Defending Hanover’s Quality of Life

Changing Hanover’s Political Landscape …
…to Preserve Hanover’s Natural Landscape

Do you want more of this …	or more of this?
Removal of historic homes; more subdivisions, taxes, strip malls, traffic and crowded schools.	Preservation of agricultural and forest lands, and historic assets; and sustainable growth

Petition for Ashland District Ballot Recount Supported by Court

On Nov. 19th Kevin Damian, Independent candidate for the Ashland seat on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, filed a petition in the Hanover County Circuit Court for a recount of votes. The claim rests on the fact that the difference in total votes cast for Kevin Damian (907) and Ed Via (922) was 15, less than 1%. However, there were 19 undervotes in the Ashland District - greater than the difference between the two candidates. An undervote occurs when a ballot is marked incorrectly - e.g. the oval is checked instead of filled in, or it is circled, or the candidate’s name is circled - and the optical scanner is unable to read it.

In the preliminary hearing in Hanover Circuit Court on Nov. 26th, Damian requested a recount of the undervotes specifically, stating no disagreement with the voting machine total for all other ballots. The Court determined that the petition is valid and that the undervotes should be counted. The recount will take place on Dec. 11th at 9 a.m., when a three-judge panel will oversee two recount teams, selected observers, and required officials for the process. This is a closed procedure, not open to the public.

Via was represented by two attorneys - Kirk Schroder, an entertainment attorney with Schroder Fidlow in Richmond, and Roger Bowers, a real estate/development attorney with FutureLaw in Richmond. Damian represented himself.

HCV Issue Dominates Election

Growth was the hot election issue in Hanover County’s Board of Supervisors races in all seven districts. Anger over a major, unwarranted expansion of the county’s growth areas by the sitting Board of Supervisors prompted an intense campaign and a very close result. Three smart growth candidates won and two fell short by only a very few votes.

Martha Wingfield, Hanover Conservation Voters chair, while disappointed, noted that the returning incumbents who voted for the expansions in the Comp Plan won by the slimmest of margins. “The results show that the go-go-growth approach of the prior Board is not widely supported and the election represents a call for greater protection of Hanover’s rural and historic assets,” Wingfield said. She also noted that the four candidates who supported the recklessly aggressive Comp Plan had only 6,422 total votes. Candidates who voted against the Plan, plus the challengers who ran on smart growth issues and against the Comp Plan, had a total of 11,497 votes. Clearly citizens, by an almost two-to-one margin, voted for candidates opposed to the rapid overdevelopment of Hanover.

Hanover Conservation Voters extends a heartfelt thank you to all of our endorsed candidates. We owe a special debt of gratitude to our candidates who ran as challengers. Our candidates are citizens who were willing to step up to the plate for the rest of us and fight for our quality of life.

We also want to express our deep appreciation to the many volunteers who, over the past months, hosted events, planted signs, made phone calls, knocked on doors and worked on Election Day.

Don’t Buy the Distortions - Check the Facts

Be an informed citizen. Know the facts about the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Comp Plan) and growth in Hanover County. Don’t buy the distorted information currently touted by the majority of Supervisors who voted for this Plan. With the major expansion of land for development, this Plan abandons past practices of well-managed growth. Read on here, and re-visit the March 2007 issue of The Hanover Advocate (does not reflect the few changes made in the proposed plan after publication date).

• 71% of the respondents to the County’s own Citizen Survey (2005) stated that the county is growing “too fast”; 61% supported programs designed to maintain our rural character, even if more taxes are required to fund these programs
• The Comp Plan, adopted March 28, 2007, adds 29,544 acres to the Suburban Services Area (SSA). This is a 65% increase to the current SSA, and designates agricultural land for development
• Of the 29,544 acres, 14,298 (gross) acres are targeted for 20-year phasing, from right now until 2027. Here’s what it is and where it is:
  • 1,052 acres residential and 62 acres industrial west of Ashland
  • 3,381 acres business park in Carter/Blenheim area
  • 1,145 acres industrial in Doswell area
  • 3,395 acres business park in Hylas area
  • 5,263 acres residential in the area between Ashland and Hylas
• Despite the fact that the current majority of Supervisors say the “50-year” phase was removed from the Plan, in fact, only the map was changed. The text in the Plan identifying these area as potential SSA expansions (page 9, objective 3) meets the same “consistency with the Comp Plan guidelines” just as if the area were shown on maps. Affected areas:
  • 7,255 gross acres (4,770 net), west of current SSA in Doswell area
  • 7,991 gross acres (4,638 net), south of E. Patrick Henry Rd. and east of Rt. 1, including portions of Beaverdam, Ashland, and Henry Districts
• The Major Thoroughfare Plan that is part of the Comp Plan, among other changes that only invite more sprawl
  • adds a new I-95 interchange north of Ashland that will spur massive, new development and cost millions in highway dollars
  • adds a 6-lane bypass at Hanover Courthouse through Nutshell Farm, Cabin Hill Farm, agricultural fields and private homes
  • adds a new 4-lane road from Northlake Blvd. (southern tip of Ashland) across Elmont to Cedar Lane to Cauthorne Rd. (currently 2 lanes)
• Using the planing assumptions developed by the County consultants, 24,200 new houses are needed by 2026 - resulting in a 70% increase in population
• Eleven Hanover streams and rivers are considered impaired; Hanover is in the 8-hour ozone non-attainment boundary for air quality
• Hanover’s population recently surpassed 100,000, a milestone that took over 280 years to reach. At the current rapid growth rate, the population will double in 35 years.
• Hanover’s woodland acres decreased by 72% from 1950 to 2002.
• The addition of 29,544 acres to the SSA is equivalent to 1 Roanoke or 5 Charlottesvilles.

Some choices are clear. We can change course. Together, we can choose a new Board of Supervisors that listens to us and puts Hanover back on the right track. Vote for candidates committed to defending Hanover’s quality of life. Your vote is your voice!

PARADISE LOST … or Hanover County?

What does the future hold for Hanover county? According to the 2002 US Census of Agriculture, agricultural land in Hanover county diminished by 46.2 percent from 1950 to 2002. Working farms dwindled 63 percent. Rivers like the South Anna and Chickahominy and creeks like Mechumps, Taylor and Totopotomoy are impaired. Meanwhile, thousands of new acres are snared for suburban development, thus altering forever, the rural spirit and quality of Hanover County.

Click here - Listen to this balladeer sing a plaintive ode to rural Hanover county.

Now is the time to take action! On November 6th, VOTE for candidates committed to defending Hanover’s quality of life.

DON’T BE TOO LATE IN ASKIN’, LET’S TAKE BACK OUR COUNTY!

Gordon, McGhee, Setliff & Ward Approved Dramatic, Reckless Growth for Hanover Based on Data They Knew Was Flawed

The Board of Supervisors approved the Comprehensive Plan Update on March 28th in spite of full knowledge that a nationally known expert had discredited the Plan’s key assumptions and data.

A motion to delay action (offered by Bucky Stanley, Beaverdam) was defeated. A motion to adopt the Update (offered by Jack Ward, Mechanicsville) barely passed by a narrow 4-3 vote (Gordon, McGhee, Setliff and Ward voted in favor).

Despite flawed data and despite the fact that behind-the-scenes changes were made the night of the vote, and never reviewed by citizens, the majority of Supervisors declined to give their constituents another opportunity for meaningful input.

Michael Siegel, a 30-year veteran and expert in public and environmental finances, development and land use impact analysis, was h