Welcome to the first-ever edition of Martinsville Field Notes, where I’ll give you quick updates on what’s happening in Martinsville and Henry County every Friday. In this week’s column, you’ll hear everything from dinosaurs to data centers.
If there’s something you’d like to see in next week’s column, you can reach me at julianna@cardinalnews.org. There’s always something happening in Martinsville and Henry County, and I’d love to hear from you!
Henry County board to consider zoning for data centers, solar projects
The Henry County Board of Supervisors will consider zoning changes for data centers and solar projects at its meeting on Tuesday.
County Administrator Dale Wagoner said there are no active proposals for data centers in the county.
“This is a preliminary measure to update our zoning ordinance to provide a definition for what exactly a data center is and to put restrictions on where they can go and what they must do to be able to even apply for an application for a special use permit to locate in Henry County,” said Brandon Martin, the county’s public information officer.
The proposed changes to the zoning ordinance would put parameters on any data center companies applying for a special use permit. The company would have to provide a water impact study, conduct noise testing and meet equipment requirements, including ensuring that it is not intrusive to other parts of the industrial park.
Since potential data centers have to go through the special use permit process, the county board of zoning appeals would hear them on a case-by-case basis. There would be a public hearing for each special use permit.
“The public will have ample opportunity to hear about any proposed data centers that come in the future if they decide that they want to locate in Henry County,” Martin said.
Any data center would have to be on industrially zoned property, Martin said. That includes the industrial parks, like Commonwealth Crossing, the Patriot Centre and Martinsville Industrial Park.
There’s very limited land in the industrial parks, Martin said. A data center company could also buy large parcels of agricultural land and have it rezoned to industrial, but the process would have to go through the planning commission and the board of supervisors. There would be public hearings at both of those meetings.
The board will also consider lowering the cap on the amount of land that can be used for solar projects. The cap for solar projects is currently 1% of the county’s available land.
The cap would be lowered to 1,754 acres, which is the amount of land already approved for solar use. Henry County has designated a large portion of land to solar projects in comparison to surrounding areas.
“What we’re trying to do is preserve our rural land and our farmland and the green space that we have in the county,” Martin said.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the county administration building.
Dino Festival returns with new T. rex
The annual Dino Festival at the Virginia Museum of Natural History begins today, with the debut of a life-size Tyrannosaurus rex.
It’s expected to bring 4,000 people to the museum for the two-day experience.
The festival — the museum’s largest educational event — will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The life-size, 40-foot animatronic T. rex will sit outside of the museum. There will also be casts of new footprints that have never been shown before, collections found in Wyoming and Montana, as well as new crocodile fossils found along Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
“We roll them out on the same tables we do lab work on because it’s the thing that’s stable,” said Adam Pritchard, the museum’s associate curator of paleontology. “It’s very authentic.”
The museum focuses on “the power of real,” meaning visitors get to see the actual scientific specimens.
“It’s not just an entertainment event,” Pritchard said.
There will be 12 options for food and drink at the Dino Dining District outside. Vendors offer snow cones, gelato, Mexican food, lemonade, barbecue and Chick-fil-A.
There will also be face painting, balloon animals, crafts and a photo booth. All activities are included in admission.
It will be visitors’ last chance to see the exhibition, The Age of Dinosaurs. The exhibit has a life-size cast skeleton of Triceratops and an interactive fossil dig pit.
The Age of Dinosaurs also includes “the only known fossil evidence that Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex engaged in battle and Triceratops having survived the encounter,” said Robbie Hendrix-Wirt, the visitor services and events manager.
More than 30 volunteers and 50 employees will work the festival this weekend for it to run smoothly for over 4,000 visitors. Over half of the visitors come from outside of the area, mostly from North Carolina, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Richmond and eastern Virginia.
Admission is $15 for adults aged 18 to 59 years old. It costs $10 for those between 3 and 17 years old, seniors older than 60, and college students. Dino Fest is free for children under 3 years old and military families. For anyone who attends on Friday, admission is free on Saturday.
Martinsville’s superintendent ‘elated’ about tax referendum that could benefit schools
Martinsville School Superintendent Zebedee Talley said he was “elated to hear” that the city council added a referendum to November’s ballot that — if residents vote yes — would increase the sales tax by 1% to support school improvement projects.
He said he’s confident that Martinsville residents will vote yes in November.
“We’re really excited. We have buildings that need repairs,” Talley said. “We have so many capital needs and it’s been a long time since we’ve built a structure.”
School projects include HVAC systems and roofs, said Rob Fincher, the city manager. Bigger projects include setting up charging stations for electric school buses and relocating the city’s school bus hub.
Surrounding school systems such as Henry County, Danville, Pittsylvania County and Patrick County have been benefiting from the 1% sales tax for a few years now — with Henry County bringing in over $27 million over the past five years.
“This is a great opportunity for our kids to have equal access,” Talley said.
Talley said students learn better in well-maintained schools. He said he’s excited that the council made the decision to add it to the ballot but is also grateful that state legislators decided to make the sales tax more accessible.
The state law went into effect July 1 and authorizes all cities and counties to put the referendum on the ballots to impose the 1% increase. Martinsville became one, if not the first, locality in western Virginia to put the referendum on the ballot.
