For immediate release – June 5, 2008
Contact: Rosemary H. Wallinger (Shenandoah Forum) -- 540-477-2661
Shenandoah Forum Releases Community Dialogue Report
Provides guidance for update of county land use ordinances
WOODSTOCK, Va.—Today the Shenandoah Forum citizens group released the final report of the Shenandoah County Community Dialogue Project, a year-long effort to develop a set of recommendations for implementation of the Shenandoah County comprehensive plan.
Shenandoah Forum coordinated the project, which was guided by an advisory committee of county landowners, farmers, developers, homebuilders, community groups, and other leaders from all parts of the county, including its towns. Committee member Bonnie Good, who represented the town of Mt. Jackson on the committee, is scheduled to present the report to a joint meeting of the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission this evening.
Committee Interested in PDR Program, Other Planning Tools
After months of reviewing ways to manage the county’s growth while protecting its rural character and agricultural economy, several options garnered the most interest from committee members. Topping the list was a purchase of development rights program, wherein landowners agree never to develop their property in exchange for financial compensation, thereby keeping the land in its current agricultural or natural use. In 2007, Shenandoah County established such a program but funds have not yet been allocated for full implementation.
Committee members also expressed interest in sliding scale zoning, overlay districts, large lot and agricultural zoning, and cluster housing. Most of these options are designed to work with landowners to direct future development into concentrated areas, reserving larger land areas for natural, recreational, or agricultural use.
The committee scored the various land use planning options for implementation of the comprehensive plan but had yet to settle on a series of final recommendations before it learned that the county would be initiating a similar effort of its own. In light of the county’s action, the committee suspended its work and agreed to support the county’s project.
“The Dialogue Committee and Shenandoah Forum were pleased to hear that the county had determined to engage in this effort,” said Rosemary Wallinger, Shenandoah Forum’s board chairman and a key coordinator of the Dialogue. “We look forward to working with county leaders and staff and will support their project. We hope that the information gathered for the Dialogue Project will prove to be useful guidance for their work.”
Current Land Use Ordinances Don’t Implement Comprehensive Plan
The comprehensive plan, completed in 2005, gathered county residents’ ideas, concerns, and suggestions regarding how the county should grow. The Dialogue Project was designed to assist the county in meeting the community expectations expressed in the plan through a facilitated dialogue involving citizens and government leaders.
During the project, a series of workshops—beginning with a county-sponsored seminar in May 2007— determined that the county’s current land use ordinances will not accomplish its vision for its future as described in its comprehensive plan. Dr. Michael Chandler, a professor emeritus at Virginia Tech whose focus is land use and community planning, pointed to significant flaws in the ordinance, including the ability to periodically section off small parcels from larger ones in the agricultural zoning districts. Chandler noted that this does not ensure that agricultural land will exist in large enough parcels to make farming viable into the future, as envisioned in the comprehensive plan.
The Dialogue Project’s committee meetings were facilitated by Tanya Denckla Cobb, a senior associate with the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia. The project was funded by a variety of donors including the Shenandoah Community Foundation, Shenandoah County Farm Bureau, the Rockingham Cooperative, the Shenandoah County Historical Society, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, the Edinburg Heritage Foundation and the Town of Edinburg, the Virginia Department of Forestry, and a number of individuals.
A copy of the report may be downloaded here.
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Shenandoah Forum is a group of Shenandoah County residents that works to foster informed dialogue among diverse interests in the county to address issues of growth and development. Its mission is to ensure the county remains essentially rural, preserves a healthy environment, promotes a sustainable economy, and provides a high quality of life for the people who live here.
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On the web:
Shenandoah Forum:
www.ShenandoahForum.org
Shenandoah County:
www.shenandoahcountyva.us
Comprehensive Plan: www.shenandoahcountyva.us/reportscode/comprehensiveplan/
Institute for Environmental Negotiation:
www.virginia.edu/ien
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