[EyesOnIvy] Faulconer hearing in court this Wednesday at 11am

[Brian Wheeler]

The case of Faulconer Construction v. County of Albemarle will be heard in
Albemarle County Circuit Court this Wednesday, November 30th at 11:00 am.
The public can attend the hearing in Court Square in downtown
Charlottesville.  A final ruling is expected to come from the judge at a
later date.
 
We first reported Faulconer was suing Albemarle back in February
(http://listserv.bnsi.net/pipermail/eyesonivy/2005-February/000132.html)
after the Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected their site plan in
October 2004 for development of 27 acres adjacent to Murray Elementary on
Morgantown Road.  The Board cited 8 requirements that would have to be
addressed before the site plan could be approved.
 
The court proceeding has been changed to a hearing instead of a trial.  In
the back and forth between the lawyers, they agreed to not
have any testimony and to rely on the written record. Faulconer states it is
ready to comply with seven of eight changes to the site plan requested by
the Board of Supervisors.  Thus the legal hearing will be all about
requirement number 8 and whether a locality has the legal authority to deny
an industrial site plan for reasons related to off-site impacts on traffic
and public safety.  As many of you know, a locality's ability to do many
things in Virginia is greatly limited by the General Assembly.  This hearing
will address whether Albemarle's zoning code was properly applied, and
whether it is even enabled by Richmond.
 
Judge Peatross will be presiding at this court hearing.  He is the same
judge who ruled against the Ivy Community Association in September 2003 as
part of our legal challenge to the County's zoning determination that
Faulconer was eligible to operate in a business park zoned for light
industry.  The County and Faulconer however both have different legal teams
representing them from the 2003 trial and this legal proceeding is an
entirely different matter from the one pursued by the Ivy Community
Association all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court.
 
A ruling from the bench is not expected on Wednesday.  Judge Peatross will
instead likely issue a written opinion sometime following the hearing.
 
I also want to take this opportunity to once again thank those of you who
have made financial contributions the Association.  We still have about
$10,000 in debt to pay off related to the efforts from the past 4 years.  So
if you haven't made a tax-deductible contribution, please consider doing so
before the end of this tax year!  Thanks for your support.
 
Brian Wheeler
President
Ivy Community Association

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