A chapter of the ongoing permitting process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline began unfolding in Nelson County on Tuesday, when the Board of Zoning Appeals took a first swing at reviewing applications for the project to cross a number of floodplains in the county.
Because of updates to the General Floodplain District article of the zoning ordinance passed in September, the ACP is required to go before the BZA to obtain variances for 11 floodplain crossings in the county. According to the ACP’s variance applications, the project would cross 4½ miles of floodplain in the county — 3½ miles would be the pipeline itself and 1 mile would be access roads.
The ACP is required to seek variances for the floodplain crossings because, under the updated ordinance, the pipeline would qualify as a “critical facility” that normally would not be allowed to be constructed in a floodplain.
