What We Do
BCLP’s Mission Statement: "Working to conserve open space and preserve our rural life and landscape"
BCLP provides educational opportunities, conducts research, and promotes public policies and private practices that support the preservation of open space in Bedford County.
BCLP is dedicated to:
Promoting economically sustainable growth, enhancing the quality of life for Bedford County citizens while preserving open space
- Promote economies based on open space (e.g. eco- and agri-tourism, outdoor recreation, hunting)
- Balance residential growth with supportive commercial development to minimize the tax impact of growth on owners of open space
Honoring, protecting and promoting Bedford County’s unique character and its natural, historic and cultural resources
- Conduct an inventory of the county’s historic and scenic assets
- Preserve historic resources
- Protect scenic corridors
- Initiate community guidelines/design review to maintain community “sense of place” for new development
Encouraging responsible county planning for economically sound and environmentally healthy open space policies and practices
- Eliminate sprawl in favor of cluster or flexible development and conservation subdivision design around existing transportation corridors and utility sources
- Implement a Purchase of Development Rights Program
- Encourage conservation easements
Informing and engaging the public resulting in a county-wide collaboration between public and private sectors
- Incorporate a tax impact statement for all planning and development decisions
- Keep the public informed of all affairs of the county and pursue practices which promote public participation in county decisions
Developing policies and practices that encourage and support a variety of traditional and alternative agricultural land uses
- Pursue initiatives or innovations to ensure an ongoing and viable farming community
- Maintain a clear edge between town and countryside
BCLP:
- Offers free to the public a 23-minute, DVD multi-media slide show entitled, Finding the Balance in Bedford County: Where are we Growing? (details) This DVD represents several years of research by volunteer working committees and is intended to educate citizens about planning for open space preservation, the present economic benefits of open space, and the possible future economic opportunities dependent upon it;
- Sponsors free public presentations, lectures and workshops on conservation easements, long-range community planning and preservation; (see Past Activities below);
- Maintains Resource Carts and Information Notebooks in Bedford libraries;
- Stays informed about and involved in the Comprehensive Planning process now underway in Bedford County;
- Maintains cooperative relationships with the Bedford County Department of Planning, the Virginia Extension Service, the Bedford County Farm Bureau, the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, the Western Virginia Land Trust, and the American Farmland Trust;
- Maintains a computerized database of citizens who are interested in planning for land preservation and informs citizens through mailings and E-Mail announcements of important community meetings related to the Comprehensive Planning process;
- Circulates the educational video, The Dollars and Sense of Protecting Community Character;
- Conducts on-going research on such topics as: conservation easements, conservation zoning, purchase of development rights programs, comprehensive plans and their role in management, air and water quality in Bedford County, and the impact of the Dillon Rule on Bedford County;
- Offers its collection of 20 articles on planning, growth and land-use issues (originally published in the Bedford Bulletin), entitled A Primer on Homegrown Community Planning, to interested citizens (For a free copy, write BCLP or Click on Publications.
- Updates and maintains this web site as a resource for the public on growth and preservation issues.
Cost of Community Service Study for Bedford County
BCLP is proud of submitting a proposal to the Board of Supervisors for a Cost of Community Service Study (COCS study) for Bedford County, which was approved unanimously for funding by the Board of Supervisors in January, 2005.
This study, which will be conducted in 2005 as part of the Comprehensive Planning process, was endorsed by the Bedford County Farm Bureau. In its endorsement, the Board of Directors noted:
“Bedford County Farm Bureau has been concerned about the loss of farms in the county, and particularly the conversion of farmland to development…[the COCS study] will analyze one year of county revenues and expenditures on a land-use basis, measured by demand for services [and]…will provide a better understanding of the service costs of development and the effect of different land uses on the tax base. Unlike typical fiscal impact studies, the COCS study will evaluate farmland and open space on equal ground with development. The Board of Directors joins with Bedford Citizens for Land Preservation in requesting the Board of Supervisors fund a study to address the loss of farm land in our county.”
Bedford County has contracted with the American Farmland Trust to conduct this study.
Past Activities
In 2002 BCLP made presentations to local Rotary and Lions Clubs and the Bedford County Hunt Club and hosted information booths at the Point-to-Point Races, Bedford Centerfest, and the Sedalia Country Fair. BCLP Board members also participated in the Virginia United Land Trust’s Land Preservation Workshop and meetings of the Central Virginia Greenways and Blueways Planning Group and the Upper Roanoke River Roundtable.
BCLP also sponsored in 2002 free public lectures by Ridge Schuyler, director of The Nature Conservancy of Virginia’s Piedmont Program and Mary Heinricht, Mid-Atlantic director of the American Farmland Trust, and co-sponsored (with James River Association, Region 2000 Regional Commission and others) “Conservation Easements and Tax Benefits,” a presentation by C. Timothy Lindstrom, a nationally recognized expert.
In 2003 BCLP cosponsored (with the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, Bedford Main Street, Bedford Historical Society, the Western Virginia Land Trust, and Southwestern Virginia Planning Association) a presentation by Shelley Mastran, a nationally recognized preservation planning consultant, entitled “The Dollars and Sense of Community Planning.” It also co-sponsored with the Western Virginia Land Trust a free public forum on conservation easements.
In 2004 BCLP and the Friends of the Bedford Public Library co-sponsored a lecture by noted historian, Dr. James Robertson, and co-sponsored with the Western Virginia Land Trust a gathering of residents interested in pursuing conservation easements.
BCLP’s promotion of conservation easements in Bedford County has resulted in the preservation of more than 1,000 acres.
Brief History
BCLP’s mission was developed after a series of three community meetings organized by two Bedford County neighbors in the late autumn of 2001 and early winter of 2002. At these meetings more than 100 residents had the opportunity to learn about the county’s comprehensive planning process from county officials. A poll of attendees identified a primary citizen concern for the future as the preservation of Bedford’s open space, agricultural heritage, and rural qualities of life. BCLP’s mission statement was formulated by the residents who attended these meetings.
For more information about the inception of BCLP, Click on Grassroots Article #1.
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