October 6, 2001
Concerns Stir Citizens to Organize
Zoning, growth strategy among issues prompting birth of advocacy group
By Jennifer L. Berghom
Sedalia - Bedford County resident Nancy Raine is concerned about how the countyís continuing growth will affect its rural communities.
The Virginia native said she has lived in various parts of the country and has seen urban sprawl destroy open spaces and agricultural land and does not want that to happen here. So she and other citizens are looking to start a grassroots advocacy group to study the countyís zoning and what options are available to preserve land.
No group has been formed officially yet, she said, but she and her neighbor, Annis McCabe, have been rounding up residents who are interested in preserving agricultural land.
"We don't even have a name yet," Raine said.
Raine said she and McCabe became interested in learning how the county determined its zoning, so they met with the county's planning director, Philip Thompson, in August.
"He seemed absolutely thrilled to talk to residents," Raine said.
After their meeting, Raine and McCabe decided to hold a gathering to let other residents learn about the county's zoning.
The two women organized a public meeting Tuesday to learn about the county's zoning ordinance and ask Thompson about the county's plans to grapple with commercial and population growth.
More than 40 residents in the area attended the meeting at the Sedalia Center where Thompson explained the zoning plan to residents and answered their questions regarding the county's comprehensive plan.
Residents asked about the county's plans for steering growth and about the survey it conducted asking residents for their input on its comprehensive plan.
Although more than 80 percent of the county is zoned as agricultural, residents expressed their concern about whether residential developments and businesses could spread to the northern part of the county.
Thompson said he thought the meeting went well and was pleased with the questions residents asked him.
The comprehensive plan, he said, needs to have input from the community in order for it to be effective.
Thompson said most people are supportive of preserving agricultural land, but the questions is, how much of a tax increase would they be willing to have in order to do that?
"As the population grows, there are more needs," he said.
Thompson said the county could update its survey or provide another one to residents to get more feedback, or eventually create a committee that would look into preserving land.
McCabe and Raine said they were pleased with the turnout and are hopeful about starting a citizens' group.
"I was awfully encouraged by the turnout," Raine said. "(It was advertised) just by word of mouth."
McCabe and Raine said they plan to hold another meeting at the Sedalia Center Oct. 16 to determine how to approach getting involved in the county's planning for the future.
"What weíd like to do is gather as much information as we can as to what the rules are and what is new in the comprehensive plan. As citizens, we have the opportunity to have input into the comprehensive plan,"McCabe said.
Citizens need to give their input, she said, but it is important that they educate themselves about the effects of population growth and decide what they would like to see happen in the county.
Raine said the group needs to act quickly because the county plans to have its comprehensive plan updated in about two years.
The group is not against economic growth, she said, but they do not want to see it get out of hand.
Raine said the county should have a mix of growth and preserved land.
McCabe said she is worried about the increasing number of farms being sold to developers and hopes there can be some way the county can preserve some land while it experiences more growth.
"Weíre talking about hundreds of acres of gorgeous land out here. We don't want the future to just happen to us," she said.
