Letter to Editor about proposed Buchanan Truckstop

Dear Editor:

I’m writing this message to the people of Botetourt County, to convey my trepidation about the planned Truck Stop for the exit 162 area (Mill Creek, Hardbarger Road) in Buchanan. I have just recently learned of this project, and the fact that our Board of Supervisors may consider approving for a development company to place 20 acres of asphalt, as well as a full-service and overnight truck stop in the area across the road from the Botetourt Event Center and Hughes Transport. I am hoping that this letter will open the eyes of my fellow Botetourt County citizens to the possibility of this, as many may be unaware of this plan. I am wanting to garner support in telling our Supervisors that WE DO NOT APPROVE! I have lived on Hardbarger Road since 2007. There, my wife and I have raised two boys, 13 and 6 years old now. I have worked diligently to improve my property, as I have appreciated my opportunity to live in such a wonderful area of the county, and this great Nation. I have neighbors who have spent their lifetimes settling in this area, raising families, building their vision of American Dream. I have neighbors who have their retirement homes in various stages of construction. Symbols of their cumulative efforts of hard work, perseverance, and their resilience in the pursuit of the “American Dream.”  I have watched families move to this area, just as my family did, in admiration of the beauty and peacefulness that comes with living in this part of the county.

Very recently, I learned that what I cherish and hold dear about living here is under an immediate threat of dissolution.  At this very moment, our County is determining if they will allow a development company to place what they call a “Convenience Store,” approximately one half of a mile from the 162 I81 exit onto route 11. The initial plans for this “Convenience Store” is to provide overnight tractor trailer parking, high flow fueling stations, Sheetz branded storefront, with full service facilities to accommodate overnight drivers, all situated on twenty acres of Asphalt. twenty Acres. Directly across the road from Mill Creek. The initial numbers of through vehicle traffic to this “Convenience Store” is estimated to be between three thousand and six thousand vehicles per day. A simple study of the through traffic at Whites Truck Stop, located in Rockbridge County, indicates an average through traffic number of six thousand per day. How, without major modifications (which there are no plans for at this time) will those exits, northbound and southbound, account for the amount of vehicles, let alone large tractor trailers. This will cause congestion and traffic hazard.  The all too often traffic accidents on I81 causing spillover onto Route 11. How can the town of Buchanan handle that kind of traffic?

This will also have a negative environmental impact. Just yards from this proposed site sits Mill Creek, a tributary to Looney Creek, which feeds the James River just behind Limestone Park. The James is already a major contributor to the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay. After years of clean-up efforts, countless studies on the environmental impacts of run-off to our beloved Bay, are we to go backwards in the name of revenue – revenue that benefits a development company that is not even located in Botetourt County? I remember sitting on a plane speaking to a gentleman years ago on a flight from Atlanta to Roanoke. He spoke about how he volunteered to collect water samples to measure pollution levels of our local water sources.  I remember him specifically speaking about how Mill Creek was already threatened by heavy metals from run-off. Can we only assume the developers have such care for our waterways to take this into account before they pave twenty acres with asphalt, for a collection of fueling stations, anti-freeze fill points, and possible truck washes – just yards away from this lovely water way. The answer is they don’t. They don’t live here.

Initial reports indicate that because of the proposed location, the site will have to drill its own well, as well as a leach field type septic system. This will impact to the surrounding areas water supply. It will take an enormous amount of water it would take to operate a large Truck Stop providing 24 hours of service. This may sound selfish, but the idea of sharing my already low-pressure supply, as well as allowing the grey and black water from a truck stop to go into the same watershed as my drinking supply, is not what I imagined when my family chose this location to live. Nor do I believe this is what the hundreds of my neighbors envisioned whenever they decided to raise their families here.  I don’t believe is what countless visitors, tourists, and shoppers seek to discover whenever they visit, or maybe one day settling in our great County.

We could learn much from the former truck stop at exit 150, before it was finally demolished! Was it considered a “Convenience Store” as well? I remember beginning my career in law-enforcement career and quickly learning about the drugs, prostitution, human trafficking, and countless other illegal activities that took place there. It was rumored that the cost of enforcement in that area far outweighed county proceeds in tax revenue. Have we forgotten so soon?

Fellow Citizens, I implore you to quickly take notice of what our Board of Supervisors is considering. Please write, call, and attend the meetings and let them know what your stance is. We need to preserve the treasure of this area. Will the permission of this project allow for future projects at the 156 exit, or the 168? Initial review of the proposed zoning changes from agricultural to commercial will certainly allow that.

To my Board of Supervisors, I implore you to consider the safety of your citizens on their road-ways, the environmental impacts, as well as the criminal ramifications that this potential TRUCK STOP will impact.  I urge you to preserve what your citizens call home. I am one of many who are against this project. Would you want to look out your homes window, to see a TRUCK STOP? Would you want to hear the TRUCK STOP from your front yard?

Scott Booher

Buchanan Resident