For immediate release – 10/31/2007
Contact: Rosemary H. Wallinger (Shenandoah Forum) -- 540-477-2661
Comprehensive Plan Goals Blocked by Ordinances
WOODSTOCK, Va.— Shenandoah County’s vision of how it wants to grow is inconsistent with its current rules governing new development, according to a Virginia Tech professor who briefed local residents Tuesday evening at a community workshop sponsored by the Shenandoah Forum.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Michael Chandler outlined the significant inconsistencies between the Shenandoah County Comprehensive Plan, with its emphasis on fostering a thriving agricultural economy and rural landscape with distinctive small towns, and the County’s zoning ordinances.
Dr. Chandler said these inconsistencies include: “by right” zoning that permits houses to be built anywhere in the County; a lack of incentives to encourage the County and its towns to cooperate in planning for growth; little control over where water and sewer is provided in the County; and a failure to plan for the protection of sensitive natural resources, such as those associated with the County’s karst geology.
“That there is a disconnect between your ordinances and your Comprehensive Plan is not unique to Shenandoah County. Communities across Virginia are grappling with these same issues, ” said Dr. Chandler, who has worked on planning issues in Virginia communities for more than 35 years.
Dr. Chandler said a first step toward addressing this conflict is through the Shenandoah Community Dialogue, organized by Shenandoah Forum with UVA’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation. The Tuesday meeting was the second in a series of workshops to bring Shenandoah County residents together to find ways to better implement the goals of the Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2005.
“You have an obligation to identify the changes that are likely to occur in your community and to balance your response with the community’s values, hopes and dreams” Dr. Chandler said.
The next Community Dialogue Workshop will be held November 28 at 6:00 pm in the Central High School Cafeteria. Dr. Chandler will continue the discussion of the inconsistencies between the Comprehensive Plan and the County’s ordinances, as well as look at options and planning tools available for addressing them.
The Shenandoah Community Dialogue is coordinated by an advisory group of county landowners, developers, homebuilders, farmers, and other leaders from all parts of the county, including its six towns. For more information, go to: www.ShenandoahForum.org.
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