Dominion looking to get potential staging area in Augusta County

Some land in parts of Augusta County could soon become staging grounds for Dominion and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline but it's leaving some people in the county are upset.

Dominion has applied for a special use permit on land in West Augusta, in what would become a contractor yard for part of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The property would be on 55 acres of farmland, off of Route 250 on West Augusta Road.

According to a Dominion spokesman, it would be a staging area to store construction equipment and materials, similar to other infrastructure projects like roads, highways, power lines, etc.

Before they can get the land, the Augusta County Board of Zoning Appeals must first approve the special use permit request.

Nancy Sorrells of the Augusta County Alliance believes that area is not equipped to handle the everyday work flow that comes with the staging area.

"This is not against or for the pipeline but if Dominion wants to do their project, they've got to play by our rules," said Sorrells. "They're coming into our community and impacting our community so they need to play by our rules and our rules say that that's an incompatible place for that."

Sorrells said they should be looking at industrially zoned land, where they have better-equipped roads to handle all the traffic.

Last month, the City of Staunton forced Dominion to remove equipment from land owned by Staunton Tractor after getting a notice of violation.

The board of zoning will have a public hearing Thursday, September 6th on the permit request, which starts at 1:30 p.m. at the Augusta County Government Center.