.jpg)
County Planners Sign Off On Overlay
Ten property owners whose land is in the vicinity of Irish Creek are seeking to create an agricultural/forestal overlay district to protect their 430.445 acres from development over the next four years.
Presentations on the proposal were made last Wednesday, Jan. 8, to the Rockbridge County Planning Commission and the county’s ag/forest district advisory committee.
“We want to preserve and protect this really important land,” said Jeanne Oliver, one of the landowners. “We don’t want commercial uses. We want to protect the watershed and wildlife.”
Tony Tyree, another property owner, said the land has been in his family for generations and he’d like to see it preserved for future generations.
The core of the proposed district consists of 283.099 acres with four landowners and is located on the east and west sides of Irish Creek Road (Va. 603), approximately 5.52 miles east of the intersection with South River Road (Va. 608). An additional 147.346 acres outside the core but within one mile of it, with seven landowners, are included in the applications. (One of the property owners has land both inside and outside the core.)
The purpose of putting land in an ag/forest overlay district, according to the county’s land development regulations, is to “to conserve, protect and encourage the development and improvement of agricultural and forestal lands for the production of food and other agricultural and forestal products … to conserve and pro- tect agricultural and forestal lands as valued natural and ecological resources which provide essential open spaces for clean air sheds, watershed protection, wildlife habitat and aesthetic purposes; and … to provide a means for the mutual undertaking by landowners and local governments to protect and enhance agricultural and forestal land as a viable segment of the economy and an economic and environmental resource of major importance.”
Chris Slaydon, the county’s director of community development, said there are no current active ag/forest districts in the county. Several were established in the past but were not renewed. He said the notion of establishing one in the Irish Creek area came up at a South River District community meeting on the county’s Comprehensive Plan update.
Ag/forest districts can be created for a period of four to 10 years and may be renewed at the end of these designated periods. The proposed Irish Creek ag/forest district has been requested for a period of four years.
Both the advisory committee and the Planning Commission recommended the district be approved. The Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal at a meeting in February.
