Planning Commission splits on Sperryville subdivision

▶ Property owner Tom Taylor sought rezoning ▶ Consideration of this application is “premature and misguided”

During consideration of the county’s revised Comprehensive Plan over the summer, Sperryville resident Tom Taylor suggested that he might request to rezone his 35 acres along Woodward Rd. in Sperryville from Rural Residential-5 (with a ve-acre minimum lot size) to Residential-2 (two-acre minimum) and create a subdivision of up to 18 a ordable houses for county residents.

At the Nov. 18 Planning Commission meeting, Taylor and his wife Cheryl, doing business under the name Mt. Airy Field LLC, presented a formal application to do just that.

An impassioned speech by longtime Sperryville resident Thomas Atkins in support of his neighbor’s request closed out the comment period during a public hearing at the Rappahannock County Planning Commission Tuesday night, leaving the room silent for many minutes.

His standing in the community and clear love for Rappahannock moved the planners and attendees, but not enough for the commission to send the application forward to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. A er almost three hours of comment and—sometimes heated—debate among the planners, Piedmont member Mary Katherine Ishee moved to recommend that the BOS deny the application. The vote was tied 3-3. Chair David Konick abstained. Another motion by Ishee to table the application until the planners’ next work session was approved in a 5-2 vote.

Tuesday’s meeting was a continuation of the planners’ scheduled Dec. 16

meeting, which was postponed due to a snowstorm.

Before Tuesday’s public hearing, the Taylors sought information from several sources about the feasibility of their plan.

Randy Norris, a VDOT engineer based in Warrenton, wrote in an email: “Without having an [sic] preliminary drawing to show where the lots may be located and access[ed] from all our comments are speculative. A er visiting the site I do feel that with the large amount of road frontage you have it would allow you to nd locations that could possibly meet our standards and guidelines for entrances that serve multiple homes. … VDOT would work with you in every way to make this work if the rezoning gets approved.”

In a letter to Taylor, Land Surveyor Dan Clarke estimated that because of the slope and other topographical features of Taylor’s property, the maximum number of buildable lots would be 13, not 18, as Taylor speculated.

Alex Sharp, chair of the Rappahannock County Water and Sewer Authority, told the planners Tuesday that the Sperryville sewer system had the capacity to handle 13 more single-family homes.

Despite the reassurances from VDOT and Sharp, 8 of the 11 county residents who spoke at the hearing had major concerns about tra c on Woodward Rd. and Main St. in Sperryville, the impact a subdivision could have on the viewshed, the capacity of the sewer system, the e ect on the county’s and Sperryville’s rural character, and the precedent of rezoning without an overall plan.

Patti McGill Peterson, a trustee of the Shenandoah National Park Trust and Piedmont district resident, described Sperryville as a gateway to the park and said that park visitors “did not come [out to Rappahannock] to see suburban sprawl.”

Woodward Rd. resident Bob Trapp feared that the rezoning and increased density would greatly a ect tra c on the road and his family’s view of the park. In addition, he said, “the applicant has not demonstrated a community bene t. There is no community reason to rezone.”

If the rezoning is approved, said Sally Haynes of Piedmont district, “it would be a gi to the applicant at the expense of the community.” In regards to the sewer capacity, she said that heavy rains in 2018 overwhelmed the sewer capacity for the residents who depend on it.

Leslie Arnold of Sperryville urged the planners to wait for the completion of the sewer capacity study commissioned by the RCWSA. Sharp said he expects the study to be nished sometime in 2021.

Robin Day, another Woodward Rd. resident, was among several speakers who feared a subdivision would increase tra c on the narrow road. “My house is nine-and-a-half feet from the road,” Day said. “I expect someone to crash into my house.” He warned that if the application were approved, it would “open a Pandora’s box of development” in the county.

Many speakers referred to the county’s new Comprehensive Plan and its stated commitment to protect the rural character of Rappahannock. Diane Bruce of Piedmont referred to a series of Planning Commission-sponsored public forums held in 2002, 2003, 2015 and 2016 as well as a 2015 survey posted on the county website seeking input from the public.

“In general,” Bruce said, reading from the comp plan, “when asked what makes Rappahannock County unique compared to other counties, the most prevalent answer was the beauty of the county viewshed with little development.” She also expressed concern about whether the county has enough groundwater to serve future needs.

Jan Makela, a Jackson district resident and local realtor was among the few speakers in favor of the application.

“I’ve watched us chase our tail about a ordable housing,” she said. “The need exists for smaller lots around the villages. Tom is o ering the county a gi .” Her comment prompted Hampton planner Al Henry to later lash out at Jackson planner Rick Kohler during the commission discussion, accusing him of having a con ict of interest as a realtor. Believing otherwise, Kohler did not recuse himself from the vote.

Henry himself is a real estate appraiser and a director on the board of the Oak View National Bank in Warrenton.

“ZONING IS BASED ON THE LAND, NOT ON WHO THE APPLICANT IS.”

A er the public comment period, many of the planners praised the speakers’ thoughtful comments and also expressed their own struggles in considering the application.

“This is a really tough call,” said Stonewall-Jackson planner Gary Light. “It would be a great mistake to make zoning decisions on a case by case basis.” The county must look at zoning and planning comprehensively, he said.

Henry strongly supported Taylor’s application. “Taylor realized his property rights were being diminished," Henry said. “The sewer [availability] makes the property valuable.”

Ron Frazier, the BOS representative on the Planning Commission agreed with Henry: “This applicant is trying to do something for the county.”

Konick reminded the planners that “zoning is based on the land, not who the applicant is.” The question for him, he said, is whether Taylor had demonstrated that the current ve-acre zoning categorization is unreasonable.

OTHER ACTIONS

▸ The planners voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the county’s Floodplain Overlay District to comply with federal requirements.

▸ A er clarifying the de nition of meat processing/slaughterhouse in the package of zoning ordinance amendments considered in the last Planning Commission meeting, the planners voted 6-1 in favor of recommending the BOS approve the amendments, with Ishee dissenting.

▸ In the absence of applicant Khalid Achagzai, the commission voted 5-1, with one abstention, to forward his request for a special use permit to create a family apartment on his Whorton Hollow Rd. property to the Board of Zoning Appeals without a recommendation.

▸ Joyce Harmon’s application for a tourist home special use permit for her N. Poes Road property was passed to the BZA with a recommendation to approve. The planners voted unanimously.