Cape Charles, Va. — In April of 2023, the Town of Cape Charles approved a third amendment to a 1990 annexation agreement originally made with Brown & Root, Inc., updating the terms to reflect decades of development and infrastructure changes.
The changes were required due the Town’s sale of water and wastewater utilities to Virginia American Water. VAM paid the Town $15 million for the utility systems.
The original agreement, signed March 13, 1990, paved the way for the annexation of a large tract of land owned by Brown & Root, which has since been developed as the Bay Creek community. Brown & Root’s interests were eventually succeeded by Bay Creek South, LLC, Bay Creek Development, LLC, and Bay Creek Resort, LLC—collectively now referred to as “the Developer.”
Town Council passed a resolution approving the third amendment on April 20, 2023, recognizing the need to revise the terms of the decades-old agreement to address contemporary realities, including the town’s evolving water and wastewater infrastructure.
Under the revised agreement, the Developer will be required to pay a $3,000 municipal impact fee to the Town for each lot sold to a third party. The fee will be due at the time of conveyance and must be paid before a building permit can be issued. This new payment structure replaces previous obligations the Developer had under paragraph 10 of the original agreement regarding infrastructure expansion costs.
The amendment also coincides with the town’s efforts to enter into a new franchise agreement with Virginia American Water Company, which would assume operation of the town’s water and wastewater systems. Once the franchise takes effect, utility services will be provided at standard tariff rates approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The amendment stipulates that, so long as these rates remain in place and impact fees are paid, the Developer’s obligations related to facility expansions will be considered fulfilled.
However, the Developer remains responsible for constructing the necessary internal infrastructure—such as water and sewer lines within the development—and must dedicate those improvements to the Town or its utility partner.
The amendment emphasizes cooperation between the Town and the Developer, reaffirming their shared commitment to the terms of the original annexation deal while adapting to the modern regulatory and service landscape.
The updated agreement becomes fully effective upon implementation of the new utility franchise.
this is old news. why is it currently reported here?– but it does demonstrate one important thing: other parts of this agreement can be changed — which is a good thing with new owners taking over soon . The PUD is not immutable but is amendable.
Editor’s note: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” ― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun
The Town did request and received a reacknowledgment of Public Law No. 27 (The Annexation Orders from both the Special Annexation Court for Northampton County and the District Court of Northampton County) and from the State of Virginia Legislature cited as “Public Law 27 Order – entered into the land records of Northampton County Clerk’s Office in 1991, was re-enacted by the Virginia Legislature in March 2002, recorded in the Civil Common Law Order Book, page 619, also into the Northampton County Clerk’s Office “be enforced.’”
Simply stated:
These Annexation Agreements, which “run with the land” as well as various annexation proceedings and their exhibits were recorded in the land records of Northampton County as prescribed and enacted by both the Special Annexation Court for Northampton County and the Circuit Court of Northampton County on November 26, 1991, known as Public Law No. 27, (a Legislative Act) effective January 1, 1992 and re-enacted in March 2002.