Penny must wait for BZA meeting

By JIM LAWRENCE
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: November 12, 2008

STAFFORD — Stafford resident Charlie Williams and his horse Penny were subjects of discussion at last week’s Stafford County Board of Supervisors’ meeting.

At the Nov. 5 meeting, board members discussed Williams, who became a controversial subject in the news when he was informed that he could not keep his horse because of a zoning violation. 

Williams keeps Penny at his home farm, which is residentially zoned.

The board discussed several options that would potentially allow Williams to keep the horse. But first, the case, must go before the BZA. Assuming the BZA approves the exception for Williams’ horse given certain conditions, he could apply for a conditional use permit to keep the horse, according to discussion at last week’s meeting. 

In other news, Stafford County Supervisor Paul Milde reported that more than 6,100 signatures from registered voters were collected on a petition to put an at-large seat on the board.

The Citizen’s Chairman Coalition, the group behind effort, wants to see the issue on next year’s ballot.

The group stated in a flier that such a position would alleviate the annual change of the chairman’s position and that the at-large chairman “would not be as likely to be subject to Democrat or Republican party politics since their tenure would be decided by the voters, not a political party.”

Also at the meeting:

N Stafford Supervisor Joe Brito, I-Hartood, suggested a return to county vehicle stickers as part of an effort to close the budget deficit. The board voted in January 2007 to drop the annual stickers. The fee is currently added to personal property tax, thus eliminating the cost of producing the stickers. No action was taken on the matter, though the board plans to review the matter. 

N the board wrestled again with the problem of fire and rescue coverage in the northwestern part of the county. Mountain View Fire Department has a full-time staff.  Rock Hill Fire Department is all volunteer. The result has been an Insurances Services Office rating for Rock Hill that isn’t satisfactory. The ISO rates services which in turn impact consumer insurance rates. Now, the county plans to spend $60,000 to lease a five-acre parcel near the intersection of Garrisonville and Shelton Shop roads where a portable shelter would be built for the fire truck. Full-time staff from Mountain View would then occupy a building on the property, thus placing the fire station within five miles of the Rock Hill Volunteer Department and satisfying ISO requirements.

Jim Lawrence is a contributing writer at the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at . 

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