Vote Wisely: How Smart Development Protects Our School System

Communities are planned many years in advance to ensure proper infrastructure, roads, schools, etc., can support the residential population who live there.  Without proper planning and preparation, we end up with a population boom—too many people and not enough resources and services.  This is when you see problems such as overcrowded schools, horrendous traffic, lack of water, and extreme tax increases as the local government is forced to play a game of catch-up.

The school system has a long-range capital improvement plan.  Within this plan, we have an ordered list (by priority) of the upcoming needed renovations and improvements for our school buildings.  On this list, you will find items such as replacing roofs and HVAC systems, repaving parking lots, upgrading sports facilities, and building new schools.  The goal is to stagger these projects so as not to overburden the budget in any one fiscal year.  Our current plan lists a need to start building a new elementary school in 2031.  Hopefully, by then, the county will have paid down the debt from the construction of Skyline High School and Warren County Middle School so that taxpayers won’t face a tax increase to fund the new elementary school.

The timeline for the building of new schools is based on growth predictions, which are largely based on the zoning designations (number of homes planned to come) within the town and county.  Developers buying land clearly know what is and isn’t allowed to be built on that land at the time they purchase it (this is called “by right” building).  In the instance of the recently approved subdivision Marshall Glenn, the owner requested a rezoning to increase the density from one house per ½ acre to one house per 10,000 square foot lot, therefore building more houses than were planned for.  I do not feel the proffers to the school system were adequate. I believe we need to better include the school system in the planning and zoning process to ensure the needs of the school system are considered.

When a developer rezones a property and requests to build more than the planned number of homes, this speeds up the timeline for the building of a new school.  This creates problems such as overcrowded buildings, redistricting, staffing shortages, school bus overcrowding (and new bus purchases), materials shortages, and an increased budget which results in increased taxes.  Building a new school is a long, involved, and expensive process that takes years to complete and will cost over $30 million (likely much more due to inflation trends!).  After the school is constructed, it must be staffed, furnished, and maintained–all of which will add significant expense to our recurring annual school budget.

The current Warren County Republican Committee and their elected candidates (myself included) have stood strong against rapid high-density development.  The terms “Don’t Fairfax Front Royal” or “Don’t Loudoun the Valley” have often been used.  If you look at the voting records of WCRC endorsed candidates such as mayor Lori Athey Cockrell (up for re-election), and council members Melissa DeDomenico-Payne (up for re-election), Amber Morris, and Josh Ingram, you will see a consistent NO vote to rezoning requests to over develop the town.  They have consistently stated that we need to stick to the by right development that we have planned for, to not raise taxes, and not overburden our community resources.

This election season it is critical to vote for those who will protect Front Royal’s small-town charm and limited resources, and not sell us out to big national developers who will price our residents out of their own community.  For this reason, I give my endorsement to candidate Lori Athey Cockrell for Mayor of Front Royal, and Melissa DeDomenico-Payne for Front Royal Town Council.

Melanie Salins
Warren County

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