Town Council and Planning Commission Meet for Benchmark Discussion in Special Joint Work Session

On Monday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in the Front Royal Town Hall at 102 East Main Street, the Front Royal Town Council and the Front Royal Planning Commission met for a special joint work session in which they heard from a representative of Summit Design and Engineering Services about the progress and future trajectory of a comprehensive rewrite of the zoning ordinance and subdivision ordinance. In the following discussion, both governmental bodies had the opportunity to express what they would like to see in such a rewrite and identify common ground while also rehearsing recent events in which the council and commission arrived at different conclusions.

Town Council and Planning Commission meet for a special joint work session on Monday evening. Royal Examiner photo credits: Brenden McHugh.

Anne Darby, Planning Department Manager for Summit, reminded those in attendance that this ordinance rewrite has been in the making for several years. Back in 2021, the Town began an elaborate process of collecting community input through a charrette, a meeting in which all stakeholders in a project attempt to resolve conflicts and map solutions. At one point, a bonfire was lit in downtown Front Royal to attract stakeholders and facilitate that conversation. That charette and that bonfire provided some of the input Summit needed to craft a comprehensive plan that subsequently council and commission unanimously voted to approve.

Planning Department Manager Anne Darby of Summit Design and Engineering Services presents a boiled-down outline to the council and commission on where the town of Front Royal stands in terms of a zoning ordinance rewrite and where that rewrite is headed. Darby belongs to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

At the same time, swimming parallel to the developing comprehensive plan, there was the rewrite of the ordinance. Darby expressed how important it is since Front Royal’s zoning ordinance has not been updated since the 1960s. The law reflects many concerns that are no longer concerns in 2024 and does not allow for concerns that are indeed important today. A good example is how parking requirements were handled sixty-some years ago and how they have morphed into a different problem today. As Darby lamented, over time, a document becomes burdened with new definitions that often contradict each other; many gaps need to be filled, and alignment with state code is forever a concern. So, as the comprehensive plan was going into effect, Summit was also catalyzing a proposed overhaul of the zoning ordinance with targeted changes to the subdivision ordinance, which includes a future land-use map that the planning commission approved and still needs to be approved by the town council. Ideally, the council will be presented with the changes this summer, and a new ordinance will go into effect this fall.

Then, a discussion followed, in which members of both bodies interacted with Darby, the Planning Director, and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke. Many things were said, but both professionals kept underlining a recurring theme: the danger of allowing one controversial issue to derail the whole rewrite. In other words, a document that otherwise meets with consensus could be flushed by an issue that could easily have been addressed later and separately. Vital changes everyone agrees need to be implemented could now be delayed unnecessarily. Thus, it was important in this benchmark meeting for Darby and Kopishke to collect information about what both bodies would like to see implemented in this rewrite.

Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Lauren Kopishke steps up to complement Darby’s presentation.

Commissioner Michael Williams spoke up about vape shops and how he would like to see the planning department do everything they can to restrict the influence of those retailers on the community. Councilwoman Melissa Dedomenico-Payne spoke of her desire to see Front Royal establish its own aesthetic theme: what is Front Royal’s signature look? These and other concerns were discussed as Darby took notes. However, the most potentially explosive item that could derail the rewrite if included was PND zoning, which is the making of any planned neighborhood development district. An application for PND rezoning was recently denied by the council considering their prior refusal to lower the minimum acreage requirement for such rezoning in a proposed text amendment to the Town ordinance, even though the planning commission recommended the amendment to the council, albeit with a suggested modification in terms of precisely how small the acreage requirement could be. However, their discussion on Monday evening was civil and focused on the need to have this discussion. Are they looking at the comprehensive plan in the same way? Specifically in terms of discussing acreage, Williams was decisive. “When do we have that discussion? It’s okay if it’s not tonight, and if it isn’t, fine, but at some point, that discussion needs to take place.”

Councilman Joshua Ingram spoke frankly about his reasons for voting against the amendment and the application. He was not comfortable with allowing one applicant to be the “litmus test” for a potential wave of similar applications. Barring the amendment’s passage, if the applicant received an exception, that might be the litmus test Ingram wanted to avoid. Councilwoman Dedomenico-Payne acknowledged that the planning commission was making the best decision based on the information they had, but as so often happens, new information appears later. Commissioner Daniel Wells clarified that the conflicting outcome was not the planning department’s fault. “This is not a ‘her’ problem,” he said, indicating Darby. “It’s an ‘us’ problem.”

After Mayor Lori Cockrell reiterated that this is an important discussion for the future, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Click here to watch the Front Royal Town Council Joint Work Session with the Planning Commission.