Planning staff recommends adding three parcels, 151 acres, to Cobbler Mountain Agricultural and Forestal District

Fauquier County planning staff presented a proposal to add three parcels totaling 151 acres to the Cobbler Mountain Agricultural and Forestal District, saying the properties are prime agricultural and forest soils and are actively used as a horse farm.

The parcels are owned by a property owner who also holds an adjoining parcel already in the district; staff said adding the three parcels could create a new core area for the Cobbler Mountain District. The county’s Agricultural and Forestal District Advisory Committee reviewed the request last month and “unanimously recommended approval,” planning staff said.

Staff noted two of the three parcels are enrolled in land use, the parcels are adjacent to other parcels in the district, and the land received a 79.3 out of 100 score on the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation ecological assessment. “It is actively used as a horse farm,” staff said. During questions, a commissioner asked whether an intervening parcel between two of the parcels was privately owned; staff confirmed it was.

A staff member said the owner has the intervening parcel on a priority list should that owner decide to sell: “I told her she needed to try and buy it from them to make a great core, but she said, we're first on their list if they ever want to sell.”

No formal action or vote was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. Staff concluded by offering to answer additional questions.

The record indicates the proposal will continue through the county review process; staff said they were available to respond to commissioner questions and that advisory committee support and the ecological score supported the addition.