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Northumberland County Planning Commission
December 18, 2025
Minutes
The regular monthly meeting of the Northumberland County Planning Commission was held on December 18, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in person at the Northumberland Courts Building and using Zoom (telephonic meeting), with the following attendance: Chris Cralle Present Roger McKinley Present
Vivian Diggs Present Patrick O’Brien Present
Allen Garland Present Garfield Parker Present
John Kost Zoom Heidi Wilkins-Corey Present
James Michel Present Charles Williams Present
Richard Haynie Absent
Others in attendance:
Stuart McKenzie (County Planner)
RE: CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Parker, and he led the commission in the invocation, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
RE: AGENDA – December 18, 2025
Mr. O’Brien made a motion to accept the December 18, 2025 agenda, seconded by Mr. Williams. The Commission unanimously voted to accept the meeting agenda. RE: MINUTES – November 20, 2025
Mrs. Wilkins-Corey made a motion to accept the November 20, 2025 minutes, seconded by Mr. McKinley. The Commission unanimously voted to accept the November meeting mminutes.
RE: REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Mr. Kost was attending the meeting via Zoom. Mr. McKenzie asked the Commission if they would like to vote to allow Mr. Kost to participate remotely. Mr. O’Brien made a motion to allow Mr. Kost to participate remotely, which was seconded by Mr. McKinley. The Commission unanimously voted to allow Mr. Kost to participate in the Planning Commission meeting remotely.
RE: COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS
There were no commission member comments.
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RE: STAFF MEMBERS’ COMMENTS
There were no comments.
RE: CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
There were no citizens comments.
RE: PUBLIC HEARINGS
Chairman Parker asked Staff about the Sley’s Boathouse Conditional Use Permit up for Public Hearing tonight. Mr. McKenzie stated that the applicant’s wetland agent sent an email, that he forwarded to all Commission members, requesting that the Sley Boathouse Public Hearing be tabled until the January 15, 2025 Planning Commission meeting. Mr. McKinley made a motion to table the Sley’s Boathouse Public Hearing until the January 15, 2026 Planning Commission meeting, which was seconded by Mrs. Diggs. The vote was as follows:
Chris Cralle Aye Roger McKinley Aye
Vivian Diggs Aye Patrick O’Brien Nay
Allen Garland Aye Garfield Parker Aye
John Kost Aye Heidi Wilkins-Corey Aye
James Michel Aye Charles Williams Aye
Richard Haynie n/a
Mr. O’Brien stated he was voting “Nay”, as the wetland agent’s email was presumptuous, stating that the public hearing was tabled, when, in fact, only the Planning Commission can actually table an item. The motion passed and the Sley’s Boathouse Public Hearing was tabled until the January 15, 2026 Planning Commission meeting.
RE: WORK SESSION ITEMS
Mr. Parker asked staff about the work session item on the agenda. Mr. McKenzie stated he received a memo from the Board of Supervisors directing the Planning Commission to discuss county owned properties greater than 15 acres that may be able to accommodate a proposed new animal shelter. Mr. McKenzie stated he attended the last Board of Supervisor’s meeting, but only attended the public hearing part of the meeting, and the discussion regarding the proposed new animal shelter was discussed earlier in the meeting. Mr. McKenzie stated that Mr. Kost attended the earlier part of that meeting, and perhaps he can shed some more light on what the Board of Supervisors are requesting.
Mr. Kost stated that he did attend the Board of Supervisors meeting and the Friends of Northumberland County Animal Shelter (FNCAS) stated they wanted a parcel larger enough, 20 acres at least. Mr. Kost mentioned the FNCAS stated perhaps they could relocate further back on the same property the current shelter is on, or perhaps on the county owned parcel that new courthouse is located on. The County attorney stated the county needs to know how much the new animal shelter is going to cost so that the county can budget appropriately. Mr. Kost stated that the proposal, which has not been 2
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approved as of yet, would be the county would lease the land to the FNCAS for $1.00 a year, so that the county can still own the land, while allowing the animal shelter the use of the land. Mr. Kost stated he asked the FNCAS to look for a similar plan for an animal shelter to what they are considering, perhaps not exactly what they want, but something comparable so the county would have an idea of the construction costs of the building. In addition, Mr. Kost stated the existing animal shelter has drainage issues, (storm)water issues, they only have 1 acre, and the site is adjacent to the dump, and is not an appropriate place for an animal shelter. Mr. Kost stated that the Board of Supervisors thinks it is appropriate to have the new animal shelter on the same property as everyone knows the current location of the shelter. The FNCAS staff at the meeting stated they are fine with relocating on the current county owned property, as long as they have enough cleared acreage to exercise the animals. Mr. Kost stated the Board of Supervisors want to know (from the Planning Commission) the best property to relocate the animal shelter, how the funding from FNCAS would work, and the county budget implications. Mr. Kost stated that the Board of Supervisor’s tapped the Assistant County Administrator, Drew Bayse to head up the project for the new animal shelter building site.
Staff stated he had all of the county owned properties maps that he created two years ago, and asked the Planning Commission if they wanted to go through each of them or just focus on a couple of properties.
Mr. Michel asked the commission why don’t we ask the FNCAS which site they want? Mr. Kost stated that the old school board site in Lottsburg would require additional costs associated with tearing down the existing building. Mr. O’Brien added that the old school building is riddled with asbestos, much like the old High School building. Mr. Williams asked why the FNCAS wanted county owned land? Mr. Kost stated that the FNCAS stated they could pay for the building with existing funds, but could not afford purchasing land in addition to the building. Mr. Garland stated there is 150 acres of county owned land on Dodlyt road (the Poor House Tract). Mr. O’Brien stated that the Historical Society thinks the Poor House tract is an archaeological site. Mr. Kost stated that the Poor House Tract has cemeteries on site which could be problematic, and no utilities on site are another disadvantage. Mr. O’Brien stated that the county is currently cash-strapped, so we need to preserve the site to keep our options open in the future. Mr. O’Brien continued, if I recall, there are nothing near the road, as the buildings were off the road, perhaps we could cut the parcel in half and see how much acreage is available. Mr. Kost emphasized that the FNCAS needs to come up with a floor plan for a building with estimated costs, as the county can’t make those decisions for them. Mr. O’Brien asked if the FNCAS had a RFP (request for proposal)? Mr. Kost replied no. Mrs. Wilkins-Corey asked what other (county-owned) sites would be appropriate? Staff mentioned he had briefly discussed the project with the County Administrator, and brought up the old school board site in Lottsburg. The County Administrator stated the site was good, because it already had a road entrance and a parking lot, but that developing the property for an animal shelter would constrain the county in the future if there was a need to expand the waste transfer facility already using that property. In the same discussion, the County Administrator stated he did not feel that relocating the animal shelter to the new courthouse property, as requested by the FNCAS was a good idea, because of the possibility of noise from the animals interrupting court proceedings. 3
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Mr. McKenzie stated that the FNCAS were fine with building the new animal shelter further back on the existing property they are located, but pointed out that the topographic map shows an approximately 40 deep gully that must be traversed to reach other buildable areas on the tax parcel. Staff indicated that the USGS map does not show a stream being present in the gully, but undoubtedly when it rains, the gully has water running through it, or is at least wet periodically, necessitating the building of a culvert or possible a bridge for the entrance road. Staff stated that constructing a road will add to the cost of the project, and if a culvert is required, possible additional engineering costs may be added to the total price. Mrs. Wilkins-Corey stated that we need to know if the FNCAS is going to develop the property or is the county going to? Mr. Garland stated that the FNCAS could solicit land donations from the public, as that would be another possibility they could consider. Mr. Williams stated that we need a (proposed) budget to be able to know if this project is even feasible. Mrs. Wilkins-Corey stated that the volunteers that work at the animal shelter are dedicated to helping the animals, as they take the dogs in their personal cars to open areas to allow the dogs some exercise, since there is no room for an exercise area at their present location. Mr. Kost stated that he would open a dialog with the FNCAS and invite them to the February 19th Planning Commission Meeting so we can begin to understand how this project may unfold. RE: DISCUSSION ITEMS
There were no discussion items.
RE: PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments.
RE: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS REPORT
Chairman Parker asked for a Board of Supervisor’s meeting report. Mr. McKenzie stated that the Board of Supervisors approved the Conditional Use Permit for Mr. Runkle’s Kennel Conditional Use Application in Lottsburg. Mr. McKenzie stated that the zoning ordinance change was tabled by the Board as a couple of supervisor’s expressed concern over proliferation of such structures on inland crowed creeks in the county. One supervisor remarked we have had piers in the county for two hundred years, and have not needed sun shelters on piers in all of that time. Staff indicated he was not sure if the sun shelters ordinance change would be approved by the Board in the future or not. Staff also stated that the County Attorney stated that the county is working on updating the dangerous dog ordinance, as some terms in the existing ordinance are not use by the state code, and it needs other updates. Chairman Parker said that is great news. RE: ADJOURNMENT
Mr. McKinley made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Mr. O’Brien and the meeting ended at 7:56 pm. The adjournment vote was as follows:
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Chris Cralle Aye Roger McKinley Aye
Vivian Diggs Aye Patrick O’Brien Aye
Allen Garland Aye Garfield Parker Aye
John Kost Aye Heidi Wilkins-Corey Aye
James Michel Aye Charles Williams Aye
Richard Haynie n/a
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