Don’t like the Crooked Run West residential plan – blame Amazon

Ed Murphy, left, and attorney Joe Silek Jr. paint a pretty picture of their residential rezoning request for the Crooked Run West project. Royal Examiner Photos/Roger Bianchini

Facing approaching deadlines on the loss of as much as $10 million dollars in VDOT matching transportation funding for an altered north corridor developmental plan, principals of Crooked Run West, LLC made their case to the Warren County Board of Supervisors at a Thursday evening, June 13 work session.

The case they are attempting to make, for rezoning and various permitting from the County, and on another front for central water supplied by the Town, is to allow development of a mixed use but primarily residential project creating an estimated 1,025 new homes of various description on the bulk of 119 acres previously earmarked for the expansion of the Target-based Crooked Run Commercial Shopping Center. As local shoppers know, the Crooked Run Shopping Center is located at the northwest corner of the Route 340/522 and I-66 intersection north of the Front Royal Town limits.

And Crooked Run West LLC principals Ed Murphy and Tom Mercuro, with attorney Joe Silek Jr. were playing, not only to a county board holding the zoning and permitting reins to their request, but also to a tough public that has reacted negatively to the proposal. While only Murphy and Silek addressed the board during the work session, Mercuro helped field questions from the public following the 7:30 p.m. adjournment of the work session. That work session convened at 6 p.m., following a 5:15 closed session about – guess what (the EDA).

Ed Murphy, dark jacket, and Tom Mercuro, gray shirt, field post-work session questions from skeptical members of the public.

In explaining the requested change from a commercial to residential-dominated project, Murphy reiterated what Silek wrote to County Planning Director Taryn Logan on February 19 – that explanation is that the existing rezoning to commercial sought in 2009 after the establishment of phase one of the Crooked Run Commercial Center was made “in an environment where promising commercial development (particularly retail) was expected in the Route 340/522 Corridor.”

But a decade later in 2019, Silek cites a “substantial change” in the market place writing, “In 2019, shopping habits have shifted from the brick-and-mortar stores to online outlets such as Amazon. With this shift has come a significant drop in demand for commercial real estate. Moreover, the demand for office space and industrial space has likewise declined.”

So the Crooked Run West attorney asserted to the County Planning Director, “Thus, a rezoning of the Crooked Run properties from commercial to a development consisting of mixed housing types is a sensible response to these changes in overall trends in Warren County.”

Speaking of the EDA – we did briefly, didn’t we? – wonder if anyone has mentioned these changing commercial and retail trends to the EDA Board of Directors? But that’s another subject altogether.

During his work session presentation, Crooked Run Project Manager Murphy noted that for the bulk of its 11 years of existence Crooked Run Phase One has enjoyed 100% occupancy. However, that ended recently when a tenant in the mattress business declared bankruptcy and went out of business. The vacated 4,000 square foot space remains empty because no commercial tenant can be found to lease it,” Murphy told the supervisors.

Murphy reviewed the evolving proffer package that Crooked Run West is developing to address changing impacts on schools and other aspects of the community. During board questions Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter noted that he could not ask for specific proffers at this point in the process (because it is not legal).

Tony Carter questions, Royal Examiner films…

But one question he could and did ask was the status of the Crooked Run developers’ negotiations with the Town of Front Royal for the central water deemed pivotal to the proposed residential development.

“If the Town says ‘no’ is that the end of it?” Carter asked Murphy.

Noting that the original Crooked Run West commercial proposal had been earmarked for Town central water, Murphy indicated he did not believe the current town council would arbitrarily deny the request for water to the newly-proposed project if it is rezoned and permitted by the County.

Earlier Murphy had noted that the Town currently provides 2 million gallons of water daily and is permitted to draw 4 million gallons a day from the Shenandoah River, with a water plant capacity of 6 million gallons per day.

Murphy asserted that the proposed changes at full build out would result in the use of about 100,000 gallons of water daily. Murphy also noted that Crooked Run West had reduced its annual build out plans from 225 homes to 150 homes per year, adding that the actual number of yearly building permit requests would be market driven to the proffered limit.

The water discussion led Board Chairman Dan Murray to ask how the projected water/sewer demands submitted to the board estimated slightly less than 100,000 gallons of water used per day (97,250), but almost 122,000 gallons of corresponding sewer capacity projected. The question’s source is the Town’s calculation of its sewer charges based on water usage.

Murphy noted the water projection was based on average residential usage but wasn’t clear on the difference in the sewer projection.

This work session was one step in the Crooked Run West proposal’s march toward a public hearing before the supervisors as they make their dual-fronted presentation to County and Town officials who have differing, but as Carter pointed out, crucial roles in propelling the project forward. After the meeting Silek said a public hearing might not occur before September as details are ironed out between the development group and municipal officials.

See the full work session presentation, discussion and questions, as well as some of the post-work session discussion between the public and Crooked Run West officials in the Royal Examiner video to be posted tomorrow.

Warren County Planning Commission denies Crooked Run West LLC rezoning

Murphy and Mercuro continue to play to a tough crowd – ‘We don’t want new neighbors, we want new stores’ seemed to be one refrain presented to the Crooked Run West developers.