Issues

The FFRP encourages the involvement of the public in considering the following important land use issues:

• Implementing the adopted Comprehensive Plan for the county,
• Creating a proffers policy whereby the county can reduce the financial burden on county residents from new development,
• Establishing a separate Rural Preservation Zone, and
• Adopting measures to reduce the density of allowable housing in that zone.

If our governing body is to make wise decisions about the future of Fluvanna County, it is imperative that citizens be involved in the decision-making process.

The FFRP is committed to providing factual information on land use issues to its members and all county citizens in an effort to raise public awareness and get the community involved. Should you wish to be kept up-to-date on the Supervisors' planning efforts or the FFRP's activities, please consider becoming a member.

The Comprehensive Plan is a blueprint for the future development of the county. Its purpose is to designate areas for certain types of public or private development and uses such as residential, agricultural, business, industrial, conservation, etc.

The current Comprehensive Plan reflects the citizens' often expressed desire to see most of Fluvanna County remain rural. In order to achieve that, the Plan did something never before proposed for Fluvanna by actually guiding and directing development and growth to specific areas. It also set aside a Rural Preservation Planning Area and urged that only 10% of future growth be allowed in that rural area.

In the Comprehensive Plan, the Rural Preservation Planning Area (RPPA) constitutes 98,000 of Fluvanna's 183,000 acres, or 54% of the total area of the county. This area covers most of the Columbia and Fork Union precincts and parts of Cunningham.

Most of the county-approved agricultural/forestal districts (covering some 27,000 acres, or 15% of the county's area) are in the RPPA, as are most of the 6,000 acres placed under permanent easements by owners.

This clearly indicates that the citizens who live in the RPPA are committed to preserving their rural heritage and open space.

Our recently passed zoning ordinance keeps Fluvanna's housing density at the level it was when zoning first was implemented in the county.

No changes have been made to acknowledge the fact that this county is one of the fastest growing counties in central Virginia. We are the only county north of the James River to retain this antiquated housing density. Even with the cluster housing requirements in the new ordinance, the density question is still central to retaining our rural space.

The Board of Supervisors passed a new zoning ordinance in May 2004 that keeps most of the county in one agricultural zone called A-1, including the RPPA.

The Supervisors adopted the Planning Commission's recommendation that all future major subdivisions (six houses or more) in the A-1 zone be developed as cluster housing with a requirement that all development be on 25% of the net usable land and that the remaining 75% be reserved in perpetuity as open space.

They did not create a new zone for the RPPA, nor did they make a distinction as to the density of housing permitted in the RPPA. In fact, housing density throughout the A-1 zone was kept at one house for every two acres - the same density that has been allowed since the inception of zoning in Fluvanna County.

On 100 acres now, a builder can build 50 houses on 25 acres, with the balance of the land left in open space. That density of development in the Rural Preservation Area would not only overwhelm our two neighborhood schools (the only local elementary schools are located in the Columbia and Cunningham districts) but also the roads and all government services as well. Taxes would/will inevitably rise as a result of this level of development and growth.