County prepares to move on final Lake Front Royal ROW acquisition

Following a closed session near the end of its meeting of Tuesday, June 19, the Warren County Board of Supervisors authorized advertisement of a public hearing on a proposed condemnation for public use of a portion of the final property necessary to complete road improvements at the entrance-way into the Lake Front Royal Subdivision.

According to county staff the property is owned by Linda Rudacille and the parcel is identified on Tax Map 39C as Lot A25.  The motion to approve the advertisement for a public hearing at the July 17 meeting was made by South River Supervisor Linda Glavis, seconded by Shenandoah District Supervisor Tom Sayre.  It was approved unanimously.

Right of way from eight properties from the subdivision entrance off Route 522 South at Lake Front Drive to that road’s intersection with Creek Road have been acquired to allow the project to proceed as part of the Virginia Department of Transportation Rural Addition Program (RAP) in the coming fiscal year beginning July 1.

Ms. Rudacille’s property is the ninth and final piece of the project ROW puzzle.

According to County Attorney Dan Whitten the Rudacille ROW, including a temporary construction easement, is necessary to provide adequate turnaround for construction equipment to facilitate the project proceeding.  Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Carter told Royal Examiner that the county offered Ms. Rudacille $5,000 for the necessary right of way portion of her property.

Whitten explained the offer as being estimated from the value of Ms. Rudacille’s property, not including the value of her home.  The one-acre lot is assessed at $50,000. Whitten said the ROW portion is less than one-tenth of an acre, or .0861 of an acre to be precise.  He said that no entranceway or any trees on the property would be impacted by the ROW acquisition along Creek Drive.

Under a contested seizure of the required ROW, a judge would determine the amount of compensation if the condemnation to realize the entranceway improvement project is upheld, Whitten said.

According to county staff during past discussion of the project, any permanent ROW acquisition along Creek Road is to facilitate road widening to assure safe turns off the improved Lake Front Drive entrance road.

Looking up Lake Front Drive toward its intersection with Creek Road – the disputed Rudacille ROW is on Creek Road near that intersection. Photos/Roger Bianchini

As reported by county staff in May, at stake is an entranceway improvement project the vast majority of the community has previously expressed support for, as well $350,000 in subdivision and county funds already committed to the state-local revenue sharing project.  In 2014 the Lake Front Royal Property Owners Association (LFRPOA) signed off on the entranceway improvements “as in the best interest of the community”.

However, ROW acquisition for the project seemed to become embroiled in the controversy over the 2016 Lake Front Royal Subdivision’s designation as a county sanitary district.  It was a designation the POA opposed, as well as an apparent majority of residents responding to both POA and County polls.

On May 24 the next-to-last of nine property owners in question, the Lake Front Royal Property Owners Association itself, agreed to turn over its ROW off Lake Front Drive after 2-1/2 months of silence in response to inquiries and information from the county government.

It had initially been thought by county staff that once the impasse with the LFRPOA was resolved, that a final property owner yet to agree to the ROW acquisition – now identified as Ms. Rudacille – would follow suit.

Deputy County Administrator Bob Childress told the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District Advisory Board on May 21 that initial indications were the remaining property owner on Creek Road would sign her ROW easement once the eight other involved property owners had all signed off.

Not so fast, sports fans – as Royal Examiner reported at the time, in the wake of media coverage of the LFRPOA agreement, an online Facebook post by a woman presenting herself to be that ninth property owner expressed concern about sacrificing any of her property for a ROW easement to the project.

Lake Front Drive looking toward Rt. 522 – the mailboxes and parking area to left are part of the LFRPOA parcel where ROW of about 8/10’s of an acre was granted in late May.

The ROW acquisition is necessary due to a quirk in the language of the subdivision’s founding documents.

“When Lake Front Royal was originally developed a 50-foot right-of-way (from the center of roads) was provided.  However, at that time the declaration deed and plat stated in part that ‘all roads are private’ even though they were open to the public,” Childress told both the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District Advisory Board and POA earlier this spring.

That “all roads are private” wording counters VDOT’s need that its temporary right-of-way easement “be dedicated for public use” thus necessitating the current ROW efforts.

A look at what has been described as ‘a failing’ entrance-way bridge over Sloat Creek earmarked for replacement as part of the VDOT revenue-sharing Rural Addition Project.

The County had hoped for the project to begin this summer to minimize interference with a school bus pick up spot near the entrance.  Childress told the POA this spring that VDOT’s “current schedule is to begin the box culvert construction on August 4, 2018 with roadway construction beginning soon afterward” and that without major weather delays “VDOT anticipates approximately 60 days for completion of construction.”

But he also noted that VDOT was looking “to advance its schedule if the required right-of-way becomes available.” – Looks like that is out of the question now.