Editor, Gazette-Journal:

As most of you know, Gloucester County is in the process of evaluating whether or not a change to its Resource Management Area (RMA) is warranted. The RMA is an area designated by a county or municipality, and approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), that provides for more stringent environmental controls than areas outside an RMA. Under the 1988 Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, Gloucester County elected to have the entire county designated an RMA, one of seven (out of 22) Tidewater localities to be so designated.

For 25 years, Gloucester has complied with all the RMA requirements, and accepted the additional costs for construction and economic development as a fair investment in helping keep the bay clean. On July 1, 2014, additional engineering and construction requirements, in the form of the Stormwater Management Act, were levied on new (and newly renovated) buildings within an RMA. These regulations can typically cost non-resid...