By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON

By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Rappahannock’s supervisors split three ways on a proposed commercial rezoning in the Rt. 211 corridor west of Washington. The upshot was a denial of A1 Henry’s application for a commercial designation on 1.6 acres currently in an agricultural district.

County Administrator John McCarthy noted that the rezoning request may be moot in light of the resolution passed by the board at its August meeting, serving notice that it would look with disfavor on commercial rezonings in the highway corridor until the question of whether Rt. 211 will be dual-laned as planned for the 4.2 miles between Washington and Sperryville.

In recommending that the rezoning be denied, “the Planning Commission went a little further than the highway,” noted Mike Massie, the board’s representative on the Planning Commission. “The four-lane is just one issue," he said, citing the “piecemeal” extension of the existing commercial zone as an equally important question. “The commercial district starts at the Hampton Inn (immediately adjacent to Mr. Henry’s property) and runs the other way.” If the county approves the rezoning of every lot next door to commercially designated property, “all of Rappahannock will be eventually zoned commercial,” Mr. Massie contended.

Supervisor C. K. (Pete) Estes, who preceded Mr. Massie as the board’s delegate to the Planning Commission, recalled that in formulation of the comprehensive plan and during discussions on revisions to the county’s zoning ordinances, the stretch along Rt. 211 west of Washington from Ginger Hill to the Shade Road was envisioned as the area for future industrial and commercial growth. “I don’t see how you can deny (the rezoning request) . . . It’s spelled out in our own plan,” he maintained, citing Rappahannock’s comprehensive plan which states: “The Rt. 211 and 522 corridor