Rural County Steps Back From Development Brink

Northumberland County, nestled on Virginia’s remote Northern Neck peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, has backed away – at least temporarily -- from what could become the largest development project in the county’s history.

Last night the Northumberland Board of Supervisors voted to defer a decision on the proposed Bluff Point development, which if built would add virtually another town of people and plop hundreds of houses, shops, cars, and boats down in the middle of one of the county’s most sensitive environmental areas.

Postponing the decision was a good thing. This massive development, the brainchild of Charlottesville developer Tom Dingledine, would forever change Northumberland County, among other things increasing traffic congestion and the demand for county services.

County residents and elected officials should carefully deliberate whether the project represents positive or negative change for Northumberland, a locality whose past and future prosperity is tied directly to farming and fishing.

Without doubt the project would bring irreversible change to Bluff Point, the site of the proposed development and an 898-acre peninsula of undisturbed forests, wetlands, and tidal marshes jutting into the Chesapeake Bay. So environmentally sensitive is this part of Northumberland that the county designated it as a conservation district in its 2006 comprehensive plan, a publicly prepared, vetted, and approved guide to future growth in the county.

The plan recognizes the rural character and maritime heritage of Northumberland and the importance of clean water.

“Water quality in both saltwater estuaries and in our sources of drinking water is of paramount importance to our futures here in Northumberland County,” the comp plan says. “Bay, river, and stream water quality will determine the fecundity of our shores for game fish, menhaden, crabs, and oysters – and the health of our fishing industry…Both our fishing industry and our tourist industry are absolutely dependent on a healthy water-related environment. In fact, our basic quality of life depends on careful stewardship of our once-abundant water resources, and we must actively protect them for future generations.” 

To ensure clean water, the plan notes that future development must be done in an “environmentally sensitive, planned manner that preserves sensitive features such as floodplains, wetlands, dunes, beaches and natural topography.”

Yet it is on just such sensitive floodplains, wetlands, dunes, and beaches that Dingledine proposes to   build 530 single and multi-family homes, a 90-room resort hotel and spa, 34,000 square feet of commercial shops, restaurants, artificial lakes, a new marina with 98 slips, and dry storage for 130 boats.

A development in such a sensitive location poses serious environmental threats. Runoff and discharges will introduce additional pollutants to adjacent Barnes Creek and the Bay and further challenge efforts to restore oysters and the oyster economy. The shallow waters and wetlands of Barnes Creek simply will not support the resort’s marina and will require significant and long-term dredging. The increased drinking water needs will further stress local groundwater supplies. 

That’s why CBF was at last night’s Board of Supervisors meeting to argue that the county should deny the project as proposed, or at the very least take more time to weigh the negative impacts and demand that Dingledine change his proposal to significantly reduce or eliminate pollution to protect water quality.

Hundreds of local residents also attended last night’s meeting. Many of them have formed an opposition group, the Concerned Citizens for Preservation of Bluff Point Environmental Wetlands, and have deluged supervisors with letters asking for more time to consider the proposed development. Nearly all of the approximately 40 people who spoke last night opposed the project.

“A development of this magnitude is the wrong thing to do in the wrong place at the wrong time,” resident William Rogers was quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Supervisors agreed to discuss the development further during a Sept. 9 work session. It remains unclear when they may actually vote on the matter, so stay tuned.  

Growth and development need not stop to save the Chesapeake Bay and restore our local waters and streams. But localities like Northumberland must figure out how to grow smarter by avoiding our most sensitive natural resources and not worsening already serious pollution problems. That is all very do-able. We can have a healthy economy and a healthy environment, even in Bay country. We just have to insist upon it.

By Chuck Epes

(Holiday weekend tip: If you’re looking for something fun to do over the Labor Day weekend, consider stopping in at Berret’s Seafood Restaurant and Taphouse Grill in Merchants Square in Williamsburg, Va. The good folks there will hold the 20th annual Crab Races on Sunday, Sept. 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. You can bring your own crab, select among those provided, name the crab, and cheer it on to fame and glory. Prizes will be awarded to individuals, families, and groups for the fastest crab, cutest crab, and the crab with the best name. Proceeds are donated to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. For more information, call Berret’s at 757/253-1849.)

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