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By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock New* Staff Writer
Capping two years of steady work by the Planning Commission and consultant Richard McNear, the Rappahannock supervisors enacted a new zoning ordinance earlier this month. It meant the retirement of “Old Blue,” the slim, blue-bound collection of land use regulations which have governed the county since 1973.
That ordinance was drafted by laymen. It was a cut-and-paste job, with provisions taken from the ordinances of other Virginia localities interspersed with sections written specifically for Rappahannock. But it worked as a tool for channeling and controlling growth and protecting the farm land and mountain slopes that are so vital to maintaining the county’s rural character.
However, the development scene has changed since 1973. When “Old Blue” was pasted together, the heavy development pressure was still a county away from Rappahannock’s borders. Now, it’s next door:
• The rate at which new lots are being created in Culpeper County in 1986 is 269 percent of the 1985 rate and 342 percent of the 1983-84 rate.
• Building permits issued in Culpeper County for new single family dwellings in 1986 have climbed by 154 percent over the 1985 rate and 169 percent of the 1983-84 rate.
• Real estate consultant Robert L. Siegel, in addressing investment opportunities, reported that Fauquier County in Virginia and Queen Anne’s in Maryland are the metropolitan area’s new growth counties. They “represent a potential new wave of real estate opportunity,” the New Orleans-based consultant was quoted as saying in the Fairfax Journal.
• A new study by the Metropolitan Area of Governments finds the Washington area growing faster than it has since the 1960s with this “boom” expected to continue well into the 21st century. The vast majority of this growth is expected in the outer suburbs.
Add to these heightened pressures the propensity of landowners to take their case to court when local government says “no” to a development proposal, and “Old Blue” was found wanting. When the Rappahannock-Rapidan Planning Dis
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