Board approves USA

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Board of Supervisors approved a proposed plan in relation to the proposed Urban Services Area on Tuesday.

The board voted 6-1 to approve the proposed plan and send it back to the Stafford County Planning Commission. Supervisor Bob Woodson, D-Griffis-Widewater casting the dissenting vote.

The area is that space in which water and sewer is or will be provided as to attract development. Development can be residential or commercial.

Several residential developments have already been approved and are “in the pipeline.”

During discussion before the vote, Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer, R-Garrisonville, said residential development would continue, but on three-acre lots with septic tanks. This will result in “sprawl” into rural areas, he said.

Another view is that by shrinking the USA, residential growth will decrease. By-right development on three-acre lots means less density.

Supervisor Joe Brito, I-Hartwood, said he feels that some of these areas should be developed at a later date, when infrastructure, such as better roads, can be built to accommodate the increasing traffic caused by development.

Supervisor Paul Milde, R-Aquia, said he is concerned that land-use decisions being made at this time are only resulting in a dramatic increase in lawsuits against the county. Plans that already had the go-ahead with the expectation of water and sewer are seeing those areas being removed from the USA.

Milde said that more than 35 lawsuits had been filed against the county in the last 11 months, “five times as many” as there ever have been in the same time period, he said.

As originally proposed, many areas were taken out of the USA that were already serviced. Areas were also taken out of the USA that were already vested for development, much to consternation of those developers with approved plans.

Dudenhefer moved for approval with an amendment that the board send the plan to the planning commission as a baseline for the final plan.

“I think we should use the work we've done. Direct the planning commission to use these maps as part of the plan. I really don't want to start the process again,” he said.

In other news, Chris Hoppe, parks and recreation director, made a report regarding contracting services to build two proposed synthetic rectangular athletic fields at Smith Lake Park. The fields would be more expensive to build that grass fields, but will result in less maintenance and fewer injuries, he said.

The board approved the contract unanimously.

Additionally, this past summer a conservation measure was enacted to charge those who used more than 20,000 gallons of water in a month from $7.35 to $23.55 per thousand gallons.

“The rate change impacted 3.2 percent of users,” read County Utilities Manager Susan Fitzgibbon. “These 'high usage' customers used 14.4 percent of the total residential volume.”

However, despite warnings in the papers and television, several people were caught unaware.

Milde suggested that customers get a “one-time” forgiveness. If they claimed they didn't know about it, they would be forgiven the higher rate for one month, but once warned, they would be charged with the higher rate. Supervisor Cord Sterling, R-Rock Hill, suggested that such a move be made retroactively.

And, Supervisor Harry Crisp reported that the Board of Zoning Appeals has granted Stafford resident Charlie Williams permission to keep Penny, his horse, provided he meets “certain conditions” — one being that Penny graze on the back of the property.

Jim Lawrence is a contributing writer at the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at info@staffordcountysun.com.