Back in October, facing a packed public meeting room, the Board of Supervisors decided to postpone their vote on a new vision that calls for more sprawling residential and commercial development in Orange. The Board said they'd take the issue up at their December 17th meeting, and that date is fast approaching! If passed, the proposed Comprehensive Plan would threaten the County's agricultural character, lead to more traffic along Rt. 20, Rt. 15, and Rt. 3 — and ultimately, result in higher taxes. This text was taken from an email sent out on December 13, 2013.
Orange County
PEC’s Orange County office supports our land use and land conservation activities in the County. PEC is dedicated to promoting healthy communities and the preservation of Orange’s rural character, environment and historic resources.
A County in Denial
By designating thousands of agriculturally zoned acres for mixed use and economic development, county officials claim they are attempting to balance the tax base. But this denies experience—no county has ever grown it’s way to lower taxes. Just look at some of Virginia’s most developed counties. They all have higher tax rates than in Orange.
Orange County Considers Major Changes to its Comprehensive Plan
The draft being considered is a severe departure from Orange’s current Comprehensive Plan, creating brand new classifications such as Town Suburban Residential and recommending expanded commercial activities both south of Orange on Route 15 and along most of the Route 3 corridor (including lands within the Wilderness Battlefield National Park along Route 20).
Orange County Planning Commission Hearing Summary, May 2nd
Last night, the Orange County Planning Commission voted unanimously to table the Comprehensive Plan in order to address some of the comments they had received from the public. Over thirty people spoke with the vast majority calling for a plan that recognized the agricultural nature and beauty of the County. Concerns raised included, the lack of public input, methodology used to create the future land use map, designation of Route 20 and 15 as Potential Economic Development, an agricultural designation (A-2) geared for residential development, and a vision statement that allows for development to trump agriculture.
Hearing this Thursday: Orange Unveils Sprawling Vision
As I mentioned last month, the Planning Commission has released a draft plan for the future of Orange County that takes a startling turn from the plan previously approved by residents of Orange. It includes a map that lays out what the county would look like in 2035 — including major development along Route 20 and increased residential and commercial development on agriculturally zoned land, among other things.
Making matters worse, they scheduled the public information session (where people are supposed to learn about the proposal) on the same night as the public hearing (where people are supposed to weigh in on the proposal). This text was taken from an email alert we sent out on April 30th, 2013.
Orange County Unveils Sprawling Vision
Just last week, the County Planning Commission put out a pretty shocking map. The maps and accompanying lays out what Orange would look like in 2025 — including major development along Route 20 and increased residential and commercial development in agriculturally zoned land, among other things. This text is from an email alert sent out on March 29th, 2013.
Signature Station Rezoning
Taxpayers asked to subsidize developer profits for speculative rezoning – 230 townhomes and 220,000ft2 of commercial retail.
Orange County’s Rural Areas Under Threat
Since 2008, Orange County has had a subdivision ordinance that calls for time-phased divisions of land—limiting the number of divisions allowed on a property over a specific period of time. This aspect of the ordinance allows the County to regulate the speed of development in the rural area.
County Discusses Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan Overhaul
The Orange County Circuit Court ruled that the County does not have the authority to enact a subdivision ordinance with time-phased divisions of land. This invalidates the current ordinance and allows for the immediate division of all agricultural lands into 2 acre lots unless the Board takes action immediately to establish protections of the rural area. Please speak at the Oct. 4th public comment period on proposed changes and send your concerns to the Planning Commission and your representative on the Board of Supervisors.
A Tactical Training Facility in Orange?
A proposal is before the Planning Commission for a tactical training facility along with new zoning language that will allow such uses in agricultural and industrial zoning districts. The Commission is holding a public hearing on Sept. 20 at 7:15pm to discuss the change to the zoning language. In the name of economic development, this complex amendment is being fast-tracked through the process to pave the path for the Global Dynamics Security application. Fortunately the Global Dynamics Security applicant has asked for an extension to the Oct. 18th Planning Commission meeting. The specific application will not be considered at the Sept. 20th meeting.
Update: Residents showed up in droves protesting the zoning text amendment on September 20th. After residents had expressed their concern about the proposed change, the Planning Commission voted to recommend denial. On September 25th the Board of Supervisors voted to deny the zoning amendment. At this time, we believe there will be no further consideration of the Global Security Applicaiton or related changes to the ordinance.