Editor, Rappahannock Times:
I would like to “shout out” a heartfelt thank you to the Essex County Board of Supervisors for readvertising a public notice “to repeal or delay the effective date of Ordinance No. 24-07 (the Wetlands Zoning Ordinance) and Ordinance No. 24-08 (the Coastal Primary Sand Dune Ordinance).”
According to the article published in the Rappahannock Times on April 30, 2025, Essex County, acting through one of its many Sands Anderson attorneys, stated on April 18, 2025 in Essex County Circuit Court that “the Board (of Supervisors) is not free to appoint a new (wetlands) board until this matter is resolved”.
Honorable Judge Martin listened to the arguments of Essex County and Robert Vaughn, personal attorney for Essex County Wetlands Board Chairman Jeffrey Howeth, and noted “that he was unsure if the County has the ability to dissolve and reappoint a newly constituted wetlands board”.
Therefore, without wasting any more of the taxpayer’s money and recognizing that the Essex County Wetlands Board provides a critical service to the citizens of Essex County, it appears that the Board of Supervisors is poised to redress the effective date of ordinance implementation, possibly making it imminent as of the May 13 meeting date as clearly Supervisors Gill, Akers and Smith just last month supported the continuance of the Essex County Wetlands Board against the objections of Supervisors Johnson and Magruder. Unfortunately, just as Supervisor Magruder stated that there were no problems with the current permitting system through VMRC, the first reports of violations of unpermitted intertidal zone construction potentially without necessary building permits, floodplain modification through fill and unpermitted 100 foot Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area buffer encroachments had already surfaced.
And, belying Supervisor Magruder’s statement, County staff time will be expended investigating and reconciling the floodplain modifications and Bay Act encroachments as these are County ordinances and not VMRC regulations, potentially taking more County staff time than required to properly educate and regulate citizens in the first place. Supervisor Johnson’s comment was even more superfluous, stating that “if it wasn’t broke, don’t fix it”. Mr. Johnson, I would say to you that the Essex County Wetlands Board has not been broken for nearly 50 years of existence, why are you trying to fix it now?
While the public notice states “all interested persons are encouraged to attend”, the Board of Supervisors receives no public comment regarding public notices, so if you would like to speak on the matter, you must do so at the general public comment portion of the meeting, which occurs shortly after the beginning of the meeting.
Jeff Howeth
Tappahannock
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