By SHARON KILPATRICK

By SHARON KILPATRICK

Rappahannock New* Staff Writer

The county’s Planning Commission is pondering how to prevent the subdivision of agricultural land from resulting in a house on every hilltop.

The issue arose when Philip Mitchell applied for a special exception to subdivide his 193-acre tract of agricultural land, the former Cooksey farm near Ben Venue, into seven lots, each at least 25 acres. Such subdivision is allowed under the current ordinance. The special exception is needed because more than three lots would be created from a parcel of record in 1973.

One of the standards w hich the Planning Commission, as a recommending body, and the Board of Supervisors, which will be responsible for granting the special exception, can consider says:

“The board shall take into account any scenic and-or historic resources that would be impacted by the development and may require that adverse impacts be mitigated.”

One of the standards for evaluating the impact states:

“Site improvements, including streets, lots and building locations, shall take advantage of topography so as to mitigate adverse visual impacts and maintain, to the extent possible, the scenic qualities and-or historic resources.”

County administrator John McCarthy told the planners he w as concerned that building houses on this property “could tragically damage one ofthe more spectacular views in the county.” He said that the view from U.S. 211 would be affected, but the view when approaching Ben Venue from Route 729 would be even more affected.

McCarthy told Mitchell that he should indicate the house sites on each lot, and when Mitchell presented his plan for the subdivision to the Planning Commission Dec. 20, it showed a primary and secondary house site for each lot.

Mitchell said he wants to subdivide for his five children, giving each one a lot and keeping two for himself. He said that he had selected the house sites for the views they offered.

McCarthy said, “It is going to be difficult for the Planning Commission to make the finding that this is not going to impact the scenic resources.”

southeastern edge of Amissville, would redefine the boundaries of that village, and a request to subdivide the Cooksey farm off Route 729 just north of Ben Venue may change the character of that agricultural acreage, as well as the surrounding properties.

The Board of Supervisors has not yet decided on the Smets’ request for a rezoning, and the Planning Commission requested more information on the Cooksey subdivision.