Inside RLEP

• Coming soon . . .

Rappahannock County land use and planning

• Land-use fragmentation threatens rural economies. While the suburbs keep expanding outward, exurban communities are increasingly creating "leapfrog developments" far from other population centers. This pattern of development is often unplanned and can easily fragment forests and farms. [Read more]

• Comprehensive Plan. Rappahannock County's last Comprehensive Plan was approved by the Board of Supervisors in September 2004. What is the significance of this plan? [Read more]

Rappahannock's roads

• This is not a good sign. We can all agree that driving our county roads is an opportunity to enjoy its scenic beauty, but have you noticed the clutter that has crept into our roadside views? [Read more]

• "Improving" rural roads can attract development. Destinations have always triggered transportation and development. [Continued...]
  

• VDOT program keeps rural roads rustic. Every fall a Virginia Department of Transportation representative shows up at a Rappahannock County Board of Supervisor's meeting to ask what's happening with secondary roads in the county. VDOT wants to know who wants what done to their road so it can update its Secondary Six-Year Plan. [Read more]
  
  
• How much traffic do we have in Rappahannock County? One way to measure development in Rappahannock County is to monitor the amount of traffic on its roadways. [Read more]

Recycling

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that, "between 2000 and 2007, as many as 500 million personal computers will become obsolete and enter the municipal solid waste stream. Electronic waste is growing 2–3 times faster than any other solid waste." What is Rappahannock County doing?

Sewage Sludge

• RLEP's Rick Kohler was a member of a five-person sludge committee authorized by Rappahannock County's Board of Supervisors to develop a sludge ordinance, which the BOS approved 2007. The ordinance includes requirements and procedures for permitting; testing and monitoring of sludge content, spreading, and containment; documentation in county land records; and transportation and storage of sludge in the county. All relate to the public health, safety, and welfare of county citizens and the environment. Under Virginia's Dillon Rule, localities can only regulate the application of sewage sludge (biosolids) as a fertilizer, not ban it. [More]

Wastewater management

• Due in great part to development sprawl, the lowly septic system is going high tech with everything else:
  Wastewater treatment goes high tech

• The characteristics and challenges of wastewater treatment systems are explored in a series of four articles:
  Part 1: Wastewater treatment seeps into the news again
  Part 2: The dilemma of wastewater treatment management
  Part 3: "Why Me?"
  Part 4: Rappahannock County's current situation