Hints of Deeper Issues: The many problems with the Crooked Run Development

Linda Allen reminds Town Council that no one speaks in favor of the proposed rezoning of Crooked Run West to residential.

In a Town Council meeting held on August 12th, several items of importance were brought to public attention. Town resident Linda Allen spoke to the council urging them to be more open with the public on the matter of the Crooked Run West development. In a letter addressed to the Council, she raised questions and concerns of citizens regarding the development. (Read her letter here or watch on the video below)

Referencing the public hearing held by the Board of Supervisors on April 10, 2019, she stated that “There are no citizen comments from that hearing that favor this change.” The concerns caused by the change from commercial to residential are mainly due to the problems with water and sewer services. This concern has been raised in the past by citizens who question the town sending central water to the County for development when there is roughly 750 acres of undeveloped land in town earmarked for residential development.

Allen raised another issue she saw with the water service problem, telling council, “It would be a change that no longer restricts the Town’s obligation to provide water to the corridor for commercial development only. This change would set a precedent. It may not matter how restrictively the agreement is written, once the change is made, it is a basis for argument in court to expand water and sewer throughout the county.” Why would this be an issue for Front Royal citizens? The answer is simple: taxes.

Allen raised other questions, such as the lack of a traffic plan. “The citizens who spoke of the road there and projected traffic volume and access to our major highway are quite clear that it is a difficult, even dangerous set of conditions.”

Increased traffic would lead to a higher rate of accidents, and with a higher resident count the traffic would not be coming from highway travelers on road trips but from residents in town.

Without an updated traffic plan, the Crooked Run Development could cause an irritating and hazardous spike of cars in town.

And as to residents, Allen pointed to the potential need for a new elementary school should the projected growth of Crooked Run’s development be accurate. “A.S. Rhodes Elementary School is at capacity which would indicate that we would have to consider building another elementary school—up goes the debt service in the county budget.”

Interim Mayor Matthew Tederick responded to the list of grievances briefly: “We have not made any decisions in regards to the Crooked Run Development. We have had a business that has come here to do business, and we welcome that, but I believe in the process of gathering facts and presenting them to the public.” Hopefully this was an indicator that town citizens will get some more concrete information about the project prior to a decision being reached, rather than a dismissive gesture.

The real question here is why the Town would okay the extension of additional utilities into the county to facilitate residential development out of town when there are more profitable for the Town and less problematic places to build inside town limits?

Opponents of Town facilitation of County residential development believe the town council is overreaching its Enterprise Fund utilities and setting the stage for future problems that would seem avoidable by keeping the rules as they have been written, of facilitate community-wide commercial development.

The Council meeting proceeded with a second speaker, Mrs. Fern Vasquez who also expressed many of the same negative opinions that Linda Allen pointed out. “The amount of money that we would put in towards this project is not worth what we would get out of it.”

The third item presented to the Council was the celebration of a town hero. Fifteen-year-old David Deavers was awarded the certificate of Hometown Hero for his brave actions saving a young boy Jordan Beall from a wasp nest he was trapped near. David had rescued the young boy and ran with him over his shoulder to safety. David’s selfless actions saved Jordan’s life and the Mayor personally thanked him for his service.

Our local hero David Deavers.

Front Royal Police Chief Kahle Magalis introduced Matthew Stephenson as the newest member of the Front Royal Police Department. Officer Stephenson has extensive experience as a first responder and was welcomed warmly into the community by the Council. His wife, Jasmine Stephenson is also a police officer with the Winchester Police Department.

The Council then moved to officially approve several items that had made it through previous work sessions, such as a bid from Wesco for Okonite cable in the amount of $25,440 and to Anixter for 750 Okonite cable in the amount of $36,471.60 to be used by the Energy Services Department for Leach Run Parkway Infrastructure. The Council also approved the lease of space at 23 E. Jackson Street or 30 E. Jackson Street for the Probation and Parole District #11 sub-office of the Department of Corrections as well as approving the funding needed for the staffing of a regional CITAC (Crisis Intervention Assessment Center) proposed in last week’s work session. The Council also approved a new item, the request for a 20-foot Deed of Easement for Sanitary Sewer Utilities from the Warren County School Board near Warren County Middle School located on Heritage Drive.

The Council then moved into a closed session to discuss “specific legal matters” before opening again for their work session.

Mayor, Town Council seek EDA financial answers, not just future plans

See the full Council Meeting, discussion and questions in the linked Royal Examiner video: