Buckingham supervisors adopt comprehensive plan after public comments

The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors adopted the county’s comprehensive plan after a public hearing that included supportive comments and a request for wider public access to plan documents.

Kendah Hahnemann, a resident of District 5, thanked the board for including many public comments in the draft and for language stressing sustainable growth and rural character. “Words like sustainable growth, maintaining the rural character ... are in the plan,” Hahnemann said, while also noting that phrases such as could and might make the plan flexible.

Marie Flowers of the Third District told the board she had tried to consult the plan at the public library but found it unavailable in print; she asked that county offices keep a printed folder for public inspection. “I think it should be in written, in a folder there, for other people to be able to look at it if they want,” Flowers said.

After closing the public hearing, a supervisor moved to adopt the comprehensive plan as presented. The board voted in favor; the motion passed (recorded as yes: 7).

Why it matters: the comprehensive plan sets the county’s long-range guidance on growth, land use and resource protection. Adoption establishes the plan as the county’s policy framework and signals how the board and departments will evaluate future land-use requests.

What’s next: the board and staff will implement plan policies through zoning, capital projects and programmatic priorities; residents asked staff to provide printed copies at the library and to publicize where the plan can be reviewed.