Short-Term Rentals dominate County public hearings; voting redistricting, property sale approved

After a nearly one-hour Closed Session on various EDA-related legal matters, including the dueling civil litigations with the Town of Front Royal on financial liabilities, as well as vacancies on the Front Royal-Warren County Airport Commission, the Warren County Board of Supervisors took on a six public hearing action agenda. The bulk of those public hearings focused on the growing momentum of Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) for Short-Term Tourist Rentals or Bed & Breakfast operations.

The only action out of closed session was the appointment of Sean Roe to the County-run Front Royal Airport (FRR) Commission for a four-year term ending June 30, 2025. It was noted that appointment filled one of two commission vacancies, the other still vacant term ending at the end of June 2023. Roe’s appointment comes as the FRR airport management of Commission member Rock Skowbo has come under fire leading to an investigation undertaken by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Short-Term setback waiver debate

On the public hearing front, with no neighboring property owner opposition voiced and support coming from related tourism groups, businesses, or rental professionals, the three Short-Term Tourist Rental and one B&B Conditional Use Permit requests were all passed. Only one of those approvals came on a divided vote, with the other three approved by unanimous 5-0 votes. The split 3-2 vote of approval on David Kondner’s Short-Term Rental permitting request came from some Planning Department staff and board concern about waiving the 100-foot setback requirement potentially creating a non-conforming precedent. However, the fact that the applicant owned the most impacted adjacent property just 30-feet away, with the other impacted property being 88-feet away, just 12-feet under the setback standard held the day for Kondner with a Cook-Oates-Mabe board majority. In addressing the board, Kondner noted that no one seemed clear on why the 100-foot setback had been implemented and wondered if it hadn’t just been chosen randomly.

Flanked by Assistant Planning Director Matt Wendling, Planning Director Joe Petty explains staff concerns about potential precedent setting in waiving the 100-foot setback requirement for David Kondner’s Short-Term Tourist Rental permitting request. However, with Kondner owning the closest property among other involved variables, by a 3-2 vote the board approved the request for the riverfront property, pictured in agenda packet graphic below. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

The property is on the Shenandoah River at 153 Beckwith Drive. Kondner’s adjoining property to the east is 167 Beckwith Drive. Planning Director Joe Petty told the board that the Short-Term Rental property provided off-street parking for three vehicles, which could accommodate two guest groups when Kondor was home utilizing the third space. Asked by Happy Creek Supervisor Jay Butler what he planned to do with his adjacent property, Kondner cited a long-term rental plan. Petty noted that rentals of over 30 days could be done by right in the area. Kondner acknowledged one area resident’s opposition based on what had been termed issues with “past Mexican problems”. The applicant wondered if a seemingly “racist” perspective should be taken into consideration as valid grounds for denying his application.

One speaker appeared at the public hearing. Winchester resident Joseph Comstock, apparently experienced in short-term rental business, noted he had grown up in Front Royal and Warren County. In support of the application he said Kondner’s operation would have an established and good screening system for rental clients and urged approval. Kondner noted he had a similar operation in Baltimore County that had a good track record. So, with experience and a good management plan in place, despite the staff concerns about the non-conforming setback waiver and a consequent 4-1 county planning commission recommendation of denial, Kondner’s CUP application squeaked through to that 3-2 vote of approval, with Butler and Cullers dissenting.

The other three CUP application public hearings were much less dramatic. Dennis Flynn’s Short-Term Tourist Rental CUP request at 484 Creek Road and David and Danielle Kibiloski’s CUP application for a Bed & Breakfast at 990 Hillandale Road both targeted the Appalachian Trail hiking community. Up first with a recommendation of approval from the planning commission, Flynn quickly got a unanimous vote of approval with no public hearing speakers.

The Kibiloskis B&B CUP request received glowing recommendations of approval from the local hiking community, organizations, and related businesses, including Susan Tschirhart, chair of the local Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and even another area B&B operation’s owners, Scott and Lisa Jenkins of Mountain Home Bed & Breakfast who sent a letter of support in as they were busy accommodating guests at their B&B, as well as local hiking enthusiast and hiker van driver Rose Turner.

Hiker and hiker driver Rose Turner speaks in support of Danielle and David Kibiloski’s AP Trail hiker-friendly B&B Conditional Use Permit application.

That left John Lavoie’s Short-Term Rental CUP request for a property at 1196 Old Oak Lane. And after hearing the applicant and one public hearing speaker, Abdul Khan who said he owned several vacant lots around the applicant property, express enthusiastic support for the use, another unanimous vote of approval was made.

A fourth Short-Term Tourist Rental CUP application by Katherine Stallings for a property at 377 Brandy Road was removed from the agenda near the meeting’s outset.

Voting Redistricting & property disposal

The first two public hearings were held to authorize the sale to the highest bidder of a county-owned property at 30 East Jackson Street and approval of a voter redistricting plan to reflect population shifts in the county from the 2020 census. Both passed without opposition. In documentation explaining the redistricting it is noted that:

“The 2020 Census states that Warren County’s population increased from 37,439 to 40,572; which is an additional 3,133 persons (8.37%). Based on this population, each of the County’s five local election districts should have an ideal population of 8,114; or be within plus-or-minus 5% which ranges from 7,708 to 8,520 persons.”

The redistricting strives to accomplish this readjustment of election districts while keeping current polling places within their districts; minimizing the splitting of subdivisions and neighborhoods; utilizing major boundaries; minimizing repeated district moves of voters; maintaining a balance of diversity in each district; maintaining a balance of in-town voters in each district; and not moving existing School Board members or county supervisors out of their district.

Wait, they’re not going to move us out of our electoral districts, are they – the supervisors may have worried about post-2020 census mandated voting district realignments. Not to worry, they TRY not to do that.

Consent Agenda

Approved as presented by a unanimous vote, an eight-item Consent Agenda included “Authorization to Advertise for Public Hearing repeal of Code Section 66-34 (Bounties for Coyotes)” right next to the awarding of another $50 coyote bounty, seeming to continue a three-plus month trend of pouring good money after bad. That is because late last year the board received a report from legal staff, supported by WCSO Animal Control, to discontinue the bounties in the light of long-term wildlife research indicating the random killing of coyotes has no positive impact in reducing coyote pack numbers, and in fact may be counterproductive in sending females into heat more often leading to increases in pack numbers from the isolated killing of male pack members.

According to wildlife statistics on coyote populations said to have been recorded over 150 years, the random killing of the pack animals in proximity to human populations does nothing to reduce their numbers, and in fact can have the opposite effect of increasing them by throwing the females into heat more often than normal. Hey, I’m just a wild dog, more or less, who’s got to eat too, this coyote may have been thinking right before he was shot – by the photographer. Public Domain photo

Other

During the County Administrator’s Report it was apparent that the supervisors were hoping for more detail than they have thus far received from the School Administration on the Warren County Public Schools FY-2022/23 budget proposal. A joint budget work session is now scheduled to proceed a Special Meeting of the supervisors on February 22. The work session will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 7 p.m.

County Administrator Ed Daley observed that it did not appear the School Board was as far along as the supervisors in their budget process and wondered if the School Board had yet seen final proposals from its staff budget preparation. On the bright side, Daley noted that public schools had been notified of an anticipated increase of $6 million in state funding.

During board reports Delores Oates noted that on the joint drug prevention committee with Councilman Gary Gillespie, a pointed effort to bring a Drug Court system to the county continues.

At the outset of the meeting an emotional agenda item was added forwarding a Resolution of Thanks to good Samaritans and authorities in Chincoteague and Accomack County, Virginia, among other surrounding communities, for their rescue and recovery efforts in response to a January 22 boating accident on the coast. That accident involved four area youths, two of whom were rescued, one whose body was recovered, and one still missing. God bless them all.

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of February 15, 2020.