Last night, The Fluvanna Planning Commission held a work session focused on the rural aspects of their Comprehensive Plan update. State law mandates each locality develop a twenty year Comprehensive Plan and that the plan be reviewed and updated every five years.
Under the direction of Chair Elizabeth Fortune, the Fluvanna Planning Commission, operating without a staff Planning Director, had a highly thoughtful debate regarding the definition of rural. While the standard open space, agricultural use language was discussed, so were the concepts of rural lifestyle where neighbors knew each other but were independent which at times led to issues between neighbors. The “downsides” of a farming atmosphere were also discussed citing the fumes from manure and slow moving vehicles on state roads tying up traffic.
After the discussion of rural designation and a review of their proposed planning map, Vice Chair Joe Chesser gave passionate comments regarding the dearth of land currently committed to economic development. He highlighted the vast amount of land dedicated to rural preservation and suggested without economic development such preservation would not be possible.
The discussion that followed, including members of the audience, was exceedingly polite even where clear philosophical disagreements seemed to exist. One member of the audience cited the tax revenue shortfall each new home produces compared to the services it demands. Contrasting this shortfall to the positive tax revenue of business, she suggested creating a business corridor or “enterprise zone” along the top edge of the county where possible a corporate campus might have access to I-64 [through about a mile of Louisa County].
Another citizen suggested setting up positive zoning requirements for such a corporate campus proactively. His suggestion was to include significant dedication to open space and to allow office buildings that look like office buildings in this zoning designation. He highlighted low land costs as a competitive advantage for Fluvanna County. He thought working together to develop building guidelines, a corporate campus zoning designation could be both cost effective and environmentally responsible.
The Free Enterprise Forum concurs with Mr. Chesser’s admonition for creating business overlay to the map. The Comprehensive Plan must seek to positively guide economic development in the community. By creating a business friendly landing zone with existing infrastructure, solid transportation grid, a positive workforce and “Shovel Ready” zoning, Fluvanna County can position itself into a leadership position in the economic development circles.
Nothing will better protect the Rural Preservation Areas better than a vibrant business sector located where it best utilizes Fluvanna County’s assets. In this way, Economic Development is rural area protection.
By choosing to encourage appropriate positive businesses to locate where it makes sense [up zoning], Fluvanna may be able to continue to preserve their rural lands without down zoning rural land owners.
Tags: Comprehensive Plan, down zoning, economic development, Fluvanna, rural area preservation
