JAMES CITY — The board of supervisors has granted Dominion Virginia Power another extension for a rezoning hearing on its proposed Skiffes Creek switching station this week, this time granting a deferral until August.
The delay means a full year will pass before the board of supervisors hears a rezoning request for the switching station, a full year after the planning commission recommended to deny it last summer. And it has raised fresh questions for some county officials about Dominion’s insistence last year that it urgently needed approval of the station.
Part of the delay has been an ongoing federal permit review process being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which hasn’t outlined a timetable yet for any decision. The Corps is determining whether Dominion can be granted a permit to build 17 transmission towers in the James River to carry 500 kilovolt transmission lines from its Surry Power station to the proposed switching station.
“On behalf of Dominion, please accept our continued appreciation for the diligence and patience exhibited by the James City County Board of Supervisors regarding Dominion’s pending applications,” wrote D. Brennen Keene, an attorney representing Dominion for law firm McGuireWoods.
“Given that the Army Corps of Engineers review of Dominion’s Army Corps Permit is still in process, we believe that a delay in a public hearing on the station would be appropriate. Recognizing that Dominion previously has requested month by month delays of the board’s public hearing on the applications to allow the process for Dominion’s Army Corps Permit to further advance, it is appropriate at this time to request a longer deferral on the applications.”
Col. Jason Kelly, commander of the Norfolk District of the Corps, said there would be “adherence and diligence to the process,” but did not give a concrete timetable for approval, denial or additional study of the Surry-Skiffes Creek project.
The request says if Dominion is granted a permit by the Corps, the utility company may request an earlier hearing, if possible. The next scheduled hearing was for March 8, before supervisors approved the extension request. The utility company has sought deferrals almost monthly since last fall.
The county has no control over the federal permit process, but it does have the authority to grant Dominion the ability to rezone property in the Grove section of the county for the switching station or to deny it.
Supervisor Kevin Onizuk said perhaps Dominion was “premature” in bringing the proposal for the switching station to the board before more information is known about the federal permit process.
That was echoed by planning commission chairman Robin Bledsoe, who said she felt the committee’s vote against recommendation of the rezoning request is appropriate in lieu of the requests for delays before the board of supervisors.
“I feel like we were vindicated because we did not have enough information,” Bledsoe told the Gazette during a phone interview.
“This is another extension which raises questions about the timeliness they have insisted is an important consideration for them,” Supervisor John McGlennon said.
A Dominion spokeswoman said Friday that the project need is still “urgent as ever.”
“We just want to make sure the James City County Board of Supervisors and all the stakeholders have enough time and information to make their decisions,” said Bonita Billingsley Harris, a Dominion spokeswoman. “Dominion anticipates presenting the Skiffes Creek Switching Station project to the Board of Supervisors just as soon as we have further progression from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on their permit process.”
“Rather than ask the JCC Board for further one-month deferments, we’ve opted to put their review on hold until August or until the Corps acts–whichever comes first,” she said.
“The board granted us an extension until Aug. 9, but we would welcome the opportunity to come before them sooner if we get a green light from the Corps,” Harris said.
Bogues can be reached by phone at 757-345-2346.
