The wetlands on a Smyth County site that a developer hopes to transform into a major truck stop are the project’s current focus.
Last week, Assistant County Administrator Clegg Williams told the Smyth County Board of Supervisors that the project developer, Arpit Soni of Soni Holdings LLC, had reported that an Abingdon engineering company is assessing the wetlands on the property just off Interstate 81’s Exit 39 to develop a protection plan for them.
Wetlands have been identified on the land that could become home to the Smyth Travel Center, designed at about 7,000 square feet with Circle K as the central brand and eventually hosting multiple restaurants, retailers, and service providers.
Wetlands are defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “areas where water covers the soil or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season.”
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The EPA explains wetlands’ importance, saying, “Wetlands are the link between the land and the water. They are transition zones where the flow of water, the cycling of nutrients, and the energy of the sun meet to produce a unique ecosystem characterized by hydrology, soils, and vegetation….”
Additionally, the EPA says, “Wetlands do more than provide habitat for plants and animals in the watershed. When rivers overflow, wetlands help to absorb and slow floodwaters. This ability to control floods can alleviate property damage and loss and can even save lives. Wetlands also absorb excess nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants before they reach rivers, lakes, and other waterbodies.”
“In Virginia,” Irina Calos, a Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson, said, “DEQ regulates the impacts to surface waters, such as land clearing, dredging, filling, excavating, draining, or ditching in open water, streams, and wetlands using the Virginia Water Protection Permit (VWP). State law requires that a VWP permit be obtained before the disturbance of any wetland or stream.”
At this time, Calos said, the DEQ hasn’t received a VWP permit application for the truck stop.
In addition to the wetlands work, Williams said, the developer is also working with the engineering company on a land disturbing plan.
Williams said that Soni plans to provide a more formal update to the supervisors in the near future.
In August 2023, Soni said the truck stop plans call for it to have 10 fuel dispensers with the capability of 20 people filling up at once for passenger vehicles. Multiple grades of fuel, including ethanol-free gas, are expected to be available.
For commercial trucks, Soni said, another 10 fuel dispensers will be available, offering diesel and DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid).
In planning the truck stop, he said, inspiration is being taken from White’s Travel Center in Raphine, the largest such center on the East Coast. The project’s second phase, Soni said, will focus on retail and services such as barbershops and medical care.
The third phase would include a parking lot expansion and a truck wash for diesel trucks, Soni said.
When the project came to public attention in early 2022, it drew opposition, especially from nearby residents who cited negative impacts on their quality of life. Others cited threats to the environment, including the nearby Holston River and wetlands, and the property’s historic value, which includes significant Civil War activity and the 22-room Seven Mile Ford pre-Civil War home of the late Lucy Herndon Crockett, a noted writer and artist. The house, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, was built in 1842 by John Montgomery Preston on land his wife, Maria Thornton Carter Preston, inherited from her father, General Francis Preston.
Following the supervisors’ approval of a Special Use Permit for the project in 2022, several citizens, Kristi Treadway, James Kayser, and June Harris, filed legal action against the supervisors to have the permit nullified. The case is proceeding in Smyth County Circuit Court with a motion hearing scheduled for next Wednesday. The hearing will address the plaintiff’s contention that the county has failed to turn over documents that it is required to provide.
In 2022, Soni said that projections indicated that in its first year of operation the truck stop would generate $5.5 million in local, state and other taxes.
In May 2022, the private, non-profit Preservation Virginia included the Preston House on its list of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Places.