Mar 09 2007
Interesting Zoning Case in Harrisonburg
Per The Daily News Record, there is a really interesting zoning decision before the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors. A company that owns Endless Caverns wishes to develop it into an RV park (the website already reads “Endless Caverns and RV Resort”) and is seeking a special use permit on the land zoned agricultural. Near-by residents, as is their custom, oppose the plan.
The interesting bit is the news today that the Caverns owners hired a Private Investigator who claimed to be a professor and interviewed neighbors and the newspaper trying to find out who opposed the group. Having that secret exposed isn’t going to win them much local goodwill.
The nearby residents are arguing (site & pdf overview) that there are environmental issues, traffic concerns, & neighborhood character concerns but their most promising angle is the zoning / land use one. “residents who oppose the expansion say they gave the county several documents supporting their claim that an RV resort is not a good use of land zoned general agriculture.” That’s probably true. Rockingham county has been really pushing development and incenting folks to bring in outside money, so depending on what the company intends, this may be unstoppable with the current board.
Stultz said she hopes to have a decision on the site plan by April 1. The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors will reconsider the special-use permit, which was tabled in December, whenever it’s ready, she said.