Last night during a meeting that lasted nearly five hours, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted 4-3 to pass code amendments pertaining to residential planning unit developments. The revision will change county codes and allow high density.

The board of supervisors also voted 5-2 to approve a nearly 580 acre multi-use development in the Tunstall District known as the Axton Housing Project. The project would include housing, a grocery store, and a day care. Southside Investing LLC did add a 100-foot setback of the area of the property.

Many residents in the Tunstall district have spoken against the proposed development at previous meetings, including Jane Kendrick. 

“The issue is and always has been from our group is commercial,” said Kendrick, “someone mentioned ‘do we want tradition or transformation?’ I want to say that we want to hold on to our traditions in this county and you can have some transformation , but ravaging a countryside and sticking thousands of people in one square mile is absolutely insane.” 

Board of Supervisors member, Bob Warren, elaborated on why he supported the amendments and the project.

“Unless we’re willing to embrace some changes, we’re going to continue to lose our most valuable asset. We’ve got a great school division, we produce talented kids, but we lose most of them because we don’t have opportunities for them here,” said Warren.

Southside Investing LLC said the project would likely take ten years before it is completed. The company will also have to appear before the board of supervisors to get any commercial projects for the project approved.