[EyesOnIvy] Unanimous vote rejects Faulconer site plan

[Brian Wheeler]

Last night there was a total lunar eclipse, the Red Sox won the World
Series, AND the Ivy Community received a unanimous vote (6-0) from the
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to deny Faulconer Construction's final
site plan for their property in the Ivy Business Park.  Wow!  Faulconer,
however, can come back to the Board of Supervisors if they can demonstrate
that they have complied with 8 conditions set by the Planning Commission and
then revised by the Supervisor's last night.  We will explain these
conditions, particularly the eighth, further in the days ahead.  Numerous
other issues including storage of explosives and noise abatement have yet to
be fully addressed by Albemarle.

Jack Sanford, President of Faulconer Construction, reminded the Supervisors
that he already had the Zoning Administrator's approval to operate in
Albemarle's Light Industrial districts and that if it wasn't for the fact he
was trying to develop a new site, he could set up operations immediately at
a neighboring property in the business park if he wanted to do so.  THAT is
why our ongoing legal fight remains critical to this issue.  We must prevail
at the Virginia Supreme Court if we want to ensure that a heavy industrial
operation like Faulconer's cannot operate in this type of district in
Albemarle.  

The community had over 35 speakers testify against the project.  It was
amazing to see so many thoughtful and concerned residents come out yet again
for another long hearing.  This one was particularly important because the
Supervisor's had never previously had this project before them, though Ivy
resident and Supervisor, Sally Thomas (Samuel Miller District), was
certainly intimately familiar with the issues and she guided her colleagues
through a detailed assessment of the plan.  

To quote one of my neighbors who spoke to the Board... "I am so proud to be
a resident of Ivy tonight."  Thank you for being there Ivy!

Brian Wheeler
President
Ivy Community Association

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Board denies office facility
By Julie Stavitski
Daily Progress staff writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors unanimously denied on Wednesday a
final site plan for a construction company's maintenance and office facility
on Morgantown Road in Ivy.

Board members cited eight conditions, seven of which were proposed by the
Planning Commission more than a month ago, that Faulconer Construction would
have to meet before the site plan could be approved, including ensuring the
structural adequacy of Morgantown Road.

"We have precedents for turning down site plans because of offsite
inadequacies," supervisor Sally H. Thomas said.

The proposed Faulconer site is in Thomas' district.

Last month, the Planning Commission denied Faulconer's plan by a 4-2 vote,
citing public safety issues. Most of the conditions placed on the plan
concerned landscaping issues and the submittal of a revised Certified
Engineers Report.

County Attorney Larry W. Davis told the board that the commission's eighth
condition placed on the plan, "Vehicles coming to the site shall be verified
to be of a scale that may be safely accommodated by Morgantown Road," was
problematic because it dealt with off-site requirements.

In his basis for appeal, Faulconer attorney Richard E. Carter said the
company would have no problem adhering to the first seven conditions but
said the eighth condition is "unfounded in law."

Supervisors questioned the issue after more than two hours of public
comment, in which residents argued that based on the uses proposed by
Faulconer and the public safety threat posed, the company does not belong in
the light industrial-zoned Ivy Business Park.

Several board members asked why the site couldn't be turned down based on
previous site plan denials concerning "safe and convenient" vehicular
access, as stated by the zoning ordinance.

The Virginia Department of Transportation never completed an assessment of
Morgantown Road related to the Faulconer proposal, primarily because the
road was deemed inadequate by VDOT to begin with, county planning staff
said.

Supervisors agreed to a modified eighth condition from the zoning ordinance:
"Pavement widths and strengths of both internal and external roads shall be
adequate to accommodate projected traffic generated from the district."

The determination, supervisors said, would be made by VDOT.

Faulconer's preliminary site plan was first filed in 2001, and adjoining
property owners appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals later that year,
claiming the uses proposed by Faulconer did not fit the light industrial
site.

The Board of Zoning Appeals upheld the zoning administrator's determination
in September 2001. Planning Commissioners, however, denied three waivers for
parking requirements and critical slopes when the preliminary site plan came
to them in February 2003.

Ivy residents continued to appeal the zoning administrator's decision,
bringing the case before the Albemarle County Circuit Court in August 2003.
The zoning decision was again upheld.

According to Ivy Community Association president Brian Wheeler, the
association's attorney has argued its case in front of a panel of judges for
the state Supreme Court, and the court will rule if it will hear the case in
60 to 90 days.

Contact Julie Stavitski at (434) 978-7237 or jstavitski at dailyprogress.com.