A website developed by two James Madison University staff members may teach Harrisonburg residents a thing or two about their city. [...] Visitors to the site [...] might learn Liberty Street was named German Street before World War I. They might discover a tannery once stood where the Water Street parking deck now is, or that the county courthouse was less than half its size 130 years ago.

Kevin Borg, an associate professor of history, and Bradley Andrick, geographic information system coordinator at JMU, created the website. [...] The site lets users compare satellite imagery of modern-day Harrisonburg with maps of the city from 1886, 1912 and 1930. Users can adjust the opacity of the overlaid maps to see the geographic changes over the years and read about historical points of interest.

http://www.gtsc.jmu.edu/shps/map/

• 71% of properties saw no change
  
• 11% of properties decreased
  
• 18% of properties increased

Also of interest....

• the average decline in assessed value was 4%
• the average increase in assessed value was 20%

A cash proffer is (a)any money voluntarily proffered in a writing signed by the owner of property subject to rezoning, submitted as part of a rezoning application and accepted by a locality pursuant to the authority granted by Va. Code Ann. Section 15.2-2303 or Section 15.2-2298, or (b) any payment of money made pursuant to a development agreement entered into under authority granted by Va. Code Ann. Section 15.2-2303.1.

"City officials are exploring whether the lot-size threshold should be reduced; if there should be a neighbor approval process; whether a certain number of permits should be issued within a trial period; and any other issues, according to the release."

• Supervisors To Hear Lakeview Rezoning (Jan 8, 2016)
   
  
• Planners Sign Off On Rezoning (Dec 4, 2015)

View a larger map of the area here.

"Brian Shull, the city's economic development director, said the parcel could become the first noncommercial lot of 7 acres or more along East Market to be rezoned for commercial use since 2003, when Harrisonburg Crossing was created at the former Dunham-Bush plant."

For the project to move forward, the parcel's land-use designation in the city's comprehensive plan must be changed to commercial from conservation recreation. The property then must be rezoned to general business district conditional from single-family residential district. Senior planner Alison Banks said the Harrisonburg Planning Commission approved both requests unanimously on Dec. 9. City Council also must sign off and is slated to take up the matter at its Jan. 12 meeting. The change makes sense to the city's planning staff, she said, because of the nature of traffic in the area and utilities on the site. "This portion of the country club that we'd be subdividing off along East Market Street is at a busy intersection," Banks said. "Large [Harrisonburg Electric Commission] power lines run thorough it, too." The conceptual site plan presented to the Planning Commission shows two entrances to the small center - a standard one with turn lanes off Country Club Road, and a right in, right out off East Market Street at the property's eastern edge.

• The overall value of taxable properties increased 1.6% over the past year.
   
  
• Only 3,500 properties (out of 12,412) had an updated assessed value.

Read more in the DNR article, or find the assessed value of any property in the City (or County) at HarrisonburgAssessments.com.

In August of this year, the City of Harrisonburg switched to a single stream trash collection system.  Now residents can put all of their recyclables and trash together in the same container.  It gets sent to a facility an hour away that sorts the trash from the recyclable material.  This is a better system because now, much more of our trash will get recycled.  However, there is a problem.  When people put food waste or liquids in the trash, it makes it a lot harder for other things to be recycled.  It degrades and ruins some of the recyclable materials, especially newspapers or cardboard boxes, and then they can't be recycled anymore.  Also, food is 60% water, so this adds unnecessary weight and volume to the trash that the city has to collect and transport, which costs a lot more money. 

In the past, the city has had a hard time educating residents about issues like this, because we have a changing population with the university, for example.  So we are trying to help.  We have made a stop motion video to educate people about not putting food and liquid waste in their trash and to tell people what they could do instead.  We are trying to spread the word about this new system and what Harrisonburg residents can do to help. 

"Since 2011, commercial and residential development activity has increased and Stone Spring Road has been completed.  [...] Interest in the development of commercially zoned land in this same area is expected to increase as a result of the relocation and completion of Stone Spring Road and the construction of Albert Long Park."

"According to county officials, an expanded UDA would put Rockingham County in a better position to compete for state money under the new prioritization process for transportation funding adopted by the General Assembly in 2014."

"It [the park] would include a ship-themed children's play area, a "great lawn" that would host events and performances, and a broad tree-lined promenade arching from South Liberty Street south of the Turner Pavilion to Bruce Street at Blacks Run."

"Under the conceptual plan, a wing would be added to the Turner Pavilion, home of the Harrisonburg Farmers Market, nearly doubling its size. Plans also call for resurfacing the parking lot of the city's existing Municipal Building."
   
"A sloped lawn and herbaceous garden would be built at the southwest corner of the park bounded by South Liberty Street south of the pavilion. A children's area with play equipment and a water splash pad would be built next to the existing Municipal Building behind the Smith and Eastham houses."

• You could dig out your most recent property tax bill.
   
  
• In Rockingham County, you could search the GIS for your property.
   
  
• In the City of Harrisonburg, you could search the REIS for your property.
  

• The Assessed Value of your home is the value assigned to a property by the local assessor's office, to determine how much you will pay in taxes.
   
  
• The Market Value of your home is the price for which a property would sell in the current real estate market.
   
  
• The Assessed Value of your home is not necessarily equal to the Market Value of your home.

Starting in February, the U.S. Postal Service will begin updating its database so the two ZIP codes will have a default mailing address of Harrisonburg, VA, and an "alternate preferred" address of Rockingham, VA.

An alternate preferred address essentially means residents in those two ZIP codes will be able to use either Harrisonburg or Rockingham in their address, and the USPS will accept both. Any type of commercial mailing will default to Rockingham, VA. The change was sought by the county because for years, residents and businesses inside the ZIP codes have been paying online sales taxes that end up going to Harrisonburg instead of Rockingham, said Michele Bridges, manager of the county's economic development and tourism.

• A pro-business government
• A planned growth model
• An ideal location two hours from Washington, DC and Richmond
• Strong infrastructure and business resources
• Two Technology Zones
• ...and much more!

• Business in Harrisonburg
• Business Environment
• Infrastructure
• Incentives and Benefits
• Property and Site Selection
• Technology in Harrisonburg
• HDTZ & Tech Park
• Technology Firms in Harrisonburg
• Population and Demographics
  
  

A $60 million new jail by the landfill that's projected to reach capacity in seven years is the plan to fix overcrowding – that is, if it's actually a real plan at all
By Andrew Jenner | Published November 7, 2014

According to the planning study, the annex would "primarily be a minimum security, treatment and program based building" with 315 beds.

It would also house all women prisoners and include a mental health housing unit and a less secure "community custody wing."

The wing would provide dormitory- style housing for inmates involved with work release, education release, work programs and re-entry programs.

The annex would also include visitation rooms, four classrooms, a library, indoor and outdoor recreation spaces, medical offices and detox cells.

The total cost of the project is estimated at more than $63.26 million, half of which would come from the state and the rest split between the city and county.

The cost includes a possible future expansion of the new facility to accommodate an additional 385 beds — for a total of 700 — estimated to cost $5.78 million.

The annex would be 144,000 square feet, with the option to expand to 230,140 square feet in the future.

Officials aim to submit a corrections study to the state by the end of the year. With state approval expected to take roughly a year, officials are hoping to receive state funding for construction in 2016.

If the funds are approved then, the study plans for the new facility to open in March 2020.