What future do you want for Front Royal?

If you live in the town of Front Royal, you could hardly do better than to spend an hour on November 23 at kickoff day for the Front Royal Comprehensive Plan. There will be two meetings from which to choose: one at 11 a.m., and one at 5 p.m., at the Gazebo, along with drinks and snacks. These meetings are extremely important to the future of Front Royal.

What’s this all about and why should you care? The Comprehensive Plan is the public input process through which ordinary citizens can tell the Town Powers-That-Be their vision for the long-term growth and development of Front Royal.

Right now, we are a Town, not a city. Side Note: “city” is a legal term of art – this is not about trying to change legal status. I use the word “city” as shorthand for “too busy, congested, stressful, expensive, modern, strange”. Public input into the Comprehensive Plan process will help determine whether we continue to be a town, or become a city.

What do I mean? Two illustrations: Not too long ago, my cousin from Dallas was visiting me here in Front Royal. We went to a local coffee shop and while we were waiting, two youngsters came in. It was clear that they were known to the woman working there. They placed an order for their parents, and paid with their parents’ credit card. I thought: isn’t it nice to live someplace where parents can let their children go by themselves to a local business with a credit card. I thought about how that positive, trusting interaction with the local community helps give those children a sense of responsibility and maturity. I like that Front Royal is a town where that can happen. No way would a parent let young children go by themselves to a neighborhood coffee shop in a city!

Front Royal is a Town, not a city.

Later, we were driving north on Commerce Street. I pointed out the yard furniture shop, where the merchandise stays out day and night, and how nice it is that a business owner can have enough trust in the community to do that. My cousin made a flip remark about how nobody would think it was worth stealing – but I didn’t let him get away with that! People who aren’t rich want yard furniture too, you know – and one of the good things about Front Royal is that people with limited disposable income can find it here. It may be “quaint” to tourists from one of the seven richest counties in the country (those surrounding Washington DC), but to home folks it’s what makes life in Front Royal good. Front Royal is a Town where you don’t have to be wealthy to have a good life.

Certain plans for the future will help us remain a livable, family-friendly town. Other plans might gentrify Front Royal and turn us into just one more outpost of upscale, urban-sprawled Big Business America.

Do we want to remain a family-friendly Town or become an outpost of Urban Sprawl Gentrification? Public involvement in the Comp Plan will help determine the answer to that.

So come on Tuesday, November 23, at 11 a.m. or 5 p.m. to the Gazebo. Think about the future of Front Royal!

By: Connie Marshner
Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Town of Front Royal