Cumberland County Planning Commission votes no to proposed landfill project

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Cumberland County Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors not approve the proposed Green Ridge Landfill Project after two motions at Monday's monthly meeting.

A motion for a recommendation of approval to the Board of Supervisors failed by a vote of 4-3.

A second motion was then undertaken — a recommendation of denial for the landfill project, which passed by a vote of 4-3.

Ahead of the two votes, presentations and public comments were heard from both residents and Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility.

Among concerns of the environment and revenue that would come about should the project be approved, members of the non-profit organization, AMMD Pine Grove Project, voiced their opposition to the landfill based on historical preservation.

"I'm representing 1,000 descendants of the Pine Grove community," said Sonja Branch-Wilson, co-founder and board president of the AMMD Pine Grove Project. "Our ancestors, like my sixth great aunt, Gracie Mayo, are one example of those who toiled diligently to acquire land. They have been cherished, it passed down through generations, we are not outsiders, our roots run deep in Cumberland."

According to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the Pine Grove Elementary School was built in 1917 -- during the Jim Crow era -- one of six schools built to educate African-American students in Cumberland County until its closure in 1964 when schools in the county were desegregated.

"I attended Pine Grove School," said Muriel Miller Branch, president emeritus of the AMMD Pine Grove Project. "I graduated from Luther Porter Jackson High School in 1960. So I take this personal. We have been working for seven years to protect and restore this historic landmark, which has the potential, coupled with other historic sites in Cumberland, to be a revenue-generating tourist designation."

8News spoke with representatives present for the Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility and asked about the preservation of the facility.

"Our initial plan called for relocating a portion of that road in order to make a larger landfill and we have agreed with them and said, 'Fine, we'll leave the school,'" said Jay Smith, spokesperson for the Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility. "I mean, I'm sorry, the road exactly where it is, which was their number one priority and that's why it became a smaller facility to begin with."

Smith told 8News the facility believes the school should be protected and has incorporated measures to ensure of this.

"We have offered to financially support them [AMMD Pine Grove Project] in their efforts to do so," Smith said. "They have said no and declined our support, but that doesn't stop us from wanting to be a good neighbor. We have committed to ensure that there is a visual buffer so that you cannot see the disposal area from the Pine Grove School and to not interfere with any of the activities that they have planned."

8News asked Branch if the AMMD Pine Grove Project declined financial support from the facility and confirmed this.

"I don't want my people shut up because we have accepted money," Branch told reporters following the public hearing. "Our voice can't be purchased."

We recognize the historical importance of the school and we agree with what their position is... as a planning commission we don't make decisions on what the school does or doesn't do. Steve Rosen, Chairman, District 1, Cumberland County Planning Commission

The matter will move forward to the Board of Supervisors who will meet in May.

This is a developing story, stick with 8News for updates.