smaller parcels in the Chester Gap area, dose to

smaller parcels in the Chester Gap area, dose to the Warren County line. Presumably, they would soon sell them off to developers.

“Developers were beginning to discover that this county was ripe for subdivisions and started to do it,” Piedmont Environmental Council co-founder Phil Irwin said. “And it was not done in what we might call a responsible manner.”

That resulted in Rappahannock’s famous zoning. County government adopted the first subdivision and zoning regulations in 1962, then substantially revised them in 1972 and

oomenon,” Farmer said. “You’ve got various segments, and yet they seem to share this idea to a large extent to stay like it’s been. We have people whose families have been here for generations that feel that way. Others, once they came here, felt the same way.”

But to McCarthy, that’s beside the point. It’s Rappahannock’s lack of a major road - more than the zoning — that kept the growth at bay.

Fauquier has Routes 66 and 29, Culpeper has Routes 29 and 3. Rappahannock has Route 211 - important for the locals, but not nearly as efficient. And potential commuters must drive through more developed communities, meaning an even

t 3TA lot of people say Rappahannock is elitist, that it basically wants all the benefits of being in Northern Virginia but doesn’t want the costs by having housing,” McCarthy said. “But why would someone commit to an extra 45 minutes on their commute?

“There are plenty of those who would throw themselves in front of the bulldozers, but why would the bulldozers come here?” McCarthy asked.

The tremendous growth in Culpeper and Fauquier likewise protected Rappahannock from development, said the administrator. With new homes readily available in Fauquier and Culpeper, potential homeowners had little reason to search the whole region.

But the locals can see things changing before too long.

' Many Rappahannock resi1976.

“It’s a real interesting phemoroing

drive.