By Alex Bridges -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — Curbing growth in Frederick County's rural areas could face an uphill climb — especially given that they make up 89 percent of the locality.

But the county has a number of tools available to help control development or at least inspire landowners to preserve their property, planning officials told the Rural Areas Subcommittee of the Board of Supervisors on Thursday night.

The panel, created in July following a public outcry over a proposed change to rural development rules, now wants people to give it more input.

Property owners currently can put a home on 5-acre lots. The proposal sought to increase the size needed for a home to 10 acres.

But as Supervisors Chairman Richard C. Shickle Sr. noted, the group now is in a "listening" and "learning" stage. The next phase should include sessions to inform the public about the tools available to landowners, such as purchase of development rights.

"I'm sure, probably one of the main things on landowners' minds, if I got 100 acres, am I gonna be able to sell 10 lots or 20 lots?" said Planning Commission member Greg Unger.

Planning Director Eric Lawrence made a PowerPoint presentation that included facts about the county, historical data on development and other information. The panel decided that the Planning Department should put Lawrence's presentation on the county Web site.

The panel also agreed the department should advertise the existence of the presentation and include a mailing address and phone number for people without access to the Internet.

During the meeting, committee members discussed tools the state makes available to the county that could be incentives to landowners not to develop their property.

The county has been using most of them already, Lawrence told the panel. Purchase of development rights programs are increasing and the county continues to move forward in that area, officials said.

However, the transfer of development rights program, enabled by the state, has yet to be used, Lawrence said.

Also mentioned at the meeting — the concept of charging impact fees for development — is not allowed, as Lawrence explained. Shickle recommended the panel focus on what the county can do.

"I think we kinda have to constrain ourselves to the things that are available to us," Shickle said.

"However, it sure wouldn't bother me if, out of our talks and dissecting of issues, we have lobbying efforts to put additional pressures on the legislature for the things that we think would have been significant.

"But not knowing when those folks down there will get anything done, to rest upon that would be a fallacy," Shickle said.

At the meeting, the panel heard from Lawrence an updated list of comments the department has received about how to handle development in the rural areas. The director said he would collect those and make them available on the Web site.

The next meeting is set for Sept. 4.

* Contact Alex Bridges at abridges@nvdaily.com