Supervisors approve comp plan on 4-3 vote
By John Barnhart
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 2:27 PM EDT
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) won't have a chance to weigh in on Bedford County's comprehensive plan.
Monday night, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors approved the plan by a 4-3 vote. Had it not approved the plan by July 1, VDOT would have been able to comment on it and insert recommendations.
The sticking point for three supervisors was language that calls for the county to research and evaluate a management of development rights program that may include both the purchase and transfer of these rights.
District 5 Supervisor Steve Arrington, who voted against the plan, noted that purchasing development rights would be at taxpayer expense. He said that the growth the county has seen since 2000 has been manageable. Arrington said that it has added between 20 and 30 additional students to county school enrollment each year. He also said that growth added $2.4 million to tax revenue last year.
"That has allowed us to keep taxes low," he said.
"The people who have come here are assets, not liabilities," Arrington said.
Arrington believes that there are too many government controls already in place and he would rather see them reduced rather than increased. He said he doesn't want a comprehensive plan that increases government authority.
District 4 Supervisor John Sharp joined Arrington in voicing disapproval of using taxpayer money to buy development rights on property. He said this amounted to paying ransom to keep land from falling into the hands of a developer.
"There is not enough money going around to buy all the properties," he said.
He also shared Arrington's concern about adding to government authority.
"I don't want to grow the government," Sharp said.
District 3 Supervisor Roger Cheek also opposed including the management of development rights language in the comp plan.
"I've found that, once something goes in a document, it's hard to get it out of there," Cheek said.
Cheek, Sharp and Arrington cast the three votes against the plan.
District 1 Supervisor Dale Wheeler said that he prefers documents that are simple.
"This document is anything but," he said.
Wheeler held up a copy of the plan and said that the planning department has tried to cover everything that could possibly happen. He expressed confidence that, at some point, somebody will do something that no one thought about.
However, he said the planning department made all the verbiage changes that he wanted. The wording that had worried Wheeler were a few places that obligated the county to actions about which he had reservations. Wheeler had no problem with the purchase of development rights language because it used the word "may." He said that this means that the county is not obligated to do this, but will have it as a tool to use if needed. He believes that development rights on a property should only be purchased if it is a significant cultural or historic property.
Board Chairman Chuck Neudorfer felt the language should remain because it creates the opportunity for the county to learn more about it without obligating the county to implement such a program.
"There is no such thing as a perfect document," commented District 7 Supervisor Gary Lowry.
District 6 Supervisor Andy Dooley joined Wheeler, Neudorfer and Lowry to vote for the plan.
