By Heather Michon
Fluvanna County will hold a public hearing Nov. 18 on an update to its open-space tax rules as the county prepares to change how it assesses homesites.
Commissioner of the Revenue Lauren Ryalls Sheridan told the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 that the county currently requires 10 acres of qualifying open space, excluding a two-acre homesite. That means a property with a home generally needs at least 12 acres to qualify. The new reassessment will treat homesites as one acre, but the ordinance still specifies two.
Supervisors discussed keeping the 10-acre minimum and excluding the homesite without specifying its size. That would allow the county to change how it assesses homesites in the future without amending the ordinance again.
Separately, supervisors asked whether the county should lower the 10-acre minimum itself. Sheridan said the state allows localities to set the threshold as low as five acres and that a lower minimum would likely bring more properties into the program.
The board did not decide on lowering the minimum. The homesite change applies to tax assessments and leaves zoning rules in place.
Rural subdivision rules
Supervisors also reviewed options for land zoned A-1, the county’s agricultural district.
Options included allowing rural clusters or major subdivisions with a special use permit and raising the lot limit for minor subdivisions. Some supervisors said more flexibility could help landowners create housing on lots large enough for wells and septic systems. Others warned that allowing more homes on less land could erode the county’s rural character.
Supervisors expressed informal support for counting vacant lots in approved subdivisions and reviewing how often different types of subdivisions have been used. The board took no formal action to change the rules or refer the issue to the Planning Commission.
Other business
In other matters, supervisors:
- Voted to advertise a public hearing on whether to let Fluvanna County Public Schools use $2.72 million in unspent grant funds from prior years. The budget lists some of the money as local revenue because the county received those grant dollars in advance and has been holding them in its General Fund. Supervisors will consider adding the money to the fiscal 2027 school budget after the hearing.
- Approved the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s 2027 legislative program. They also discussed whether communities affected by the proposed Valley Link transmission project could receive a share of data center-related tax revenue. The board took no separate action on that idea.
- Voted 4-0 to formalize the county’s access to a well in Fork Union through a five-year lease with Central Virginia Health Services. The lease calls for annual payments of $1,800 and back payments of $150 per month dating to June 2024.
