LOT-SIZE CHANGE PITCHED

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Supervisors and planning commissioners meet tomorrow to discuss several major proposals

Date published: 10/27/2008

By DAN TELVOCK

If the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors lowers the minimum rural lot size to 3 acres, it could create 8,000 new buildable lots and threaten the 2-percent annual growth rate benchmark.

But reducing the minimum rural lot size could help struggling families who right now cannot subdivide their land if it is less than 20 acres.

Supervisor Emmitt Marshall asked staff in March to come up with options for 3-acre zoning instead of the current 10-acre minimum required in most of rural Spotsylvania. Residents in his district are struggling to make ends meet and the 10-acre lot size is too restrictive, he said.

In August, Spotsylvania planning commissioners recommended the least restrictive option for 3-acre lot divisions. That plan would not require lots to have road frontage. Instead, access to the parcel could be through an adjoining easement on adjacent lots. County fees also would be lower than typically charged for subdividing property.

Commissioners said this change would secure more property rights for landowners who lost them in a 2003 downzoning that reduced by 42 percent the number of homes that could be built without local government permission.

Commissioners will have an opportunity tomorrow to explain their reasoning to supervisors during a joint meeting.

Planning Department officials said 3-acre lots could create at most about 8,000 new buildable parcels. Of those, about 3,100 could come in the first year. Property owners would not be able to divide more than 10 lots no matter how much land they have.

Marshall said he doesn't believe the change could result in sprawl because supervisors could limit the number of lot divisions per year or amend the ordinance if there was a rush of property divisions.

"It might be a fear with some board members but not with this board member," he said. "Not everybody down here is going to attempt to sell 3 acres. I'm not, and I own land. I have no intention of using it at this particular time but if I got in a tight spot financially, I would rather sell 3 acres than have to sell 10 acres."

Supervisor Gary Jackson said changing the minimum lot size would cost the county millions in additional services.

"In these difficult economic times it is really surprising to me we are having this conversation," he said. "Much of the conversation seems to center on the economic circumstances of these individual property owners."

Jackson said he already challenged planning commissioners to show him where in Virginia law it says improving the value of someone's real estate is a legitimate reason to change zoning.

"If you want to move into a smart-growth environment, then you need to stop this kind of foolishness," he said. "You can't be giving away lots in the country and creating sprawl. We've got to make up our mind in what direction we are going in."

Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com

LOT SIZES WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? People owning a home on 19 acres in A-3 zoning (10-acre minimum lot sizes), cannot subdivide any portion of it unless it is for a family member. If the lot size is reduced to 3 acres, property owners could divide as many as three lots and sell them all. Supervisors and planning commissioners have discussed limiting the number of lots a person could divide each year. WHEN The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Holbert Building on Courthouse Road. WHAT ELSE? Supervisors and commissioners also will review Tricord Co.'s Summit Crossing mixed-use development proposed near Massaponax and discuss design standards for commercial, office and industrial developments.

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Date published: 10/27/2008

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