Area residents are finding it more expensive to challenge the proposed Mary’s Landing development than previously thought.
Last month, the locally-formed Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition (through its lawyer) filed a zoning verification request with the city of regarding the 63-unit luxury townhome project planned for downtown’s Creative Maker District. That request would ask that the city consider and confirm a number of factors for the project, including its current zoning designation, permitted uses, any applicable regulations as well as any current violations. A zoning verification is also the first step towards challenging the decision in court.
The only problem is the fee; $4,944.00 (including a $144 credit card fee), or $75 for each of the project’s 64 GPIN numbers (in other words, individual lots). That’s a dollar amount that’s left the Coalition in disbelief.
hyperbole previously reported how city staff elected to approach the Mary’s Landing development under an administrative review instead of the city’s major subdivision process for projects of 50 lots of more (bit.ly/3YOZ44P). An administrative review provides no opportunity for a hearing, public comment or vote by city council, instead only requiring approval by the city’s Development Administrator Marne Sherman. The Mary’s Landing community would have a residential density of 16 residential units per acre, double what is currently allowed in the city’s Creative Maker District.
That decision has the Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition concerned that the city is ignoring its own policies to expedite a project that could potentially draw a vigorous public debate and an unpopular vote by city council.
The zoning verification request is a small but not insignificant step in the process.
If successful (from the Coalition’s perspective), city staff would recognize that the development at Mary’s Landing would be required to obtain a special use permit for its increased density relative to the surrounding Creative Maker District, and / or would reconsider the project under the major subdivision review process. Either would result in a hearing, opportunity for public comment and vote by city council. So far, the project has avoided that process with city staff considering it under an administrative review.
hyperbole has obtained a letter from the Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition’s attorney Gifford R. Hampshire from Blankingship & Keith, PC. to city Zoning Administrator Kelly Machen, calling the request fees “outrageous” and asked that they be revised.
“The very nature of this request goes to the proposed use of these GPINs together under a single site plan. A zoning verification fee that is designed for verification of each parcel is not suited or reasonable for a zoning verification request going to the joint use of all GPINs together,” the letter states.
Some in the Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition feel that the assessed may be a mistake. Others see it as another “roadblock” the city has intentionally put in their path to discourage them from pursuing challenging the project further.
hyperbole asked the city of Fredericksburg about the fee assessment and whether the assessment included the “necessary costs” when evaluating the request for the Mary’s Landing project.
Responding on behalf of Zoning Administrator Kelly Machen, Fredericksburg Communication Manager Sonja Cantu confirmed the fee is in line with the city’s current per-parcel policy. Cantu says that such zoning verification requests are rare, with the city receiving only one in the past five years, and that that request included a fee assessed in the same manner as Mary’s Landing. Cantu also cited Stafford County’s flat $2,800 fee as an example of an alternative method some counties have taken to assessing zoning verification requests, countering that their approach “can result in a higher fee to the majority of applicants.”
The proverbial ball is now in the Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition’s court.
The group sees the request for a zoning verification as the first step towards an administrative appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals and (possibly) suing in Circuit Court. The latter would could cost tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in attorneys’ fees. It’s not known whether or not the city will reconsider the service fees per the group’s request.
Like the decision to approach the Mary’s Landing project under an administrative review, the Coalition’s disagreement over the zoning verification review boils down to how the policy is being interpreted.
The Coalition contends that it’s asking the city to issue a determination on Mary’s Landing as it relates to the “joint use” of the combined lots, not each lot individually. The city says it’s simply following policy and precedent.
In fairness, staff haven’t rubber stamped the Mary’s Landing, having denied the developer’s first three site plans. Staff is currently reviewing its fourth submission.
But the current conundrum does shed a little light on the legal needle the city seems to be threading with its interpretation of its own procedures.
The Fredericksburg Neighborhoods Coalition’s path to appealing staff’s decision to overlook the number of lots when considering Mary’s Landing under an administrative review comes with a cost that includes a fee for all of the project’s sixty four individual lots. Citing a precedent within a scope the city itself admits is limited also prompts the question as to whether this project, the largest proposed thus far in the Creative Maker District, and the path staff has chosen will become a blueprint for future builds around town.
Whether its land use or interpreting the city’s policies, common ground on Mary’s Landing is still proving hard to find.
