The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved two uses of eminent domain after public hearings during Tuesday night’s meeting.
But earlier in the meeting, an item to advertise a public hearing to exercise eminent domain that was on the consent agenda was removed and voted on separately.
The difference: the two approved items were for the construction, improvement, maintenance, and repair of a waterline facility relating to the Massaponax Church Road Waterline Phase 2B project that was approved by the county for the health and safety of residents.
However, the consent agenda item was the taking of 77,751 square feet of a resident’s property to prepare for the Reuse Conveyance System Project that will benefit data centers.
Supervisor David Goosman of the Berkeley District requested the item be pulled from the consent agenda, and the rest of the board voted 7-0 to consider it separately at the April 28 meeting.
The county said the property owners have been non-responsive to the county’s offers to buy the land, but Goosman said he’s been in contact with them and believes he can get them to the negotiating table.
Goosman said he doesn’t want public perception to be that the supervisors are blindly “rubber stamping” serious matters such as eminent domain.
“If it’s for waterlines and things for utilities that we need to do as part of our community, that’s one thing,” Goosman said. “But … we want to make sure the data centers are doing due diligence with our citizens and making sure we’re talking to them and working out arrangements that are amenable to them. So, I ask that we wait for two weeks with the opportunity to meet with those folks next week and do a final negotiation with them. They’d be amenable to that, too, by the way.”
There were no speakers for the two public hearings on eminent domain. So, the supervisors voted to acquire 59,741 square feet of commercially owned property. County staff said the property owners will receive compensation and a boost to their water system because of the construction. They noted that an existing six-inch waterline will be upgraded to 12 inches. They’ve had limited communication with the owners.
In another public hearing, the board of supervisors unanimously approved Fawn Lake Church, which will be built in multiple phases on a 12-acre site at 11611 Orange Plank Road. The property will include a place of worship, a multipurpose building, and eventually a parsonage.
