Some zoning fees up five-fold

If you’re thinking about rezoning your property – think again.

As of July 1, it now costs Madison County property owners at least $2,000 to rezone a piece of land – five times greater than the county’s previous $400 flat rate fee.

This is just one of many zoning and building fee increases aimed to more fully cover the cost of considering and reviewing related applications, according to officials.

In addition to “significant” increased payments to review subdivision plats and site plans, new fees have been introduced for previously free services.
In addition to paying to apply for a special use permit – which now costs about three times as much as it used to – those property owners wishing to put up a telecommunications tower must pay an additional $1,500, plus the cost of hiring a consultant to review the plan.

The increases have been directed toward the types of applications usually filed by large corporations and businesses, rather than individual residents, County Administrator Lisa Kelley told the supervisors at their regularly scheduled June 10 meeting.

“These types of applications need more review by [the zoning administrator]…there is more review involved with the planning commission and the supervisors,” she said.

The revised fees are now closer in line with what neighboring Greene and Culpeper counties charge for these services, according to Kelley.

“The fee increases seem significant but they’re not close to covering the [cost of] services provided through the zoning department and the building department,” she said.

The board of supervisors voted to unanimously approve these fee increases at its continued June 26 meeting,

During the board’s discussion regarding the fees at its June 10 meeting, County Attorney V.R. Shackelford III mentioned that the cost of advertising public notices in The Madison County Eagle has increased “substantially.” Each month, the county is required by law to advertise a list of all of the cases to be considered at the joint meeting between the supervisors and the planning commission.

The attorney suggested the supervisors consider eventually “passing along the cost of advertising to the applicant,” he said.

A full list of Madison County’s zoning-related fees is available at the Madison County Zoning Office, whose phone number is (540) 948-7599. A full list of Madison County’s building-related fees is available at the Madison County Building Department, whose phone number is (540) 948-6102.

Normal business hours of both offices, which are located at the County Administration Center at 414 N. Main St. in downtown Madison, are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.