THURSDAY, APRIL 23,1992

THURSDAY, APRIL 23,1992

That vision thing

The Rappahannock Fanners Association, the two-yearold organization that now numbers almost 200 members, has issued its vision for the future of the county, and in it we find many elements of “Rappahannock in 2012” that we, also, hope come to fruition. We are printing the vision statement on this page in the hope that it will encourage further discussion about the direction of the county.

It is patently true that greater residential development will translate into higher personal-property taxes, and the RFA wisely begins its vision with those issues. Maintaining land-use taxation, preserving 25-acre zoning in farm areas and pointing what development does occur toward the village areas are all in our collective best interests.

Statement number 10, which envisions a population growth of 25 percent over the next 20 years, is not as unrealistic as one might think. The population here grew only ninetenths of one percent a year during the past decade, a time when neighboring jurisdictions saw three and four percent growth in some years.

Most importantly, the RFA’s vision incorporates innova- ' tive ways of looking at the county’s farm industry. Over the course of its history, the once-thriving orchard segment of local agriculture has receded, and to keep farming viable the RFA looks at diversification.

In 20 years, ’The number of urban fringe farms has increased dramatically,” “the number of farms on which traditional forms of agriculture (cattle and apples) are practiced, has declined,” and “many more farmers than at present have diversified their operations to involve a mix of traditional and urban-fringe agriculture,” according to tfye RFA.

All of those changes would herald a new, more viable era of farming in the county, and planning to make them happen should begin now.