A missed opportunity to save open space

By David S. Kerr

It is a resource whose value is difficult to quantify. Some people would argue it’s not important and not worth paying for. Others would tell you it’s invaluable. This resource, which in some communities to our north, such as Fairfax and Arlington , has become difficult to find, is open space. In other words, a tract of land that isn’t built up or at the very least is developed to a lower density.

Land preservation, the idea of hanging on to some of this open space, is something a lot of people talk about. However, the problem is that many properties that would be suitable candidates for land preservation already have specific development rights. This means that when the owner sells the property its likely that the next step, depending on the zoning, is single family housing, townhouses, or a strip mall.

Conserving open space is a problem for local governments like Stafford . There is considerable development pressure, only so much open land, and bit by bit, it’s being eaten up by more and more scattered development. That’s what Purchased Development Rights program is designed to address. It’s still a modest undertaking, but the idea is simple. The county accepts offers applications from property owners to buy their rights to future development. The county, through a formula, values the rights and if the property is deemed a suitable the county buys those rights. The program is voluntary. There is no down zoning or infringement on individual property rights. The property, even if it’s sold, maintains the newly negotiated development rights. According to Tom Coen, the Chairman of the Purchased Development Rights Committee, the objective is “…to preserve open and farm land, respect the owner’s rights and not cost the county a lot of money.”

The Commonwealth authorized this program in 2005 and Stafford set up a pilot program in 2007. Stafford kicked in $300,000 and the state matched this with another $300,000.  The deadline for the first set of applications was April. The county received six responses for a total of 630 acres. That’s roughly one square mile. The value of these applications hasn’t been priced out yet and the county still has a significant amount of work to do in processing the applications, but its shows there is a lot of interest.

There has been a proposal, which models the approach taken by other counties in Virginia , to go to the voters with a proposal to fund the program, through bonds, at roughly $2 million a year for ten years. The notion was put before the board of supervisors earlier this month. It didn’t get very far. There is already a parks bond on the ballot and apparently the board wasn’t in favor of adding another bond measure. The only supervisor of those present who voted for it was Paul Milde from Aquia. The vote, sadly, represented something of a lost opportunity. Once open space is gone, it’s gone. Perhaps though, next year, the story may be different.