a construction loan because we wanted to explore this process first.”
In other business, the supervisors voted 4-1 to grant a special exception to Harwood Power to establish a battery energy storage facility, switchyard and associated substation, serving King George, Dahlgren Naval Support Facility and the surrounding region.
The permit is contingent on a siting agreement that is acceptable to the board. The agreement must be advertised, and a public hearing must be held before it can be finalized. Shiloh District Supervisor Cathy Binder was the lone vote against the project, citing concerns that if a fire occurred, the entire King George Fire Department could be required to put it out, leaving other residents vulnerable.
The board also agreed on a committee to study how agricultural zoning districts should be developed. The supervisors proposed a minimum lot requirement of 50 acres for land zoned Agricultural-1, which alarmed the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors and other residents concerned about their property values.
The committee will meet on Wednesdays for six straight weeks with the objective being “to examine current zoning and subdivision regulations with the goal of preserving the rural character of the county in the agricultural zoning districts,” said County Administrator Matthew Smolnik.
The committee will be made up of small and large landowners, realtors, conservationists and farmers in the county. The meetings will be held in the Revercomb Administration Building and will be open to the public.
