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• View a PDF of the Franklin County Planning Commission/Board of Supervisors staff reports on the LakeWatch special-use permit applications

ROCKY MOUNT -- After four months of revisions and discussions, a decision still was not made Tuesday night on the LakeWatch Spa and Resort proposal.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted 5-2 to delay a vote on the controversial proposal, to the shock of nearly 200 people in the auditorium of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Rocky Mount.

Supervisors Wayne Angell, Hubert Quinn, David Hurt, Charles Poindexter and Russell Johnson voted for the delay.

Supervisors Leland Mitchell and Charles Wagner voted in favor of taking a vote on the plan.

Johnson made a motion to table a decision on the plan, and Hurt seconded it.

"I don't feel comfortable in approving this project tonight without taking a further look at this," Johnson said. "I am not in a hurry to do something and then regret it."

There will not be a public hearing at the next board meeting in November, when the board is slated to vote on the project.

Voting on the proposal, which was submitted by developer Trey Park, had been continued twice before Tuesday night's delay.

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, and are estimated to cost more than $1 billion. Earlier revisions changed the proposal from a planned commercial development to a residential planned development as well as lowered the size of the development from 605 acres to 576 acres.

The revisions also eliminated commercial development along Virginia 122 and changed the number of stories in the condominium unit from seven to five.

The proposal has been revised twice with 15 deviations to the residential planned development project, including the addition of a restaurant to the five-story condominium unit; a 2,000-square-foot spa facility; a 24,000-square-foot community center for profit; and a 6,000-square-foot boat and golf storage building.

But before discussion on the project began Tuesday night, Park's lawyer, Clyde Perdue, announced additional changes to the plan.

Five deviations were dropped from the proposal -- the most significant being the removal of the proposed 190 motor-coach lots from the project and changing the request from a community center "for profit" to a community center "not for profit."

Johnson asked Perdue if dropping the community center request was just a way to get the board to approve the project.

"How do we know that the center would remain a not-for-profit?" Johnson asked.

Perdue replied: "Well, if someone reported a complaint to the planning department, I guess they would know. If we say it will be a not-for-profit, then it's going to be a not-for-profit."

Johnson also questioned the need for a wakeboard cable park in the proposal.

"If we approve this, we are opening the door for a casino to be built in an RPD [residential planned development]," Johnson said.

Hurt said he was taken aback by the changes made at the meeting.

"I know the developer is well within their rights to change the proposal before the meeting," Hurt said. "But after having such a lengthy process, to just make changes to the project tonight does not give anyone time to research it."

Johnson said the planning staff needed time to analyze the new changes that Park made to the proposal.

Angell said the county has never done any development that didn't have an impact on the community.

David Pope, who has been an opponent of the proposal, said the project was masquerading as a residential project when it was really a commercial endeavor.

"I have not once said condominium unit or community center, because that is not what it is," Pope said.

Betty Creek resident Bud Stockton asked the board members if they would want a project of this size in their back yard.

"The golden rule is do unto others," Stockton said. "I would never vote to put a hotel in front of your home. It's going to affect our quality of life. It's a great plan in the wrong place."

Micah Gaudio said the project was necessary in keeping up with the growth of Bedford County.

"Sewer and water made it necessary to go outside the comprehensive plan," Gaudio said. "More businesses are flocking to Bedford County. We have to tell businesses that Franklin County is a good place to do business."