SPOTSYLVANIA County's land-
The push-me-pull-you problem of property rights vs. sprawl is driving the about-face. Supervisor Emmitt Marshall says rural landowners should be free to turn a profit from their land, especially in these hard times. Limiting their ability to sell to individuals or developers puts undue strain on multi-acre owners. For many of them, their land is their 401(k), according to this argument.
But elevating the economic position of rural landowners in this way comes at the expense of everyone else. Property taxes paid by homeowners don't equal the cost of services required by them; hence, any development is a net loss to taxpayers: Essentially, they're being asked to chip in to help boost the rural landowners' fortunes.
Furthermore, "upzoning" (i.e., increasing the number of homes allowed in rural areas) invites sprawl, which, in full bloom, increases pollution, obesity (from too little walking), and ongoing demands for road upgrades, schools, emergency services, and, eventually, stretched-out water and sewer lines.
The county's Comprehensive Plan, to which the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed in November after three years of meetings and discussion, springs from smart-growth concepts--including protecting rural land. Tuesday's decision is a retreat from that doctrine, which is why the Planning Commission asked that it be rejected.
At least some compromise is evident, it's true, in the new zoning rules: A landowner can subdivide only one lot a year, and six during a lifetime; only 100 lots total in the county will be allowed each year; and the zoning rule can come up for review annually. These restrictions soften the blow, but only a bit.
Supervisor Hap Connors says he's going to propose that 1 percent of real-state taxes be dedicated to a program established to buy development rights. That's the formula in place in neighboring Fauquier County, where more than 6,700 rural acres have escaped development in six years. Such programs offer the best of both worlds: Farmers reap some money from their land by agreeing to keep it from development, and the county retains some rural character. The deer and other fauna are happy, too.
The Godzilla of rampant development need not ruin rural Spotsylvania County. But that's the area's probable fate if the Board of Supervisors doesn't set a course, and stick with it. County taxpayers, most of whom were ill-served by this zoning backtrack, should demand no less.