The Conference is Coming:January 17-20, 2011
DoubleEagle Sponsors
Legislative Page |
The VTC works hard for your rights. We are fighting for the turfgrass professionals at state and local levels. Please note that although we fight for your rights, we can not and will not take stands on individuals and parties. As someone has said, "we have friends on both sides of the aisle."
Links for State Wide Issues
Virginia AgriBusiness Council
Richmond Sunlight:
Upcoming Regional Meetings sponsored by the Virginia Agribusiness Council Council Schedules Regional Town Hall Meetings. (Click here to go directly to their Town Hall Meeting Page.)
An exclusive opportunity for Council and industry members to meet with --- In July-September, the Council will continue its popular regional Town Hall Meetings with state government leaders and members of the agribusiness community. Attending all six meetings will be Virginia's new Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Matt Lohr.
Date & Time: Monday, September 13; 2:30-4:30 pm
Regional Issues
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Loudon County:
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (BOS) held a public hearing on the proposed Loudoun County Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Ordinance (Ordinance) on May 24, 2010. The Loudoun County staff presentation included a brief history of the County’s review process to date, followed by an overview of the proposed Ordinance and associated plan changes (see Field Notes Vol. 18 No. 5 for history).
Public comments were provided by representatives from the building industry, local businesses, homeowners, and the agricultural community. All speakers supported efforts to improve water quality; however, a large majority expressed concern with, or outright opposition to, the current draft regulations. Many homeowners also voiced their displeasure with the County's efforts to notify the public of the proposed Ordinance, stating that they just recently heard about this topic even though the County has been considering it for over a year.
Next meeting: June 15th at 9:00 AM - The BOS voted to forward the Ordinance to a Committee of the Whole for discussion during the June 15, 2010 Business Meeting currently scheduled for 9:00 AM in the Board Room of the County Government Center
After listening to all the public comments, the Supervisors echoed some of the speakers' concerns, particularly the economic impacts of Ordinance implementation on residents, as well as the agricultural and business communities. Many Supervisors also questioned why the proposed regulations were not tailored to better meet the specific needs of Loudoun County, especially since Loudoun County is not required to adopt any regulations at this time.
As an example, in Fairfax County, homeowners are allowed to place sheds or other accessory structures that are less than 150 square feet in their back yards even if they are located within the Resource Protection Area (RPA). Based on the current draft Ordinance, homeowners in Loudoun County who want to add a shed in their yard (within the RPA) would be required to prepare a Water Quality Impact Assessment and go through the public hearing process before the Chesapeake Bay Review Board. This one simple change to Loudoun's draft Ordinance is an example of the flexibility that homeowners and other stakeholders requested both during the Planning Commission (PC) review and at the BOS public hearing. As the discussion continued, Supervisor Waters made a motion to send the Ordinance back to the PC for significant modification, additional stakeholder coordination, and with the instruction to tailor the Ordinance to Loudoun County. That motion was defeated with a 5 to 4 vote. Ultimately, the majority of Supervisors decided they wanted to discuss the Ordinance amongst themselves in further detail and have a chance to ask questions of the County staff. Therefore, a motion to send the Ordinance to a Committee of the Whole for discussion during the June 15th BOS Business Meeting passed with a 7 to 2 vote (Delgaudio and Waters opposed). Chairman York indicated that after the Committee of the Whole discussion, the BOS will decide if the Ordinance should go back to the PC with a new direction, continue being reviewed by the BOS, or be killed outright.
In addition to the Staff Report, the Loudoun County staff indicated that they will post Frequently Asked Questions and responses on the County's Web site, and recommended holding another HOA outreach session in order to provide additional information to residents regarding the proposed regulations. Chairman York also suggested that each Supervisor reach out to their constituents in advance of the June 15th meeting to obtain additional stakeholder input.
For additional information, please contact Mike Rolband or Doug Chapin of WSSI. Prince William County Comprehensive Plan - Environment Chapter Update:
The Prince William County Planning Commission (PC) continues to move forward with its proposed update of the Environment Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan (see Field Notes Vol. 17 No. 5 and Field Notes Vol. 17 No. 8). Representatives of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA) and the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP) provided comments and answered PC questions at a work session on April 28, 2010. This was in follow up to an earlier session with the PC on November 12, 2009. Civic associations and environmental organizations were then afforded a similar session on May 12, 2010. The process will continue with another PC work session on June 9, 2010 at 6:30 PM in the Development Services Building, Conference Room 202. Written comments can be submitted to the County at any time.
NVBIA and NAIOP continue to focus on a number of issues in the proposed changes to the Chapter, including:
In addition, NVBIA and NAIOP believe the County should delay any new initiatives pertaining to stormwater management until pending State and Federal stormwater and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) regulations are adopted. Furthermore, there are a number of proposed policies and action strategies that would have the County duplicating, or in the case of the siting of wetland and stream mitigation, conflicting with existing Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) regulations and policy.
Representatives of civic associations and environmental organizations addressed many of the same topics; sometimes in agreement with industry comments (e.g., consistency in definitions) but more often with the opposing view – particularly with respect to the need for buffers on streams and better identification and protection of sensitive resources.
For more information, please review the documents listed below or contact Mark Headly or Mike Rolband of WSSI:
|