Zoning ordinance amendments clarify and define common issues

Stalled for four years, changes finally go to public hearing

On Dec. 16, the Rappahannock County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on a package of amendments to the county’s zoning ordinance that have been in the works for some years.

“They are about 80 percent technical and cleanup corrections,” wrote David Konick, Planning Commission chair and former Board of Zoning Appeals member, in an email Monday. As examples Konick gave “changing ‘VDH&T’ to ‘VDOT’ and fixing silly mistakes like ‘under 20’ and ‘over 20’ without anything said about ‘exactly 20.’”

Ron Frazier, in a phone call Sunday evening, agreed with Konick. “The amendments aren’t that significant,” he said. As Jackson district supervisor, Frazier represents the Board of Supervisors on the Planning Commission.

Overall, the intent of the “May 2017 amendments” (as they are known locally) is two-pronged: to make the zoning ordinances more consistent with existing county codes and to close loopholes so that all homeowners who apply for special use permits are playing by the same rules. "I think everybody should be treated the same on this stuff,” Konick said, adding that "there shouldn't be any ambiguities ... it's very unfair to both the applicants and the neighbors."

“By the time I got on the BZA in 2015, [the number of simple changes] was just an EMBARRASSMENT,” Konick wrote, “so I proposed to fix it, and the BZA backed me up, [the amendments] were submitted to the Planning Commission in March of 2016 — and it took them 4 years and 8 months to finally get around to holding a public hearing on them.”

Despite the fact that, as Konick and Frazier have stated, most of the amendments merely correct outdated terminology, other changes are potentially more impactful to county residents. Here’s what the amendments could affect: