2017 Revision Westmoreland 2 County’s 0 3 isi0 n Comprehensive Plan Land Use Natural Resources Protection Transportation Adoption History 1) Presented to the members of the Westmoreland County Planning Commission on 16 September 2010. 2) Approved by the Westmoreland County Planning Commission on 4 October 2010, following a public hearing. 3) Presented to the members of the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors on 8 November 2010. 4) Adopted by the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors on 13 December 2010, following a public hearing. 5) Last revision adopted by the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors 11 December 2017. www.westmoreland-county.org Purpose and Background Information Westmoreland County is required by the Code of Virginia, §15.2-2223 et seq., 1950, as amended, to prepare a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the territory within its jurisdiction. The plan, the Code of Virginia states, “shall be general in nature, in that it shall designate the general or approximate location, character, and extent of each feature shown on the plan and shall indicate where existing lands or facilities are proposed to be extended, widened, removed, relocated, vacated, narrowed, abandoned, or changed in use as the case may be.” In simplified terms, a comprehensive plan is two things: 1) A general inventory and analysis of existing conditions and growth trends; and 2) A guide for achieving a coordinated, orderly growth and development of the locality. Westmoreland County’s Comprehensive Plan History The original plan was adopted by the County Board of Supervisors on December 11, 1974 A revision was adopted in January of 1981 A revision was adopted in 1999, further reviewed and confirmed on June 4, 2007 A fully revised edition was adopted on December 13, 2010 This revision was adopted December 11, 2017. Prepared with funding from the following government agencies: Grant #NA09NOS4190163 Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program U.S. Department of Commerce Department of Environmental Quality Economic Development Administration 629 East Main Street Curtis Center, Suite 140 South P.O. Box 1105 601 Walnut Street Richmond, Virginia 23218 Philadelphia, PA 19106-3821 (804) 698-4000 215.597.7883 www.deq.state.va.us www.eda.gov The Northern Neck Planning District Commission National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration P.O. Box 1600 Under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, Warsaw, Virginia 22572 as amended. The views expressed herein are those 804.333.1900 of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the www.nnpdc.org views of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, or any of its subagencies. Technical assistance to the 2010 adoption of this plan was provided by the Northern Neck Planning District Commission: Administration: Jerry W. Davis, AICP, Executive Director Cartography: Stuart McKenzie, Environmental Planner; Grant Turner, Environmental Planner Editing, design, and production: Alex Eguiguren, Technical Assistant Photographs: By Northern Neck PDC staff, and also from the Northern Neck Tourism Commission collection, All other photographs copyrighted by their respective photographers and photolia.com (Page 17: Michael Flippo, Page 43: Sam Shapiro, Page 48: Anthony Hall, Page 56: Joe Gough, and Page 57: Robert Rozbora). Production History 1st Draft completed and printed on December 7, 2009 Westmoreland County, Virginia Officials of Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States of America Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors Darryl E. Fisher (District 1) Russ Culver (District 2) Dorothy Dickerson Tate (District 3) W. W. Hynson (District 4) Larry Roberson (District 5) Westmoreland County Planning Commission Elwood Carey (District 1) Lewis Thompson (District 2) John Felt (District 3) James L. Coates (District 4) Kyle J. Schick (District 5) Westmoreland County Administrator Norm Risavi Westmoreland County Director of Planning and Community Development Beth McDowell Westmoreland County P.O. Box 1000 Montross, Virginia 22520 1-804-493-0130 phone 1-804-493-0134 fax www.westmoreland-county.org C O N T E N T S 1. Executive Summary Page 7 How This Plan was Put Together Page 9 2. County & Economy Page 11 2.1 Overview Page 11 2.2 Government Page 13 2.3 Housing Page 16 2.4 Employment and Economic Development Page 19 2.5 Utilities Page 22 2.6 Services Page 23 2.7 Education Page 25 2.8 Parks & Recreation Page 26 3. Land Use Page 31 3.1 Existing Land Use Page 31 3.2 Future Land Use Page 36 4. Natural Resources Protection Page 51 4.1 Resources Page 51 4.2 Threats to Resources Page 55 4.3 Conservation Tools Page 64 5. Transportation Page 67 5.1 Overview Page 67 5.2 Transportation Inventory Page 66 5.3 Transportation Needs/Projects Page 77 6. Implementation & Evaluation Page 79 6.1 Overview Page 79 6.2 Tools of Implementation Page 79 6.3 Revisions Page 89 6.4 Implementation & Evaluation Page 89 7. Supporting Documents Page 108 8. Maps Page 129 BL ANK PAG E Westmoreland County’s Comprehensive Plan Vision2030 “This is what we want Westmoreland County to be like in the year 2030—and what we plan to do to make it happen.” Executive Summary he statement above is what best describes the purpose of Westmoreland County’s Comprehensive Plan. Through its goals and actions, the plan gives expression to the T community’s wishes, acting as a guide. Its recommended actions are not absolute. Some of them will be implemented, while others, with time, may change according to new needs and conditions. This is one reason why the Code of Virginia requires that this document be reviewed every five years. The plan also functions as a general inventory for areas such as education, employment and economic development, housing and healthcare, historic resources, recreation, utilities, and capital improvements. Most of these are not addressed in depth, however, except when they directly affect land use, water-quality protection, and transportation—the three development categories that require the most informed decisions. This plan aims to be a helpful analysis of these three categories, and it represents the county’s recognition of how they play a major role in the protection of state waters and the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Westmoreland Comprehensive Plan: Vision 2030 – Revised December 2017- 7 To help the Westmoreland County Planning Commission implement the goals of this comprehensive plan, each of the four major sections of the plan has a companion Vision2030 Chart, which can be described as a “To-Do List for the Next 20 Years,” with recommended actions to achieve each agreed-upon goal: Vision2030 Chart Areas Addressed County & Economy Commerce, Governance, Revitalization, Recreation, Federal & State Relations, Services, Housing, Education, Economic and Residential Development, Tourism & Quality of Life Land Use Coastal Management; Conservation; Commercial, Residential, and General Development; Governance; Planning; Tourism & Quality of Life Natural Resources Protection Energy Efficiency, Water Quality, Coastal Management, Conservation, Stormwater & Erosion Control, Tourism & Quality of Life Transportation Tourism & Quality of Life, Economic Development, Working with VDOT, Governance, Zoning & Ordinances, Marine Transportation, Public Transit, Infrastructure, Planning These four Vision2030 charts can be found at the end of Section 6 (Implementation & Evaluation). Decisions adopted by the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors today will be extremely important for the future of the county, especially as development pressures increase under a growing influx of retirees concerned about public services, land use, environmental stewardship, taxes, and other issues. Through public participation in the creation of this plan, county citizens and members of the county’s Planning Commission point the way forward. Westmoreland Comprehensive Plan: Vision 2030 – Revised December 2017- 8 How This Plan Was Put Together In April 2008, the Westmoreland County Administrator asked the Northern Neck Planning District Commission to assist the county in the revision of its 1999 Comprehensive Plan. The following is a general description of the process (for additional details, visit www.Westmoreland2030.org): June 2008 – Public meeting at Westmoreland County County Planning Commission at the Bank of Lancaster’s Courthouse. The Executive Director of the Northern meeting room, in Montross, to go over the fourth section Neck Planning District Commission (NNPDC) presented of Working Document #1, titled “Transportation.” to the public and members of the Westmoreland County Planning Commission (WCPC) an overview of the September to December 2009 – The Northern Neck NNPDC’s approach to developing a comprehensive plan. Planning District Commission produced Working Document #2, a full draft of the county’s Vision2030 July 2008 – Public meeting at Westmoreland County Comprehensive Plan, submitted to the Westmoreland Courthouse. Draft copy of the proposed Citizen’s Survey County Planning Commission on 12/7/2009. presented. Changes to the survey were considered. January to April 2010 – The Northern Neck Planning August 2008 – Public meeting at Westmoreland County District Commission produced Working Document #3, a Courthouse. Discussed the shorter version of the survey draft of the county’s Vision2030 Comprehensive Plan (four pages long) requested by the Westmoreland County that incorporates all comments and requests for changes Planning Commission (WCPC), which approved the to Working Document #2 (submitted to the Westmoreland survey with one minor change.