For the second time in as many months, Supervisor Granville Hogg has continued to lobby for an amendment that would limit a Special Use Permit (SUP) to 18 months and require full disclosure of the people who are requesting the zoning change. Once again the majority of the board, including Chairman Spencer Murray pushed back and rejected Hogg’s proposal. Chairman Murray countered that disclosing details of finances and full involvement of all shareholders constituted government overreach as well as being an invasion of privacy. Going down that road would be, according to Murray a “slippery slope”.
While Murray’s concerns are valid, relative to businesses being paid for by county citizens, adding the requirement of knowing who the county is dealing with would seem to fall in line with this board’s much lauded goal of transparency in government. State Code is clear in this matter–counties can require this type of disclosure:
§ 15.2-2289. Localities may provide by ordinance for disclosure of real parties in interest.
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