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Sneak Peek into Board of Supervisors
Colston Newton
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When Northumberland County's Board of Supervisors meets Thursday, it will hear at least one contested application for a conditional use permit.
Edward and Robin Berry were asking the Board to give them the permit so that they may tear down an old house at the corner of Harryhogan and Lodge roads in Callao and build a one-story, four-unit apartment building on the site. Joyce and James Keller, who own and live in the property adjacent to the site's back line have written the Board objecting to having apartments built next to their home. They fear that an apartment building will bring down the value of their property and require them to take security measures they have not had to take in the past because, as they wrote, "you never know who is going to be renting."
In requesting the permit, Edward Berry wrote that the house on the property's "condition is too severe to renovate." He noted that he has spoken with a realtor who agrees with his idea that "there is a shortage of affordable rental units in the Callao/Heathsville area."
The Supervisors will hear the Berry's application during its evening session which will start at 7 p.m. in the new courthouse in Heathsville.
While no opposition has yet arisen, two other applications on the Board's agenda have the potential for conflict. The owners of lots 6 and 7 and lots 10 and 11 in Potomac View subdivision will ask the Board to abandon 20-foot wide easements between their properties and grant the adjacent owners 10 feet each running along their property lines. The easements are extensions of Beach Street and Potomac Ave and run the final 200 feet to the Potomac River at Cordrey's Beach.
County Administrator Kenny Eades has advised the applicants that as best he can determine the easements belong to the county afford public access to the river. "based on past abandonments the Board is reluctant to abandon a water access point," Eades wrote the owners' attorney, Rawleigh Simmons. Whether anybody is interested in maintaining the public access remains to be seen. Eades noted Monday that the easements afford only a 20-foot wide spot where someone can reach the river, to reach the river rock riprap must be crossed and that property on either side is private.
The Board will also take up Lon Crow and Marion Mani's request for conditional use permit to establish an office building on Route 360 close to the stoplight in Callao. The request came up last month but was tabled when the applicants did not appear at the meeting.
The Board will start its monthly session at 5 p.m. with administrative business and the taking of reports from the Transportation Department, schools and Economic Development Commission. |
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