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By WILLIAM WESLEY TALBOTT
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
At this time each year we, at the Rappahannock News, decide the top ten stories of the past year. The decision process, admittedly subjective, is a difficult one. Many important events have happened in the county during the past twelve months affecting the lives of all our citizens. Narrowing the choice to just ten stories is not the simplest of jobs.
The choice of deciding the most important story of the year was, however, relatively easy. This story affects the citizens of Rappahannock County in many areas and its impact is enormous. Number 1 — New zoning ordinance for the county
Last October nearly 100 persons met at the Rappahannock County Elementary School auditorium to address the possibility of a new zoning ordinance for Rappahannock. Expressing fears that the county could face the intense growth pressures and population concentrations currently plaguing Loudoun, Fauquier, and Prince William counties, nearly all of the 30 speakers supported the idea of passing a zoning ordinance.
That evening the biggest round of applause went to speaker John Marshall Clark, Jr. who strongly supported the idea. Mr. Clark said that he saw Prince William and Fauquier counties lose their rural identities. He said that he believed Rappahannock is a rural, agricultural county. “I see this ordinance as a tool to help preserve that,” he stated.
Mr. Clark also said that he, like most people, does not wish to be told what to do with his property. He added, however, “I would be willing to give up a few splinters to save my woodpile.”
Washington attorney Frank Reynolds said that the ordinance can be viewed in two lights; as a “restriction on your own” land and a? “protection against an encroaching neighbor.”
The way the ordinance was written brought some disapproving remarks however. Bob Eastham believes it is too restictive and claimed it is a close duplication of that in Fauquier County. Supervisor Nelson Lane said, “I don’t think this ordinance even pretends to stop development.”
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