September 25, 2002
What is Rural Character?
What makes Bedford County special? Many residents think it is our rural character. Bedford Citizens for Land Preservation (BCLP), a newly formed citizen-based, public foundation is concerned that our rural character is threatened by unplanned and rapid growth. The group, which was formed in October 2001, is committed to supporting growth in a manner that respects Bedford’s unique natural heritage and agricultural tradition. Although old-timers whose families go back generations and newcomers who have moved here may differ in many ways, BCLP has discovered that they share a common value – what they describe generally as “rural character.” Both old-timers and newcomers also want to be able to make their own choices about what they do with their land.
Rural character means many things to many people. There is no one definition. For some residents, rural character might relate to the land itself – the presence of woods and farms, unimpeded views of the mountains, places to hunt deer and turkey or ride a horse. For others, rural character might relate to people – the close-knit relationships among neighbors and the shared sense of community responsibilities. Still others might define rural character in economic terms – low taxes and the fact that natural resources are the basis for at least some of the residents’ livelihoods, such as farming or cutting timers.
According to the Roanoke Times, “the Forest and Goode area is the fastest-growing spot in this half of the state.” In its August 23, 2002 edition, the News and Advance described Bedford County as an “800-pound gorilla.” “The slower growing counties in the region are having to figure the best ways to respond to orderly growth. But while population growth in most Central Virginia communities is simmering, Bedford County’s growth is like a bonfire.” On average since 1970, Bedford County’s population has grown at a rate of 34 percent per decade.
Between 1990 and 2000 the population in the Forest and Goode area grew by 135 percent, according to the latest US Census data – twice as much as any other census tract in Western Virginia. This rapid growth in population has altered the area’s rural character. For example, Allen Harvey’s 1,300-acre beef farm in Forest is now Ivy Hill, a golf-course community with nearly 600 homes. It is still beautiful, and compared to urban areas, it still retains some rural qualities. But compared to the way it was 25 years ago, it has lost the essential element of its rural character because the use of the land has changed from agricultural to residential and recreational.
Part of Forest still retain their traditional rural character. In 1998 Gene and Laura Goley, for example, placed a conservation easement on the farm Laura Goley’s ancestor, William Radford, acquired in 1822. The 350-acre farm, which was part of Thomas Jefferson’s original Poplar Forest, will remain open space forever. The Goleys were able to save a piece of their family legacy, preserve a part of Forest’s historical identity and protect one of Forest’s last open views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. (Read this column for detailed information about conservation easements and other Bedford County landowners who have chosen to preserve their land, rather than break it up for subdivisions.)
As areas like Goode and Forest grow, Bedford County may well become the dominant population center in Central Virginia, possibly overtaking Lynchburg by mid-decade. A general trend that has destroyed rural character in many Virginia counties is that the speculative value of the land begins to exceed the resource value of it as farmland and woodlands. According to numerous studies, the cost of providing services, such as schools, water, and fire and police protection, to these areas of growth generally exceeds what they generate in tax revenues.
For example, a study done in 1999 in Northhampton County found that farms and open lands contributed over four times as much money to the county’s tax base in 1998 as they used in services. The revenues from residential development, on the other hand, were not enough to cover the cost of services demanded by that land use. In effect, long-established farms were paying for the community services of new arrivals.
What is your definition of “rural character”? Are you concerned about the tax increases that may come with the county’s “bonfire” growth? Send your answers to BCLP and it will post them on its web site and share them in this column.
