Richmond County, VA – Chesapeake Conservancy President & CEO Joel Dunn issued this statement following the Richmond County (VA) Board of Supervisors' decision to rezone Fones Cliffs on November 12, 2015.

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“We are deeply disappointed with the Richmond County Board of Supervisors' vote today concerning the future of Fones Cliffs. Allowing this rezoning makes way for a massive development inconsistent with the County's comprehensive plan approved in 2013, which calls for development close to existing county services and infrastructure, which this proposed development is not.

"On a recent trip to Fones Cliffs with representatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Chesapeake Conservancy, Friends of the Rappahannock, the Center for Conservation Biology and local community members, as no less than 28 eagles soared overhead, we took in the sights of one of the most pristine segments of the Capt. John Smith Trail. This is one of the few places Captain John Smith might recognize the way he saw it some 400 years ago. If this development comes to fruition, future generations will be deprived of the beauty of this Chesapeake treasure."