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For media inquiries, please contact Tom Chamberlain, [email protected].

PUBLIC COMMENTS

When the York County Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee decided to discuss what “rural” means (even though their own 1991 Comprehensive Plan already defines Rural Residential), we asked 1,000+ of our followers for their reactions. Here is a small sample of their cogent & compelling replies:

Doug Holroyd

York County already provided an excellent definition in their 1991 Comprehensive Plan:


  • retention of natural physical features
  • retention of forest and woodland areas, both along roadways and within developed areas
  • protection of existing agricultural areas
  • protection or installation of landscaping and open space in all developments, and protection or enhancement of open space areas at strategic, highly visible locations throughout the County.


So what’s changed? This definition has held true for 30+ years. Seems ok to me.

Tracey Brown


[Rural] means country back roads with NO PAINTED LINES. Sitting on the back deck at night seeing stars, listening to mother nature at its best. Watching horses run through the pastures. Cows grazing! Chickens having a conversation with each other whilst picking the earth of insects and dry corn feed. Fresh smell of cut hay and grass filling our nostrils. THE GOOD LIFE! That’s the point of living and enjoying a rural area. Don’t destroy our quiet green space! It’s what we love. Don’t push out what’s left of our beautiful wildlife.

Bruce Holmes


[High density development] has be completely rethought in a post-COVID-19 world, where hospital bed-loading metrics take on more importance than water and sewage loading building codes. If we let developers define codes with their 20th Century thinking, we’ll get century-old medical security.

Tammy D. Little


Leave us some open spaces to enjoy. I hardly recognize the area anymore.

Barbara Ryba Levine


Rural is where I live now. Rural is the reason I live where I live now. Rural is what those of us who chose to live here were looking for. Rural is where we can share a space with wildlife and maybe wild people! But there’s room for everyone.

Linda Art


Rural is having chickens if you want them. Rural is quiet hours between 5pm and 9am. Rural means I do not have to wait 5 minutes for the traffic to clear before I can get out of my driveway or road.

Gary Parks


[Rural is] why we moved here – not wanting house on top of house, seeing your neighbors in their bathroom, or noise levels to the extent you can’t hear yourselves think. We moved here for the solitude of rural life. The comprehensive plan needs to stay as it is… This part of the County really doesn’t receive all the services like the lower county does – all we really receive is trash pick up, Police coverage and fire coverage, which are all necessary services. We have basically been on the low end for many years. Rural is part of that, and that’s the way we like it.

Stacy Owens-Zentner


Rural is not living on top of your neighbors, but knowing who they are. Having lots of green grass, no sidewalks. Horses and cows down the road. Seeing farm trucks and farm machinery going up and down the road.

Recent news stories:

York County & Surrounding Communities

York County Officials, Residents & Contractors at Odds over Springfield Road
Read the Virginia Gazette article: York County development leaves group of residents on a very rough road  
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Williamsburg Pottery Update
Read the Virginia Gazette article by Ben Swenson: Site near Williamsburg Pottery likely to become home to industrial park
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Conservation Award!
In case you missed it, the Conserve York County Foundation was awarded the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy 2021 Commitment to Conservation Award! This award recognizes “extraordinary efforts to protect and preserve our community ambiance in the Historic Triangle by advocating for smart growth and conservation.” Our goal is to conserve what land we can through […]
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In a nutshell: What does the Board of Supervisors do?
The York County Board of Supervisors is an elected body that passes legislation for the county. They approve or deny rezoning proposals, for example, based on recommendations from the Planning Commission, county staff and public input. Their meetings are generally open to the public. They meet atYork Hall, located at 301 Main Street in Yorktown. […]
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Do you want MORE traffic?
These backups are now a daily event on Lightfoot Road, where traffic has been unbearable since the Kelton Station apartments were approved in 2019. Developers now hope to fill the cornfield on your right in this video with homes and apartments. They will need the Board of Supervisors’ approval to do so. Fortunately, most of […]
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The York County Comprehensive Plan is currently being reviewed and rewritten.
Over the next few weeks we’ll highlight different points that we believe should be addressed in the new plan. In order to stop the local population explosion, the 2040 York County Comprehensive Plan should discourage residential development in District One beyond that allowed by existing zoning, and all mixed-use overlays should be removed.  A great […]
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Civil War Battle Site Saved!
Congratulations to the American Battlefield Trust for securing nine million dollars in grants to purchase of one of the largest remaining tracts of undeveloped land in York County! They will need our help in the coming year, as they work to protect the 250-acre Egger Property, which borders the Colonial Parkway at the overpass with […]
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Comprehensive Plan Update
The Comprehensive Plan is updated every five years, and the current update to the plan is underway. This update entails public hearings held by the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee in order to receive input and understand our desires for what we want in our communities. The Steering Committee has agreed to hold a public listening […]
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We live in a beautiful place!
Spring has sprung in our beautiful part of Virginia! Here’s a shot of spring foliage and blooms in an Upper County neighborhood that’s as beautiful as any state park. It’s home to deer, birds and other wild creatures, and provides residents a place for exercise and solitude. This is why land conservation is so important. […]
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Mike Powers & Woo Woo Show
We’re on the RADIO!
We are excited about our interview on the Mike Powers & Woo Woo Show! Tune in to learn more about the Conserve York County Foundation this Sunday, April 11: 6:00am: Z104 6:30am: 94.9 The Point 7:00am: 95.7 R&B 7:30am: 101.3 2WD https://www.audacy.com/…/the-mike-powers-woo-woo-show
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One of the many reasons we must preserve rural land in York County and the Historic Triangle:
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Here’s Why it’s Time for Citizen Action:
This chart shows residential construction (finished and approved) in York County since the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. It includes the 288 units that can be built, by right, on Fenton Mill. Green = construction in compliance with 2015 zoning Orange = construction made possible by REZONING for higher density. As you can see, we are FAR […]
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Don’t Throw Away Those Signs!
What does last night’s vote mean for the Fenton Mill land? We don’t know. The developer could: * build the 288 homes allowed by current zoning and leave it at that. The current 288 home plan leaves the Barlow/Skimino corner vacant. * build the 288 homes allowed by current zoning and sell the Barlow/Skimino corner […]
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‘No Rezoning’ | Group pushing back against proposed residential development in York County
The Planning Commission will review the application on November 18 and make a recommendation that will then go to the Board of Supervisor, at earliest in December. YORK COUNTY, Va. — It’s a proposal in York County drawing lots of pushback. A group of residents is saying no to a planned development near their homes. […]
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With more than 100 residents in attendance, York Planning Commission denies approval of rezoning for Fenton Mill project
More than 20 years ago, Laura Lawrence saw a brochure encouraging visitors to a rural area of Virginia, where one could live among the eagles, bluebirds, farms and winding roads. That brochure for Skimino Landing Estates helped Lawrence and her husband decide to move to the upper part of York County, where they still live […]
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Number of homes reduced, commercial component eliminated on proposed York County development Fenton Mill
The developer who wants to build on a large swath of upper York County has altered the initial plan, dropping the number of proposed homes by more than 200 and taking out the commercial component. Developer Lamont Myers, one of the owners of Fenton Mills Associates LLC, submitted a new summary of his plans to the county […]
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In upper York County, a rural area is turning into a development hot spot
As the crews on Interstate 64 work on widening an 8 mile, upper York County stretch of Hampton Roads’ main highway connection west, one of the Peninsula’s few rural corners is becoming a development hot spot. Crews are clearing ground off Waller Mill road, on the Carr’s Hill Tract that Colonial Williamsburg sold earlier this […]
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York-based developer plans 836-homes, mixed-use site in upper part of county
A Yorktown developer wants to build as many as 836 homes on undeveloped land south of Newman Road in upper York County, between Fenton Mill and Barlow roads. The mixed-use development would be worth more than $300 million, generating some $1.3 million in taxes for York County, according to the developer’s application to rezone the […]
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Conserve York County Foundation

270 Barlow Road

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Conserve York County Foundation

The Conserve York County Foundation is proud to partner with the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy.

Conserve York County Foundation

is a 501-c-3

non-profit organization.

Donations are tax deductible

Tax ID #85-2122425