The Louisa County Planning Commission (PC) voted 5-2 to remove the public hearing for an amendment to remove roughly 2,600 assemblages of acreages in the Technology Overlay District (TOD) — the designation initially created in April of 2023 to attract high-tech industrial development in the county — at the April 9 meeting. Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin and Louisa District Commissioner Matthew Kersey were the two dissenting votes.

The vote took place after a 45-minute closed session meeting that had no public discussion among commissioners. By removing the public hearing, the PC did not act on any decision to remove the TOD designation. In February, the PC voted to defer their decision citing questions that needed to be resolved.

The acreages involved include the roughly 1,400-acre Fisher Chewning tract and the 1,200-acre Cooke Rail Park. Fischer Chewning is where the third Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center was proposed last year; AWS later withdrew its plans citing citizen feedback. However, AWS purchased 1,920 acres of land — which includes the Fischer Chewning tract — in January for $72.45 million.

In a follow-up interview with The Central Virginian and local journalist Tammy Purcell with Engage Louisa, Mineral District Commissioner and Chairman John Disosway stated that if the TOD removal ever comes back to the PC, the public hearing period will be available. Purcell relayed it’s frustrating for local residents — especially neighbors to the Fisher Chewning property — to attend meetings with expectations of certain agenda items only to have them taken off. Furthermore, when no information is being provided by the county, that lack of information fuels distrust, she said.

“I understand that difficulty…people don’t understand our frustration as well,” Disosway said.