Yorktown, VA 23693
A York County citizen may be the first since 1991 to get an oyster farm application approved by the county.
York County Planning commissioners unanimously recommended approval Wednesday for the special-use permit application of Lee Riggins Rich, a woman who lives in a densely wooded area on Calthrop Neck Road in Tabb and grows oysters.
Commissioner Tim McCulloch (District 3), who owns an oyster farm in Dandy, recused himself from voting.
Rich told commissioners her family was trying to rebuild the old oyster beds established 200 years ago when “the natural oyster and clam beds abounded.”
A special-use permit is required so Rich and her three non-resident employees — her son, her son-in-law and a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate student — can occasionally clean 20 to 30 cages on land and have a table on shore to pack oyster seedlings into bags.
York officials have considered special-use permit applications connected to oyster farming in the past. They denied an application submitted by Anthony Bavuso in 2012, and real estate agent Greg Garrett withdrew his application to use part of his land as an oyster farm Aug. 8,
Rich’s special-use permit differs because her operation would not include bringing any oysters on shore. The farming process, including the washing of the oysters and cages, happens primarily on a pontoon boat docked in the city of Poquoson when not in use, Rich said.
Her land sits on 2.56 acres and is surrounded by woods. A narrow, hidden 550-foot driveway leads to a heavily wooded house, and the beach can only be seen from the water. She does not have a pier or dock on her land, and the closest adjacent property is more than 450 feet away.
She leases about 60 acres of underwater oyster grounds from the Virginia Marine Resource Commission, which has jurisdiction over waters surrounding the county.
Along with commercially farming the oysters, Rich grows up to 2,000 oysters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
County staff recommended what Commissioner Mark Suiter (at large) called “common-sense restrictions”: Pressure washing would be restricted between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; all three employees would be limited to 30 cumulative hours per week, and the application would have to be reviewed by the board after two years.
Upon review, Rich can either present letters from her three neighbors saying they approve of the operation, or if she is not able to obtain letters, a public hearing must be held and the application must go through the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors again.
Concerns raised from commissioners and citizens who spoke during the public hearing about the noise from the pressure washer were quelled when Rich told commissioners the oysters and cages are cleaned primarily with a toilet brush and occasionally with a garden hose.
Precedence was also a worry for the commissioners, especially since the county cannot regulate any off-shore activity that occurs in VMRC-controlled waters.
The county has been discussing the use of land for underwater farming for nearly five years. The latest discussion involves amending the county’s zoning ordinance to limit some of the rights of people to use their land for agriculture and underwater farming.
Commissioner Montgoussaint Jons (District 1) said the county will be watching this application and others like it closely.
“I think it’s important that we get this right,” he said.
Chairwoman Melissa Magowan (at large) agreed, saying “I believe that we are on the cusp of change with aquaculture.”
The application will be reviewed by the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 16.
Related Coverage:
