Zoning steering panel picked

By Hannah Wever
Review Staff Writer
Published: August 28, 2008

By Hannah Wever
Review Staff Writer

Representatives with a broad range of perspectives will participate on a steering committee, and provide a point of view on the future of the county’s zoning. At an Aug. 12 Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting, county officials announced the names of individuals, representing a cross-section of Orange County citizens and business people, to help rewrite the zoning ordinance which governs local land use.
The steering committee, according to Orange County Administrator Bill Rolfe, primarily will act as a sounding board, and provide general guidance to the project consultant, Milt Herd of Herd Planning & Design, Ltd. Before proposing zoning ordinance changes and updates to county officials, Herd will present ideas and concepts at six steering committee meetings, Rolfe explained, and customize ordinance details to county needs based on discussions.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Johnson nominated Larry Sappington and Rick Wilkinson. District 2 Supervisor Zack Burkett nominated John Bangs and Jack Snyder. Ben Sherman and Grover Wilson were the nominees from District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin. Teri Pace, the District 4 supervisor, nominated Steve Satterfield and Carla Bangs. District 5 Supervisor Lee Frame nominated Sid Steele.
Orange County Chamber of Commerce members Adrianna Cowan-Waddy and Ken Dotson will participate on the steering committee along with chamber members Jonathon Chasen and Jack Samuels, John “Jay” Billie and Frank Walker to represent tourism, business, homebuilding and general membership.
Murcelle Coleman will serve on the committee as a representative of the Orange County African-American Historical Society. From the Orange County Farm Bureau, Jim Miller and Ron Burleson have volunteered. Chief Ranger for the Wilderness Battlefield, Keith Kelly, will represent the National Park Service.
David Perdue and Conservation Specialist Abby Harper have been appointed to the steering committee as representatives of the Piedmont Environmental Council. And representatives from the Orange County Economic Development Authority are Jim White and Winston Sides.
“It seems to be a pretty good cross-representation for the county,” Rolfe said. But a few names may still be added to the list of steering committee members, he added. The Montpelier Foundation and the Orange County Historical Society have yet to confirm with county officials that they will send a representative.
Orange County Director of Community Development David Grover said he expects to see new ideas for Orange County’s land use come from the steering committee meetings. Topics likely to spur lengthy discussions, Grover predicted, could be potential agricultural conservation designations, and rural-residential designations-new districts and designations that are relevant to the county’s future but aren’t addressed in the old zoning ordinance. And, Grover speculated, steering committee members may mull the prospect of a designation that implements mixed use and economic development.
Grover said other steering committee topics of discussion will likely center around the zoning ordinance’s “nuts and bolts, some real basic stuff,” like a junk car code, or junk in general. “These are things that are often hot-button issues,” Grover said.