Virginia Coastal Zone Management - Spring/Summer 2007
News Around the Zone
- Beyond Brochures: Using the Media to Prevent Pollution
- MPPDC Addresses Waterfront Use Conflicts
- Conservation Subdivision Design on the Northern Neck
Beyond Brochures: Using the Media to Prevent Pollution
While working in the yard this spring, more and more Northern Virginia residents may think they are hearing strange voices emanating from a nearby storm drain!
Convincing Northern Virginia residents that what goes into a storm drain can pollute a local stream is not an easy task. Dog waste, excess fertilizer, and used motor oil are just a few of the pollutants that flow from neighborhood lawns, sidewalks and streets to the Potomac River and into the Chesapeake Bay. While educational brochures are a handy tool and represent the typical vehicle for environmental outreach programs, Northern Virginia governments have begun using more horsepower - the media - to inform residents about pollution and to meet regional goals for cleaning up local waterways.
For the third consecutive year, Northern Virginia local governments and water utility companies, in conjunction with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, are using a 60-second radio spot featuring a tough-talking storm drain to get their pollution prevention message out. This year’s campaign uses print materials, in addition to radio spots, with the theme:
The consortium of local governments and water utility companies has also decided to brand their initiative by calling themselves the Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners. The “Partners” currently include the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, the towns of Herndon, Vienna, and Fairfax Water and the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority. For the first time, the radio campaign will attempt to “drive” listeners to action by directing them to a new website (www.onlyrain.org) that has more in-depth information on the issues, good practices, how to get involved in volunteer cleanup efforts, and links to other pollution prevention websites.
The Northern Virginia Clean Water Partners also intend to conduct another pre- and post-campaign survey to help quantify the effectiveness of the program. Last year’s survey found that half the residents who heard the advertisement would “think differently about disposing of motor oil, fertilizing their lawn and picking up their pet’s waste.” Three out of four residents indicated a “high” degree of concern after listening to the advertisement. And almost 9 out of 10 residents surveyed approved using tax dollars on this type of outreach campaign. For more information on the campaign see www.onlyrain.org or contact Laura Grape, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, (703) 642-0700 or lgrape@novaregion.org.
–Doug Pickford, NVRC
MPPDC Addresses Waterfront Use Conflicts
Many waterfront communities on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula are experiencing a shift in character. Once rural, these areas are now part of a growing suburbia. Also growing are conflicts among the multiple interests who rely on these areas for their livelihood or for their recreation. Gloucester County is home to many such waterfront communities. Not only does the county support a commercial fishing industry and other water-dependent enterprises as part of its working waterfront, it is home to new businesses and new residential development. Waterfront property values in the county have been increasing dramatically as has the competition for space. As the infrastructure supporting working waterfronts disappears, public policies that once served as management tools for both nearshore land and for water access, uses and privileges are becoming inadequate.
Gloucester is the focus of a study being conducted by the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, and funded by Virginia Sea Grant’s Coastal Community Development Program, to better understand existing uses and constraints of the Peninsula’s nearshore areas and waterfront communities.
GIS data and aerial maps were presented at a January 2007 forum to give the public an opportunity to share and discuss the location and nature of current and possible use conflicts. Approximately 50 individuals, representing Middle Peninsula residential property owners, waterfront business owners, the aquaculture industry, state officials, and private citizen groups, attended the forum. Many not only voiced their concerns and potential solutions to the landside-waterside use controversy, but also pinpointed specific areas of use conflict on aerial maps.
After this forum, the MPPDC performed a geospatial (GIS) analysis of one area of conflict in Gloucester County - the north shore of the York River, from the George P. Coleman Bridge to the Guinea Marshes. Data was collected related to water-dependent uses; regulations regarding use standards and zoning of waterways; existing infrastructure and proposed public improvements adjacent to and within conflict zones; and sensitive and significant habitats, such as wetlands and shellfish areas, that could be adversely impacted by transitioning uses. This synthesis also included identifying the management stakeholders to be involved in any use-conflict resolution measures that may be undertaken.
Information collected at the public forum will support a series of facilitated, public stakeholder meetings conducted in the spring of 2007 and funded by the Virginia CZM Program. A Use Conflict Recommendation Committee will be appointed and charged with synthesizing the work of the stakeholders into a final report, which will be presented to the Gloucester Board of Supervisors.
–Jacqueline Shapo, NOAA/CSC Coastal Management Fellow
Conservation Subdivision Design on the Northern Neck
The Virginia CZM Program has been providing assistance to localities on the Northern Neck to encourage “conservation subdivision design”, a development technique that concentrates development on the most suitable portions of a property while protecting the most environmentally significant areas.
Last summer, the Northern Neck Planning District Commission (NNPDC) hosted a workshop in Warsaw featuring well known conservation planning speaker Randall Arendt. Over 70 people attended the event including planning commissioners, members of local boards or supervisors, local land use administrators, developers, realtors, local conservation organizations and other interested citizens.
Mr. Arendt discussed the principles of conservation subdivision design, which he refers to as “golf course communities without the golf course”. He provided a number of examples of how localities have amended their land use ordinances to encourage development designs that protect important natural resources and rural character while maintaining economic viability. He then conducted a hands-on design exercise where participants were asked to create a residential subdivision that conserved as much of the natural resources and open space on the site as possible. Participants in the workshop were very supportive of Mr. Arendt’s design principles. One attendee remarked on what an accomplishment it was to have developers, local officials and conservation organizations all agreeing on a single way to meet their diverse, and often conflicting, objectives. According to Stuart McKenzie of the NNPDC, this enthusiasm has generated interest among localities, influenced project designs and generally raised awareness of the potential of conservation design on the Northern Neck.
Richmond County officials were particularly interested in promoting conservation design principles and wanted to have Mr. Arendt evaluate their land use ordinances for consistency with these principles. With assistance from the Virginia CZM program, the County contracted with Mr. Arendt to review and critique their comprehensive plan, subdivision ordinance, and zoning ordinance. After conveying his comments to the County through several memos about their plans and ordinances, Mr. Arendt then held a three hour work session last October with County officials and the public to review his suggestions and field questions.
According to Chris Jett, Richmond County Director of Planning and Information, Mr. Arendt’s work was well received and the Planning Commission is interested in holding additional work sessions to discuss his recommendations further. He said the County is particularly interested in creating a “County-wide Map of Potential Conservation Lands” as part of the County’s Comprehensive Plan and the idea of a multi-step procedure for reviewing development proposals, including requirements for a site analysis map and a site visit at the beginning of a development proposal to identify significant resources.
–Shep Moon, Virginia CZM
