ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
A developer who already has obtained county approval of subdivision plans cannot be required to establish a buffer zone when an adjoining landowner decides to put property into a protected conservation zone.
That's the opinion of Montgomery County Attorney Martin McMahon, who was asked by the Planning Commission to research that issue when it arose in discussion of several requests for renewals and additions to the Agricultural and Forestal District program.
The opinion has relevance in other farming communities of Montgomery County such as Riner, where several subdivisions have emerged over the last decade.
Landowners generally enter the AFD program for two benefits. The districts provide some protection from development, and participants may also apply to the county's land-use taxation program for a reduced property tax.
With the question resolved, the Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve all of the renewals and additions. The supervisors will hold a public hearing on the requests at 7 p.m. Monday on the third floor of the county courthouse.
David Harman, a Lynchburg developer with long ties to this area, plans to build a 58-lot subdivision on land he owns on Mud Pike, just west of Christiansburg. Last month, he told the commissioners he was concerned an application to put 64 adjacent acres of Pearl Page's property into the protected district could affect his plans.
He was worried he would be required to bear the cost of a buffer zone between his property and Page's.
That prompted a debate between the commissioners, with some saying Harman should not be required to pay for the buffer because the neighbor's request came after the county approved the development. Others believed Harman should have to set up a buffer. The Page property is rented to a farmer who raises corn and alfalfa. Some members said people who buy houses in Harman's subdivision would appreciate the buffer from the farming operation.
But McMahon said that according to state law, once a subdivision developer's site plan is approved the developer has "vested rights" under that plan for five years.
"What this means is that the Planning Commission cannot require the subdivision developer to comply with new requirements such as the buffers or setbacks, due to a subsequent AFD being proposed adjacent to a prior approved subdivision site plan," McMahon wrote in a memo to Planning Director Joe Powers.
The Page family believed the property was in an AFD, but it was only in the separate tax-break program.
James C. Page of Presque Isle, Maine, wrote the Planning Department in April asking that two properties he owned that were in the AFD program be renewed. He also asked for renewal of his mother's property, saying he had power of attorney for her, but had received no paperwork for that property.
The county has about 40,000 acres of land in the protected districts. Property owners who want to continue in the program must reapply every eight years. This year, land in the Little River, west Christiansburg, Riner, and Wilson and Den creeks areas are up for renewal. There are also several requests to add property into already established districts.
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