ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250038
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
HENRY BRAMLETT is 71 and wants to retire from working his cattle farm. His retirement is well-deserved.
What neither he nor other Bedford County residents deserve is a harmful exception to county policy made, in effect, to subsidize Bramlett's profit from selling the farm.
The county was right not to bypass its land-use plan to allow an 80-lot subdivision on the 104-acre property owned by Bramlett and his wife. Would that other municipalities were as firm and forward-looking in their development decisions.
Comprehensive plans, after all, are useful only if they are used. For the benefit of homebuyers, taxpayers and future generations, Bedford County needs to use its plan as a guide to direct growth to areas that either have, or soon will have, the public services to support it.
The Bramletts' land is in an area designated not for growth, but for agricultural use. There are no plans to extend sewer and water lines to it. If dense residential development were allowed, planners wondered, what would happen if wells went dry or the septic field failed? Good questions. Neither homeowners nor taxpayers should have to find out.
And the impact of a subdivision would not be confined to the Bramletts' acreage. Neighboring landowners, allowed by Bedford's Land Use Guidance System to participate in the decision-making, worried about loss of privacy; increased traffic, noise and lighting; an unsightly view, and the effects of water runoff - worries the developer did not assuage.
Beyond such immediate concerns, the county has a critical interest in wise land-use planning to preserve quality of life for all residents. Bedford County is notable for its beautiful countryside in a region that needs to take better advantage of its rural scenery. County leaders are smart to recognize rural character as an asset worth protecting.
Following a plan that preserves open land and green space doesn't stop growth. Plenty of farmland in Bedford County is being subdivided and sprouting new houses. Indeed, the county's land-use rules would allow a 14-lot subdivision on the Bramletts' property. The point is that most of the growth is occurring, as it should, in parts of the county designated for growth.
Nor does following a land-use plan prohibit the county from trying various tools and incentives to ease the situation of farmers such as the Bramletts. If people can't keep up their farms and can't find buyers willing to try, they deserve more than sympathy. It's in the interest of both the county and the region to look to various preservation tools and incentives as part of an open-space strategy.
Meantime, the Bramletts may not get an offer as lucrative as the $395,000 a developer would pay if he could divide the land 80 ways. But neither can they get the kind of money someone might pay to install a toxic waste dump there. Where is it written that people have a right to land-rules exceptions made in their behalf?
The Bramletts' land was assessed for tax purposes last year at $205,600. They may well be able to sell it for more. But the county isn't obligated to violate its comprehensive plan to maximize the Bramletts' capital gain.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB