The future of the controversial LakeWatch Spa and Resort project has been dealt a significant blow.

The Franklin County Planning Department has determined that the multimillion dollar proposal does not fall within the guidelines of the county's comprehensive plan, according to a report prepared for the county's planning commission and board of supervisors.

The advisory report sets up a showdown between county officials who support strict adherence to the comprehensive plan and those who think it is acceptable to deviate from the plan.

"I am sticking with the comprehensive plan," said Gills Creek District Supervisor Russell Johnson, who represents the community in which the development is proposed. "Some of the gentlemen on the board and I have disagreed at times with how close to follow the guide. But if a development falls outside the comprehensive plan, I'm voting against it."

The planning commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on a recommendation on Tuesday. The final vote is scheduled to follow a public hearing at the Oct. 23 board of supervisors meeting.

The meeting places have been moved to Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Rocky Mount in anticipation of the large turnout of people who are against the plan and want to speak.

The project is slated to accompany the already-approved LakeWatch Plantation development.

The two LakeWatch projects are on opposite sides of Virginia 122, west of Hales Ford Bridge and east of the Westlake shopping area near Smith Mountain Lake.

The proposal, submitted by developer Trey Park, has been revised twice and voting was continued twice before the latest revision.

Earlier revisions changed the proposal from a planned commercial development to a residential planned development as well as reduced the size of the development from 605 to 576 acres.

The revisions also eliminated commercial development along Virginia 122 and lowered the proposed condominium buildings from seven stories to five.

In the latest revision, 15 deviations to the residential planned development proposal have been added including a restaurant in the five-story condominium building, a 2,000-square-foot spa facility, a 24,000-square-foot community center and a 6,000-square-foot boat and golf storage building.

Park said the features were planned from the beginning, but the county planning staff told him to seek multiple variances. Steve Sandy, acting director of planning, said the county has no ceiling on the number of variances an applicant can request for a project.

Park said he has not spoken with county residents regarding the new changes.

"This thing is turning into PCD [planned commercial development] every day," said Robert Camicia, the planning commission member representing the Gills Creek area, who will not be attending the planning commission meeting because of a previous engagement.

Documents from the planning staff said the project did not comply with the comprehensive plan because the commercial development portion of the proposal was not "envisioned in this area designated as low-density and medium-density residential."

The comprehensive plan was approved June 1 and is to be used as a guide for development projects within the county.

The plan "reflects the views and input of the citizens, and I am not about to change that," Johnson said.

Johnson said one of the biggest questions regarding the project is the number of special-use permits (seven) and deviations (18) from the residential planned development rules.

"A supervisor has latitude or judgment in deciding whether or not to accept a proposal and the special-use permits," Johnson said. "The question is how many variances and special-use permits can you exercise before it's not what it's coded to be."