Town, Lockhart settle Criser Road Bridge Project ROW dispute

A legal fight between the Town of Front Royal and local builder Steve Lockhart over right-of-way access to the planned Criser Road Bridge construction area was headed off Monday night.  The first public hearing on the August 14 agenda was authorization of eminent domain condemnation proceedings on an approximately 2000 square-foot swath of the Lockhart Construction yard at the intersection of Criser and Remount Roads.

Above, the primary 1,710 s.f. triangular parcel at issue widens toward Happy Creek from the west side of the paved and flat Lockhart company entrance off Criser Road; below, a smaller 300 s.f. portion of the property near the intersection is also involved. Photos/Roger Bianchini

Council authorized movement toward the condemnation proceedings at a July 10 work session after staff described a financial and negotiations impasse with the two sides about $75,000 apart on a purchase price.  The staff summary of the situation was repeated in the August 14 agenda packet – “Lockhart stated to Town Staff that he would not accept less than $100,000 cash money from the Town to sell the Property needed for the Bridge, which is so far beyond its fair market value that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money for the Town to purchase it at that price, and that Lockhart would not sell Easements to the Town for any amount of money.”

The Town had offered Lockhart either $10,000 for a temporary easement during the construction project or $25,000 to buy the triangular swath spreading out toward Happy Creek from the entranceway to the Lockhart property.  The hostile eminent domain action sought only the temporary easement.  Were the case to be found in the Town’s favor as facilitating a necessary public need, the court would have placed a value on the property to be awarded to Lockhart.

However, as the meeting approached public hearings at 7:25 p.m. Mayor Hollis Tharpe announced that an agreement on the bridge right of way had been reached.  He then requested that council remove the item from the agenda.  John Connolly asked if the agreement came within the parameters the Town had been originally seeking.  The mayor deferred the question to Town Attorney Doug Napier, who replied, “Exactly,”

Connolly’s motion to remove the agenda item then passed 6-0, the vote buoyed by the first appearance of recently-appointed member Gary Gillispie.  Following the meeting the mayor referred media to the town attorney for further detail on the settlement.

Gary Gillispie’s first vote as a town councilman was to remove a hostile ROW seizure from the agenda because a settlement had been reached – maybe you’re a council rabbit foot, Gary, keep up the good work.

Napier elaborated on what he had said in reply to Connolly’s earlier question.  He said the agreement was for $10,000 for a temporary easement during the term of the construction project.  After the new bridge is completed and equipment removed, the Town will restore the property to its previous state for return to Lockhart.  He said the agreement involved both the larger 1,710 s.f. triangular parcel stretching out toward the creek to the south of the bridge and the smaller approximately 300 s.f. triangle on the east side of the Lockhart entrance off Criser Road.

The town attorney explained that Lockhart had been worried about access for his heavier equipment being blocked from that main, flatter paved entranceway off Criser Road.  He said that while the builder might endure some inconvenience in the form of some lag time in waiting for construction equipment to be moved so his heavier equipment can enter the flat entranceway, it should not create a major issue for him.