Economic Developemnt Authority- Richardson Road Site Project

Background on the Proposed Commerce Park – Jetersville 

“Richardson Road Site”

The Amelia County Economic Development Authority (EDA) began an active search for acquisition of land for business location and expansion after the last parcel in the Amelia Commerce Park was under a sales contract with the R J Smith Companies in 2021. The EDA had just completed a revision of their Strategic Economic Development Plan which has as a major goal the development of additional publicly owned commercial and industrial property along the Rt. 360 corridor. The Amelia County Comprehensive Plan also identifies the Rt. 360 corridor for future business and industrial development. 

The EDA explored the possibility of expansion of the existing Commerce Park but the sales price for the land was beyond the available resources of the EDA. The recent record of business inquiries to the County for available business locations indicated that the provision of central water and sewer were not required by those business prospects, but industrial or business zoning was essential. Given these general historical trends the EDA and County Staff expanded its site search beyond the boundaries of existing water and sewer district. The EDA and County staff conducted a review of potential acquisition of sites east of the Amelia Courthouse, but the sites along the Rt. 360 corridor were not for sale or beyond the available financial resources of the EDA. Looking to the west from the Courthouse along Rt. 360, the 133-acre portion of the Borum property on the north side of Rt. 360, approximately 4 miles east of Amelia Courthouse, was identified as potentially for sale. This property while not served with water, had a former business on the property, was adjacent to an M2 zoned pallet manufacturer and a business zoned property, was within a quarter mile of Waste Management’s Maplewood Landfill and appeared to be suitable for future business locations. 

(TM# 40-62A combined with TM# 40-63)

Prior to the EDA’s acquisition of the property, a series of due diligence activities was conducted, including a survey of the property, an environmental Phase I and Phase II analysis, a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality clearance letter, an existing conditions analysis, a site characterization study, and a preliminary conceptual development plan and appraisal of the property. At the conclusion of these due diligence activities, the EDA was able to close on the property in January of 2023. 

Of the 133 acres, approximately 95 acres are developable in 4 general areas of the site, with the eastern portion of the site – 29 acres, the central portion of the site – 23 acres, the northwest portion of the site – 36 acres, and the western portion of the site – 7 acres. Individual business sites could range from as small as 1 acre to as large as 36 acres. The flexibility in the development of the property accommodates the expansion of small to large businesses. A revised conceptual development plan indicates a potential maximum buildout of approximately 1,000, 000 sq. ft. of building footprint.  If the property meets the accepted standard of 7 jobs per developable acre, the site would be able to support 665 new jobs to the County. Based on the assessed value of recently constructed buildings in the Amelia Commerce Park, the maximum buildout of the property could increase the real estate tax base between $20,000,000 and $50,000,000 just for the buildings alone.

The conceptual development plan would limit access to the business sites to three access points along Rt. 360. The main access will be the crossover on Rt. 360, and the minor accesses will be to the east and west of the crossover. There is proposed only a single small site, less than 3 acres, accessing Richardson Road. A 200’ buffer on the north side of the property along the North Branch of Nibbs Creek backing up to the Dusty Hill subdivision is proposed.

The EDA has requested that the County rezone the property to an M1 business classification. With this M1 rezoning the EDA will be able to apply to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership this summer for funding from their Business Ready Sites Program for additional planning and initial development activities at the property.