
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995                   TAG: 9508110046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                 LENGTH: Short

GOLF COURSE TAX BREAK LANDS IN SANDTRAP

A unanimous vote at a sparsely attended public hearing has ended the furor caused by the attempts of two private country clubs in Albemarle County to get tax breaks for their golf courses.

The Board of Supervisors voted 6-0 Wednesday night to amend the county's land-use plan and close a loophole that enabled owners of private open spaces to get the breaks originally intended only for public and farm lands.

Under the original land-use plan, the tax relief was intended as an incentive to keep the spaces open and protect them from development.

The open-space tax deferral is one of four types of land-use tax deferral categories adopted in 1975 as part of the county's program to encourage land preservation.

The state allows local governments to tax certain land according to its value in producing crops and timber or providing green space rather than the price it would fetch on the open market.

by CNB