County shouldn't allow store in inundation zone

By: Contributed | Orange County Review
Published: June 18, 2009

To the editor,
The plan submitted for the special use permit for the proposed Walmart in Orange County has identified four building sites.
One site is for Walmart and the other three are for future unspecified buildings.
Two of these future sites are in the inundation zone for the dam on the small lake at Lake of the Woods.
Being in the inundation zone means that if there were 37 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, parts or all of these two sites would be flooded. This is an extremely unlikely event, but it is the basis for the state mandated dam modifications on the large lake at Lake of the Woods. These dam modifications are costing Lake of the Woods residents over $1,000 per lot. The same thing could happen again if buildings are permitted in the inundation zone for the small lake.
Orange County should not allow any building in any inundation zone of any dam covered by the Virginia Dam Safety Act. This act can cover any dam over six feet high. To protect the owners of farm ponds, recreational lakes, and other water impoundments from expensive state mandated modifications to their dams, Orange County must not allow building in inundation zones covered by the act.
David McKee
Locust Grove