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Consider the Plan
We think the suggestion by William Wickens, chairman of Washington’s Planning Commission, that changes in the town’s Comprehensive Plan may be necessary to approve the proposed rezoning and ordinance amendments, bears consideration as The Inn at Little Washington’s applications wind their way through the process.
At Monday’s public hearing, several residents criticized the proposal as not in keeping with the town’s Comprehensive Plan. That document, which was adopted by the present Town Council in July, 1986, embraces the values and lifestyle of a small rural town, and suggests that the framework of ordinances which regulate growth in the town should further those aims.
Town Attorney Frank Reynolds noted, in his summation as the hearing recessed, that the Code of Virginia mandates that, whenever a proposed ordinance conflicts with a comprehensive plan, the plan must be amended to reflect the aim of the proposed ordinance. In other words, the first change must be in the guidebook — the comprehensive plan —followed by changes in the road map — the ordinances.
The town has authorized the printing of 100 copies of its Comprehensive Plan, which will be available next week at Mr. Reynolds’ office as well as the county’s zoning office. We urge all the town’s residents to read the document and decide for themselves whether The Inn’s proposal is in keeping with its aims or not.
We think that the applicants, given the strong opposition to their plan expressed by most of those v/ho spoke Monday evening, might benefit by some explanation as to how their proposal is, in fact, in keeping with the town’s Comprehensive Plan. If they are unable to do that, then perhaps they should offer suggestions as to how it might be amended — thus keeping the town’s ordinances a coherent whole.
The responsibility for keeping the Comprehensive Plan up to date with the goals of the town’s residents’ is the responsibility of the Planning Commission and the Town Council. It is a fluid document, and is intended to be changed as circumstances warrant. If an applicant or a majority of residents feel that it is time to make changes, then they should be considered. But those changes should be — and are — subject to the same public hearing process as the one now in progress for The Inn’s application.
It is vitally important that each of the town’s ordinances support and buttress each other. Any changes made to them should be,the result of an orderly and carefully considered process/including public hearings. That is the only way that the town can responsibly manage proposals for growth —in whatever form they may take.
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