The Caroline County Planning Commission deferred a recommendation on the Carmel Technology and Enterprise Center to its Aug. 27 meeting after a marathon gathering Thursday night that included passionate pleas from community members in support of the project and others vehemently opposed to it.
The applicant, Luck Stone, the Richmond-based company which produces crushed stone and gravel, is applying to rezone approximately 1,111 acres from Rural Preservation to Industrial for the development of a technology and enterprise industrial campus.
Charlie Payne, an attorney representing Luck Stone, promised the project would not include a data center.
“It’s not going to be data centers,” Payne said … “We envision this to be your typical industrial park where you’re going to have logistics, distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing, R&D offices, flex office, all of which we think the market is asking for.”
The proposed project area includes several parcels located between Jericho Road and U.S. Route 1 and along Zion Road and Oxford Road. The board of supervisors voted 6-0 in August 2024 to approve the Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the land use in that area from Rural Transition to Industrial, and now Luck Stone is seeking a rezoning for its project.
Payne said he can’t disclose potential tenants for the development, “but we are talking to a lot of people and also talking to the state.”
“The Virginia Economic Development Partnership sees us as a major opportunity in the corridor, not only for the Commonwealth but for Caroline County,” Payne said.
Commissioner Mary Hodge, who represents the Bowling Green District, grilled Payne with questions, particularly about proffers.
Hodge questioned Payne about a proposed $50,000 proffer for a traffic light that he said will cost as much as $700,000. She also inquired about a $25,000 proffer to the Musical Creations Foundation, a nonprofit owned and operated by the wife of Commissioner J.D. Young of the Reedy Church District. Young said the proffer has nothing to do with him, and he noted that his wife works for the county’s school division as a music teacher. Hodge questioned if the proffer is a conflict of interest.
Toneika Stephens-Young addressed the school board about her nonprofit earlier this month, informing them of the benefits it provided last school year, including several college tours.
“The way we structured this was to help music education with the school system, and we understand the foundation works with the schools,” Payne said. “So, we left it up to the school system to make that determination.”
Hodge also wanted to know about Luck Stone’s agreement to facilitate the construction of a community center for Oxford Mount Zion Baptist Church. She asked if the community center will still be built if the board of supervisors ultimately deny the rezoning.
“Our arrangement is we’re acquiring land from the church,” Luck Stone General Manager Jon Riley said. “And then if we acquire that land, we’re going to help facilitate the construction of that community center … The way that the contract is structured, yes, it’s contingent on the rezoning.”
Riley noted that the agreement with OMZBC is private and not affiliated with the proffers to the county. He also said the company is pledging to assist Carmel Baptist Church with an expansion of its food pantry and Jericho Baptist Church with unspecified ministry needs.
“Our goal with this obviously is to facilitate a project that benefits the community at-large,” Riley said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
While a host of Oxford Mount Zion members spoke in support of the project during the public hearing, other community members expressed concerns about its lack of specifics and disruption to the area’s bucolic nature.
Rhonda Hammond, who lives in nearby Hanover County, noted that although the developers are saying data centers aren’t a part of the project, Riley joined RVA757 Connects in 2025. On its website, the nonprofit promotes data centers and states that data centers “anchor a digital infrastructure ecosystem that drives job creation, business growth and long-term economic resilience across the Commonwealth.”
“This isn’t an isolated request,” Hammond said. “[Luck Stone is] pushing for a rock quarry, a concrete plant, and an asphalt plant in Hanover. Between these two projects, they’re seeking to industrialize 2,400 acres of rural farmland across Hanover and Caroline counties.”
Several members of OMZBC, including Bishop Duane Fields Sr., talked about the need for a community center in the county that would benefit youth and seniors. Recent Caroline High School graduate Blake Morris, who earned a football scholarship to Emory & Henry University, said a community center where teens can be among peers and mentors, would help address mental health concerns in his age group. Morris shared that one of his friends died by suicide not too long ago.
“When I think about mentors, I had my father and my family to guide me along the way,” Morris said. “Several of our children in this county don’t have mentors or good role models at home … The church center would give them a purpose and a reason to keep going in life to better themselves and get out of the stigma of what they’re used to on a daily basis.”
OMZBC Clerk Dita Ferguson noted the growth the church and the county are experiencing and said county officials should focus on “provision instead of reaction,” for new community members.
But county resident Mark Atkinson said that while the community center and youth outreach is much needed in the county, he’s troubled by a development being approved without citizens knowing exactly what will be there in the next decade.
“I agree with the gentleman earlier who described it as a blank check that you’re giving the developer in exchange for doing a few good things for the community,” Atkinson said.
The commission ended the public hearing but will vote on the rezoning request next month.
In other business, the commission voted unanimously to recommend denying the request of amended proffers to the Haymount subdivision project. The county initially approved the 4,000-home housing development in 1988, and developers broke ground in 1996, but the project never came to fruition. The property consists of 1,579 acres and is located at the intersection of Buckner Road (State Route 615) and Ware Creek Road (State Route 614). The scope of the project decreased from 4,000 homes to 1,925. The developers also included two elementary school sites at approximately 13 acres each in their proffers, as well as support for public safety.
The applicant requested a deferral Thursday, but the commission decided to forward it to the supervisors with a recommendation to deny.
