Yorktown, VA 23692
The York County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to sponsor an amendment that, if approved, would prohibit Dandy residents from farming commercially.
The request for the amendment comes in the form of a petition signed by 160 Dandy residents who said they wished to “preserve our unique way of life in Dandy.”
The supervisors unanimously supported sending the amendment through the county process, which means the York County Planning Commission will vote on whether to recommend approval of a rezoning. The supervisors will have the ultimate decision on whether the area receives a new designation.
Eleven people spoke about the potential rezoning during the board’s public comment period.
“Dandy needs to stay just like it is,” said Dandy Loop Road resident Wayne Williams, who opposed the rezoning. He said the petition was “flipping the whole neighborhood upside down because of two people,” referring to Greg Garrett and Tim McCulloch, two Dandy men who have gone before the board with special-use permit applications for oyster operations in the past.
Five citizens spoke in favor of the amendment, asking the board to preserve the residential character of the land.
Dandy Loop Road resident Charles Forbes told the board he was concerned his neighbor’s property, which is currently for sale, could be transformed into an oyster operation if the land stays in its rural designation. “I want R33 to solidify what we’ve got down in Dandy,” he said, referring to the new designation.
If approved, the amendment would rezone the neighborhood from its current rural residential designation to a newly created residential designation meant for subdivisions.
In the new designation, residents are prevented from having large farming and underwater farming operations. Beekeeping, chicken keeping and gardening would still be permitted under the new designation.
Assistant County Administrator J. Mark Carter told the board Dandy was zoned for residential use and farming was not permitted on the land until 1985, when the board rezoned it to rural residential.
Vice Chairman Thomas Shepperd Jr. said the board should work to reduce “the agitation in the community” with the sponsorship of the amendment. He said he wanted to make sure Dandy citizens were educated on the proposed amendment.
This petition is the second the board has received in the past six months that asks for a rezoning. The first came from residents in the neighborhood of York Point who told the board they were worried commercial activity in the neighborhood would lower their property values.
The new designation meant for subdivisions was created in June by the board to curb an impending law that will prevent municipalities from requiring special-use permits on all land used for farming beginning Jan. 1.
The law, passed by the General Assembly in March, says municipalities may rezone land away from agricultural uses or set performance standards that limit measurable requirements, such as lot size for a farming operation.
It is unclear whether the county’s rural residential designation constitutes a “farming zone,” as the term has not yet been defined by the General Assembly. A case filed with the York-Poquoson Circuit Court in May seeks to establish that definition.
The York County Planning Commission recommended approval of the farming regulations — which include requiring about 5,600 properties to have at least 2 acres of land for farming operations — to the supervisors, who will review them Oct. 21.
The York County Planning Commission will review the amendment and recommend approval or denial by its Oct. 8 meeting, and the Board of Supervisors makes the final decision to approve or deny the zoning change.
Related Coverage:
- Dandy Citizens File Petitions to Prevent Farming in Neighborhood
- York Planners Recommend Approval of Farming Regulations
- Tabb Citizen One Step Closer to Oyster Farm Approval
- Greg Garrett Withdraws Application to Use Dandy Land as Part of Oyster Farm
- Supervisors Rezone York Point to New Residential Resignation, Cut Farming Rights
- York Supervisors Start Process to Regulate Farming on Thousands of Properties
- Planners Say No to Rezoning York Point
- York Residents, Farming Activists Spar Over Property Rights
- Greg Garrett Seeks to Clear Dandy Oyster Farm with York County
- York Supervisors to Consider Plan to Bar Farming, Accessory Apartments from York Point
- Land-Use Debate Pits York Point Residents Against Each Other
- York Planners to Study Proposed Zoning Changes That Could Erase Farming on Thousands of Properties
- Ag Bill Lessens Local Control of Aquaculture; Regulatory Options Remain for York County
- House Bill Could Mean Big Changes for York County Oyster Farming
