Proffer Policy on Exhibit at Town-County Liaison Committee Meeting

In their agenda packet for the Town-County liaison committee meeting of Thursday, January 30, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall at 102 East Main Street, the representatives of the Town Council and the Board of Supervisors had easy access to a copy of the County’s proffer policy to inform their discussion of the urgent need to reassess what Front Royal and the larger Warren County can realistically hope for from developers whose projects are contingent upon rezoning. In contrast to a by right development, in which case developers are submitting to the rules pertaining to how the property is already zoned, no proffer, cash or otherwise, is required. But if the developer wishes to depart from those rules in order, say, to build at higher density, then it is a question of rezoning, and proffers do come into play.

“I am a little bit scared,” Planning Director and Zoning Administrator for the Town of Front Royal, Lauren Kopishke, said to the gathering as the conversation proceeded in a relaxed manner under the moderation of Mayor Lori Cockrell. Kopishke is concerned because many of the developments on the planning and zoning horizon are by right; in other words, they needn’t make cash, land, or in-kind proffers to offset the potential costs of their development to the Town and County. This exigency makes it even more important that in the case of rezonings, the developers are proffering everything they can and ought to proffer. There are a wide range of services that get impacted when a new development arises, including the school system. That aspect of the puzzle received a great deal of attention from the committee. The cost of adding new children to the school system is sizable. This is especially relevant to residential development in which new families are being added to the community.

2: Planning Director and Zoning Administrator for the Town of Front Royal, Lauren Kopishke, shares with the committee information relevant to the conversation about proffers.

Adopted in 2003, the County’s Proffer Policy underlines the role the County plays in being the guardian of the fiscal impact model, which the Town refers to when determining what a developer may volunteer. Consultants to the Town or the applicants themselves will request numbers from the County and use that input to calculate what a proffer may be. Those numbers are based on the analysis done by county staff to gauge what the impact will be. According to Kopishke in a phone interview, she is unaware of any updates to the model since 2003. Hence, any calculations based on it can only be so accurate. It seemed in the meeting from the comments of County Administrator Dr. Edwin Daley that the County is open to conducting a fiscal impact analysis that would update the model.

After touching upon the solid waste tipping fee, where the County does not exactly know whether it will make another raise, briefly discussing transportation, as well as the problem of county residents in the corridor who receive Town water and septic service and do not observe mandatory water conservation during a drought, to which point Dr. Daley said there may be signs erected to remind users to be observant, the committee, having no other business to conduct, adjourned.

Click here to watch the Town-County Liaison Committee Meeting of January 30, 2025