
by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—After a sometimes heated public hearing on how to best protect valuable water resources while encouraging affordable housing, the Lancaster planning commission on January 16 tabled a decision on a proposed change to the Waterfront Overlay District (W1).
Currently, W1 requires a two-acre minimum lot size for property within 800 feet of “tidal waters and wetlands,” which includes tributary streams. The proposed change would include properties “within 800 feet of tidal waters and the water shoreline edge” as defined in the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) Shoreline & Tidal Marsh Inventory Glossary.
During a presentation prior to the public hearing, county administrator Don Gill said, “The intent is not to change anything on the waterfront. The intent is to remove any inland areas that are far away from the waterfront from being subject to W1.” Instead, those parcels would be subject to minimum lot sizes of the underlying zoning….