Friends of Stafford Creeks Nonprofit organization of volunteer citizen scientists monitoring water quality, advocating sustainable land use policies and watershed protection, and promoting education and stewardship of aquatic and wildlife resources in Stafford County Virginia's Potomac River tributaries. The Board of Supervisors has the Power to Limit Residential Growth

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Issue

Does the Board of Supervisors have the tools to manage growth in Stafford County?

Discussion

The unequivocal answer to that question is “yes”.  The Virginia legislature has given all Boards in Virginia the tools needed.  It is “yes” even though you may have heard the Board (of Supervisors, BOS) claim that they do not have the tools.  What they are really saying is that they do not have the will to use the tools that are available.

What are the tools and how can they be used?  Look at this schematic.

The tools are the Land Use Map, the Zoning Map, and the Zoning Laws.  The Board may limit or manage growth by putting a finite number of development units (houses) on the Land Use Map.  This map is supposed to be a guide for development for the next twenty years. 

How many units should be placed on the map? This is a critical decision. In 1988 Stafford County put 80-year supply of residential development on the map. This permissive land use map plus permissive zoning plus Stafford County's failure to protect its natural resources with legislation that acknowledges the "public" right to clean water led to growth of over 4.5% compounded annually for every 10-year rolling period since 1950. A sustainable growth rate is 2-3%. See Stafford's growth rates here.

The Land Use Map shows various zoning classifications in different colors, with each color representing a different land use.  These are the land uses that would be appropriate for the county over the next twenty years.  The number of units associated with each color on the Land Use Map can be calculated; this is what we call a buildout.

Stafford’s current Land Use Map builds out at 71,000 units.  This 71,000 is a supply that will last for over 60 years.  In order to manage growth, we cannot have a 60-year supply on the map. 

The planning horizon for comprehensive planning is twenty years.  We need a plan to manage Stafford’s growth for the next twenty years until 2027.

The Current Zoning Map shows the land uses that are currently allowed by-right.  By-right means that an owner may build the land use and density shown on the Current Zoning Map.  For example, much of Stafford is shown as A-1 Agriculture, which means that the owner of land so designated could build one dwelling unit on three acres by merely following the zoning and subdivision laws of Stafford.

If every owner of residential land built out his property by-right, Stafford would have 33,000 new dwellings at the end of the process.

The Board of Supervisors may manage growth by placing a finite number of residential units on the Land Use Map.  The Board of Supervisors may also change the laws governing zoning designations that are shown on the Current Zoning Map.