Retail Strategy and Out-of-Town Service Among Key Issues Handled at a Complex Town Council Work Session

In the calm before the storm, as Florida braces for another blow and Front Royal can at least say that drought conditions are no longer a problem, the Front Royal Town Council conducted business as usual at a work session on Monday, October 7, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall at 102 East Main Street. Amid new prospects, acquisitions, other budgetary concerns, and ongoing issues, the council covered a wide variety of terrain and mapped out a plan.

Town Council conducts a work session on the evening of October 7. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Studies show that Front Royal offers a robust selection of dining options that attract clientele from surrounding municipalities, but when it comes to clothing, travel, or online shopping, it may be the only recourse for residents. The Front Royal Economic Development Authority (FREDA) is currently trying to fill some of those gaps by working with Retail Strategies, a company that provides analytical services, like tracking where people are taking their business through the smartphones they carry, which reveal their location. From the data they gather, Retail Strategies will identify needs in any given community and recruit retailers to meet those needs. FREDA is at a point in its relationship with Retail Strategies where it needs the approval and support of the town council to go forward.

Director of Community Development and Tourism Lizi Lewis introduces a representative of Retail Strategies for a virtual presentation to the council.

A continued relationship with Retail Strategies would involve a three-year contract and an investment by the Town currently estimated at $55,000. “If we’re not going to fund FREDA,” Councilwomaan Amber Morris remarked, “let’s fund something that FREDA can do.” Representative of Retail Strategies Sarah Beth Stewart, who gave a virtual presentation to the council at Monday night’s meeting, made it clear that her people are interested in attracting sustainable retail, not venues that fizzle after two years. This is deeply rooted in identifying the need and meeting the need. During the question-and-answer period that followed her presentation, a question arose of whether Retail Strategies would be at all focused on development in the Route 340/522 corridor beyond town limits, which would not necessarily benefit the town. Town Manager Joe Waltz answered that the focus will be within town limits.

Assistant Vice President of Power Supply Planning Craig Kleinhenz addresses the council on several points, including renewable energy, which will now be a resource for the town.

Director of Finance B.J. Wilson presents to the council a budget amendment and a proposal of acceptance from Stantec for a comprehensive water and wastewater utility cost of service fee and rate study.

After Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke explained the details of a rezoning application and an application for a special-use permit, both of which had been forwarded to the council by the town planning commission with recommendations for approval, Waltz presented two applications for out-of-town water and septic service in the corridor. These applications are extraordinary in the sense that the use would be industrial. While the town currently provides water and septic service for commercial uses in the corridor outside town limits, it does not yet provide any for industrial uses in that category. With these industrial sites taken together, bringing well above one hundred new jobs to the community, and paying double the in-town rates, the consensus among council members was that this is a worthy endeavor.

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke explains to the council two items before them, a rezoning as well as a special-use permit.

The items mentioned above being scheduled for a vote on October 28; regulation of vape shops being touched upon, wherein Mayor Lori Cockrell expressed an ardent desire to expedite the process, though she was informed that the process will extend into next year in conjunction with the planning commission; and a discussion being had of items for the upcoming liaison meeting between Town and County, the council went into closed session at 9:06 p.m.

Click here to watch the Front Royal Town Council Work Session of October 6, 2024.