Citizens working group urges rule changes to protect priority conservation areas; Hidden Springs used as example

James, presenting CWG recommendations to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors, laid out proposed edits to the county's conservation-subdivision rules aimed at better protecting high‑value habitat while retaining development flexibility. The group recommended setting a 50‑acre minimum for conservation subdivisions, excluding unbuildable land (wetlands, etc.) from the open‑space calculation and establishing a higher density bonus schedule — including an 85% bonus when a 60% set‑aside is achieved.

CWG's rationale, James said, is that "open space is supposed to represent something the developer gives up to the county," and that lands already protected by regulation should not be counted in the percentage a developer must dedicate. The CWG also recommended that conservation subdivisions within the county's priority conservation areas be subject to a conditional‑use process and…