New plans underway for the original Bacova office building

Hot Springs, Va. – New plans are in the works for the original Bacova office building. At Tuesday night’s Bath Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved an application to rezone the property from B1 convenience business to B2 general business. Property owners David and Jeanette Powell plan to renovate the building into apartments, which will be rented yearly or possibly seasonally.

At the public hearing on the rezoning Tuesday night, three people spoke in support of creation of apartments in the building. One speaker expressed concern about the types of businesses that would be allowed on the property under the new zoning category. He suggested disapproving the rezoning to general business and instead issuing a conditional use permit under the current zoning.

In addressing those concerns, on Tuesday the Powells submitted proffers of prohibited uses for the property to be included in their rezoning request. The list of prohibited uses included slaughterhouses, junkyards, banks, kennels and liquor stores, among others. These types of businesses otherwise are allowed under general business zoning.

Supervisor Bart Perdue said the owners had proffered most of the objectionable things and Supervisor Claire Collins added that the proffers are an attempt to meet the concerns about the use of the property one it is rezoned.

The Board unanimously approved the rezoning application with the addition of the proffers.

Also on Tuesday night, the Board appropriated the fiscal year 2013 budget, approving bottom line funding for the school system again this year. The vote was four to one, with Supervisor Claire Collins voting no on bottom line funding.

The Board also heard a presentation from James Sanderson, Jr. from Davenport and Company, on options for refinancing the county’s debt with the high school renovation loan. Currently the loan is held by Bank of America. Bank of America will likely be downgraded on its short term rating soon, which will probably cause the interest rate on the county’s loan to rise. Davenport and Company will assist the county in the refinancing process. The first step is getting proposals from banks, including local banks, in order to find the best rates and returns. The Board set a work session for Thursday July 5th at 6pm to review bank proposals.

And the Board approved putting the county’s emergency communications, including its budget, under the responsibility of the Sheriff’s office, effective July first.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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