A contract to purchase 85 acres of land near Meadowview that would be developed as an industrial park will be considered Wednesday night by the Washington County Board of Supervisors.
The land has a price tag of $2.5 million, and it’s being purchased from Jimmy A. Stewart. It’s just off Exit 22 between Interstate 81 and Lee Highway, which should make it attractive and convenient for industries, County Administrator Jason Berry said Monday.
County officials are planning for the future, he added. Currently, the county has five industrial parks and three are full. Glade Highlands Regional Industrial Park, a joint venture with Smyth County that is in Glade Spring, has only two lots left. The Oak Park Center for Business and Industry, between Abingdon and Bristol, is the probable location for a proposed inland port.
Inland ports can be located hundreds of miles inland from traditional ports on the water. At these facilities, cargo that would normally be transported by trucks is transferred to trains, which is cheaper and can ease congestion at the traditional port. The Virginia Port Authority’s quarterly report on the project to the General Assembly is due in December and is expected to include updates on the proposed project, including its expected cost.
Washington County’s Industrial Development Authority voted in 2023 to donate any land needed at Oak Park for the project. If the inland port moves forward at Oak Park, only two or three available lots would remain, the county administrator said. The industrial park is currently about half full.
“The reality is, if the inland port does happen, the county’s going to need some additional industrial land and new industrial parks,” Berry said. “And it’s something the IDA has been talking about for a while.”
Before the purchase of the property proceeds, county officials need to make sure that sewer and water service can be extended to the site, and the Virginia Department of Transportation would have to approve an entrance off Enterprise Road to the site, according to Berry.
The site, which is currently zoned for agricultural use, would also have to be rezoned to light industrial. A public hearing on the rezoning is expected to be held by the county’s planning commission on Nov. 24.
A second public hearing on the rezoning would then be held by the board of supervisors on Dec. 9, and then the board will vote on the rezoning, Berry said.
If the project proceeds, the county would close on the land around Feb. 16.
The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county government building, 1 Government Center Place in Abingdon. Here’s the agenda.
