The Bedford County Board of Supervisors opened its first meeting of 2008 on Tuesday night by selecting a new chairman and vice chairman, welcoming a new supervisor and approving a rezoning request.

The board voted unanimously to approve a rezoning request from Blue Beech Land to change the zoning of a portion of a parcel from low-density residential to low-impact industrial to allow the construction of an animal clinic on Thomas Jefferson Road.

Gentle Care Animal Hospital will relocate from leased space in Westwood Professional Center on Waterlick Road.

"They are a Bedford County business that wants to expand," said Trent Warner of Lynchburg-based Guffey Warner & Associates, the engineering firm representing the landowner.

Approximately a quarter of an acre will remain zoned low-density residential to allow an existing home to be moved within the parcel. Brent Stevens, president of Blue Beech Land, said the home was built about 1930.

The Bedford County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the rezoning approval in December after the applicant added a proffer prohibiting a commercial kennel.

The board chose Supervisor Steve Arrington, representing the Big Island District, to serve as chairman. Supervisor John Sharp, representing the Forest District, is the new vice chairman.

The chairmanships are rotated annually per the board's rules and procedures.

New to the board is Annie Pollard, elected in November to fill the seat held by her late husband. Bobby Pollard died in a farming accident in January 2007. Annie Pollard is the second woman elected to serve on the board. She represents the Montvale District.