By Gracie Hart Brooks
Editor
The Madison County Comprehensive Plan was approved last week with little fanfare.
The 2025 Comprehensive Plan has been in the works for years–since late 2022. State code requires counties to maintain a comprehensive plan outlining the vision for the future of the locality and also to update it every five years. Madison County’s last comprehensive plan was updated in 2018.
The 40-page updated draft document serves as a roadmap to Madison County’s future. It was created through a committee of residents, planning commissioners and county officials, along with assistance from the Rappahannock Rapidan Regional Commission. The plan’s vision seeks to “maintain and enhance the county’s civic, cultural and natural assets,” while recognizing the “importance of preserving the county’s highly-valued rural character, scenic beauty and friendly atmosphere.” It also encourages “entrepreneurship, the expansion of employment opportunities for county residents and modest, well-planned commercial and residential development.”
The plan is broken up into five elements–land use, community design and environment; economic development; housing; transportation and mobility; and recreation, community facilities and utilities. It includes preserving agriculture as the county’s primary land use while protecting environmentally sensitive areas and directing higher-density housing developments near the town with smaller-scale developments within the village areas. It also recognizes U.S. 29 as an important commercial corridor. The plan values tourism and agritourism as well as entrepreneurship, business and industry. It also calls for a wide range of housing options and highlights existing transportation corridors. Shenandoah National Park and Hoover Ridge Park are listed among the recreation opportunities within the county. Broadband is included among the utilities.
Only two people spoke during the public hearing on the plan. One, a representative from the Piedmont Environmental Council, said the document “gets it right” and “lays out a path forward for economic growth” while preserving the county’s assets and heralds agriculture as the primary land use. Resident Nancy Sharman, who is seeking election to the board of supervisors, said the document is well-written and gives residents hope.
Planning commission chair Steve Carpenter said he was surprised more people didn’t attend the hearing.
The plan was recommended for approval to the board of supervisors by the planning commission. The supervisors approved it unanimously.
