Google

Residents File Lawsuit Over Purcellville Gateway Project

by Gazette Staff

Is a Union Behind This Last-Minute Opposition?

The Town of Purcellville was served with a complaint last week filed in Circuit Court for a declaratory judgment and preliminary injunction contesting the rejection of an attempted appeal of the site plan that was approved on January 6th for the Purcellville Gateway mixed-use development at Main and Rte. 287 (formerly Cole Farm). Plaintiffs are Sam and Uta Brown of Crooked Run Orchard (across from the project), Tom Larry, who lives in Kingsbridge which backs up to the Cole property and who was a 2008 Town Council candidate, and Nick Pelchar, a former Town Council member and Vice Mayor who lives a mile and a half away on S. 20th Street. Named as defendants are the Town of Purcellville, Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), Department of Planning and Zoning and Town Manager Rob Lohr. The attorney for the plaintiffs is Zachary G. Williams from the law firm of G. Macy Nelson in Towson, Maryland.

Several weeks earlier on February 5th, amidst the Town's emergency preparations for the approaching snow storm, Williams attempted to file an appeal of the site plan to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The Planning Department turned it down upon the advice of Maureen Gilmore, Town Attorney, saying it was not within purview of the BZA. Williams was not happy when the appeal was not accepted with the $500 filing fee. Town Manager Rob Lohr spoke to him, giving assurances that if the Town was found to be incorrect he could file the appeal at another time. Lohr told Williams that with the unusual emergency situation and the need to close Town Hall to become the center of operations, he would not close the door on the matter. The Town was served with the suit a few weeks later.

Williams was concerned about passing the 30 day deadline by which he said he had to file the appeal. The final site plan was approved by planning staff on January 6th. The State code that allows for a 30 day appeal deadline relates to general administrative decisions (as distinguished from legislative decisions). Town code, specifically Article 11, Section 9, titled "Appeal from the administrator's decision" states that in this case the appeal of the site plan (an engineering document not a zoning matter) has a ten business day window from the approval and should be filed with the Town Manager (in this case Rob Lohr).

The Town Manager then places the item on the agenda of the next regular meeting of the Council who may "reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the decision of the administrator and may take such action as it believes appropriate."

The appeal included concerns over traffic, the historical nature of the farm property and structures, and environmental impacts. The appeal also referred to the "uncertain future of the proposed Southern Collector Road (SCR) affecting the proposed roundabout that is integral to the traffic patterns approved..." The only concern with the SCR and the roundabout is that they line up, and the Harris Teeter cannot open up without the roundabout in place according to the proffer statement.

Some question the timing of the appeal and subsequent complaint in Circuit Court. The preliminary site plan, rezoning and three special use permits were approved at a Special Town Council meeting two years before on January 14, 2008. The vote was 6-1 with Councilman Greg Wagner the lone dissenter. Sam Brown was involved during the entire review and his concerns were all satisfactorily addressed in regards to access to his farm, Crooked Run Orchard. There were many meetings that allowed for citizen input as well as advertised public hearings: Infrastructure Committee, Planning Commission, Board of Architectural Review, historic groups, VDOT and the Town Council monthly meetings. The Army Corps of Engineers did the required environmental studies and Roadside's traffic engineer did studies that were VDOT approved. In order to confirm the Corps of Engineers finding, the plaintiffs have hired a local wetlands consultant to review the findings. When asked about his work, he stated that he was only reviewing information. Tom Larry admitted he had not spoken out over the last two years expressing his concern over the project even though he lives on Pickwick near the development. He said his concerns are with traffic issues, specifically the roundabout and the light at the entrance to the development on Main Street and how they will affect traffic flow.

The Gazette contacted Nick Pelchar, also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit to the complaint before the Circuit Court, but he refused to comment on his involvement. He was not named in the original appeal to the BZA.