Chesterfield rental-inspection proposal dies
Published: October 29, 2009
A proposed rental-inspection program in Chesterfield County died quietly yesterday after stirring up property-rights concerns.
The Board of Supervisors declined to set a public hearing for the program, which would have charged owners of rental properties $100 for an interior and exterior inspection of selected homes. A fine would have been levied against those who chose not to participate.
Two weeks ago, the ACLU of Virginia sent a letter to the county saying that the program would infringe on the Fourth Amendment rights of owners and tenants.
The ordinance would have established more than 40 inspection districts, based on age, blight and deterioration.
With little discussion, the board voted unanimously against advancing the idea.
"I personally don't think we should be entering into homes," said board Chairman A.S. "Art" Warren.
In other business, supervisors set a Nov. 18 public hearing for an ordinance change that would prohibit shooting arrows within 600 feet of a home, business, public building or gathering. That's the same distance from which discharge of a firearm is prohibited.
Currently, property owners and permitted guests are allowed to use bows and arrows on their property as long as the arrow does not cross the property line.
Because of Chesterfield's growing deer population, the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries allows additional bow hunting with site-specific "kill permits" on properties near or within residential neighborhoods.
Midlothian Supervisor Daniel A. Gecker initiated the ordinance change because of safety concerns from residents in the Salisbury area of his district.
"There are some people in Foundry Run who are concerned about little kids playing where they have bow hunting," he said. "But I want to see the safety statistics. If there are no incidents anywhere of anybody being hurt by this, there's no reason to prohibit it."
An exemption in the ordinance would allow bow hunting in otherwise prohibited agricultural areas if authorized by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to thin the deer population.
Gecker said he expects opposition to the proposal, noting that he already had received e-mails and letters from people concerned about property rights and hunting rights.
Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or
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Reader Reactions
To my knowledge there have never been any children, or adults for that matter, who have been injured by hunters in Foundry Run which has been my neighborhood for 22 years. There have been serious problems with deer, however. In my family of four people, three of us have been diagnosed and treated for Lyme Disease which is carried by the deer tick. The deer are rampant in our yards and need to be controlled. Our lots are over 2 acres each with houses very far apart, therefore, there should be no problem with bow hunting as long as an experienced hunter is used to thin the deer population.
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