Compliance, Industrial Use, and a Sign at Town Council Work Session

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke presented to Town Council a request to vacate a portion of Kibler Street at the council’s work session on the evening of Monday, January 13, beginning at 7 p.m. in Town Hall at 102 East Main Street. This request for a vacation adjoining 219 East 7^th Street arose from the applicant’s need to comply with setback requirements on the property. When the new home was constructed, Kopishke explained, the contractor excavator accidentally dug up the pins and replaced them in a slightly wrong location. Thus, the home was built slightly over the building restriction line. It is shifted over the line by eight-tenths of a foot or nine point-six inches.

Town Council prepares to begin a work session on the evening of Monday, January 13. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Originally, the applicant sought to rectify the situation by applying to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance, which the board denied. The applicant now seeks to rectify the situation by requesting an alley vacation on Kibler Street, two feet in width and ninety feet in length, totaling a one hundred eighty square foot area that would be vacated by the Town, allowing the applicant to purchase it and come into compliance with the setback requirement. “This would allow them to have a wide enough lot that the structure would no longer encroach,” Kopishke said. “If that happens, they will then purchase that, and then they would consolidate that strip with the lot into a new lot to create a conforming lot.”

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke presents to the council a request to vacate a portion of Kibler Street.

Staff recommends approval of this request, stating in their recommendation that “there are no anticipated utility impacts beyond the loss of the alley for potential future installations. Approving this request will enable the applicant to comply with Town Code requirements.” Much of the discussion that followed focused on the improbability of such a titanic error not coming to the Town’s attention sooner. Nevertheless, it escaped their attention, and the situation stands in need of rectification. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, January 27, at the council’s next regular meeting. At that point, Town Attorney George Sonnett explained, the council will have the opportunity to approve, disapprove, or appoint viewers.

The next item of business featured an out-of-town water and septic service request for industrial use in the corridor. It was determined that not enough information was available at that point and that the request will be delayed until such information is supplied. Mayor Lori Cockrell also guided the discussion to make the point that the Town is not obligated to supply service to industrial use in the corridor, but instead takes it on a case-by-case basis. Concluding the public portion of the meeting, the council discussed a request from Downtown Front Royal, Inc. to install and maintain a “Downtown Front Royal” sign on town-owned property at the intersection of Commerce Avenue and Main Street. The disposition of the council was in favor of the sign, although they established that they are waiting to receive an exhibit from the applicant.

After a thirty-minute work session, the council went into closed session to discuss matters pertaining to HEPTAD litigation, the insolvency and dissolution of the EDA, and the town manager position.