The proposed expansion of a construction waste dump site in Christiansburg will be back on the agenda when Montgomery County supervisors meet Wednesday.
The county board will meet at 6:45 p.m. in the second-floor board chambers at the county government center, 755 Roanoke St., Christiansburg. It will begin with a closed meeting to discuss personnel matters. The open session will begin at 7:15 p.m.
Supervisors had been expected to vote Oct. 27 on whether to approve the expansion, along with the proposed establishment of a contractor’s storage yard for equipment. Instead, they raised more questions about the details — particularly how much more vehicle traffic the site will receive and how the operation will look from U.S. 460 — and postponed action to Nov. 12.
Wednesday’s agenda includes consideration of resolutions to postpone a final vote on the proposals to Nov. 24.
Black Diamond Resources LLC operates the existing 8-acre facility, which has been in operation for about eight years. The company proposes expanding operations to about 43 acres on a nearly 66-acre site. It would allow for disposal of 2 million cubic yards of debris over a 40-year period, including soil, brick, concrete block and broken concrete.
The site near the U.S. 460 Bypass and Interstate 81 is adjacent to residential properties including 86 apartments, 38 duplexes and 16 single-family homes, according to county planning department documents.
Following county planners’ questions about the expanded facility’s design, the design firm added a 20-foot-wide buffer zone between the proposed expanded site and residential properties.
The design firm says heavy equipment and construction vehicles will use the existing access point on Village Lane. The firm has said that on some days, there will no additional traffic, but construction traffic could go to 20-30 trips per day “when an active project is utilizing the site.” But during an Oct. 8 county planning commission meeting, a design firm representative acknowledged it’s possible there could be more than 100 trips on one day and significantly fewer trips on another.
During the Oct. 27 meeting, officials acknowledged that the operation will be partly visible from 460.
Supervisors questioned whether and how the county will be able to monitor the volume of construction vehicle traffic to and from the site, along with how the owner plans to control dust from construction waste dumping. County attorney Marty McMahon also said there is not much detail on plans to eventually close the site when it has reached its capacity.
The board agreed to postpone action while county staff seeks more information.
The planning commission has recommended approval of the proposals.
Also on Wednesday’s agenda is a public hearing and a vote on a proposal to move more than 7 acres of unincorporated county land into the town of Blacksburg.
According to meeting documents, the town has surveyed its corporate boundaries and negotiated with the county on moving 7.2 acres into the town limits. The purpose is to “correct errors and eliminating some situations where tracts of land are split by the current corporate boundary,” according to the proposed agreement.
Four areas would be affected: A section in the northeast including parts of Bishop Road, Mount Tabor Road and Happy Hollow Road; a section in the east including parts of Grove Avenue, Elliot Drive, Myers Place, Rucker Drive and Mason Drive; a section in the southeast near South Main Street; and a section in the southwest including the Stroubles Ridge subdivision.
You can find meeting documents at https://montva.community.highbond.com/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=382.