Board favors substation, zoning

Published 7:54 pm Thursday, November 15, 2018

Members of the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a substation and revised code amendments for conditional use permits for Residential-2 (R-2) and Residential-3 (R-3) zoning.

Kevin Ingle

The revised proposal for the substation, which would be used to power the Cobbs Creek Reservoir, was approved by members of the board Tuesday, Board Chairman Kevin Ingle confirmed.

The revision moves the location of the proposed substation by 200 feet. The substation is proposed to be located in the area of 1617 Cartersville Road.

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“Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has applied to build a 115-(Kilovolts) KV transmission tap line that would be around 2,100 feet long, and lie within a 100 foot easement provided by Henrico County,” the board packet from a past commission meeting cited. “They are also proposing to construct an electric substation on a 110’ by 150’ (foot) site owned by Henrico County. The substation would serve the Cobbs Creek Reservoir pump station as well as 475 customers of CVEC.”

The initial application was recommended by the commission in July and approved by the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors during the board’s August meeting.

Members of the board deliberated and voted in favor of amending the zoning ordinances for R-2 and R-3 zoning districts to allow for electrical substations and wireless telecommunications facility uses.

Electrical substations, distribution centers and transformer stations, according to the planning commission board packet, “mean premises which may or may not contain buildings, where the interconnection and usual transformation of electrical service takes place between systems. An electrical substation shall be secondary, supplementary, subordinate, and auxiliary to the main system.”

Wireless telecommunications facilities, according to the board packet, are defined as meaning “all infrastructure and equipment including but not limited to antenna support structures, antennas, transmission cables, equipment shelters, equipment cabinets, utility pedestals, ground systems, fencing, signage and other ancillary equipment associated with the transmission or reception of wireless communications.”