Town authorizes attorney to talk boundary change terms
Washington Town Council on Monday voted to allow the town’s attorney to convene with Rappahannock County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney and a lawyer for Rush River Commons to discuss the terms of potentially expanding the town’s boundary to accommodate the development’s proposed second phase.
Sometime in the near future, Rush River Commons Property Owner
Chuck Akre’s attorney John Foote, Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Go and Washington Attorney Martin Crim are expected to meet and draw up an agreement of what the second phase of the development may contain.
They are also likely to discuss potential concessions county o cials may want from the town in exchange for their support of the boundary change as many members of the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors believe that the move e ectively cedes zoning control of Akre’s property to a government entity that’s more open to development.
Whatever the trio writes up will then be presented to the Board of Supervisors, which will hold a work session to weigh in on what is proposed before taking a nal vote and passing it over to the town for its government to act on.
The move, which followed a lengthy closed session and was approved unanimously, marked the rst time Town Council has acted in public session on Akre’s e orts to expand the town’s boundary so his property, which currently straddles the line between Washington and the county, can be brought entirely under the town’s jurisdiction to accommodate his development proposal’s expansion.
Town Council last year approved the rst phase of Rush River Commons, which sits entirely within the town’s current jurisdiction and is expected to soon break ground as Washington's first mixed- use development. It will include 18 housing units (some deemed affordable), a cafe and a new location for the Rappahannock Food Pantry.
And while its members, including Washington Mayor Fred Catlin, have indicated support for the development’s proposed second phase, it needs to be approved by both the town and county and then signed off on by a judge for it to go into effect.