This is the thread for people who want to talk about where we go from here. What do we have so far? We have a proposal to hire a consultant to come in and start the process to rewrite the zoning ordinances. The budget says $25,000, which would pay for what? A couple of weeks of a consultant? I've heard unofficially that that's been raised to $100,000.
Next step: the Planning Commission will be selecting a zoning subcommittee soon, and then the process will probably start. Since the Land Use Map hasn't been done, that will have to be the first step for zoning.
I think once we see a map with the available land use marked on it, it will shed new light on what we can do with what we've got.
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13 comments:
I feel the next step is to express our concerns over the fact of an outside contractor coming in and rewriting our zoning ordinances that we and our children will have to live with, the contractors don't have a vested interest, further more I don't see why the planning commission can't tweak the ones that need it, I refuse to believe that all of our ordinances are out of wack, after all isn't this the very role of the planning commission anyway, last point Mark Belton said at the disrict(3) informational mtg. that the cost was over $100,000.00, I believe we could find a better place for that money, what do you think?
I heard that comment about the zoning contractor being $100,000. It surprised me because the budget only included $25,000 and when I put in a FOIA request to see the bids and the contract for that, I was told no contract had been awarded. So I'm wondering what conversation took place where that moved it up to $100,000, since I've been monitoring all the zoning subcommittee, planning commission, and board meetings and haven't heard a word about it.
I don't see how we can write a zoning ordinance without a Land Use Map anyway.
Alice
Where do we go from here?
It could be very question needed in these times.
I have decided where to go from here and that is to be sure that I make it
known to the supervisors and planning commission what is some peoples true home.
You are right Kim I do not live in a flood plain and in fact i have been in a sense homeless since my divorce
for over ten years now as I was before I was married and had a wonderful home in Ida Valley.
My true home has been sleeping under the stars and bathing in mountain streams and finding my place on this earth, in this valley, to be
the most precious of mountain ranges that is my roof and the high peaks being my cupola sleeping there under a blanket of stars when at one time
I use to wash in the Shenandoah River and the wonderful Karst landscape is a most beloved of rugs that are awash with aquifers to my water system and my friends and neighbors have been the deep forest Lady Slippers, and so much wildlife you would think
that never have you been in such a beautiful home that each season changes its furniture.
it is sacrosanct to me!
Yes you are right Steve, when this begins happening to my home and it is being threatened by polluted waters and toxic skies then here I am born into my activism......or as you say
Don’t tug on Superman’s cape! Don’t spit into the wind! And never tamper with people’s pocketbooks or property rights! It tends to turn very nice folks into a horde of very angry villagers with pitchforks and burning torches at the castle or courthouse gate.
as you would say Kim
I will protect my home with everything that I have. I will not be nice. I will not throw tea parties. I will wear my big-girl panties. I will call a spade a spade. I will be a thorn in the side of any person whose “vision for the county” is the theft of my home.
so there you have it
it is why I will testify if they ask me on an air quality bill addressing the polluting of the the top of my roof by coal burning factories in the Ohio Valley and creating a toxic mix for the villagers below on the east and west side of the Blue Ridge. It is why you will see me at the town meetings to tell the supervisors and planning commission not to forget and remember what many have found to be there true home. Lady Byrd Johnson says it so well
My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery,
order and disorder of the flowering earth
See you at the meetings!
Sooo . . . what does that mean you want done? Legislation against the coal burning factories in the Ohio Valley? Sounds like a good idea.
Jim Turner’s comment is well taken. I might add that both of our sister counties of Rockingham and Warren have high-end detailed comprehensive plans with maps and accompanying zoning ordinances. Between them they have many things in common with Page County and have clearly spent a great of amount of time and, no doubt, money to develop their zoning ordinances. It would seem to be more cost effective to exploit what has already been done elsewhere. Choose the best (closest fit) from the zoning ordinances of both counties and tailor them to accommodate Page County. Why spend an indeterminate amount of money to reinvent the wheel? Then again, that is what “consultants” tend to do. Reinvent the wheel!
Steve, I'm thinking "gee, an extra unbudgeted $75,000 for a consultant is about $7.50 per Page County family". I don't think it would go over well with the voters if they received a notice in the mail: Attention, Voters of Page County. Forego one lunch at Uncle Buck's this year, because you need to come up with an extra $7.50 for the zoning consultant."
I haven't seen anything on the agenda of either the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors to increase that budget line item. I'm hoping it couldn't be increased without getting on those agendas.
Also, there hasn't been an approval of letting a contract to any consultant, and I'm hoping that can't happen without getting on the agendas, too. This is the kind of thing we have to watch for. The original idea of spending $25,000 for a consultant was a bad idea, because you can't get enough of a consultant for that amount of money to get anything out of them. So I'm hoping that it will turn out that no consultant ever gets hired, and we end up giving the $2.50 each family in Page will pay for the consultant in the current budget back to the county for a more useful purpose in some other area.
Alice
This is one of the 5 points to my campaign platform, responsible spending, that is where it has to start. 1LOWERING/CONTROLLING TAXES 2RESPONSIBLE SPENDING 3MORE ECONOMIC INDUSTRY IN COUNTY 4LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE 5PROPERTY OWNERS RIGHTS Each of these are equally important, what do you think?
I think most people consider those points to be basic common sense. Last night at the county planning commission, there was further evidence that common sense is struggling to survive. Three members of the commission attempted to change the minutes of a past meeting, because they didn't want something to happen that did happen -- so their solution was going to be to change the minutes of the meeting! It was bizarre. Fortunately, the whole Planning Commission hasn't stepped through the looking glass, and clearer minds prevailed. But at the end of the meeting, Joy Lorien gave her speech -- partially the one that she posted here, but expanded. Her main point seemed to be that people who "advocated property rights" were people who were destroying the environment. She also announced that Friends of Page Valley was going to hold educational meetings to teach people about the impact of Karst topography.
I'll be happy to post the dates and times of those meetings, should anyone want to attend.
Alice
Alice
If you want to be a reliable source of information for the county you must not put words in peoples mouth. I never said nor even implied, as my speech is written down, that people who advocated property rights were people who were destroying the environment and I resent that you said this was my main point. It is a lie and I will be willing to print the whole speech and send it should anyone be interested.
I did say that many people, like the property right advocates, consider the land, the air we breathe, the water from the aquifers below this karst topography as sacrosant as you consider your rights pf property and that to this end i encourages the planning commision to protect and learn more about this place we live. One can go over this site and see that even those who are running for office have no environmental issues on their platform and you blithely pass over the word karst several times even telling me that you would not tell the farmers what to do even if they were living on karst. Protecting the environment does not work that way for me even if they are property owners or not.
As far as the cows who are allowed to go into our streams aand waterways and pollute it that is just uncalled for and why our Shenandoah River and streams have had problems over the years and why our groundwater is known to contain contaminates.I know several wonderful stewards of the land in Page County who have contacted our SWCD to help them with this very thing and have done the right thing for themselves and the whole community knowing that no one is an island unto themselves. Because of the topography that we live on we all affect each other and are all connected to each others well being.
Alice, you looked back at me several times as if to draw my attention to you and when i finally looked at you I was really hoping for at least a smile or a nod of 'lets work this out' but you gave me a scathing look and then rolled your eyes over me and turned away. So be it.
Joy, I apologize if I mis-heard the meaning of your speech. I am happy to hear that you do not think it is property rights advocates who are ruining the environment. I do think it would be very good if cows didn't go in the river.
Alice
Even though the enviroment is not listed on my list of platform items ,I believe that myself along with all canidates care very much about the enviroment in Page county , but as a represenative of a magority of people I feel I have to represent what the top issues are that are most important to the magority of people, one of the main issues that needs to be dealt with is this karst goverment. what do you think?
Jim, what do you mean when you say this karst government? Do you mean there are holes hidden under the surface, which could collapse?
This seems to be a popular word , at least with a few people, I thought I would put in a context that meant something to most people, I will leave it at that.
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