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Topic
Summary:
The update of Chapter 7-Village Plans has been a targeted
Board of Supervisors and Department project for several
years. As a result, the Planning Commission scheduled and
initiated an update to Chapter 7 of the Comprehensive Plan
in March 2006, to recognize changes in land use conditions
and County polices since its adoption in 1977. The 1977 Plan
has outdated policies, which need refinement or replacement
in order to reflect current practices. The 1977 Plan also
fails to recognize the need for community input in the
development of village plans.
The Planning Commission held a series of work sessions and
public hearings beginning in May 2006 through November 2006
to decide on the policy parameters of the update. The
Commission approved a Draft that would accomplish two major
objectives: 1) Bring the plan into conformance with other
sections of the Comprehensive Plan by adopting more limited
Village and Settlement growth boundaries than those set
forth in the 1977 Plan; and 2) Establish a set of general
guiding principles that can be used to shape
community-initiated Village Land Use Plans in the future.
This phased approach allows the update to proceed in a
timely manner to address outstanding Countywide issues while
at the same time it sets forth a policy framework for
communities that request to move forward with more detailed
plans in the future. Public input was favorable at two
consecutive public hearings in February and March 2007. The
Planning Commission recommended approval of the Draft and
forwarded it to the Board of Supervisors for their review
and consideration.
Topic Description:
On March 18, 2002, the Board of Supervisors adopted a
resolution validating the boundaries of village and
settlements as outlined on Comprehensive Plan Maps. The
Board of Supervisors resolution was in response to
widespread public concern that the 1977 Village and
Settlement boundaries could be interpreted to include lands
within “study” areas within a half-mile radius around each
village and settlement. This interpretation would have
allowed each village and settlement to be as large as 500
acres in size.
That same month, the County embarked on a multi-year program
to document approximately twenty-one villages and towns that
were deemed eligible for listing on the Virginia Landmarks
and National Registers. Five years later, over half of these
eligible areas are now listed on both registers, and include
historic districts within the following communities with
strong resident property owner support: Ashville, Atoka,
Casanova, Delaplane, Markham, Marshall, Morgantown, New
Baltimore, Paris, Rectortown, and the Town of Remington.
Architectural historian, Maral Kalbian is currently
completing the nominations for Hume and Catlett.
In November 2002, Citizens for Fauquier County (CFFC)
presented County officials with a report on Village and
Settlement land use issues that included local histories,
soil and water conditions, and an analysis of perceived
threats to each village and settlement. That report formed
the foundation for this draft Chapter 7 update, specifically
for the neighborhood histories, and those volunteers are to
be commended for their work.
Boundaries
In March 2006, the Planning Commission initiated the final
steps for the Chapter 7 update. The planning process began
with a review of the 1977 Comprehensive Plan Villages and
Settlement Map boundaries per the 2002 Board of Supervisor
Resolution. Boundaries are as important to the villages as
they are to the service districts because they implement the
County’s policy to create and maintain “hard-edges” between
growth management and rural areas.
Staff analyzed the village and settlement boundary lines and
determined that the boundaries generally approximate the
limits of areas zoned for development, but not in all cases.
Like most Comprehensive Plan maps that pre-date Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), the 1977 hand-drawn maps were
generalized and not-to-scale. The maps were intended to be
representational, and they served their purpose well since
most areas within those boundaries have been zoned to allow
for development.
However, since the 1977 village and settlement boundary
lines were representational, they did not match property
lines. To avoid public confusion and contention about exact
interpretations of the 1977 village and settlement
boundaries, the Planning Commission decided to validate the
extent of the village and settlement boundaries as those
areas zoned Village Residential, Village Commercial,
Residential-1, Commercial-1, Commercial-2, and Industrial.
The 1977 Plan would have created a total of 21,500 acres
designated for Village and Settlement development under a
very liberal interpretation of the boundaries. In contrast,
this Draft Plan designates 7,240 acres for village and
settlement development.
The Commission’s decision to limit encroachment of village
development into areas zoned Rural Agriculture or
Rural Conservation is consistent with the Comprehensive
Plan’s goals to preserve and protect agricultural land and
open space uses. This position is also consistent with the
Planning Commission’s and the Board of Supervisor’s recent
action to create a “hard-edge” between the Marshall Service
District and land zoned for agricultural uses.
Village and Settlement Land Use Designation
The 1977 Plan attempted to classify 43 unique communities
into four categories (Village I, II, III, and Settlement)
based on future growth predictions calculated from
extrapolations from past growth trends. Since this
philosophical underpinning in the 1977 Plan is not
consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the draft update for
Chapter 7 classifies all the villages and settlements
as “Villages.”
This update did not address all the County’s crossroad
settlements and other old villages, such as; Auburn, Conde,
and Little Georgetown because the update was intended to
focus on villages with development potential under existing
Village zoning specified in the 1977 Plan. Rural planning
efforts throughout the County will continue to consider land
use issues in the dozen or so old villages that did not
obtain Village zoning by 1977. The draft Introduction
explains this issue and lists the towns, villages, and
settlements with 20 or more inhabitants shown on the 1914
Map of Fauquier County Virginia.
It should also be noted that the Village land use
designations reflect the underlying zones. For instance
Residential-1 zoned areas also have a Residential-1 land use
designation. All existing zoning rights are retained by the
new draft Village Plan.
Village-Style Economic Development
The Village of Paris still maintains a healthy balance of
commercial and residential activity, and serves as a live
example of what the Chapter 7 update envisions as village
economic development. Most of the villages were once hubs of
rural economic activity, yet due to changed life-styles many
historic buildings have fallen into disuse.
Limited and tempered amounts of commercial activity help to
keep historic village buildings alive and in good condition.
Commercial uses keep buildings viable and provide historic
property owners with additional income they can use to
maintain their historic properties. Additionally, property
owners of village buildings listed on the National Register
can qualify for tax credits up to 45% of their
rehabilitation dollars spent, if the building is
income-producing. Residential historic properties are
eligible for 25% tax credits if the project meets certain
other qualifications. (The Architectural Review Board is
hosting a historic Tax Credit Workshop on May 19th
for property owners of historic buildings.)
Additionally, village-style economic development achieves a
number of comprehensive planning goals to create good-paying
jobs, create locally-owned businesses, preserve agricultural
land, and facilitate low-impact heritage tourism
opportunities.
Outline of Plan Contents
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Goals: Chapter 7 promotes two major goals: a) to
maintain the unique, visual identity of Fauquier
County’s villages and incorporate new development in a
way that compliments existing communities; and b) to
conserve, protect and, where possible, restore village
cultural resources to maintain unique, livable
communities while preserving these assets for future
generations.
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Strategies: These goals can be achieved through the
creation of community-initiated village plans. The
Chapter 7 Introduction provides a list of strategies
that might be used in these individual village plans,
depending on each village’s specific needs or goals.
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Village Plans and Maps: The villages are all
significant features in the county landscape and warrant
some analysis in this Plan for their distinctive
features and histories. More thorough histories and
overviews can be completed in conjunction with
individual community-initiated plans. This Plan
contains Village Comprehensive Plan Maps depicting the
zoning, land use boundaries, National Register District
boundaries, floodplains, road networks, and the existing
building layers. (These maps will be administratively
updated with additional nominations to the National
Register.)
Implementation
It is
unknown at this time if there are villages that would wish
to proceed to complete more refined village plans after the
adoption of the updated Chapter 7. Initial implementation
efforts might first focus on Zoning Ordinance issues
affecting all the villages in advance of any individual
village plans. This approach would obviate the need to
refine all 43 Village Land Use Plans. The draft Introduction
provides a preliminary list of Zoning Ordinance issues for
consideration by the Planning Commission and Board of
Supervisors.
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