What is Fredericksburg-neighborhoods.com?
The Coalition – Fredericksburg Virginia Neighborhood Coalition (fredericksburg-neighborhoods.com)
- The Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition (FNC) is a loosely affiliated group of community members, neighborhood representatives, homeowners’ associations, and neighborhood associations looking at issues affecting housing, transportation, and economic development in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia.
- The goal is to ensure that the “charm and livability” of Fredericksburg is maintained. To do this, the Coalition engages in research and information dissemination so that neighborhoods and community members can engage in promoting policies and initiatives that improve the quality of life for residents.
- At root, it is a forum to ensure that citizen voices are united and heard by government and community officials regarding policies and decisions that affect living and working in Fredericksburg.
- One big issue that the FNC has been involved with recently is the Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) concerns as they affect Fredericksburg. In 1984, the city of Fredericksburg passed a resolution limiting new ADU structures and the FNC has been a staunch supporter of upholding the tenets of the resolution.
- The basis for their opposition, as stated on their website: “Our single-family-home neighborhoods are at risk! This zoning change will incentivize developers to purchase even more single-family dwellings and add ADU-Apartments to maximize income.”
- “An influx of renters will drastically change the population density, character, and safety of every city neighborhood. As quality-of-life declines, owner-occupied dwellings will disappear, and rental units will proliferate.”
Evaluation:
- I found the FNC website difficult to navigate and spent much of my time trying to find the “bottom line up front” for their opposition to the construction of new ADUs in Fredericksburg.
- I used the following two websites to evaluate the trustworthiness of the Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition:
- Community Group Alleges City Council Hiding ADU Agenda – Local News, Events and Activism (myhyperbole.com). This link helped to assess the site because it framed the key issues the FNC used in its argument. Myhyperbole added credibility to the FNC’s argument by posting their link and presenting their side in an unbiased manner.
- (46) Fredericksburg ADU vote – YouTube. Watching the City Council vote against this initiative validated the legitimacy and efforts of the FNC. Two City Council members indirectly addressed two major issues the FNC reported on their website; population density increase and legal/tax issues.
