Pittsylvania County updating comprehensive plan

Comment: It seems Pittsylvania County should update their comprehensive plan more often, like every four years! Staying neutral on uranium mining, well maybe not? Oh, by the way, there are added comments by a blogger; it gives more information about the plan!

By John Crane
Published: July 17, 2009

CHATHAM — Pittsylvania County is updating its 18-year-old comprehensive plan, a document that covers an array of topics and provides a guideline for county development.

During a work session Thursday night, members of the Pittsylvania County Planning Commission reviewed a second draft of a revised plan. While county officials are still mulling what should go into a new comprehensive plan, one thing is certain — there will be no language expressing support or opposition to uranium mining in Pittsylvania County.

“This is not a position document,” said County Planner Greg Sides. “This is a general document on the future of the county.”

The county’s comprehensive plan must by law be impartial when it comes to mining and other issues, Sides said.

“It is a requirement of the plan to be neutral, general in nature,” Sides said. “State code outlines that.”

Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit on Coles Hill six miles northeast of Chatham. VUI officials say the operation would bring hundreds of jobs to the area and generate needed tax revenue for the county. Opponents say it would destroy the environment, spoil the area’s beauty and threaten public health.

Planning Commission member Larry Welborn, who represents the Dan River district, said officials working on the document will have to stand their ground against interests demanding that the plan take a position on uranium mining.

Pittsylvania County aims to upgrade its state-mandated comprehensive plan for the first time since the county adopted it in 1991. The document covers a plethora of subjects relating to the county including quality-of-life, economic development, the natural and cultural environment, demographics, health care, housing, education, zoning, land use and growth management, transportation, public safety and other issues.

“It’s an all-encompassing document for the county,” said County Economic Development Director Ken Bowman. “It lays out their vision for the future.”

Welborn said he would like to see plenty of public input in drawing up the new plan.

“What we’re looking at is getting the county population more in tune with the visioning process,” Welborn said after the meeting.

Sides said the county expects to have the plan open to the public for comment in September. Sides said he hopes the Board of Supervisors would approve the plan by the end of the year.

Reader Reactions
on July 17, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I hope folks know that a comprehensive plan is not neutral on the suitability of various land uses for a county’s planning sectors.

As a policy plan (without the force of law), a comprehensive plan should state clearly the types of land uses desired or designated for an area (residential, light industrial, commercial, etc.) and provide language that could support later zoning changes to reflect the vision and goals established by the land use plan.

Comprehensive plans state the types of land uses that are appropriate and not appropriate for various planning areas.

As such, the PittCo plan can (if the community so desires) state that hard rock mining as a land use is not compatible with the policies that reflect the community’s long-term vision for the county.

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/pittsylvania_county_updating_comprehensive_plan/12510/