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Potomac protection ordinance nullified

Controversial Stafford County ordinance designed to protect the Potomac River is no longer in effect

Date published: 2/14/2010

BY JONAS BEALS

Stafford County officials have decided to settle a lawsuit with a developer rather than fight to keep a controversial environmental protection ordinance in place.

The settlement will effectively nullify the Potomac River Resource Protection Overlay District ordinance that was designed to limit erosion and runoff by restricting construction on slopes or near streams. The overlay district affected property east of U.S. 1, mainly in the northeastern portion of the county.

The suit was filed by Stafford Lakes Limited Partnership, which sold the Crow's Nest property to the county and owns more acreage west of the peninsula between Raven and Brooke roads. The company plan to develop that property, and the ordinance had the potential to decrease the number of lots in its proposed subdivision.

Stafford Lakes lost in Stafford Circuit Court, but appealed the ruling to the Virginia Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case based on questions of implementation rather than the intent or content of the ordinance.

"The issue appears to be the way the ordinance was initiated and advertised," County Attorney Joe Howard said. "Any procedural issue is ruled against the county if they aren't 100 percent. It puts the burden on the locality."

Howard said that he and his deputy attorneys had discussed the possibility of a challenge, and that they agreed it would be best to drop out of the lawsuit rather than defend it.

Supervisors confirmed that course of action by voting 5-2 Jan. 19 to settle the case. Supervisors Harry Crisp and Bob Woodson, who voted against the settlement, are the only current board members who voted in favor of the overlay district ordinance passed in 2008.

At the time, the board was controlled by three Democrats and an independent who passed a number of ordinances designed to tighten environmental regulation. The balance of power on the board has since shifted to a Republican majority, all of whom voted in favor of the settlement.

"We're going to have to fix the legal problem, and that means going back to the drawing board," said Supervisor Paul Milde, who voted for the settlement. "The ordinance has some very good intentions, and I don't think we should abandon it altogether."

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Date published: 2/14/2010

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