Hearing Feb. 27 on coal-fueled power plant
Published 11:19 am Saturday, January 28, 2012
DENDRON—The Surry County Planning Commission will host a public hearing 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, at the government center in Surry on the development of what would be Virginia’s largest coal-fueled power plant.
If approved, the application from Old Dominion Electric Cooperative will go to the Dendron Town Council, which will be asked to rezone property in the town to build Cypress Creek Power Station on 1,200 acres.
A county circuit judge in December ruled that residents were not properly notified of Dendron Council’s plans to vote after the first hearing in February 2010. Council voted 3-0 to rezone property. Three additional council members chose not to vote because they were concerned about the lack of notification.
A judge determined advertisements in the Sussex-Surry Dispatch did not indicate a vote would take place on the night of the public hearing. After the vote occurred, residents Michael Drewry, Helen Eggleston, John Pond and Willie Richardson sued the town and Old Dominion.
Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors in November voted 3-1 to oppose a resolution supporting the plant’s construction.