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Merits of Crow's Nest case against Stafford County didn't come up yesterday, because the judge decided to accept the county's late paperwork, if it pays legal fees for the other side. Date published: 8/1/2006
By GEORGE WHITEHURST A Circuit Court judge has given Stafford County time to respond to a lawsuit that may determine the future of Crow's Nest. Judge H. Harrison Braxton ruled yesterday that the county's late response to Stafford Lakes Limited Partnership's complaint that the county improperly denied the company's preliminary subdivision application will be accepted by the court. But only after the county pays Stafford Lakes' legal bills that stemmed from a delay in the suit. Stafford and its outside counsel--Reston-based Walton & Adams--didn't file their response on time to the lawsuit, which Stafford Lakes filed in February. As a result, Stafford Lakes asked the Circuit Court for a default judgment, which would have ended the lawsuit in the company's favor. Braxton repeatedly quizzed attorneys on both sides, several times cutting them off in the midst of their arguments. "You've messed it up," Braxton told David Stoner, the county's outside counsel. "You haven't filed an answer. What do you have to say about it?" Both Stoner and County Attorney Joe Howard apologized profusely for failing to file the answer to the lawsuit on time. Howard told Braxton it was the result of miscommunication between his office and Walton & Adams. "It was a total oversight on my part," he said. "None of that is in the form of excuses, your honor. There was never any desire to delay or draw out this litigation." When Stafford Lakes' attorney Courtney Sydnor suggested the county's delay in filing had been "prejudicial" to her client, Braxton seemed unconvinced. "[Howard] admits he's screwed up. So what?" he asked. "Why should the court rule that you win everything when you've got to come into court to prove your case anyway?" The Crow's Nest peninsula contains more than 3,200 acres of environmentally sensitive land and is located in the county's Aquia District. K&M Properties, Stafford Lakes' parent company, wants to build 688 homes on the property. The developer sought county approval of a preliminary subdivision plan on Jan. 29. The Stafford Planning Commission, which has final authority over preliminary subdivision applications, unanimously voted it down. The developer then sued, complaining that the county wasn't following its own development guidelines.
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