AGENDA DATE: 9/17/2025
TITLE:
Title
Huckleberry Hill Farm Utility Easement
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Request for conservation-easement holder approval for a new underground utility easement on a property that is under a conservation easement co-held by the Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority and the Board of Supervisors.
ITEM TYPE: Consent Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Wall, Herrick, DeLoria, Filardo, Barnes, Maliszewski, Clark, Van Vranken
PRESENTER (S): N/A
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The Huckleberry Hill conservation easement was acquired through the County's Acquisition of Conservation Easements (ACE) program in December 2007 and is co-held by the Albemarle Conservation Easement Authority (ACEA) and the Board of Supervisors. The easement protects 238 acres on Simmons Gap Road (Tax Map 19 Parcels 1, 1G, and 4), owned by the Weinersmith and Weiner families. The property consists of open pasture, hayfields, and forest.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Quality of life: Encourage a vibrant community with economic and recreational opportunities that serve all community members.
DISCUSSION: Virginia Electric and Power Company, operating as Dominion Energy, requests approval from the ACEA and the Board of a 15-foot-wide underground utility easement on the Huckleberry Hill property (Attachment A). The proposed easement runs northeast alongside the driveway (Attachment B) until it joins an existing overhead line, which it follows north for approximately 1,000 feet to the parcel boundary with TMP 19-1A. That 1,000-foot section of overhead line-plus a further 2,000 feet of overhead line that crosses TMP 19-4C almost to Simmons Gap Road-would be removed with this undergrounding project. The new underground lines would be installed by directional boring, which means that no trenching or vegetation removal is needed.
The proposed utility line would serve the Huckleberry Hill property and other properties t...
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