Discord grows over rezoning in Bedford

Discord over proposed zoning changes in Bedford County grew louder this week with the announcement that a newly formed group of county citizens has handed supervisors a written opinion from an urban planning lawyer saying the board failed to follow the law in working to adopt sweeping changes to the zoning ordinance.

The group, Bedford Above Board, asked for a legal opinion from Jesse Richardson Jr., a lawyer and professor of urban planning at Virginia Tech. The document, along with a letter to the supervisors challenging how the county has gone about making the proposed changes to the 13-year-old ordinance, was presented to supervisors this week.

In the opinion, Richardson questions the adequacy of public notice from the county on efforts to change zoning. His opinion states the county failed to inform the citizens “in any meaningful way” of the changes and claims the notice was “casual, cursory and misleading.” He also suggests a legal challenge to the county’s notification process would have a 75 percent chance “or better” of succeeding in court. The group collected money to pay for Richardson’s professional opinion, said Bill Piatt, a member, though he did not know how much.  

A few supervisors reached for comment Tuesday said the board went “above and beyond” the legal requirements to make citizens aware of the changes. The county sent more than 30,000 letters to property owners at a cost of about $20,000.

“The board of supervisors believe they have properly followed Virginia law in terms of all the necessary notice and advertising requirements,” County Administrator Kathleen Guzi said.

 Tim Wilson, director of community development, said there were certain letters the county was required to send by law to some residents directly affected by the zoning classifications. But the board made the “deliberate decision” to mail notices to all property owners regardless of whether it was required by state law, he said.

The group is calling on the board to “restart” the notice and hearing process and said it is confident a legal challenge to supervisors’ efforts to act on the zoning changes without proper notice will be upheld in court. In the letter to supervisors, the group gave the board a deadline of Jan. 3 to “rectify” the issue.

Piatt, a Huddleston resident who signed the letter along with David Lowry and John E. Lane III, said Tuesday he hopes it would not come to litigation but feels the board is “flagrantly violating” state law. The three residents were among several hundred who showed up in November for two nights of a public hearing — the majority in protest of the proposed zoning changes.

 “This very directly affects the net worth of every single resident of Bedford County,” Piatt said. “We’re prepared to take whatever action is required to get the board to uphold the law.”

Forest District Supervisor John Sharp said Tuesday the board has properly met legal requirements in the process.

 “It is absolutely ridiculous these charges are being made,” he said. “The truth is we have more than adequately notified the public.”

Supervisor Roger Cheek said he was “highly upset” when he received the group’s message in the mail Tuesday.

“Even the name angers me,” he said of the group’s title, adding the board works hard in tough economic times to make sound decisions with taxpayer money in mind. “These gentleman need to back off.”

County Attorney Carl Boggess could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The supervisors have faced much anger over their zoning proposals, some of which have conflicted with the county planning commission. The commission in 2010 had given the board a proposal two years in the making to overhaul the zoning ordinances. But the board decided in late 2010 not to move forward with the overhaul and earlier this year formed a few committees from its own membership to bring forward further proposals.

In September, the board formally initiated the zoning proposals that included some of what the commission presented and the committees’ work. 

Steve Stevick, who has served on the commission for the past seven years, resigned recently over disagreements with supervisors about zoning.

Stevick in his resignation letter and residents who spoke at last month’s hearing have claimed the supervisor-driven proposals do not line up with the county’s comprehensive plan, a guideline for growth and development.

Piatt said the group could not understand how the county could invest more than $1 million in developing a plan over several years that he said was “a valid sounding of the hopes and aspirations” of residents, only to ignore it. He said the board is “acting as though the planning commission doesn’t exist” and the group’s main concern is a perceived lack of openness and transparency.

“We just scratch our heads and say, ‘why are they doing this?’” Piatt said.

He said the notice he had received did not explain the proposals clearly. Many who went to the hearing were “in the dark” about the full impact of the changes, he said.

The hearing was a joint one between the supervisors and planning commission. On the first night, Nov. 10, about 300 people swarmed the county administration building meeting room that only holds a capacity of 75. Many had to leave the room and left in anger; the board continued the hearing the following week at a larger venue and more than 100 showed up. 

Cheek mentioned a subsequent board decision to do away with a proposal to merge R-1 and R-2 residential zones, which had sparked much of the protest. He said few from the public attended that meeting, on Dec. 5.

 “As far as I’m concerned, this letter is baseless,” he said. “They need to pay attention to what we are doing instead of what they think we are doing.”

The group is online at www.bedfordaboveboard.com.