Missed Opportunities: A Call for Vision and Leadership in Front Royal

There are times when a community and our elected officials can take advantage of a windfall opportunity to drive up town revenue with little impact on town services or infrastructure.

An opportunity was presented to the Council over a year ago and was blocked due to a lack of vision and personal biases against the entity selling a tract of very desirable land. It was located in a prime location off Leach Run Parkway, within a short walk of the newly constructed Warren Memorial Hospital, along with existing road access connections already in place.

The property was to be sold to develop the Town’s first 55+ retirement community—the site’s proximity to shopping and spectacular views added to its appeal. The national builder wanting this land was a respected firm with a track record of building similar communities in Virginia.

The Town would accrue many additional financial benefits, with revenue coming from multiple other sources. Building up to 400 single-family homes and townhouses for senior citizens would generate millions of dollars of new real estate revenue without taxing the school system. Since these types of communities are age-restricted, they will not create additional pressure on our schools for expansion. The extra tax revenue generated by the County in real estate revenue can be used to support existing educational programs already in place.

The profile of a new 55+ community indicates that they would bring disposable income, a welcome revenue shot to local businesses, bringing an estimated 800 retired individuals to our community with minimal infrastructure impact.

Current town leadership had the chance to correct the mistakes made over the years by past Councils concerning this property and take advantage of this windfall opportunity. Instead, they chose an arrogant position on the development and thereby lost the opportunity that would have moved the town financially forward without placing a burden on our citizens.

Now, the Town is presently in a $6 million lawsuit with the landowners for their non-action.

Justifications expressed by some individuals on the Council include the following:

• We don’t want those people coming here from Northern Virginia.
• The council refused to let the developer present the site plan to them.
• We don’t trust outside construction companies.
• The prices of the home for the local people are unaffordable.
• We don’t want to turn into a Leesburg.

It appears that most Council and Mayor members carry the same “No Growth“ banner. It was a surprise that a recent vote was passed three to two on the housing project on Happy Creek Rd. Unfortunately, one of the councilmen who voted in favor of the project, which would bring thousands of dollars in new revenue to our community, was threatened by some individual supporters of a local political party to be removed from the party for such a non-supported party position on the vote. Funny, this is a nonpartisan elected office. One might wonder, if the entire Council had been present, would the vote have even passed?

I have lived in Front Royal for over 30 years and have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was chastised at one time for believing that Front Royal could become one of the best small towns in the country if we had a vision of what we could become. Not a Leesburg but a community that promotes small-town charm with good jobs and a safe place for families to grow. A place that protects the area’s natural beauty while coming up with programs that keep taxes reasonable for residents while maintaining a robust commercial tax generation structure.

Please take a moment to reflect on the last several years under our current leadership. Does this leadership have a real vision? Are we moving forward as a community?

Or are we doing the same old things but expecting different results?

Come this November, you have a chance to start the change. Front Royal can do it with the right ideas when we elect the right people willing to move forward and lead us into this vision.

Michael Graham
Front Royal

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