Update: This story has been updated with additional details from DCC to better characterize the project’s timeline.
The Danville Planning Commission will consider a rezoning request to allow for a Danville Community College training facility for students pursuing a commercial driver’s license.
The rezoning request, which will be discussed at the commission’s regular meeting at 2 p.m. Monday, pertains to about 12 acres of land currently zoned for light economic development industrial use. If approved, the request would change the zoning designation to transitional office commercial use.
About 4 of these 12 acres are currently leased by the Morrisette Paper Company, a packaging solutions company based in Reidsville, North Carolina. The Danville Industrial Development Authority plans to continue to lease that portion of the parcel to the company and enter into a new lease with DCC for the remaining 8 acres.
“The use of this land by DCC requires a rezoning,” says the staff report in the meeting’s agenda packet. “A school may not operate within its current zoning classification.”
DCC plans to extend its instruction of students pursuing a CDL to this location at 985 Lockett Drive.
The expansion project is in preliminary collaborative planning stages, said DCC spokesperson, Faith O’Neil. Details have not yet been solidified and the opening of a new location is not imminent, she said.
The school launched its CDL training program in 2023 “in response to regional needs and the national shortage of CDL-licensed truck drivers,” according to the DCC website.
CDL training is currently held at the school’s Regional Center for Advanced Training Technology and Training, where most of DCC’s workforce training is located. The facility is on the same campus as Danville’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.
The training program certifies students for a CDL license every four to eight weeks. In Virginia, the average starting salary for a licensed CDL driver is over $63,000, according to a DCC press release about the program.
Tuition for the program is about $4,500, but the school offers financial assistance and programming to reduce the cost for eligible students.
Expansion was always a possibility for the program. When it launched, Jerry Wallace, then-President of DCC, said that the school would stay updated on demand for this training in the region and expand the program’s size accordingly, says the press release.
Wallace left the school in 2024 for a new position, and Cornelius Johnson, who was interim president after his departure, filled the permanent role earlier this year.
Operation of a new facility on Lockett Drive “would allow driving instruction on the two existing paved areas with the installation of a small office space for administrative use,” the staff report says.
A preliminary plat has been drawn and was submitted with the application, showing shared access to the existing drive entrance for both tenants.
The city’s planning division recommends that the planning commission approve the rezoning request.
Also this week in Danville, the Regional Industrial Facilities Authority will meet at noon Monday, the IDA will meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday, the airport commission will meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday and the River District Design Commission will meet at 4 p.m. Thursday.
In Pittsylvania County, the board of zoning appeals will meet at 6 p.m. Monday.
