BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
A clustering ordinance is one step away from becoming law in Culpeper County.
Wednesday night the Planning Commission voted 6-2 (Jack Frazier was absent) to send to the Board of Supervisors a series of ordinance amendments that would allow property owners to make 11 years of by-right subdivisions at one time. If passed, the new rules would apply to RA- and A1-zoned land and drop the minimum lot size from five and three acres to 1.5 and 1.25 acres.
The catch would be that all residual land in the original parcel could never be subdivided again.
In his presentation to the commissioners, county planner John Egerston gave an example of an actual 198-acre parcel that might choose to take the maximum 27-lot clustering option. There would be 26 smaller lots in a subdivision with a 27th lot of 165.5 acres that would remain open and farmable. Except for possible family partitions, the land could never be subdivided again.
Under existing ordinances, the original farm could be cut into two lots now and then five years later those lots could be split again. A third split could occur another five years down the road, after which splits would be too small to meet the three-acre minimum. Under the proposed ordinance, landowners would have the option of taking a one-time cluster split or subdivide slowly under the present rules.
“This ordinance would leave about 65 to 70 percent of the land open,” said Egerston.
About half of the speakers during a public hearing favored the ordinance, while the rest saw it in a negative light. Kurt Christensen called it “complex” and added that Culpeper “is well served by the current system.” He likened the proposed clustering law as a move in the direction of Rappahannock County, (“a haven for the idle rich”) where the minimum lot size is 25 acres.
Dairy farmer Terry Ingram called the clustering ordinance “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and Brian Higgins of the Piedmont Environmental Council argued that it would allow for development that would be too rapid.
Both David Rowe and Perry Cabot said that rapid development could cost the county an additional $11 million annually in services.
But Doug Darling said the ordinance was “well thought through” and would allow him to sell off some of his land and still be able to keep most of his tree farm.
And farmer Al Caldwell said that the clustering would allow more land to stay in agriculture. He added that city dwellers that move to Culpeper for its rural appeal soon tire of mowing 10 acres of lawn every week.
David Dodson admitted that the ordinance was not perfect. But the county, which he said gets little help from the state anymore, needs to do something to preserve open land.
Commission Chairman Sanford Reaves pointed out that even if the ordinance is passed, it does not mean automatic growth. “For this to happen, the farmer has to be willing [to subdivide his land],” Reaves said. “That is the key; this is an option.”
Commissioner Laura Rogers pointed out that if the 10,000 possible lots available under the proposed ordinance are available right now—just over a longer period of time and in a more haphazard manner.
Commissioner Bob Burnett called the proposed ordinance “a viable alternative.”
In making his motion to send the ordinance on to the Board of Supervisors (Commissioners Dewayne Payne and Walter Burton had suggested tabling it), David Lowery made no mention of giving the commission’s blessing to the plan.
“I think we should move it forward to the Board of Supervisors and let them make the decision,” he said.
The supervisors will take up the matter at their January meeting.
Donnie Johnston:
djohnston@freelancestar.com
