Stafford is at war with property owners

December 15, 2008 12:36 am

Kudos to Stafford Supervisor Paul Milde, ["Control growth? OK, but do it transparently," Dec. 8] for standing up for commonsense growth control.

In the last year, I have received no fewer than five notices of pending action by Stafford County concerning new ordinances involving my property.

Thank goodness I had already pumped my septic tank due to a pump failure. There was no consideration for the size of the family occupying the home served by the septic tank. The daily fine alone for not being in compliance is enough to send one into bankruptcy.

Potomac Creek flows through my property and was already protected with a 100-foot perimeter for the creek and wetlands surrounding it.

Then came the Potomac Creek Resource Development Protection area. There goes another 35 feet surrounding this area. I understand that my property is grand-fathered in and this would apply only to a future owner.

Stafford is taking property rights away from landowners 35 and 100 feet at a time without any compensation.

The kicker is that I applied for property tax reassessment since a quarter of my property contains wetlands associated with Potomac Creek. I was amazed by what Stafford County came up with. No consideration was given for the wetlands on my property and for my lack of use of more than 100 feet surrounding the wetlands.

Virginia law allows counties to adjust real-estate values for assessments for the protection of wetlands. Stafford County actually found that my land with the wetlands had increased in value for the property tax assessment. This in turn increased my mortgage and insurance by more than $200 a month. There was no "equalization."

What Stafford fails to realize is that they can be directly responsible for forcing homeowners into foreclosure. Luckily for me, I can still afford to make my mortgage payments.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Scrooge, and it's Stafford County.

Sylvia Van Dyke

Stafford