News in the county this week includes a notice about a drunk driving push, upcoming Planning Commission and Planning Commission Policy Committee meetings and a reminder about some Parks and Recreation events scheduled in the next week or so. Read on for details.
Drunk Driving Enforcement Push This Weekend
The James City County Police are joining national law enforcement officers for the 2012 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign through Monday.
The nationwide impaired driving crackdown will include high-visibility enforcement and high-profile events and will be supported by national paid advertising. The campaign is intended to curb alcohol impaired driving in August and through the Labor Day holiday weekend.
James City County Police will aggressively look for impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired.
It is illegal in all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter. Despite these laws, in 2010 more than 10,000 people died in crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider was impaired.
During the Labor Day weekend in 2010, 147 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes involving drivers or motorcycle riders with BACs of .08 or higher. Of those fatalities, 80 percent occurred from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.
According to James City County Police, violators face jail time, loss of their driver licenses and steep financial consequences such as higher insurance rates, attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work and the potential loss of job.
Planning Commission Meeting
The planning Commission will meet this week, and will discuss a rezoning application and a Special Use Permit (SUP) application to connect the Greensprings Mobile Home Park to the county sewer system.
The property is outside the Primary Service Area (PSA) where county water and sewer stop, so the park’s 86 trailers use roughly 25 different systems to discharge wastewater. The owner says he has been working on finding a solution to fix several failing septic systems, but the only option right now is to regularly pump out the troubled ones. According to county staff, a soils engineer who analyzed the area concluded that there is no area on the property suitable for any new septic systems.
The owner applied for a SUP in February 2011 to connect to the sewer line near Matoaka Elementary, but the SUP conditions for that line prohibit connection to areas outside the PSA. On June 1 this year he submitted a new application to connect to Greensprings Plantation’s line; a Board of Supervisors member suggested the owner apply for a rezoning so proffers could be attached to protect residents from being removed from the land if the application is approved. Read a previous story on the issue here.
The Planning Commission will meet to discuss the case at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Building F of the county government complex on Mounts Bay Rd. View the full agenda online.
Planning Commission Policy Committee Meeting
The Planning Commission Policy Committee will meet on Sept.4 at 4 p.m. to discuss the following ordinance amendments:
- Zoning Housekeeping Items, including Flood Plain, Definitions, Administrative Regulations, Private Streets and Research and Technology Zones;
- Subdivision Ordinance Amendments.
All meetings are open to the public and will be held in Building A of the James City County Government Center on 101 Mounts Bay Rd.
Meeting materials will be available online the week before the scheduled meeting. For more information, please contact the Planning Division at 253-6685 or email [email protected].
County Parks and Recreation Events
Karaoke in the Park (for all ages) will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept.1 at Chickahominy Riverfront Park. The event is free.
Children 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. In the event of inclement weather, please call 259-3232
Movies under the Stars (for all ages) will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7 at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park. The event is free.
Bring lawn chairs, blankets and snacks. Children 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. The feature film is “Nanny McPhee Returns,” but the movie is subject to change. In the event of inclement weather, please call 259-3232.
Drool in the Pool will happen from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park.
The cost is $5 per dog; Free if you show completed Tails on the Trail ‘Paws-port.’
Music, pet contests, demonstrations and pet-friendly vendors will be featured. Swimming is for dogs only. All dogs must be properly registered and vaccinated. The event is offered in partnership with Heritage Humane Society; all proceeds benefit the Society. For more information, please visit the nonprofit’s website. In the event of inclement weather, please call 259-3232.
For more information on these events, check the county website or call 259-4200.
