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Halifax Town Council discusses an ongoing traffic safety study in the town of Halifax and other current business in its Tuesday evening work session at town hall.
Dean Jones, owner of Toots Creek Antique Mall, discusses his plans for a proposed RV park on land adjoining Toots Creek at Tuesday evening’s Halifax Town Council meeting.
Halifax Town Council discusses an ongoing traffic safety study in the town of Halifax and other current business in its Tuesday evening work session at town hall.
Halifax business owner Dean Jones detailed the plans he has for a recreational vehicle (RV) park at Tuesday evening’s Halifax Town Council meeting.
The fate of the proposed RV park at Toots Creek will be determined at next month’s town council meeting at 7 p.m. April 12, when council is expected to vote on Jones’ special use permit application for the park following a public hearing.
Jones submitted the application to construct an RV park in a C-1 commercial zoning district, on the parcels of land adjoining his Toots Creek Antique Mall. The town of Halifax planning commission has recommended council’s approval of the special use permit application.
Jones also made a request of town council members, asking them to remove the proposed three-month time limit on guests’ stay at Toots Creek RV Park. He reasoned that park guests who are contractors may need to stay there longer than three months, for several months or even a couple of years depending on the project on which they are working.
Dean Jones, owner of Toots Creek Antique Mall, discusses his plans for a proposed RV park on land adjoining Toots Creek at Tuesday evening’s Halifax Town Council meeting.
Miranda Baines/Special to the Gazette
“My market niche that I am wanting are solar project workers, pipeline and power plant workers, traveling nurses, workers that will be in the area while constructing buildings in our local industrial parks, and also workers that will come in when the new high school is being built,” Jones told council. “All of the above may be here months or years depending on the project.”
If the town of Halifax decides not to remove the three-month time limit for guests’ stay at his proposed RV park, Jones told council he would have no choice but to construct the RV park in Halifax County instead. He said he has spoken with a county official who informed him that the county does not have a length of stay restriction.
“I must be able to sustain my business model and it must be economically viable for me to open Toots Creek RV Park in the town of Halifax,” Jones stated. “I am fine with the condition stating that guests of the RV park cannot be a permanent resident because I don’t want permanent residents either and the Code of Virginia states that RV’s are a temporary dwelling.”
If the town of Halifax removes the three-month restriction on guests’ stay at the RV park, Jones told council he intends to construct a “visually appealing” RV park at Toots Creek and already has a natural buffer for the park with between 15 and 20 trees along the property lines. He said he will have green areas between each RV site throughout the park, as well.
Former Halifax town councilman Bill Confroy also spoke in favor of the proposed RV park in the public comments portion of Tuesday’s council work session.
“A first-class RV park can accommodate a variety of people, like family members, vacationers, temporary workers, visitors for the Crossing of the Dan,” Confroy stated. “An investment of this kind will generate taxes, revenue, customers for local business. I believe a quality park will be a real asset to the town with the right zoning ordinance.”
At its work session, council also discussed the ongoing Virginia Department of Transportation-Michael Baker International Halifax transportation traffic safety and operations study.
The public recently had a chance to weigh in on the type of traffic and pedestrian safety improvements they would like to see in the town of Halifax by completing an online survey. Mayor Dexter Gilliam noted the online survey was a success, with more than 300 responses.
Gilliam also expressed his satisfaction with a recent meeting with VDOT regarding traffic safety issues and requests for improvements.
“I was very pleased. They seemed to have taken things to heart,” Gilliam said, adding, “All in all, it’s very positive; I think it’s moving along.”
Gilliam reiterated some of the traffic safety improvements he would like to see are the construction of additional pedestrian crosswalks on Main Street, with flashing lights alerting motorists to slow down as they approach a crosswalk, the implementation of a median in the center of the roadway on South Main Street at Hardee’s, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of 501 next to Dollar General.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, council approved the following:
A resolution to apply to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for the Banister Town targeted site housing rehabilitation project;
A resolution to adopt plans, policies, oversight boar bylaws and design associate with the Banister Town targeted site housing rehabilitation project;
A resolution to ratify an Earth Day 2022 proclamation;
A resolution proclaiming April 23, 2022 as “Halifax County Community Clean-Up Day”; and
Plans to draft a resolution and hold a commemoration to honor the public service of H.C. Phillips Sr. at a later date.
