As in, the Party Line of the County.
Actually, this is good stuff. Go to the county website.
http://www.co.page.va.us
In an attempt to be responsive, which is what we all want, the county administrator has started posting explanations of issues there. You select Our Government, and then select FAQs.
There are three FAQs posted so far.
1. The Reassessment Process
2. The Battle Creek Landfill
3. Economic Development Efforts
Yes, it's the Party Line. but it's a start at being responsive, and I'm really impressed with it as an effort.
I applaud Mark Belton and the county administration for doing this. Information disseminated like this gives the citizens a good opportunity to ask thoughtful questions and participate in the process of governing.
Thank you, County Administration Team.
Alice
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Illegals in Page County?
Delegate Todd Gilbert will be on this panel. I don't get this channel, so if anybody watches it, post about what it said.
WVPT to air illegal immigration documentary
HARRISONBURG —WVPT will broadcast "Virginia Reports: The Latino Underground" at 9 p.m. Monday. The broadcast will feature interviews with several undocumented immigrants; Dr. Laura Zarrugh, a cultural anthropologist and adjunct professor at James Madison University; Charles Bowden, an author and investigative journalist who has spent more than 20 years writing about illegal immigration; George Taplin of the Virginia chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps; Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation; Micah Bump, a Georgetown University research associate; and others, including an immigration lawyer, Del. Todd Gilbert and Donald Ford, superintendent of Harrisonburg City schools.
The show will repeat at 10 p.m. Oct. 26, at 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and at 9 p.m. Nov. 1.
________________________________
Charlie Hoke introduced a resolution that the Board passed, asking the state to take stronger measures to keep illegals out of Virginia. Todd Gilbert, our Delegate, is on the governors panel to study this.
I think we are getting some illegals in the county. Why is this happening? Do we have jobs here that nobody is willing to take?
WVPT to air illegal immigration documentary
HARRISONBURG —WVPT will broadcast "Virginia Reports: The Latino Underground" at 9 p.m. Monday. The broadcast will feature interviews with several undocumented immigrants; Dr. Laura Zarrugh, a cultural anthropologist and adjunct professor at James Madison University; Charles Bowden, an author and investigative journalist who has spent more than 20 years writing about illegal immigration; George Taplin of the Virginia chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps; Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation; Micah Bump, a Georgetown University research associate; and others, including an immigration lawyer, Del. Todd Gilbert and Donald Ford, superintendent of Harrisonburg City schools.
The show will repeat at 10 p.m. Oct. 26, at 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and at 9 p.m. Nov. 1.
________________________________
Charlie Hoke introduced a resolution that the Board passed, asking the state to take stronger measures to keep illegals out of Virginia. Todd Gilbert, our Delegate, is on the governors panel to study this.
I think we are getting some illegals in the county. Why is this happening? Do we have jobs here that nobody is willing to take?
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Born at night
This forum is full of stupidity, foolishness, wrong thinking, dumbheadedness, stubbornness, and all the rest of the things that regular people are. But please let's not grind the cigarette butts into the open wounds, too.
This election will be over in a few weeks. What topics would YOU, the citizens of Page County, like to see covered AFTER the elections, knowing that the newly elected officers will see the forums? What are the top issues in the county for our government to address?
Alice
This election will be over in a few weeks. What topics would YOU, the citizens of Page County, like to see covered AFTER the elections, knowing that the newly elected officers will see the forums? What are the top issues in the county for our government to address?
Alice
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Wheels on the Bus
The following are the notes of one citizen who attended the meeting of the Board of Supervisors on October 16, 2007. They are not official minutes of the meeting.
1. The Board met in closed session to talk about buying property for a business park and for a county office building.
2. They passed an ordinance to add more members to the Economic Development Authority and stagger terms.
3. They changed some people’s 911 addresses.
4. They appointed Tommy LaFrance and John Rust to a committee to consider who should own the airport. (It is currently owned 50-50 by the Town of Luray and the county, and apparently there’s some reason to change that.)
5. They changed 3 tax assessments that Charlie Campbell said were mistakes.
6. Big News Alert! Mark Belton had some figures that said some state agency measured our real estate sales in actuals, compared to our real estate assessments, and the measure was 92.7%. That means our assessments are a little bit LOW compared to actual sales. So Mark suggested that maybe we want to reassess sooner, so there is not so much of a gap between our market value and our assessments. Tommy said, we’ll just keep an eye on that number and when it changes too much in either direction we can reassess again.
7. They appointed people to committees: John Van Wyck (sp?) was appointed to the Northwest Community Services Board, Dawn Liscomb Ponn was appointed to the Planning Commission, and Robin Stevens was appointed to the Community Policy and Management Team.
8. Mark Belton explained that in 2004, there was a court ordered audit of the landfill, which was a result of a citizen lawsuit, or petition, or something. Well, here it is 2007, and the auditors are just getting around to doing it. This only came up because the auditors are now sending bills for their work. By the end of this month there should be an audit report of what happened to the landfill and why things went wrong. Mr. Rogerson (a member of the audience, not a board member), said the reason the citizens filed that lawsuit was in the hopes of getting some of the lost money recovered, which is now a moot point since it took so long to do the audit. The auditors are allowed by the court to bill $30,000 for their work. So the point is moot and irrelevant now, but the bill for the auditors is actual now. Mark thinks the report will say something like, “there was a bad contract in place and it wasn’t monitored closely”. But since the audit was court ordered, it will take place anyway.
9. The auditors for the fiscal year financials that ended June 30 will be late with their report this year because the documents they need were taken to the court in Abingdon.
10. Mr. La France wanted to set the record straight in response to Randy Arrington’s editorial in the Page News last week. Randy said there was an “us vs them” mentality between the county and the town, and he suggested there should have been more communication about the Salyards business, Shenandoah Waste Services, and maybe the three towns should have a seat on the Economic Development Authority. Tommy wanted to be sure everybody knew that there was this ordinance which had been in process of being passed since July 18, 2006, that would put new members on the EDA, including one from each town. He showed a stack of emails from Tom Cardman, Economic Development Director, and the town about the SWS business, and he pointed out that the town Planning Commission approved the SWS location. He said that 1 ½ to 2 years ago, the Board considered economic development to be the biggest challenge facing them, and they had to change from Industrial Development to Economic Development Authority and we are a Dillon Rule state, whatever that means, and now we’re adding people to the EDA, and all of this stuff takes time to get passed.
11. Tommy asked our attorney to look into other ways to make public announcements other than the Page News. (Now, would that action be motivated in order to make it easier for the public? Or is that vengeance over an editorial? Surely it must be because our Board Chairman is ever searching for ways to make the public aware of what the Board is doing.)
Citizen comments:
John Rogerson said:
1. If we build the longer runway at the airport and the hangars, and the people don’t come with their airplanes, are we going to end up having to pay out of our taxes for a failed airport that only benefits a few families? And also, putting John Rust and Tom LaFrance on the committee to discuss ownership of the airport is stacked, because both of them are for the airport expansion. (Tom answered this, and after many words, it sounded like the answer was yes, the taxpayers will be stuck with a loan that doesn’t get paid back if the airport were to fail to get the hangars filled.)
2. The purpose of the landfill lawsuit was both to hope to get some money back, and also to send a message to future Boards that they had to follow the law when paying invoices, and not just pay for things that hadn’t been received, just because they got a bill.
3. Maybe Randy didn’t get some things right in his editorial, but the fact that there is a dysfunctional relationship between the town and the county was the point, and that was correct. There is also a North-South divide in the county between the town of Luray vs the towns of Stanley and Shenandoah.
4. John Rogerson said Tom Cardman (EDA director) and Henry Mikus (Landfill Manager) both just got big pay raises, but the county hasn’t gotten any new business and the landfill doesn’t meet its minimum intake to breakeven. He wonders why pay isn’t tied to performance. He said it’s not right to say the landfill has forty years life left, because we were putting in 1500 to 2000 tons a day and that’s not calculated in correctly.
5. He said now that everybody knows you’re trying to buy land for an industrial park and for the county office building, everybody who’s willing to sell will raise the prices.
6. He said, for the county office building, why did you buy the land and get the plans ready, at a cost of $400,000 and then just throw them away over a tree that nobody knows where the documents are that say it’s a historical tree, and if you can overturn the guy’s will who didn’t want you to park the cars for the fairground on his land, why can’t you adapt the plans around an old tree?
Supervisors responses:
1. Charlie “Potted Plant” Hoke, said what he always says, “Thanks for coming.”
2. John Rust said, “Don’t forget to come out to vote. Voting is your input into government.”
3. Gerald Cubbage said a couple of interesting things, about building coalitions and getting the towns involved.
4. Carol Lee said coalitions are where it’s at, and Shenandoah has an office of the EDA and also a Chamber of Commerce in Stevens Cottage.
5. Tom said the airport is paid for 95% by federal, 3% by state, 1% by county and 1% by town. If the hangars are built there is a federal grant plus the county has to give a loan to the airport for the rest, but the loan will be paid back from the money for renting the hangars. The hangars need 27 out of 30 filled in order to pay the loan back.
So that’s your local government at work.
Alice's Opinion: Leadership is in choosing the topics to be discussed, in setting the course, and in working toward goals. What are the goals here? What is not being talked about that needs to be? What issues are not addressed and ignored every time they're brought up? VOTE NOVEMBER 6. Good, informed voting is the beginning of good government. Then holding those elected accountable to the people is step 2.
And I'm just going to ASSUME that Chairman LaFrance asked the county attorney to find a way to inform the public about hearings other than the Page News because our Board Chairman is concerned about getting the news out to the people in better ways.
1. The Board met in closed session to talk about buying property for a business park and for a county office building.
2. They passed an ordinance to add more members to the Economic Development Authority and stagger terms.
3. They changed some people’s 911 addresses.
4. They appointed Tommy LaFrance and John Rust to a committee to consider who should own the airport. (It is currently owned 50-50 by the Town of Luray and the county, and apparently there’s some reason to change that.)
5. They changed 3 tax assessments that Charlie Campbell said were mistakes.
6. Big News Alert! Mark Belton had some figures that said some state agency measured our real estate sales in actuals, compared to our real estate assessments, and the measure was 92.7%. That means our assessments are a little bit LOW compared to actual sales. So Mark suggested that maybe we want to reassess sooner, so there is not so much of a gap between our market value and our assessments. Tommy said, we’ll just keep an eye on that number and when it changes too much in either direction we can reassess again.
7. They appointed people to committees: John Van Wyck (sp?) was appointed to the Northwest Community Services Board, Dawn Liscomb Ponn was appointed to the Planning Commission, and Robin Stevens was appointed to the Community Policy and Management Team.
8. Mark Belton explained that in 2004, there was a court ordered audit of the landfill, which was a result of a citizen lawsuit, or petition, or something. Well, here it is 2007, and the auditors are just getting around to doing it. This only came up because the auditors are now sending bills for their work. By the end of this month there should be an audit report of what happened to the landfill and why things went wrong. Mr. Rogerson (a member of the audience, not a board member), said the reason the citizens filed that lawsuit was in the hopes of getting some of the lost money recovered, which is now a moot point since it took so long to do the audit. The auditors are allowed by the court to bill $30,000 for their work. So the point is moot and irrelevant now, but the bill for the auditors is actual now. Mark thinks the report will say something like, “there was a bad contract in place and it wasn’t monitored closely”. But since the audit was court ordered, it will take place anyway.
9. The auditors for the fiscal year financials that ended June 30 will be late with their report this year because the documents they need were taken to the court in Abingdon.
10. Mr. La France wanted to set the record straight in response to Randy Arrington’s editorial in the Page News last week. Randy said there was an “us vs them” mentality between the county and the town, and he suggested there should have been more communication about the Salyards business, Shenandoah Waste Services, and maybe the three towns should have a seat on the Economic Development Authority. Tommy wanted to be sure everybody knew that there was this ordinance which had been in process of being passed since July 18, 2006, that would put new members on the EDA, including one from each town. He showed a stack of emails from Tom Cardman, Economic Development Director, and the town about the SWS business, and he pointed out that the town Planning Commission approved the SWS location. He said that 1 ½ to 2 years ago, the Board considered economic development to be the biggest challenge facing them, and they had to change from Industrial Development to Economic Development Authority and we are a Dillon Rule state, whatever that means, and now we’re adding people to the EDA, and all of this stuff takes time to get passed.
11. Tommy asked our attorney to look into other ways to make public announcements other than the Page News. (Now, would that action be motivated in order to make it easier for the public? Or is that vengeance over an editorial? Surely it must be because our Board Chairman is ever searching for ways to make the public aware of what the Board is doing.)
Citizen comments:
John Rogerson said:
1. If we build the longer runway at the airport and the hangars, and the people don’t come with their airplanes, are we going to end up having to pay out of our taxes for a failed airport that only benefits a few families? And also, putting John Rust and Tom LaFrance on the committee to discuss ownership of the airport is stacked, because both of them are for the airport expansion. (Tom answered this, and after many words, it sounded like the answer was yes, the taxpayers will be stuck with a loan that doesn’t get paid back if the airport were to fail to get the hangars filled.)
2. The purpose of the landfill lawsuit was both to hope to get some money back, and also to send a message to future Boards that they had to follow the law when paying invoices, and not just pay for things that hadn’t been received, just because they got a bill.
3. Maybe Randy didn’t get some things right in his editorial, but the fact that there is a dysfunctional relationship between the town and the county was the point, and that was correct. There is also a North-South divide in the county between the town of Luray vs the towns of Stanley and Shenandoah.
4. John Rogerson said Tom Cardman (EDA director) and Henry Mikus (Landfill Manager) both just got big pay raises, but the county hasn’t gotten any new business and the landfill doesn’t meet its minimum intake to breakeven. He wonders why pay isn’t tied to performance. He said it’s not right to say the landfill has forty years life left, because we were putting in 1500 to 2000 tons a day and that’s not calculated in correctly.
5. He said now that everybody knows you’re trying to buy land for an industrial park and for the county office building, everybody who’s willing to sell will raise the prices.
6. He said, for the county office building, why did you buy the land and get the plans ready, at a cost of $400,000 and then just throw them away over a tree that nobody knows where the documents are that say it’s a historical tree, and if you can overturn the guy’s will who didn’t want you to park the cars for the fairground on his land, why can’t you adapt the plans around an old tree?
Supervisors responses:
1. Charlie “Potted Plant” Hoke, said what he always says, “Thanks for coming.”
2. John Rust said, “Don’t forget to come out to vote. Voting is your input into government.”
3. Gerald Cubbage said a couple of interesting things, about building coalitions and getting the towns involved.
4. Carol Lee said coalitions are where it’s at, and Shenandoah has an office of the EDA and also a Chamber of Commerce in Stevens Cottage.
5. Tom said the airport is paid for 95% by federal, 3% by state, 1% by county and 1% by town. If the hangars are built there is a federal grant plus the county has to give a loan to the airport for the rest, but the loan will be paid back from the money for renting the hangars. The hangars need 27 out of 30 filled in order to pay the loan back.
So that’s your local government at work.
Alice's Opinion: Leadership is in choosing the topics to be discussed, in setting the course, and in working toward goals. What are the goals here? What is not being talked about that needs to be? What issues are not addressed and ignored every time they're brought up? VOTE NOVEMBER 6. Good, informed voting is the beginning of good government. Then holding those elected accountable to the people is step 2.
And I'm just going to ASSUME that Chairman LaFrance asked the county attorney to find a way to inform the public about hearings other than the Page News because our Board Chairman is concerned about getting the news out to the people in better ways.
Friday, October 12, 2007
School Safety
Many people have called in to the radio, on the shows for Supervisors, for School Board, and again for Sheriffs, bringing up resource officers in the schools. Here is an email I received from April Campbell.
________________________________________________________________________________
Alice,
After listening to your radio show this morning with the
four candidates for sheriff, I found myself in question of
something. I am a student at Lord Fairfax Community College
here in Luray and I also have a 1st grader who attends Luray
Elementary, and another child who will be attending public
school next year. I am a concerned student, parent and
taxpayer in the county of Page. The lack of resource
officers in our schools is something that should be a top
priority and concern for all parents, teachers and
students.
Back to my question: If the county is so interested in
building 2 new schools, are they interested in protecting
the students who will be attending these 2 brand new
schools? And if not, why? Also, what do the board of
supervisors plan on doing to obtain the needed funds for
this project, or do they? If they do, when? Does a child,
student or teacher need to be hurt for someone to wake up
and realize that the protection of our educational
facilities should be a top priority?
To my county supervisor, Charles Hoke, will you be planning
on voting for providing the funds to the newly elected
sheriff of Page County for the protection of our precious
children?
I think that opening up a blog to address this concern,
could be a great asset to finding a solution to this serious
problem.
Thank You
April Campbell
________________________________________________________________________________
Alice,
After listening to your radio show this morning with the
four candidates for sheriff, I found myself in question of
something. I am a student at Lord Fairfax Community College
here in Luray and I also have a 1st grader who attends Luray
Elementary, and another child who will be attending public
school next year. I am a concerned student, parent and
taxpayer in the county of Page. The lack of resource
officers in our schools is something that should be a top
priority and concern for all parents, teachers and
students.
Back to my question: If the county is so interested in
building 2 new schools, are they interested in protecting
the students who will be attending these 2 brand new
schools? And if not, why? Also, what do the board of
supervisors plan on doing to obtain the needed funds for
this project, or do they? If they do, when? Does a child,
student or teacher need to be hurt for someone to wake up
and realize that the protection of our educational
facilities should be a top priority?
To my county supervisor, Charles Hoke, will you be planning
on voting for providing the funds to the newly elected
sheriff of Page County for the protection of our precious
children?
I think that opening up a blog to address this concern,
could be a great asset to finding a solution to this serious
problem.
Thank You
April Campbell
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Outlanders River Camp
Here’s a good example of how zoning ordinances impact people.
The folks who own and operate Outlanders want to create a new campground business in the county off of Rte 211. It will be located on the Southfork adjacent to the bridge at Whitehouse. To do this, they have to get some of the property’s zoning changed. The need to change it from residential/commercial to agricultural use. Campgrounds can only be located on property zoned for agricultural or woodland use. A small portion of the 80 acres of the property is already zoned agricultural.
To get the zoning changed, they had to have all the plans ready and take their plan to the Planning Commission. The commission will have a public hearing about it after they have reviewed it in their work sessions.
They are planning a phased development. Ultimately, there will be 100 sites for camping accommodations ranging from primitive camping to “high end” luxury camping cabins. The Planning Commission seemed basically pleased to entertain this venture. Based on the presentation, it would seem the Outlanders folks have done an extremely good job of considering the visual impact of the business on the county and appeared to have touched all the bases with all of the county entities (health, building, planning, etc.) required to proceed with the project. They plan to protect the scenic nature of the county by using low level lighting, hiding the site from the road by putting in trees, and keeping the signs unobtrusive.
After they get the county to approve changing their zoning from Residential/Commercial to Agricultural, the next thing they need is a special use permit to let them have a campground. The duration of the special use permit would be 30 years and pass with the property should it ever be sold.
While the current ownership has all good intentions, perhaps even to the level of creating a gold standard for campgrounds, if it is ever sold, a subsequent owner may not be so well intentioned. To that end, the Planning Commission is required to include provisions within any special use permit that will specifically set forth the conditions of the permit. Mr. Shanks cautioned the Planning Commission to think those conditions over very carefully and ensure they are clear and enforceable. Pretty good advice!
There are a lot of details remaining to be worked out (for example: how many people will be allowed to stay there? How long can they stay? What kind of special events could go on there? These details are important because right now, Outlanders is planning a nice campground, but the permit lasts for 30 years. So if somebody bought it from Outlanders, the permit would still stand. What if the new owners wanted to turn it into a migrant labor camp, or a Woodstock-type event? That's why the permit has to be very specific, so it is just for the type of thing that Outlanders wants to do. The Planning Commission will be addressing the details of the special use permit at their next Regular Session (23 October)
Old Business:
Ms. Hammel, Chairman of the By-Right Subdivision subcommittee has been working toward having its presentation for the Planning Commission by the meeting on 12 November. If anyone is interested in this action, now would be the time to look at what the subcommittee is doing. Citizens can attend their meetings every Thursday at 7 p.m. at the courthouse. See the post By Right Subdivisions in September.
The folks who own and operate Outlanders want to create a new campground business in the county off of Rte 211. It will be located on the Southfork adjacent to the bridge at Whitehouse. To do this, they have to get some of the property’s zoning changed. The need to change it from residential/commercial to agricultural use. Campgrounds can only be located on property zoned for agricultural or woodland use. A small portion of the 80 acres of the property is already zoned agricultural.
To get the zoning changed, they had to have all the plans ready and take their plan to the Planning Commission. The commission will have a public hearing about it after they have reviewed it in their work sessions.
They are planning a phased development. Ultimately, there will be 100 sites for camping accommodations ranging from primitive camping to “high end” luxury camping cabins. The Planning Commission seemed basically pleased to entertain this venture. Based on the presentation, it would seem the Outlanders folks have done an extremely good job of considering the visual impact of the business on the county and appeared to have touched all the bases with all of the county entities (health, building, planning, etc.) required to proceed with the project. They plan to protect the scenic nature of the county by using low level lighting, hiding the site from the road by putting in trees, and keeping the signs unobtrusive.
After they get the county to approve changing their zoning from Residential/Commercial to Agricultural, the next thing they need is a special use permit to let them have a campground. The duration of the special use permit would be 30 years and pass with the property should it ever be sold.
While the current ownership has all good intentions, perhaps even to the level of creating a gold standard for campgrounds, if it is ever sold, a subsequent owner may not be so well intentioned. To that end, the Planning Commission is required to include provisions within any special use permit that will specifically set forth the conditions of the permit. Mr. Shanks cautioned the Planning Commission to think those conditions over very carefully and ensure they are clear and enforceable. Pretty good advice!
There are a lot of details remaining to be worked out (for example: how many people will be allowed to stay there? How long can they stay? What kind of special events could go on there? These details are important because right now, Outlanders is planning a nice campground, but the permit lasts for 30 years. So if somebody bought it from Outlanders, the permit would still stand. What if the new owners wanted to turn it into a migrant labor camp, or a Woodstock-type event? That's why the permit has to be very specific, so it is just for the type of thing that Outlanders wants to do. The Planning Commission will be addressing the details of the special use permit at their next Regular Session (23 October)
Old Business:
Ms. Hammel, Chairman of the By-Right Subdivision subcommittee has been working toward having its presentation for the Planning Commission by the meeting on 12 November. If anyone is interested in this action, now would be the time to look at what the subcommittee is doing. Citizens can attend their meetings every Thursday at 7 p.m. at the courthouse. See the post By Right Subdivisions in September.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
And it's "Not in My Backyard"
With not much more to say, the Town Council of Luray voted unanimously to deny Shenandoah Waste Services permission to locate in the industrial park. (See the thread "What's the Deal?")
Although some council members visited a similar facility and were disappointed, SWS maintains that the facility they visited was not as similar as they believed, and did not represent the operations that SWS is proposing.
The next move is up to the county now. SWS is currently operating in the county, and it would take a change to the zoning ordinance -- something in process in varying degrees anyway in the county -- to let it continue to operate in its current location.
Both EMCO and the DEQ are supportive of this operation.
Although some council members visited a similar facility and were disappointed, SWS maintains that the facility they visited was not as similar as they believed, and did not represent the operations that SWS is proposing.
The next move is up to the county now. SWS is currently operating in the county, and it would take a change to the zoning ordinance -- something in process in varying degrees anyway in the county -- to let it continue to operate in its current location.
Both EMCO and the DEQ are supportive of this operation.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Boy, am I dumb
I am an idiot. I’m running off at the mouth about why doesn’t anybody care about the zoning ordinances and the Land Use Map and the Board of Supervisors, and what is this big fascination with the sheriffs, and why does everybody care about the sheriffs when the supervisors impact your life more. And finally somebody has the sense to say, “Hey, Alice. What’s a zoning ordinance?”
Thank you so much for that question, because it tells me why so few people were interested. I can’t believe I was so dumb as to just blabber away about this stuff. There is no such thing as a dumb question, so I appreciate you calling a time out so I can explain this.
Here’s what it is and why it’s important.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. What is a zoning ordinance.
When you buy land or a house, you think you own that property, and you can live your life as you choose and do what you want with your land. You sure spend enough money on it, and you pay taxes on it, so we all think it’s really ours to decide. But it turns out that our laws say you can only do what is allowed within a set of special, local county laws, called our Page County Zoning Ordinances. So if you want to put a deck on your house, or add a new room, or put a shed in the back, or add another bathroom, or put an apartment above the garage for your mother in law to live in, you have to ask the county if you have permission to do that, by getting a Building Permit. When you go to the county to ask for a Building Permit, they will check the set of laws called the zoning ordinances first, to see if you are allowed to do that on your land.
These zoning ordinances will even tell you if you can divide up your land and sell pieces off. For example, suppose a piece of land has been in your family for the last three generations. Let’s say you want to break it up into ten lots, because you want each of your children and your nephews and nieces to have a space to build their own house. The zoning ordinances will say in there whether you are allowed to do that.
Another example: suppose you want to sell your family land to a developer to build a housing development. Suppose this would be the best price you could get for your land. The zoning ordinances will say if you are allowed to sell for that purpose.
Another example: suppose you buy a piece of land and you want to build a house on it. The zoning ordinances will say if you are allowed to build on it, and what kind of building it can be. They will also tell you if you are allowed to fix cars in your garage, or sell eggs from your home, or raise goats in your yard.
2. Where do zoning ordinances come from?
The state of Virginia has a code, or a set of rules about how to write laws. This Virginia code says that each county is supposed to lay out their land on a map, and together as a community, come up with a plan for how the community wants that land to be used. Depending on things like how the roads and the mountains and the valleys lay out, the community should pick places where it would be good to have heavy industry, where a lot of trucks come in and out, and other places where it would be good to have retail stores, and places where it should just be open green space and untouched land or parks, and other places where there should be houses and apartment buildings. This community based “vision” of how the land lays out is called a Land Use Map, and it is supposed to be part of each county’s “Comprehensive Plan”.
Our Board of Supervisors is charged with approving this Comprehensive Plan, and they did that in June, but they didn’t ask anybody what the vision was. They just decided for themselves without citizen input.
Oh, and they also forgot to put the Land Use Map in it. So to correct that, they are hiring this consultant, and the consultant is going to hold meetings with the citizens to ask how to lay out where we want business and where we want houses. The reason I and some others object to spending the $43,000 for the consultant to do that is because I think it would be better to have our own county employees and supervisors ask the citizens where they see the vision of the land use, instead of paying a consultant. We will probably need a consultant later, after the land use map is done, to help us to write the correct language that will be legal and pass the Virginia code, and we should save the money for that. The consultant wants $112,000 total, and the $43,000 is just to start, for the easy part.
We don’t have the whole $112,000 budgeted, so to pay the consultant, we have to raise taxes again in the future.
3. How do these decisions get made?
During each election, we elect 3 out of our 6 County Supervisors. One is elected for each of our five Districts. The county is divided into districts based on population. There is also a sixth supervisor who is elected “at large” to cover the whole county, and that person is the chairman of the board. Each supervisor who is associated with a district may appoint two people to be “planning commissioners”. That makes a total of 10 planning commissioners. The planning commissioners meet twice a month at the courthouse, and they consider people’s requests to change the zoning of their land. They can ask for a “special use permit” if the zoning doesn’t let them do what they want to do.
For example, maybe a person wants to build three houses on their land, and they have to ask for a special permission. The Planning Commission listens to their argument about why they want to do it, and they decide yes or no.
If the Planning Commission decides no, then the person is not allowed to do what they want with their own land. If they decide yes, then the person gets to ask the Board of Supervisors if they can do it. In theory, the Board is supposed to look at the Land Use Map and see if the request will fit in. But we don’t have a Land Use Map so they just decide whatever they think is right, without one.
If the Board then says no, the person cannot do what they want to do with their land.
4. What is the consultant going to do?
Hopefully, the consultant will help us get a land use map so that zoning decisions can be made from it. If the consultant is worth what we are paying him, he will hold citizen meetings to get input about how the land use map should be. But if the citizens don’t care and don’t show up at the meetings, the consultant will still get paid, and then our land use map will be what someone other than the citizens (the click? The Trogs and the Crits?) wants instead of what the community wants. Then we can use that map to write more zoning ordinances. There is one being rewritten right now. It is called the ByRight Subdivision ordinance (ordinance means law, or local law). It is about what you can do if you want to sell off pieces of your land. It tells you the rules for selling it off.
_______________________________________________________________
I hope I have explained it more clearly. If you have any other questions, please do not feel embarrassed about asking. I should have realized this would not be common knowledge.
To get involved with this process, and make your voice heard and your wishes known, come to these county meetings. The schedule for them is on the county website at http://www.pagecountyvirginia.gov and you can call the county office at 743-4142 to find out the location and what is going to be talked about. You can also ask the county to automatically notify you by email if any meetings are being held. You can also ask the county for copies of the minutes of the meetings, but they take months to print them, so the best thing is to keep reading this website. We try to post what happened the next day.
They are usually on Monday or Tuesday nights at the Luray Courthouse, or at Stanley Elementary School or Shenandoah Elementary School.
Thank you so much for that question, because it tells me why so few people were interested. I can’t believe I was so dumb as to just blabber away about this stuff. There is no such thing as a dumb question, so I appreciate you calling a time out so I can explain this.
Here’s what it is and why it’s important.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. What is a zoning ordinance.
When you buy land or a house, you think you own that property, and you can live your life as you choose and do what you want with your land. You sure spend enough money on it, and you pay taxes on it, so we all think it’s really ours to decide. But it turns out that our laws say you can only do what is allowed within a set of special, local county laws, called our Page County Zoning Ordinances. So if you want to put a deck on your house, or add a new room, or put a shed in the back, or add another bathroom, or put an apartment above the garage for your mother in law to live in, you have to ask the county if you have permission to do that, by getting a Building Permit. When you go to the county to ask for a Building Permit, they will check the set of laws called the zoning ordinances first, to see if you are allowed to do that on your land.
These zoning ordinances will even tell you if you can divide up your land and sell pieces off. For example, suppose a piece of land has been in your family for the last three generations. Let’s say you want to break it up into ten lots, because you want each of your children and your nephews and nieces to have a space to build their own house. The zoning ordinances will say in there whether you are allowed to do that.
Another example: suppose you want to sell your family land to a developer to build a housing development. Suppose this would be the best price you could get for your land. The zoning ordinances will say if you are allowed to sell for that purpose.
Another example: suppose you buy a piece of land and you want to build a house on it. The zoning ordinances will say if you are allowed to build on it, and what kind of building it can be. They will also tell you if you are allowed to fix cars in your garage, or sell eggs from your home, or raise goats in your yard.
2. Where do zoning ordinances come from?
The state of Virginia has a code, or a set of rules about how to write laws. This Virginia code says that each county is supposed to lay out their land on a map, and together as a community, come up with a plan for how the community wants that land to be used. Depending on things like how the roads and the mountains and the valleys lay out, the community should pick places where it would be good to have heavy industry, where a lot of trucks come in and out, and other places where it would be good to have retail stores, and places where it should just be open green space and untouched land or parks, and other places where there should be houses and apartment buildings. This community based “vision” of how the land lays out is called a Land Use Map, and it is supposed to be part of each county’s “Comprehensive Plan”.
Our Board of Supervisors is charged with approving this Comprehensive Plan, and they did that in June, but they didn’t ask anybody what the vision was. They just decided for themselves without citizen input.
Oh, and they also forgot to put the Land Use Map in it. So to correct that, they are hiring this consultant, and the consultant is going to hold meetings with the citizens to ask how to lay out where we want business and where we want houses. The reason I and some others object to spending the $43,000 for the consultant to do that is because I think it would be better to have our own county employees and supervisors ask the citizens where they see the vision of the land use, instead of paying a consultant. We will probably need a consultant later, after the land use map is done, to help us to write the correct language that will be legal and pass the Virginia code, and we should save the money for that. The consultant wants $112,000 total, and the $43,000 is just to start, for the easy part.
We don’t have the whole $112,000 budgeted, so to pay the consultant, we have to raise taxes again in the future.
3. How do these decisions get made?
During each election, we elect 3 out of our 6 County Supervisors. One is elected for each of our five Districts. The county is divided into districts based on population. There is also a sixth supervisor who is elected “at large” to cover the whole county, and that person is the chairman of the board. Each supervisor who is associated with a district may appoint two people to be “planning commissioners”. That makes a total of 10 planning commissioners. The planning commissioners meet twice a month at the courthouse, and they consider people’s requests to change the zoning of their land. They can ask for a “special use permit” if the zoning doesn’t let them do what they want to do.
For example, maybe a person wants to build three houses on their land, and they have to ask for a special permission. The Planning Commission listens to their argument about why they want to do it, and they decide yes or no.
If the Planning Commission decides no, then the person is not allowed to do what they want with their own land. If they decide yes, then the person gets to ask the Board of Supervisors if they can do it. In theory, the Board is supposed to look at the Land Use Map and see if the request will fit in. But we don’t have a Land Use Map so they just decide whatever they think is right, without one.
If the Board then says no, the person cannot do what they want to do with their land.
4. What is the consultant going to do?
Hopefully, the consultant will help us get a land use map so that zoning decisions can be made from it. If the consultant is worth what we are paying him, he will hold citizen meetings to get input about how the land use map should be. But if the citizens don’t care and don’t show up at the meetings, the consultant will still get paid, and then our land use map will be what someone other than the citizens (the click? The Trogs and the Crits?) wants instead of what the community wants. Then we can use that map to write more zoning ordinances. There is one being rewritten right now. It is called the ByRight Subdivision ordinance (ordinance means law, or local law). It is about what you can do if you want to sell off pieces of your land. It tells you the rules for selling it off.
_______________________________________________________________
I hope I have explained it more clearly. If you have any other questions, please do not feel embarrassed about asking. I should have realized this would not be common knowledge.
To get involved with this process, and make your voice heard and your wishes known, come to these county meetings. The schedule for them is on the county website at http://www.pagecountyvirginia.gov and you can call the county office at 743-4142 to find out the location and what is going to be talked about. You can also ask the county to automatically notify you by email if any meetings are being held. You can also ask the county for copies of the minutes of the meetings, but they take months to print them, so the best thing is to keep reading this website. We try to post what happened the next day.
They are usually on Monday or Tuesday nights at the Luray Courthouse, or at Stanley Elementary School or Shenandoah Elementary School.
COMPLAINTS DEPT
If you would like to register a complaint against something that was posted and shouldn't have been, or something that wasn't posted and should have been, my email is Research@PageCountyWatch.org
You must sign your name to complain.
Here are the Posting Rules
You must sign your name to complain.
Here are the Posting Rules
Friday, October 5, 2007
What's the Deal?
The Salyards Business. What's the Deal?
Is this good for Page County or is it bad? What do we know about it?
Email Research@PageCountyWatch.org and let us know. The Town Council votes Tuesday night. Are they going to let a new business in, and bring jobs? Or are they going to chase it away?
Why or why not? Post what you know.
Jody sent this information in. I have signed his online petition. The link is here for anyone else who wants to. Also, the phone numbers of the town council members are here so you can call them and express your opinion.
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for the opportunity to express our views this morning on you show. Here is some basic information about our proposed facility.
Shenandoah Waste Services, llc is requesting a special use permit to operate a Materials Recovery Center in the Town of Luray, Virginia, on the north side of Stoney Brook Lane, south of U.S. Route 211, and north of the present location of the EMCO Enterprises manufacturing facility. This project will create 80 new jobs paying over $30,000 per year for the people of Page County, help protect the 280 jobs at Emco, and place Page County on the forefront of environmental responsibility. The proposed facility will not operate as a transfer station, will comply with all state and federal environmental laws, and lengthen the life of our current landfill. This facility will attract other industry to the County of Page creating future Job growth so that the people of Page County are not forced to commute outside the county for employment. Our main concentration is to help manufacturing facilities obtain waste free status by recycling there cardboard, wood, ferrous and nonferrous metals, plastics, drywall, and shingles. all operations will be indoors, there will be no processing of garbage, hazardous waste or infectious waste. The plant will help local builders be able to achieve green building credits. We urge all of the constituents of the Town of Luray and the County of Page to contact the staff , mayor, and members of the town council of Luray to express you support the Council will vote on this request Tuesday October the 9th.
Also please sign our online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/sws10909/petition.html
Mayor of the Town of Luray
Ralph H. Dean 540-743-3208
Luray Town Council
Barry Presgraves 540-743-5326
William Menefee 540-743-7721
Lonnie Arrington 540-743-2556
Earl L. “Rock” Racer 540-743-5439
Nancy Lee Shifflett 540-743-6709
Leroy Lancaster 540-743-5072
Town Planner
Ligon Webb 540-743-5511
Town Manager
Rick Black 540-743-5511
Is this good for Page County or is it bad? What do we know about it?
Email Research@PageCountyWatch.org and let us know. The Town Council votes Tuesday night. Are they going to let a new business in, and bring jobs? Or are they going to chase it away?
Why or why not? Post what you know.
Jody sent this information in. I have signed his online petition. The link is here for anyone else who wants to. Also, the phone numbers of the town council members are here so you can call them and express your opinion.
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for the opportunity to express our views this morning on you show. Here is some basic information about our proposed facility.
Shenandoah Waste Services, llc is requesting a special use permit to operate a Materials Recovery Center in the Town of Luray, Virginia, on the north side of Stoney Brook Lane, south of U.S. Route 211, and north of the present location of the EMCO Enterprises manufacturing facility. This project will create 80 new jobs paying over $30,000 per year for the people of Page County, help protect the 280 jobs at Emco, and place Page County on the forefront of environmental responsibility. The proposed facility will not operate as a transfer station, will comply with all state and federal environmental laws, and lengthen the life of our current landfill. This facility will attract other industry to the County of Page creating future Job growth so that the people of Page County are not forced to commute outside the county for employment. Our main concentration is to help manufacturing facilities obtain waste free status by recycling there cardboard, wood, ferrous and nonferrous metals, plastics, drywall, and shingles. all operations will be indoors, there will be no processing of garbage, hazardous waste or infectious waste. The plant will help local builders be able to achieve green building credits. We urge all of the constituents of the Town of Luray and the County of Page to contact the staff , mayor, and members of the town council of Luray to express you support the Council will vote on this request Tuesday October the 9th.
Also please sign our online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/sws10909/petition.html
Mayor of the Town of Luray
Ralph H. Dean 540-743-3208
Luray Town Council
Barry Presgraves 540-743-5326
William Menefee 540-743-7721
Lonnie Arrington 540-743-2556
Earl L. “Rock” Racer 540-743-5439
Nancy Lee Shifflett 540-743-6709
Leroy Lancaster 540-743-5072
Town Planner
Ligon Webb 540-743-5511
Town Manager
Rick Black 540-743-5511
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
AND the Zoning Consultant is IN!
Page County Board of Supervisors Work Session, Oct. 2, 2007.
Present at meeting Hoke, Rust, La France, Strickler, Cubbage.
The first item on the agenda was the Monthly Report from the Public Works Department by Henry Mikus.
He reported that they had a Public Hearing in September on Amendment 7 for the Battlefield Landfill and that it was a very positive meeting. He also noted that their 2 year anniversary is coming up soon.
He said that repairs had been made to floor joists in the circuit court room and a privacy railing had been added in one of the offices.
He told the board that the paper recycling plant in Edinburg was closing and that he would need to find a new company to handle our paper products.
The second agenda item was the New Stanley Well Location by Henry Mikus.
Mr. Mikus talked about the wells near the landfill being closed and the new well location off Goodrich Road. They need electric run for the new well and they discussed whether to have underground or above ground cable. He said they also need a new pump and a fence around the well. The board also discussed digging the electric line and water line at the same time to save money.
Mr. Mikus said there would be a Public Hearing on the Town Annexation on Oct. 30.
The board changed there November work session to Wednesday November 7 at Stanley.
The next agenda item was the Ordinance Amendment on the Personal Property Tax for Aircraft.
Dr. Cardman and Mr. Markowitz discussed the economic benefits of lowering the personal property tax on aircraft to .50 on the accessed value. After some disagreement from Hoke the amendment passed unanimously.
The next agenda item was the Contract for the Phase 1 of the Zoning Ordinance Update. Kevin Henry told the Board that the Planning Commission unanimously supported the update. After some discussion the Board approved the Contract.
Next Tom Cardman talked about the Wrangler Job Retention Grant. This is as I understand it a $65,000.00 dollar incentive grant in the form of a machine and tool tax reduction for employee retention. The Board approved the grant.
Lastly Shanks talked about the Ordinance for the Economic Development Authority Membership. He was talking about staggered terms for members.
They then went into closed session to discuss:
Consultation with Legal Counsel and Briefings by Staff Members Pertaining to Probable Litigation.
Discussion Concerning a Prospective Business or Industry
Acquisition of Real Property
Present at meeting Hoke, Rust, La France, Strickler, Cubbage.
The first item on the agenda was the Monthly Report from the Public Works Department by Henry Mikus.
He reported that they had a Public Hearing in September on Amendment 7 for the Battlefield Landfill and that it was a very positive meeting. He also noted that their 2 year anniversary is coming up soon.
He said that repairs had been made to floor joists in the circuit court room and a privacy railing had been added in one of the offices.
He told the board that the paper recycling plant in Edinburg was closing and that he would need to find a new company to handle our paper products.
The second agenda item was the New Stanley Well Location by Henry Mikus.
Mr. Mikus talked about the wells near the landfill being closed and the new well location off Goodrich Road. They need electric run for the new well and they discussed whether to have underground or above ground cable. He said they also need a new pump and a fence around the well. The board also discussed digging the electric line and water line at the same time to save money.
Mr. Mikus said there would be a Public Hearing on the Town Annexation on Oct. 30.
The board changed there November work session to Wednesday November 7 at Stanley.
The next agenda item was the Ordinance Amendment on the Personal Property Tax for Aircraft.
Dr. Cardman and Mr. Markowitz discussed the economic benefits of lowering the personal property tax on aircraft to .50 on the accessed value. After some disagreement from Hoke the amendment passed unanimously.
The next agenda item was the Contract for the Phase 1 of the Zoning Ordinance Update. Kevin Henry told the Board that the Planning Commission unanimously supported the update. After some discussion the Board approved the Contract.
Next Tom Cardman talked about the Wrangler Job Retention Grant. This is as I understand it a $65,000.00 dollar incentive grant in the form of a machine and tool tax reduction for employee retention. The Board approved the grant.
Lastly Shanks talked about the Ordinance for the Economic Development Authority Membership. He was talking about staggered terms for members.
They then went into closed session to discuss:
Consultation with Legal Counsel and Briefings by Staff Members Pertaining to Probable Litigation.
Discussion Concerning a Prospective Business or Industry
Acquisition of Real Property
The Davenport Study
While we're on the subject of consultants reports (see Buracker Study), who knows something about the Davenport Study in 2002 or 2003? This was a study about the costs of the schools and how to pay for them. With the School Board radio show coming up on October 5, now might be the time to dredge THAT up.
I posted the research I did about the landfill for the September 21, SPEAK OUT. You can find it here.
The reason this is important is because many of the same names are up for election. Read that in connection with your candidate choices. The names associated are: Raymond Kite, Gerald Cubbage, Allen Cubbage, Charlie Campbell, and Ron Wilson. Don't vote on rumor. Read the Minutes Book first.
I posted the research I did about the landfill for the September 21, SPEAK OUT. You can find it here.
The reason this is important is because many of the same names are up for election. Read that in connection with your candidate choices. The names associated are: Raymond Kite, Gerald Cubbage, Allen Cubbage, Charlie Campbell, and Ron Wilson. Don't vote on rumor. Read the Minutes Book first.
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