The Clarke County Planning Commission will hold the following Public Hearing on Friday, January 9, 2026 at 9:00AM in the Main Meeting Room, Berryville-Clarke County Government Center, 101 Chalmers Court, 2nd floor, Berryville, VA, to hear public comment on the following: 

TA-25-05, Compliance with Senate Bill 974 Mandates and Related Procedural Amendments. Proposed text amendment to amend County Code Chapter 200, Zoning Ordinance (Article I), Subdivision Ordinance (Article II), and Definitions (Article III).  The purpose is to comply with new Code of Virginia mandates which require transferring authority for site development plan and subdivision plat approvals from the Planning Commission, Berryville Area Development Authority, and Board of Supervisors to a “designated agent,” which the County has identified as the Zoning Administrator or, in their absence, the Director of Planning. The text amendment also modifies procedural requirements for application reviews including but not limited to creating new minimum requirements for a complete application for all application types; restructures the requirements for what constitutes minor and major subdivisions; eliminates pre-application conference requirements and public hearing requirements for site development plans and subdivision plats; replaces the maximum lot size exception process with an administrative process for an exception to the maximum area requirement in the AgriculturalOpen Space-Conservation (AOC) District and a variance process for lots with low quality land characteristics, and transfers approval authority to the Zoning Administrator or Board of Zoning Appeals as applicable; and makes various changes to the traffic impact study requirements, offstreet parking requirements, private access easement design waivers, court-ordered partitions of land, and required plat statements. 

Information regarding the above matter including copies of proposed plans, ordinances, or amendments, is available to the public in the Department of Planning (2nd floor, BerryvilleClarke County Government Center, Berryville, VA) and on the County website (www.clarkecounty.gov). Any person desiring to speak on the above matter should appear at the Public Hearing. Written copies of statements are requested but not required.  In the event of inclement weather, the public hearing may be rescheduled to 1:00PM on the hearing date or to a special meeting on January 16, 2026.  Clarke County does not discriminate on the basis of handicapped status in admission to its programs and activities. Accommodations will be made for handicapped persons upon prior request.