In Cappiali case, judge o ers no decision

A er closing arguments in a case against the county for not granting a resident a special exception permit for a contractor’s yard, Rappahannock County Circuit Court Judge Jeanette Irby did not make a ruling on Monday and did not give a date for when she will reach a decision.

The civil case was brought by plainti John Cappiali, an Amissville contractor, in an appeal on the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors’ decision to deny Cappiali a special exception permit to operate a contractor’s yard. Joseph Long, who was represented in court on Monday, is leasing the property to Cappiali and is a part of the appeal.

William Ashwell, representing both Cappiali and Long, asserted that the county’s decision to deny the permit in March 2020 was “arbitrary and capricious.” Ashwell also argued that Jack Atkins, a county building o cial and Cappiali’s neighbor, was harassing Cappiali. Atkins was represented in court on Monday by attorney David Konick.

These closing arguments came after a seven-hour long hearing in May, featuring Ashwell, Konick, and attorney Robert Mitchell representing the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors.

Cappiali applied for a special exception permit to turn his property into a contractor’s yard, so he could legally keep construction equipment on his property. Under the current zoning ordinance, the primary use of the property must be for agricultural purposes.

Cappiali and Long have been cited with three notices of violation from the county since 2016 requesting they remove the “scrap heaps… parking of not more than one commercial vehicle per occupant/operator… inoperable vehicles … [and] outside storage (contractors yard).”

Mitchell argued that because Cappiali is not operating a business on his property where he would be using that equipment to provide a service, there is no “logical basis” for granting the special exception permit.

Ashwell argued that the supervisors decision to deny the application was “arbitrary and capricious” and that there was little evidence that the equipment on his property could be seen by his neighbors or from U. S. Route 211.