Two Pittsylvania County boards are holding a joint public hearing to expedite a rezoning process at the county’s Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill, the largest industrial park in the Southeast U.S.
The planning commission and the board of supervisors will hear public comments at a Thursday hearing at 6 p.m. in Chatham.
During the hearing, county residents can share their thoughts and questions about a rezoning item that would create a new industrial zoning designation for the megasite.
The new designation, which is separate from the existing light-industrial and heavy-industrial zones, would allow the megasite to be used for heavy industry, advanced manufacturing and power generation.
The board of supervisors held a special meeting Dec. 30 to approve a resolution for these two changes: the creation of this new zoning district and the rezoning request for the megasite.
The rezoning would encompass multiple properties within the park for a total of about 3,500 acres, according to a public notice about the hearing.
The joint public hearing will move this item through the rezoning process faster than usual. Typically, the county’s planning commission would hold a public hearing, and then its members would vote on whether to recommend approval to the board of supervisors.
Then, at a later meeting, the board of supervisors would hold another public hearing and take the planning commission’s recommendation into consideration before putting an item to a final vote.
The joint public hearing before both boards will speed that process up.
In Danville this week, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facilities Authority will meet Monday at noon, the planning commission will meet Monday at 2 p.m., the industrial development authority will meet Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., and the airport commission will meet Tuesday at 3 p.m. The board of zoning appeals meeting scheduled for Thursday has been canceled.
