Dot Smithwick’s Sunnybank Farm is #10 on that list.
The sad thing about that Loudoun list is, after removing the county government holdings, it is about 75% owned by developers. Taxes skyrocketed in Loudoun while we owned our farm which contributed to us moving. I looked at the county tax system and saw that for that farm, the appraised value had dropped 20% but the taxes had gone up 16%. There are not a lot of land owners that can survive that situation.
[QUOTE=SidesaddleRider;3763198]
Dot Smithwick’s Sunnybank Farm is #10 on that list.[/QUOTE]
Yep - the property line of which is only 537 ft from the to-be-built Greg Ryan kennel for the Snickersville Hounds.
(Distances from the Smitwick farm - a/k/a “Fred, SHR EST ET AL” - on page 7 of the linked application dated Ded 8, 2008)
As an aside a few big properties recently on the market - and in the Loudoun/Fauquier Co’s change over - do have VOF protections of sort.
Grasslands Farm in The Plains which is being sold as 510 acres in Middleburg’s Orange County Hunt lists “VOF easement permits subdivision into 3 parcels”.
Glenara in Marshall, VA, a working cattle farm today, is on 339 acres and has “conservation easements”.
Little Oatlands in Leesburg, VA on 54 acres is part of the proptected Oatlands Historic District (the plantation et al) with strict conservation easements.
Still without conservation easements is the former Cummings residence of Ashland Farm on Holtzclaw Road. That’s a shame as the 340 acre estate is being offered as a whole or on 81 acres.
Does anyone know if there is some sort of a map highlighting the acreages placed in VOF easement in all or part of Loudoun County?
[QUOTE=Tantivy1;3763850]
Does anyone know if there is some sort of a map highlighting the acreages places in VOF easement in all or part of Loudoun County?[/QUOTE]
I don’t know of one that is available online but there is most likely a marked map in existence somewhere and I’m sure the county has one in their possession.
The PEC maintains a map of land in easement for the whole Northern Va area (Clarke, Loudoun, Fauquier, Culpepper, Rapp., Warren). The Fauquier Democrat publishes it every once and awhile.
the FSA office will be required to keep one…
Yes, at the County Offices in Leesburg - Mapping Division - part of the Zoning Dept, I believe. Can’t remember the correct name of the department, but I visited there to get data on the properties that are in the new Unison Battlefield area, and I was amazed at the number of maps they had available, including those in protective easements and land use. There were TONS of all types of maps!! You name it, they had it mapped. 
The staff is super nice – even gave me a CD of the zoning book for the entire southern western part of the county so that the person working on the project didn’t have to slog through Tax Assessment webpage for info on each of the properties needed. That CD cut the work by 75%.
Don’t Forget the General Assembly
Don’t forget that Virginia operates under the Dillons Rule which means that unless the General Assembly (GA) gives a locality the right to do something it can’t. Also if the developers so decide that a locality is being unfair to them, they just get the GA to change the law to suit them. Loudon is probably paved now because the previous Board of Supervisors changed the zoning and you can’t go back in VA.
Great news about the new kennels for Snickersville! 
