Open letter to our county government
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In our fast-growing county some bureaucratic impedance to sensible development might be expected, but there is no excuse for the current impasse on Allder School Road, where the Howell family has been trying for months to build a small “green” house on their 8-acre plot.
Our zoning ordinance, implemented by the zoning administrator, denies approval unless the Howells build a sidewalk of concrete or asphalt along their frontage -- a true “sidewalk to nowhere.” The land to either side of them has no prospect of development.
The practical effect of this sidewalk? No users. The destruction of a a dozen mature trees. The despoiling of a 32-foot-deep yard between an existing house and the dirt road. An embarrassment to citizens and county. And, maybe the empty victory of the Zoning Office in protecting a mandate.
In a file of e-mails between the Howells and county officers, the Zoning Office suggests its hands are tied by the ordinance. Hardly so. Only by the strictest interpretation of the rules, which suggest they should really apply where a road is being built by developers and their new houses will stand close to it. That distance is not defined. In fact, a full-scale development at the corner of Allder School Road and Route 611 ignores the requirement.
The Howells say no county officer has come from Leesburg to look at the site, which would clarify the absurdity of the rule in this instance.
John Gardiner
Unison
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