The Virginia legislature has delegated control over land use decisions to local governments, including the authority for land use planning and zoning. State law calls for local planning commissions to prepare and recommend Comprehensive Plans to guide the physical development of territory in their jurisdictions. As such, decisions and plans vary widely between communities. Local governments must adopt Comprehensive Plans, review them, and potentially update them every five years. 

To ensure a reliable supply of agricultural, horticultural, and forest products, as well as open space, Virginia law allows any county, city, or town which has adopted a land-use plan to assess four categories of eligible land at its current use value rather than its potential use for development. This approach recognizes the financial benefits of open space and rewards landowners for keeping their land in active agricultural production. 

Agricultural and Forestal Districts are voluntary rural conservation areas reserved for farm and forest production. They promote the retention of working lands as an important economic and environmental resource. In exchange for enrollment, landowners receive use-value assessment and protections from eminent domain. 

Cost of Community Services studies compare revenues from major land uses with expenditures to provide them with public services. In Virginia as elsewhere, they find that residential development has a negative revenue-expense ratio, demanding more in services like schools and public safety than they contribute in revenue. On the other hand, agricultural and forestal lands – like other commercial land uses – contribute more to local coffers than they receive back in services.   

Local governments in Virgina can designate urban development areas to concentrate new growth in areas with adequate infrastructure. They promote transportation-efficient development and encourage local economic development. UDAs are voluntary, designated by local governments, identified in comprehensive plans, and reviewed every five years.  

Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs are a growth management tool that combines planning and zoning to address community priorities. They create market incentives to shift development from designated “sending areas” – like areas designated for farmland protection – to “receiving areas” where increased development is preferred. They do this by compensating landowners who sell development rights in the sending areas and offering incentives to developers to build in receiving areas.

Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs protect farmland for farming forever. They achieve this by paying landowners to voluntarily restrict development on their properties and then protecting the land with an agricultural conservation easement—a voluntary and flexible legal agreement.   

Zoning is the most widely used local land use regulation. Its purpose is to protect health, safety, and general welfare. It defines and regulates the “what, where, and how” of different land uses. Localities can pursue zoning to support farming and secure an agricultural land base. When zoning for agriculture, it is important to get input and buy-in from the farming community to ensure that ordinances are farm-friendly and support local agriculture.  

In recent years, the renewable energy industry—and especially solar—has expanded greatly in Virginia. That growth appears poised to continue. Communities can take steps to ensure that any expansion of renewable energy facilities, such as solar arrays, occurs in a way that values and protects farmland while also supporting clean energy and economic opportunity.