Campbell Co. gives Stacy Compton deadline to fix violations at development

By Sarah Watson
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: May 20, 2008

Erosion and sediment violations at the site of a proposed housing development on Johnson Mountain prompted Campbell County supervisors Monday to give NASCAR driver Stacy Compton and his business partners an unusual ultimatum:

Fix the problems by June 2 or the county will collect the $2,000 bond put up by the developers to pay contractors to do the work.

Monday’s action, made by unanimous vote, came after county officials stopped work on the site last July because of erosion and sediment problems. Supervisors also shot down a request to extend public water to the property, which was a precursor to a new rezoning request.

After the work-stoppage order, county officials sent several letters to Compton, county development director Paul Harvey told supervisors, informing him of the violations that were on 2.6 acres of the proposed 1,200-acre residential development.

The final letter, sent last month, told the former ESPN analyst that unless all the exposed dirt was covered and stabilized in seven days, the county would call the bond.

“Minimal work had been done; nothing that is substantial enough to bring them into compliance,” Campbell County environmental manager Brian Stokes said before Monday’s meeting. “It’s a small project but has big problems.”

Compton unveiled plans for the project in November 2006, outlining ideas for a 1,200-acre residential development that would have numerous outdoor amenities and large lots on the property, which is split between Campbell and Bedford counties.

When Campbell supervisors denied a request to rezone the land from agricultural to residential single-family, Compton said he would proceed with plans “by right” and eventually develop about 400 homes on larger lots.

New developers, Richmond-based East West Partners, have been in talks with Compton and his Stone Ridge Property Development Co. LLC for about six months, said Jim Beckner, senior vice president of the Richmond group. Its proposed project on Johnson Mountain would contain about 400 houses and keep 60 to 70 percent of the land as open space, he said.

“There’s been plenty of time for the owners to have been in contact,” board chairman Hugh Pendleton said before supervisors voted to give Compton two weeks. Timberlake District Supervisor Charles Falwell abstained from voting because of business connections.

Compton was not at the meeting, but was represented by attorney John Eller, whom the board would not let speak on the issue.

“I really don’t know any of the details, but it’s my understanding that Mr. Compton, the owner, that those problems have been corrected,” Eller said after the decision.

Among the violations, Stokes said, are “lax stabilization” of exposed dirt, deep erosion channels on hillsides and roadbeds and damaged silt fences that no longer retain runoff.

Supervisors rejected a request to extend a public water line to the property and approve on-site sewage treatment, saying the county’s comprehensive plan designates the Johnson Mountain area as rural. That request stemmed from a meeting with Campbell County Utilities and Services Authority, which requires Board of Supervisors approval of the lines prior to any rezoning.

“Not to throw stones at Campbell County,” Beckner said after the meeting, “but it seems to me convoluted that rather than being able to come present a plan to the supervisors, show them what I envisioned for the overall development, that it was stopped at the utility level before the supervisors even had the chance to evaluate what I was proposing.”