“The highway that leads me home has nothing much

“The highway that leads me home has nothing much to offer for the first 50 miles, but just west of Amissville, where the new four lane section begins, an engineer with the soul of a poet had laid out a great climbing curve. At its crest, the whole world opens. In one glorious burst of trumpets, the mountains fill the sky. And the bruised and weary heart gives grateful thanks.” The scenic gateway to Rappahannock described by James J. Kilpatrick in “The Foxes Union," the same vista as carried on the masthead of the Rappahannock News, is under attack.

Levi Atkins has requested a variance to setback regulations from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mr. Atkins wants to build a house right next to the edge of Route 211 where the highway swoops down in its great climbing curve. He has, in fact, already built a shell. If the BZA accedes to his request and grants the variance, allowing the house to be completed, Rappahannock's mountains will fill the sky not with a burst of trumpets but with the toot of noisemakers.

The county zoning ordinance is designed "to protect against encroachment or destruction of the unique scenic vistas of Rappahannock County for the benefit of the general public. " If ever there was a scenic vista that benefited the general public, it's the panoramic view that stretches out around Mr. Atkins’ home site.

Still, it’s difficult to deny a man his choice of where to build a home if the only objection is the destruction of a view.

But there’s more to this case than scenic vistas.

We feel the variance should be turned down to protect the integrity of the county ’s zoning laws. Atkins should not be allowed to serve .as a model for others who choose to thumb their noses at Rappahannock’s ordinances.

According to Zoning Administrator Evan McNear, it was immediately obvious once construction began that Atkins wasn't in compliance with setback distance listed in the zoning ordinance and on Atkins’ building