Citizens Offer Ideas on JCC Zoning Update

Saturday, September 04, 2010

James City County held the second of three public input meetings Wednesday evening, and discussion revolved around residential and rural districts and subdivision ordinance.

There seemed to be more agreement at this meeting than the last, with folks generally supporting cluster development (when done thoughtfully) and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) to protect rural lands and manage density.

Speaking on behalf of the Peninsula Housing and Builders Association, Robert Duckett said at the meeting that his organization supports cluster overlay districts in the county, which he expects will help preserve rural lands. He cautioned that the county needs to make sure to maintain a balance between the desires of citizens to preserve rural lands, and the needs of landowners in rural areas.

He said building up, not out, is a good way to reduce sprawl and keep development in targeted areas (though he joked that “up” didn’t mean skyscrapers) and that his group supports the idea of TDR, or removing density from one location and adding it to another. TDR is something the county is considering as a means of protecting rural lands and consolidating density in specific areas.

Bob Spencer, chair of the slow-growth group J4C, offered some specific suggestions on fine-tuning residential ordinance and said the J4Cs support clustering as long as there are proffers of green space included.

Many citizens voiced their desire to preserve rural lands during the most recent Comprehensive Plan process, but attorney Greg Davis of Kaufman and Canoles spoke out at the meeting on behalf of rural land owners and said they are concerned about their dropping property values.

Citizens who own large swaths of the county’s rural lands, often having the land in their families for generations, are losing property value as more restrictive ordinances limit what they can do with their land. These properties are often the investments his clients have to maintain them through retirement, Davis said, and their rights need to be taken into account when considering the fate of rural lands.

He argued the county should buy the land from his clients and let taxpayers take on the costs of preserving rural lands. He also said TDR could work, if there is some sort of density bonus and not a one-for-one transfer.

Chair of the Economic Development Authority Tom Tingle said the EDA supports the TDR idea because the county can’t afford to buy development rights for all the rural lands that should be preserved. TDR will be the key, he said, but it’s critical that the county select the right areas to lose density and gain density to make it all work.

Leanne DuBois, on the county’s Rural Economic Development Committee, discussed ways to encourage rural business opportunities, like eco tourism, agribusiness and heritage tourism, which would also help reduce sprawl and generate revenue for landowners and jobs for citizens.

Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance President Dick Schreiber spoke at the meeting to encourage the county to do more to promote workforce housing, including possibly creating a workforce housing overlay district or adding workforce housing cluster overlays.

Schreiber said roughly 40 percent of local workers don’t live in the Triangle, according to a 2006 study, which also found housing prices to be out of reach for many workers. This problem has likely been exacerbated by the recession, he said.

The final zoning update public input meeting will be held on Monday, September 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in building F of the county government complex on Mounts Bay Road. If you’d like to speak at the meeting, fill out an application on the county’s website by September 16.