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(Continued from Page 1) being anti-growth and sometimes I think I am," Mrs. Malta acknowledged. “I hear people say ‘Don’t tell me what to do with that land. It’s mine’...But someone needs to...The farmer who’s selling, the developer, they’re not going to have to bear the costs (of growth). It will be subsidized by the taxpayer," she concluded.
MNe Farmers Hen”
“We’re preaching to the choir...There are no fanners here," commented RLEP’s second guest speaker, Col. Nets Parson. In order to protect a rural way of life, farmers must be encouraged to keep farming, Parson maintained. However, he noted, legislation like the Agricultural and Forestal District Act and scenic easements—designed to protect agriculture, forest lands and open space—are received by farmers “coldly or lukewarmly at best.
“Nothing is as critical as what’s happening with unplanned growth,” Parson continued. “It’s as damaging as war itself and we’re doing precious little to stop it...Growth is sweeping around Warrenton and Culpeper on the south and Front Royal on the north. It’s about to engulf us.”
Parson described a California community’s regulations holding growth to a five per cent increase per year as “a good legal device." According to Parson, the town of Petaluma reworked its ordinances to allow five per cent growth rate and once that level is reached, no more building permits are issued for the year.
Lee Bird outlined another possible approach to Rappahannock’s growth control problems. Bird suggested that citizens decide on the pattern and rate of growth with development rights awarded to every present inhabitant of the county on a pro rata basis. Then a developer would have to acquire land and a sufficient number of development rights to cover any subdivision proposal.' This system, said Bird, would “spread the benefits among a larger number' of people and prevent one person who sells out from reaping all the profits.”
Defense Needed Rappahannock County is changing from a “marginal farming area to a recreation and bedroom area,’’ continued Parson. “It’s a pretty successful attack. We’ve got to have a plan of defense.”
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