COURTLAND—After taking a month to consider the request and getting a bit more information from the applicant, Southampton County planners have recommended that the Board of Supervisors allow a new borrow pit near Courtland.

Jean A. and Johnnie N. Burchett want to enlarge a pond on their industrial-zoned property near the intersection of Meherrin Road and Indian Town Road.

When the request for the necessary conditional use permit came before the Planning Commission in May, commissioners had reservations because of the property’s location within the 100-year flood plain.

Members tabled the matter until this month to give Johnnie Burchett a chance to address whether digging a hole on the property could increase potential flood impacts on the surrounding community.

On Thursday, Burchett returned with a letter from a floodplain program engineer with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The state’s engineer wrote that, in fact, Burchett’s borrow pit &uot;may reduce the expanse of the flooding in the area immediately to the west.&uot;

With that information in hand, planners had little trouble supporting the permit request, voting 6-0 to send a positive recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

They suggested that the digging and hauling be allowed on the property from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday for 10 years and conditioned the permit on continued compliance with the pertinent state regulations.