ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) – It has been just over a year since the Matt’s Creek Fire that burned nearly 11,000 acres between Rockbridge County and Bedford County began. On Friday, officials addres...

After more than a year of committee and planning commission work and public comment, the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors approved a solar ordinance that adds definitions, siting factors and permit requirements for utility‑scale solar. The measure passed unanimously and staff will continue to refine related battery‑storage and view‑shed processes.

Following changes in the Code of Virginia (HB 508), the Planning Commission agreed July 8 to send a county zoning-text amendment that adopts the state definition of agrivoltaics to public hearing; commissioners raised questions about whether the county should or could preserve prior local 'pollinator‑friendly' language and how enforcement would work.

Multiple residents told the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 12 that runoff from the new Lexington-area golf course has carried repeated sediment and, they say, chemical contamination into Woods Creek and downstream into the Maury River watershed; residents asked the board to require engineering controls, release private well test results and consider stopping work until remediation is in place.

Commissioners discussed preliminary concerns about data centers — including water consumption, energy, noise and siting — and suggested forming a committee or considering a moratorium while staff researches policy options and compatibility with the comprehensive plan.

Commissioners identified water use, energy demand and noise as primary concerns in early conversations about data-center development; they asked community development to study options including possible moratoriums or an ordinance approach similar to the county's solar rules.

After extended public comment and a multi-hour presentation, the board voted 3–2 to schedule a Sept. 14 public hearing on issuing up to $18 million in bonds for a combined Rockbridge County schools and community recreation center. Davenport & Company presented updated costs and a reserve-based scenario it said would avoid an immediate tax impact.

Community Foundation and Rockbridge Recovery reported new grant awards (about $812,000) and ongoing fundraising that support a recovery campus with men’s and women’s housing, outreach services, harm‑reduction supplies, rapid STD testing and workforce supports.

Following public comment and staff reports citing governance and financial concerns, the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors voted to remove Goshen 1st Aid from the county emergency response plan and transition the Goshen area to a county‑operated career EMS staffing model.

At its July 20 meeting the Rockbridge County EDA reviewed progress on its Strategic Economic Development Plan, emphasizing housing initiatives, the childcare resource hub recognition and pursuit of a GO VA grant for youth tech training; staff were asked to follow up on preschool transition and CTE night classes for adults.

In response to House Bill 655 (effective July 1, 2026), the Rockbridge County Planning Commission voted July 8 to send zoning‑text changes on manufactured homes to public hearing; the law limits local restrictions so manufactured homes cannot be treated more restrictively than comparable site‑built houses except in limited districts.

Following Virginia's House Bill 655, the commission moved to take updates to the county manufactured‑home ordinance to public hearing; commissioners discussed HOA covenants, when a manufactured home becomes real property, and potential local design measures.

To align local code with recent Virginia legislation, the Rockbridge County Planning Commission voted to send zoning text amendments on agrivoltaics (HB 508), agricultural/forest advisory committee membership (HB 292) and related solar ordinance changes to public hearing on Aug. 12 (solar) and the regular schedule for the advisory committee item.

The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors contracted the Berkeley Group to manage the search for a new county administrator, with a recruitment profile due in early August, an initial application cutoff around Sept. 4 and finalist interviews the last week of September; the board signaled a likely salary range of $180,000–$220,000.

Rockbridge supervisors voted to remove the one‑acre minimum for backyard chickens (keeping a performance‑based ‘not objectionable’ standard), adopted a zoning text amendment limiting public‑utility major uses in R1/R2 to transmission lines, approved resolutions supporting two Smart Scale transportation grant applications, and authorized advertisement of an updated development fee schedule for public hearing July 27.

The EDA heard that Modine’s first grant is closed, grant two is active, and the company is leasing space in the Byers building; Chair Barton Brown asked for local publicity noting the county’s roughly $600,000 investment over seven years tied to what the meeting recorded as about $20,000,000 in added local salaries.

County Administrator Spencer Suter told the EDA that BARC’s VATI and Community Connect work is ahead of schedule and expected to meet a Dec. 31, 2026 deadline, while Brightspeed’s 28 project areas are on track for May 2027; BEAD awards to several providers require an overbuild reconciliation before some construction can proceed.

To align with Virginia House Bill 711 (effective July 1, 2026), the Rockbridge County Planning Commission voted unanimously June 10 to send draft amendments to the county solar ordinance to a July 8 public hearing; staff highlighted changes affecting buffers, setbacks and thresholds for ground-mounted facilities.

Supervisors reported on a regional jail committee meeting that discussed a conceptual $100 million facility and potential county share of $60–$70 million; supervisors said they would return to jurisdictions for funding guidance and then convened a closed session later in the meeting to consult legal counsel on probable litigation.

Rockbridge County Economic Development Authority members reviewed progress across business retention, marketing, workforce development, infrastructure (broadband/VATI), housing and childcare lines of effort; staff said it is pursuing GO VA grant funding to pilot a 'Go Tech' middle‑school program and coordinating regional housing work with Lexington and Buena Vista.

The commission voted to send a zoning-text amendment to public hearing that would allow 'public utility service major'—limited to transmission and similar lines—as a special-exception use in R‑1 and R‑2 residential districts, enabling Dominion Energy to seek special-exception permits for work on existing transmission lines that cross residential zoning.