Sewer study calls for solutions in Campbell County

If all the proposed development occurs along the U.S. 29 corridor in northern Campbell County, sewer lines serving the area could reach capacity in the next 10 years.
That finding and several long-term solutions are listed in a draft study about sewer capacity in that part of the county. The draft likely won’t be finalized for several months.
Among those solutions are proposals to build a sewer line on the east side of Candler’s Mountain or to make expensive upgrades to existing infrastructure in the county and Lynchburg.
The draft study, commissioned by Campbell County Utilities and Services Authority, was discussed last week in a joint meeting between supervisors and planning commissioners, along with zoning issues surrounding the county’s upcoming comprehensive plan update. A second study that examines sewer capabilities for the rest of the county, including Altavista and Brookneal, is planned.
Right now there is plenty of sewage capacity along the U.S 29 corridor, but if a full development of Crossroads Colonnade — a 200-acre, mixed-use development — and associated residential growth occurs, “we would have to start doing something after that comes online,” said utilities and services authority director Mike Damron. That could happen within five years, he said.
In the short term, the county likely will have to install additional pump stations to move sewage to other existing lines that have more pipe room, but that’s still several years off, Damron said.
How Campbell officials update the county’s comprehensive plan during the next year will determine which solutions to the capacity issue are further explored, Damron said. Water and sewer lines attract denser development and that has to be planned for.
“The east side of Candler’s Mountain is a huge area that could be suitable for development and currently there’s not a demand or pressure for that,” Damron said.
While there are positive aspects to the plan in the future, the line’s cost — estimated at $14 million in today’s dollars — is a concern, Damron said.
But in terms of cost-per-customer, the more expensive new line, which could flow almost directly to the regional wastewater plant in Lynchburg, might be a more economic option than upgrades to existing infrastructure in they city because it would serve more people, Damron said.
Currently, the east side of Candler’s Mountain is planned as a medium to high-density growth area, said Campbell County community development director Paul Harvey.
However, new state mandates are requiring localities to include high-density urban development areas in comprehensive plan updates. Where those areas are drawn in will affect where water and sewer lines are planned, Harvey said. The comprehensive planning process is just starting and likely won’t be completed until the end of the year.
One stipulation for that urban designation is a population density of four or more dwelling units per acre, Harvey said. “We don’t have anything in our land-use designations that’s similar to this,” he said, “so we’re going to have to come up with the designations for the urban
development area.”