HANOVER — After 12 years of service, Harold Padgett, Chickahominy District member on the Hanover County Planning Commission, told Angela Kelly-Wiecek, Chickamoniny District member on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, last year of his plans to retire when his current term expired.
She began a search that culminated with the selection of Steve Hadra, who was appointed during last Wednesday’s meeting of the supervisors.
A former postal inspector, Hadra acknowledged the responsibility of replacing such an esteemed and respected member of the commission.
“I feel like I have big shoes to fill,” Hadra said as he briefly addressed the board. “I join Ms. Kelly-Wiecek in thanking him for his service. … He’s quite a man.”
In a related action, Ashland District Supervisor Faye O. Prichard appointed Alan Abbott to represent her district on the planning commission. Abbott replaces outgoing commissioner Claiborne Winborne.
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Abbott served on the Ashland Planning Commission for two terms.
In other matters, assistant county administrator Jim Taylor provided a Public Safety annual report, an analysis that gauges the county’s efficiency in meeting needs in the county.
Response times are slightly up and “off the target” for last year, but Taylor said those numbers are relative.
Taylor said outcomes remain positive when citizens access emergency services in Hanover.
Eleven of the 13 Tier I indicators were positive and two fell slightly under the county’s stated goals.
“Our 911 center takes on average 600 calls every day,” Taylor said. One hundred of those are of the emergency nature and require immediate response.
Calls for police service account for about 80 percent of the total calls to the emergency center with EMS required for about a fifth of the requests.
Fire/EMS responded to a majority of its calls that involved medical services, and car accident responses also represented a major portion of emergency calls.
Taylor also addressed the ongoing problem of attracting volunteers for Fire/EMS services, and the effect it can have on stations in the county.
“We are seeing fewer volunteers and it is taking more time to train them,” he said, referring to decreasing volunteer numbers.
Director of Planning, David Maloney requested authorization to advertise ordinances regarding the keeping of chickens and bees (not together) in residential districts. He also requested authorization for an ordinance regarding guest houses in the county.
Detached single-family homes with lots of more than a third of an acre would be permitted to keep up to six female chickens under the new ordinance.
The birds must be contained in an enclosure within the rear yard of the property, and owners are responsible for waste and odor control.
The board also opted to advertise a public hearing for the keeping of bees in RS, R-1, R-2 and R-3 zoning districts, the same designated area targeted for the keeping of chickens.
Kelly-Wiecek voted for a motion to advertise, but made it clear she has concerns regarding the new ordinance.
She is suggesting increased minimum lot sizes from the proposed one-third of an acre.
Citing increased neighbor disputes, she pointed out that homeowners associations will not have any power to override the new ordinance and regulate the raising of chickens.
Prichard questioned the need for an enclosure inside a fenced area, a measure designed to isolate the birds and prevent escape.
Maloney said the requirement ensures security in areas where fences could be as low as four feet, and also protects the birds from predators.
The public also will provide input on proposed new definitions to the term “guest houses” and restrictions regarding those designations.
The board approved the request to advertise all three items unanimously and public hearings will be scheduled for next month.
With the high-speed rail issue heating up in western Hanover, chair Aubrey Stanley said a meeting regarding the project will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, at Patrick Henry High School in Ashland.
