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By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Residents of the historically black Piedmont neighborhood west of the Town of Washington are inching closer to their goal of having their properties included in the town.
The Town Council unanimously adopted a Boundary Line Adjustment policy at its monthly meeting on June 13. The new policy will guide the process by which town leaders can consider changing Washington’s borders to include areas adjacent to town.
A petition signed by 11 Piedmont landowners last June was the stimulus for the policy.
In the petition, Piedmont residents said they want to become part of Washington to be included in the town’s planned sewer system, be able to vote in town elections and benefit from higher property values that would likely result from being part of Washington.
Neighborhood residents and Town Council members have also said this is an opportunity to correct a remnant of racial exclusion. Piedmont has traditionally been a black neighborhood and longtime residents of the area, which was formerly known as Blacksburg, say the town lines were drawn racially.
Although the Piedmont petition got the ball rolling for the new policy, any adjustment of Washington’s boundaries will primarily be a negotiation between the town and
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