Stafford Supervisors to Consider By-Law Amendments Concerning Board and Commission Appointments
The amendments are an attempt to prevent the kind of turmoil that surrounded the removal of Mary Becelia from the library board. Supervisors will also discuss data centers at this evening's meeting.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Stafford Board of Supervisors is considering amending its by-laws to change the process by which citizens are appointed to and removed from local and regional boards and commissions.
The proposed amended by-laws are on the agenda for a first read at this evening’s meeting. There is a new article that covers appointments to boards and commissions and a section within the article that lays out a process for removal of a citizen appointee.
If a board member desires to remove an appointee due to their behavior or conduct, the new by-laws would require an investigation of the alleged behavior. They would also require that the appointee be notified of the investigation by the chair and be invited to address the board in a closed session.
The new by-laws would also require that “any removal action taken by the Board as a result of the investigation shall occur, as required by law, at an open meeting of the Board.”
The proposed amendments are an attempt to prevent the kind of situation the board found itself in this past fall, when Mary Becelia, a citizen appointee to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s Board of Trustees, revealed that she had been removed from her position for alleged “misconduct,” but was never informed of this action by the board.
In December, the board voted to strike the allegation of misconduct from the official minutes of the July 2024 meeting in which Becelia was removed, and last month, newly elected chair Deuntay Diggs formally apologized to Becelia on behalf of the board.
Also this evening, the board will consider authorizing a joint public hearing with the Planning Commission to consider an amendment to the zoning ordinance that would no longer allow data centers as a by-right use in Heavy Industrial (M-2) zoning districts.
Instead, data center use in this zoning district would require a conditional use permit.
Zoning amendments approved by the board as recently as 2023 have permitted data centers as a by-right use in both the M-2 and the “integrated corporate and technology park overlay” districts.
“Infrastructure needs of data centers are critical to the success of the industry, which would include the use and close proximity of high-voltage electricity, as well as the ability to cool equipment by using significant amounts of water and/or other cooling methods,” the staff report about the agenda item states. “Sites generally considered by the data center industry must have these resources nearby in order to be considered for development.”
Data centers would still be allowed as a by-right use in the technology overlay districts, the staff report states.
“To date, there are no parcels in the county with the [technology overlay] designation, and the applicability of this designation is limited to specific areas of the County,” the report states.
Meeting Details
Tonight’s meeting begins at 5 p.m. The full agenda is here, and the meeting will be live streamed here.
Local Obituaries
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