Council Appoints New Town Manager Amid Public Scrutiny Over Property Sale and County Oversight

Having gone into a closed meeting after conducting a regular meeting on the evening of Monday, March 24, the Town Council came back out of the closed meeting to vote unanimously in favor of putting Joseph W. Petty in the position of town manager. Petty brings to the table a formidable resume and a familiarity with Mayor Lori Cockrell, who speaks highly of him. His employment with the Town will begin on Monday, April 14. Earlier in the evening, in their reports, council members commended B.J. Wilson on his service as interim town manager. Councilwoman Melissa DeDomenico-Payne noticed the seamless communication that has characterized Wilson’s brief interlude as town manager. Incidents like a recent power outage, highlighted by Councilman Wayne Sealock, have been handled efficiently. Petty inherits a job that demands finesse, graciousness, and humility. If his reputation precedes him, then he is well-supplied with all three.

Town Council meets on the evening of Monday, March 24 at the location where they usually hold their work sessions, due to the unavailability of the government center. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Citizen comments during the single public hearing of the evening focused attention on the universal desire that the mistake committed on a property bordering Kibler Street never occur again. As the property is zoned commercial, the residential structure built there was already non-conforming, but in addition to that, the structure was built roughly nine inches into the setback. The setback is the required distance between the structure and the boundary of the property. To remedy this problem, the owner requested that the Town vacate one hundred eighty square feet of Kibler Street to provide the boundary with the buffer it needs to bring the structure into compliance.

Nearby business owner Mike McCool addresses the Town Council regarding their fiduciary responsibilities as concerned citizens speak out about the sale of a previously vacated section of Kibler Street and the ongoing issue involving a non-conforming structure that prompted the street’s closure and eventual sale.

The council complied with that request at a previous meeting and on Monday evening they negotiated the sale of the square footage they vacated. The motion to sell the vacated portion passed unanimously. Public input made it clear that the council’s readiness to accommodate the mistake leaves a bad taste in some people’s mouths. Has the council met its fiduciary responsibility to protect the Town’s assets? Has the council by conceding this ground laid a shoddy foundation for the future in terms of planning and zoning and merely pandered to the interests of one individual? The course of the evening’s discussion revealed that attention should be focused ultimately on the County’s lack of due diligence in conducting the kind of inspections that would have prevented the mistake in the first place.

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke handles the presentation of two business items for the council

Amid other business items, there was an interesting bit regarding the Happy Creek Knolls development in which the applicant requested a revision to the subdivision development plan that would allow the project to proceed without building retaining walls against the slopes close to the rear of several of the homes. The original agreement was that the developer grade the slopes according to a three-to-one ratio. In other words, the elevation rises a foot for every three feet traveled. The only way to proceed with steeper slopes, which the applicant did, is with the provision that retaining walls be built. Now the houses are built, the possibility of a three-to-one ratio is a matter of history, and the geotechnical report that the applicant is using appears not to have sampled the slopes themselves in arriving at the conclusion that retaining walls are not needed. Staff recommended denial and the council voted in harmony with that recommendation. Thus, the retaining walls will be required.

Click here to watch the Front Royal Town Council Meeting of March 24, 2025.

Joe Petty Named New Town Manager of Front Royal