Town Council considers infrastructure, Downtown apartment development, and ‘environmental sustainability’

In business other than Scott Lloyd’s turf war with the mayor and an apparent majority of the current five-member town council over what constitutes a waste of their collective time on ordinance proposals deemed legally unsupportable by Town legal staff, on August 9, staff-led council through a varied work session agenda.

First, Public Works Director Robbie Boyer traced a nine-item Infrastructure Improvements Project list. Items covered included several Wastewater and Water Plant related projects, as well as Inflow and Infiltration (I&I) issues throughout the wastewater system; the Route 522 North Redundant Water Line project to help ensure no loss of operational capacity at the regional Dominion Power Plant, among other north corridor operations, were the existing line to fail; the East Prospect Bridge repairs marked by the many detour signs directing traffic elsewhere to cross downtown to and from Commerce at Happy Creek; the North Royal Avenue waterline upgrades; as well as paving and curb & gutter work around town.

Council talked infrastructure with Public Works Director Robbie Boyer, standing bottom right, among other topics brought to them by staff at Aug. 9 work session. Royal Examiner Photo by Roger Bianchini

Once again, there was little public discussion given to what appears to be a major council zoning initiative forwarded to the planning commission for endorsement in February. That is to remove planning commission review from the by-right zoning application process in a central area of the Historic Downtown Business District, while at the same time seeking to ease zoning conditions on residential apartment development there. Planning Department Zoning Administrator Chris Brock introduced the subject about a half-hour into the work session. He noted the Planning Commission would get their last update on the staff review and recommendations regarding the proposal at their August 11 work session, preceding anticipated action at the commission’s meeting of August 18.

Whether it comes back to council on August 23^rd adjusted and endorsed or recommended for denial will be an interesting development. For while 6 to 8 units are prominently mentioned in the draft ordinance proposal, as the council-appointed planning commission discovered late in its review process, the changes could impact consideration of a 60-unit apartment proposal brought the Town’s way by local developer Bill Barnett. That proposal, as Barnett revealed to the commission earlier this summer, involves the Murphy Building site at the intersection of East Main and Church Streets. Some commissioners did seem a bit taken aback when they learned of Barnett’s proposed high-volume apartment development in the heart of Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District.

Following Brock’s summary of the status of the review process as the planning commission approaches a thumbs up or down recommendation on the proposal, there was a question from Vice-Mayor Lori Cockrell about a Section 3 “RESIDENTIAL” draft condition. The referenced section addressed, “Conversion of existing residential and/or commercial structures into buildings with a greater number of dwelling units, exceeding eight (8) total existing and new dwelling units combined.”

Brock replied that had been inserted for the final rounds of consideration, first by the planners on August 18, and then council the following week at its meeting of the 23^rd.

And with a “thank you” from several members, it was on to other business.

That business included Town Manager Steven Hicks summary of an ordinance amendment “Revising Chapter 156” to accommodate creation of an “Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee” to help the town maintain its Tree City USA status and Electric Department Director David Jenkins summary of the status of “Dusk to Dawn” lighting in town.

As to the latter matter revisited from an earlier work session, a consensus was reached to undertake a “phasing out” of the ordinance altogether. It was explained that any residences currently having such all-night security lighting would be grandfathered in to be allowed to keep it. However, that grandfathering would not transfer to new ownership if the residence was sold. If security was an issue in areas with the lighting or seeking it, involving the Town Police Department proactively in addressing neighborhood security issues was suggested as an alternative to creating more Dusk to Dawn lighting than currently exists.

The creation of the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee would appear to be an effort to replace broken communications with local environmental groups like the Tree Stewards. Those lines of communication became largely strained following the Town’s unilateral decision to remove a large number of trees from the banks of Happy Creek downtown along Commerce Avenue last year. A great deal of public and environmental backlash was heard due to the exclusion of the Tree Stewards, or any environmental organization, from the Town staff-council decision to replace trees, many of them planted and/or maintained by Tree Steward volunteers over the years since the town attained its “Tree City USA” designation, with rip-rap rock formations, contrary to best standards riparian buffer flood and water flow control practices.

See these discussions, among others including the previously reported debate on requirements to bring items to work session and meeting agendas, in the Town video.