COMMUNITY Hanover Fire-EMS schedules Santa Runs PAGE 4
AWARDS Firefighters receive Valor Awards for response to crash
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Vol. 5 No. 12 | Richmond Suburban News | December 4, 2019
Planning Commission defers action School board on Rural Conservation amendment takes no action By Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local
H
ANOVER -- Hanover County officials originally approved the creation of RC Preservation Zone in 1996, and about two dozen landowners have taken advantage of the classification in the years that have followed. Earlier this month, the Hanover Planning Commission considered an amendment to the ordinance that would
allow more than one preservation lot in the Rural Conservation District. The RC district is comprised of two components — one containing clustered lots in the residential section and a conservation area of common open space that includes a preservation lot that allows the owner to build a home. The ordinance change would allow that preservation lot to be divided into two lots, each with a minimum area of 10 acres. Only one dwelling would be allowed. RC density would not be
affected. Commissioners held a work session prior to last month’s regularly scheduled meeting to study the complexities of RC Zoning and the implications of an ordinance change. Planning Director David Maloney said about two dozen landowners have projects listed as RC District zoning. “We’ve preserved about 7,000 acres in open space,” Maloney said during the workshop. see PLANNING, pg. 5
Ashland Olde Time Holiday Parade
Joel Klein for The Ashland-Hanover Local
Richmond Area Bicycling Association members and Two Florettes Majorettes entertain the crowd at the Olde Time Holiday Parade held on Sunday, Nov. 24, in Ashland. More photo on page 16.
on NAACP suit By Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local ASHLAND -- There are only 13 schools remaining in Virginia with names of Confederate leaders according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. That’s down from 21 in 2018 as Roanoke, Richmond and other communities have chosen to change the school names that have long been objectionable to the African American community and others. Two of those remaining schools are located in Hanover County, and the objections of the county’s NAACP and others have been consistent and clear. An effort to change the names in 2018 fell short when the Hanover County School Board voted 5-2 to maintain the current names and mascots of Lee-Davis High School, the Confederates, and Stonewall Jackson Middle School, the Rebels. Some board members in favor of keeping the names said their votes partially relied on a public survey where more than 13,000 county residents expressed a desire not to change the names. The efforts to change the
ROGER BOURASSA names and mascots were amplified earlier this year when the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the school board demanding the change, citing First and Fourteenth amendment violations. At a school board meeting earlier this month, board members issued a press release announcing a special meeting that occurred last Friday to discuss a possible settlement in the case. The press release announced that the special closed session meeting would “discuss a possible resolution to the pending lawsuit filed by the Hanover County Unit of the NAACP.” When that meeting was see NAACP, pg. 5