Environment Data
Statistical Data
Futures Statements
Strategies & Solutions
Plans, Studies, and Reports
Resources
Environment: Strategies & Solutions (n=260)Environmental Sub-Categories |
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Participant Comment |
| Environmental Quality: General Observations (n=25) | |
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All environmental concerns |
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All environmental issues |
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Environmental protection |
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Protect the air & water |
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Protect our environment, water and air |
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protection of air and water quality |
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Don’t develop right up to the 460 by-pass - we have been in other states where green is what the traveler sees until they get off the interstate … then development starts - examples Vermont & New Hampshire |
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Protection of forests and rivers |
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Increased protection of natural areas (forests, rivers, etc. |
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protect the national forests and parks |
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protect the environment |
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protecting our rivers & mountains |
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Hire good biologist to help with the Comprehensive Plan |
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National protection of forests and area attractions |
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Plan undeveloped areas - natural areas. |
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Be smart - you know where the areas that should be protected are! You have the information and the knowledge to keep development out of those areas. You do not need a survey to figure this out |
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Environmental quality |
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environmental controls |
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We cannot out build our resources! There is a limit to our land, water, etc. |
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do more to protect environment, agricultural areas, etc |
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Balancing growth & natural beauty of the county |
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More rural areas need support of Mont. Co. |
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Increase Environmental quality |
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I do think we need to protect ground water and limit residential expansion |
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Environmental Quality: Promote sustainable practices--water quality, innovative housing and development, eco-businesses, recycling, hydrogen-??? busses, government greening of buildings. |
| Environmental Quality: Monitoring, Resource Management, and Education (n=40) | |
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Proper & strict monitoring of County's natural resources |
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Ground pollution - education - through civic clubs - Ruritan |
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Education to farmers, polluters (accidental or otherwise) |
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Inform residents of the environmental dangers - few people are aware. |
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A groundswell of concern & pressure to clean up polluting sites might have a big effect. |
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Also a thorough investigation of where the pollutants come from. They are not just from far away (Ohio Valley) |
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Cooperation between the county and agencies to preserve th quality of water. |
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public awareness/education on depletion of resources (land, energy, water, food) |
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Form a research and development corp w/the public schools and VA Tech to study how to protect the environment. |
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Determine the ecological (ie., groundwater supply) carry capacity of area |
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Public education on long term environmental impact of growth and development |
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Encourage environmental preservation & restoration by providing greater access to recycling, protection of natural resources |
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resource inventory |
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periodic surveys to measure progress |
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Thorough education of elected people on all issues related to environmental issues |
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outdoor forums (environment, etc.) |
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Limit use of land contaminants (overfertilization) to keep wells/river sources clean |
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Environmental quaity - Education of general population |
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Environmental quaity - improved school programs |
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Environmental quaity - even enforcement of existing ordinances |
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Environmental quaity - inter-jurisdictional cooperation |
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Environmental quaity - use of community services for clean-up |
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Tech involved in water monitoring |
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No clearing of forest land to build houses |
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Environmentally friendly logging practices |
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Determine ground water availability & vulnerability |
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Investing in renewable resources |
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Educational programs that instill respect for the environment |
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environmental quality: This area is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We should all value and cherish this land. |
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Planning for parks and open areas when planning subdivisions |
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Continue to use or create policies which control growth and protect green spaces |
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preserve natural areas for recreation, cluster housing & business |
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Encourage the development and activities desired with policy -- tax breaks for eco-tourism |
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environmental studies before any development |
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Environmental studies before any development |
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Encourage the development and activities desired with policy -- tax breaks for eco-tourism |
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Strict environmental policies--recycling. |
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Protect land |
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Enforce environmental protections re: industrial and agricultural pollution |
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Create tax incentives and zoning protection for historic preservation and natural environment (streams, forests, farmland, etc.) conservation. |
| Environmental Quality: Industrial & Educational Sites (n=10) | |
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Monitoring air quality and determining source of pollution including arsenal at Ratford and VT coal fire systems |
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Require industrial sites to follow environmental regulations |
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Strict rules against air, water, and/or ground pollution ENFORCED!! Including VA Tech (no excuses) |
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VT to use better air pollution equipment |
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Mont. Co. sewage plant overflows & depletion of aquifers; solution; decentralized wastewater systems |
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phase out of "dirty" ways to get energy (coal boiler) |
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Clean up the duck pond!, |
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Reforest areas around the industrial parks |
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Clean up ugly, unsightly areas along 460 bypass (new sections) |
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economic development & environment |
| Air Quality: General Comments (n=4) | |
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Increase and protect air quality |
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Protection of air quality |
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Figure out how to reduce air polution from too many car trips |
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Emissions test for vehicle inspection |
| Watershed & Riparian Protection (Streams, Rivers): General Comments (n=47) | |
Note: Given the number and range of comments, the watershed topic has been split into a number of sections: 1) general comments about watersheds, 2) comments concerning a specific stream, 3) flood zones. Water quality comments and suggestions have been included in the General Comments section.(ed.) |
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All watersheds should become public parks for the neighborhoods. |
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Protect our water sheds (public park areas) |
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Guaranteed fresh water sources |
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Protect and encourage better drinking water |
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Protect ground water |
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Protect our rivers |
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Protect major watersheds |
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Protect watersheds |
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Protect watersheds |
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Preservation/limiting building could: preserve ground water - an extremely important point! |
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Increased protection of all watershed/public water |
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Protect ground water |
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Increase watershed protection |
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Water resources protected |
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Protective water and forestry areas |
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Ground water closely monitored to keep contaminants out. |
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Protect watershed, forests |
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protect ground water supply |
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protection of ground water is a critical issue today from a safety factor as well as increased demand |
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Limit development on karst terrain |
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Water resources need to be protected - environmental regulations |
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Groundwater Protection |
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Reduce water pollution by using organic methods where possible for county parks and landscaping, and also use environmentally sound agricultural practices. |
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Preserve our river fronts |
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protect ground water |
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Protect water |
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protection of water resources |
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water: Without surface/ground water what would we drink? It is essential to life - it shouldn't even be a question! |
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protect watershed areas |
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Protection of ground water, streams, watersheds |
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Protect our watersheds |
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I do think we need to protect ground water and limit residential expansion |
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Waterway cleanup |
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Dam removal |
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Protecting water shed |
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Protect Montgomery County streams/rivers/watersheds |
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Protect karst, caves, and groundwater |
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Protect all watersheds |
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Require buffer zones on creeks and streams, no septic systems within 100’, and encourage riparian vegetation |
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Buffer zones on creeks and streams |
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Fully develop watershed plan and implement on whole watershed basis |
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Coordinated watershed management and planning |
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Increase protection of waterways |
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Initiate a watershed protection program |
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Develop a karst terrain ordinance and mapping program to protect groundwater |
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Encourage clean water and streams |
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Take more interst in our rivers and creeks and water |
| Water Quality & Protection : Specific Locations (n=11) | |
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The New River, like it is! |
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Purchase development rights on Little and New River |
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Protect New River and adjacent land for future |
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Place specific language to safeguard Little River, New River, all small streams & springs in Mont.Co. |
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Protect land in Price's Fork area & New River |
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protect the Little River |
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Purchase of access rights along New, Little Rivers |
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Increased protection of New River watershed including Stroubles Creek tributaries |
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State Scenic River status for Little River |
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Little River Scenic designation through state |
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Be proactive in protecting Brush Mountain watershed/ Ellett Valley |
| Water Quality: Flood Zones (n=6) | |
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Boundaries on building along waterways |
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Limit development in floodplains |
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Stop building in flood plains and have landowners put in place flood reducing plans |
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In some places the creeks are not much lower than the roads so therefore we have floods (Note: reference to Falling Branch) |
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Streams should be kept clean when you grade the excess gravel goes into creeks so there is that much less flow space for the water & then it overflows its banks. |
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Floodplain protection. |
| Septic Systems & Wells (n=9) | |
Note: See, also, Utilities: Alternative Waste Treatment Systems. |
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Limit residential development based on groundwater supply |
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We must protect ground water and limit the number of homes or businesses drawing water from underground resources since it is difficult to determine how much water is there |
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Pass a law requiring septic tanks to be cleaned out at least every 5 years & monitor septics more carefully |
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Rural areas need alternative system(s) to septic systems. |
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inspect septic systems & enforce compliance |
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test home H2O systems every 5 years at county expense |
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We need people to get working septic systems. This is something the county assesor should check yearly. |
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Old septic: Whatever we have to do to preserve the quality of water--but this should be subsidised because it's very expensive. |
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Ground water - more mains water & sewage. There are too many spetic tanks for the geology |
| Agriculture: Run-off and non-point source pollution (n=6) | |
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Impose buffer strips along streams in livestock areas |
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Focus on treatment & control of Non-point source run-off |
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Agriculture to use less chemicals organize style |
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Local water pollution ordinances for farms, homes & busiensses |
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Fence off streams on farms |
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Require agricultural BMPs and Forestry BMPs be employed and enforced |
| Erosion and Sediment Control (n=10) | |
Note: The Erosion and Sediment Control sub-category includes comments about erosion and development related run-off, as well as statements related to impervious surfaces. Comments about agricultural run-off are included under the section on water quality. |
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Less grading, more natural development |
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Try to get rain back in ground, not run off into sewers and streams |
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Work to control siltation and protect our top soil. |
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Look into pervious pavement for parking lots. |
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Use inzble block when possible (zirated concrete) |
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need to do a better job enforcing E&S ordinance |
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limit logging |
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Establish a watershed protection committee to reviw designs for develop |
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Properly clean and maintain under-road drainage systems |
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Properly clean and maintain under-road drainage systems |
| Trash, Junk Cars and Yards, and Litter (n=9) | |
Note: See, also, sections on Solid Waste Management and Trash Collection in the Utilities Section |
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The county is now evolving into not only the dumping grounds for dead automobiles but dead mobile homes are starting to litter the county landscape on Ellett Road in Ellett Valley, on Fairview Church Rd, on Rt 615 toward Pilot |
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Enforce existing "Junkyard" ord's |
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clean up trashy lots that are adjacent to roads |
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Improved litter control |
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many people have too much trash or junk surrounding their home |
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We need guidelines for peoples homes that are visable from the roads that they will have to get rid of their junk |
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For the trash I think that the Sheriff's office should enforce this as they are already supposed to do. Or they could get Brent Williams from the Health Department to work on the problm with the Sheriff |
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mandate that you cannot have trash surrounding your home and fine people if they choose to do so |
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Positive law enforcement against litter & dangerous driving |
| Greenspace & Open Space (n=62) | |
Note: This category includes comments dealing with greenspace, greenways, open space, forestal land, natural areas, viewsheds, and, in some cases, agricultural lands. For additional comments see Agricultural Preservation and Conservation Easements and PDRs. |
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Work with surrounding localities to protect wooded areas & greenspace that cross county boundaries |
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Encourage more greenway development. |
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Increase open space preservation. |
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Adopt open space Plan into comp plan that identifies natural & cultural resources worthy of protection |
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Institute a greenway park program similar to Roanoke Valley communities |
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Maintain green space in each "Node" area |
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Preserve green space |
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Viewshed/Tree line protection |
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Greenway linkage |
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Encouraging open space preservation - zoning possibly. |
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Open space preservation |
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Don't break the tree lines/Ridge lines |
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Preserve view sheds and agricultural areas |
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Preserve open space |
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Protect forest land & agricultural land |
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Maintain natural areas |
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Provide for open areas and plan for future residential and commercial growth areas |
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Protect natural areas from development |
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Protection of green areas and parks |
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Protect green space |
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protect undeveloped lands |
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Restrict ridgeline development |
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open space preservation & high environmental quality |
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protect recreational/wildlife areas |
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Preserving greenspace/ag/forestal lands |
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Protect open spaces |
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Promote the importance of open spaces |
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Enact zoning to protect against ridgeline development. |
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Designate special protected natural areas and wildlife corridors to provide habitat for native plants and animals. Cooperate with the VA Birding and Wildlife trails to develop tourism. |
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Preservation of open space and forest areas |
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Preserve open areas of space around and within town |
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protect wooded areas |
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preserve the land, build, build, build - is not always good |
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Designated green spaces |
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open space: Sounds great in theory, too bad this area doesn't seem to value it at all. I think it will be something that no one really notices until it's gone. Just because open space doesn't create revenue doesn't mean it's not important. |
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Protect greenspace |
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Greenbelts between settlements |
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Zoning to maintain open space and high level of environmental preservation |
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preserve wildland |
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nature preserves |
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Designate green areas to be preserved for citizen use |
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Preserve Open Space--Town county parks, greenways, bikeways, conservation easements, promote cluster development with preservation of green (a la Arendt) etc. Think holistically in terms of human-nature interface in urban areas. |
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Provide financial incentives to landowners to not break up large open spaces in ??? deemed most important to retain open space |
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Develop a plan to preserve open space, that used county ordinances, the land trust, county $ |
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Identify key areas to protect |
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Development restrictions of mountain tops and Roanoke Valley [ Roanoke River Valley] |
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Preserve Brown Farm as nature center/area |
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Look at limiting future growth on agricultural and forest lands. We don’t need to pave and concrete the entire county, set aside area to remain as they are now and concentrate new development around existing urban and suburban areas. |
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Mandate wildlife corridors |
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Buy/preserve existing rural areas |
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Protect forests, wood lots from clear cutting |
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Preservation and autgmentation of wildlife habitats |
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The county should come up with incentives for developing in new urbanist, transit oriented ways and for creating open space |
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Develop a green infrastructure map and prioritize areas for protection |
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Protect areas west of NRV Mall from unchecked residential development--use Blacksburg’s Tom’s Creek Basin ??? as a model. |
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Viewsheds |
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Ridgeline protection |
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viewsheds |
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viewsheds |
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viewsheds |
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Ridgeline protection |
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Viewsheds & ridgeline protection |
| Agricultural Preservation (n=44) | |
Note: Comments about Farm Preservation are located in two locations: here and in Economic Development: Local Agricultural Businesses. Some of the comments tie Agriculutural and Historic Preservation together. For additional comments on historical preservation, please see: Cultural Facilities: Historic Preservation |
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Assist the small family farms to retain their properties. |
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Allow more areas to be included in preservation districts, either historical or agricultural |
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Limit development on farm land |
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Limit development on farm land |
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Limit growth on farm land |
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Stop allowing farms to be turned into subdivisions: agriculture farmer subsidies |
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Take needed steps to protect agricultural areas - zoning |
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Farm land should be preserved to a point. |
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Maintain the use of use-value taxation to encourage the preservation of ag and forest lands |
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Not locking up forest land for parks but maintaining the forest land base as productive forest to provide continued economic benefits. |
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Preserve family farms with tax incentives & conservation easements |
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Protect the farmland in Montgomery County |
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Safety net (tax reduction) for agricultural areas (family farms) |
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Leave enough farmland so farming and all Ag. Practices can occur |
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Maintain ag use-value taxation |
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Rural areas need continued tax incentives to retain agri/forest use. |
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ensure farmland & open land preservation |
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Preserve active farming and farmlands, by promoting markets for our locally produced farm goods. |
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Preservation of farmland - promote markets for locally produced farm goods |
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Offer incentives to keep land in agricultural use/assistance for farms in bad years (short term) |
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maintain agricultural sections of county |
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Place more stringent regulations on rezoning of agricultural land |
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encourage agriculture in many forms |
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continue land use taxation |
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initiatives (w/VT) to help farmers find more profitable ways to use their land without selling it |
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taxes on agriculture land needs to reduced to keep farmer's in business |
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sprawl: I think that people who want to live next to each other should stick to the cities or towns. We need to preserve the countryside for farms and greenspace. This would benefit everyone, including those who do live in town |
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zoning: Make it possible for farms to become developments. Give farmers subsidies so that they can maintain working farms. After all, what will everyone in the suburbs eat without farms? |
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local cooperation: Maybe the towns could give tax breaks to people who buy houses in town - this would help the county maintain farms and open spaces. |
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Agricultural preservation: Family farms are necessary |
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Protect agricultural areas - stick to agricultural zoning |
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Agricultural land should not be allowed to be subdivided & create subdivisions where none existed. |
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Consistently, growth should not be encouraged in agriculture areas. |
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Target farm & forest areas for preservation |
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protect agriculture and forest lands from development |
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preserve agriculture land |
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Discourage practices like conversion of forests and ag land for development thru zoning and tax structures |
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Ag and Forestal Districts, support for sustainable agriculture and forestry from the land thru value addition activities. |
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Limiting tax increases on farm, ag, forest, open space uses |
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Encourage family farms |
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Encourage farming/agriculture businesses |
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We are losing farms that have been in families for years because of taxation and other related costs |
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Zoning for land use e.g. agriculture, commercial, urban |
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Limit sprawl and growth into agricultural and forested areas |
| Conservation Easements, PDRs, TDRs, & Landowner Agreements (n=30) | |
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Appropriate money to buy development rights: Money causes development & money will stop it. |
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Institute conservation easement acquisition fund to assist landowners |
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Conservation Easements |
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Conservation easements |
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Conservation easements |
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Secure agreements from landowners as was done w/other land |
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Give tax breaks for people who agree to use their land for recreational areas. |
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Encourage conservation easements by paying legal fees, etc. |
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Put acerage in conversation easement for recreational use only |
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Annual compensation & long term commitment for open space/Ag land |
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Annual compensation & long term commitment for open space/Ag land (PDR) |
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Set aside land to preserve |
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Buy up open space |
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Transferable development rights |
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Put land in easements |
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use of land trust to protect open space & conservation easements |
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More land trust opportunities & incentives |
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More land trust opportunities, state incentives |
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County should encourage conservation easements |
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County should hold conservation easements |
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Impervious surface tax to encourage open space, compact development & to allow land and farm owners to afford to not sell or develop |
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Purchases of land for conservation easements |
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Transferable development rights |
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Plant trees, reforestation for buffer zones and/or greenways |
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Work with the New River Land Trust & Nature Conservancy to protect our rural vistas, watersheds, forests and rivers |
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Tax incentive for non-development |
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Offer conservation easements |
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County should make it very attractive for landowners to adopt conservation easements |
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Conservation easements |
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Create tax incentives and zoning protection for historic preservation and natural environment (streams, forests, farmland, etc.) conservation. |
| Visual Enhancement (see, also, Cultural Facilities) | |
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Form a County equivalent to C'burg's Visual Enhancing Group |
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Plant more trees |
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Encourage plant growth within city & limit plant reduction in newer neighborhoods. |
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Increase tree & natural plantings in developed areas |
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Beautification of roadways/grass mowed, flowers & trees planted. |
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Contine & extend VDOT's landscaping projects on US 460 |
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Encourage local newspapers to promote county beautification |
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Contine & extend VDOT's landscaping projects on US 460 |
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Encourage local newspapers to promote county beautification |
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Beautify roadways and byways with planting programs |
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less destruction of trees in growing area |
| Other Concerns (see, also, open space) (n=9) | |
Note: This category includes place specific , light pollution, and wildlife comments |
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The Riner area Like it was (Before 1990 or so) |
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Limit light polution |
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protection of wildlike |
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Control deer population |
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environmental planning - designs downtown Blacksburg |
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County regulations for light pollution
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Shade for dust to dawn lights-- “Dark skies initiative” |
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light pollution |
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Reduce light pollution where possible. Dark Sky Initiative. |
©Montgomery County
Department of Planning & Inspections
Last Updated: 27 April, 2003
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