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Stafford officials will be defending some of their decisions in court Date published: 11/13/2008
BY JONAS BEALS
Stafford County supervisors have set aside $75,000 for outside legal counsel, citing a recent surge in lawsuits that stem from a number of new ordinances. Challenges of this type are not uncommon, but 2008 has been a particularly busy year. Local politics have taken on an increasingly partisan hue, with votes often falling into camps that can roughly be described as "pro-property rights" and "pro-controlled growth." Even the vote to set aside the money for outside counsel was divided, 4-2, with Supervisors Paul Milde and Mark Dudenhefer voting against. Supervisor Cord Sterling was absent. Board Chairman George Schwartz defended the board's decisions. "We have passed a number of ordinances that are friendly to the environment and to the people who live here," he said. "Developers take it as a personal affront, and they're a litigious bunch. For two generations, they've had it their own way. "The more lawsuits there are, the better job I'm doing." There is a spectrum of nuance among the seven board members' positions, but the general majority of controlled-growth advocates have passed a number of ordinances that have had the consequence--intended or not--of making development more difficult. Planning Commissioner Cecilia Kirkman, an advocate for growth control, made her case via e-mail. "We have to remember that residential development does not pay for itself," she said. "Every by-right single-family home that gets built costs the county over $92,000 just for capital infrastructure costs. Any reduction in lot yield will save taxpayers money." Some county officials dispute the $92,000 figure, as well as the general idea that growth is a financial burden on taxpayers. Nonetheless, it is an important notion that may be influencing the adoption of controversial ordinances. Those decisions are drawing fire from developers, who have turned to the courts in the hope that they might regain rights they had before the ordinances were passed. The county will likely need to hire an attorney well-versed in land-use issues to deal with the lawsuits and defend decisions the board has made. A RAW DEAL Stafford County Attorney Joe Howard has a full-time staff of four lawyers. For the most part, that staff handles the county's legal needs, but some cases are best handled by an expert in a certain field.
10% of the cost of a school
you can blame the local government for that. They are apparently unwilling to include the required cash in proffers to build the necessary infastructure to ssupport the additional growth, including schools, parks etc.
If you need a school for every 1000 homes, and a builder wants to build 100 houses, charhe him 10% of the cost of a home.
Don't jump on me here, I am no expert in community planning, however, I do know that the building trade is extremely profitable in good times.
..has been the lack of a controlled growth plan. Developers have been raping the residents of Stafford for too long. They make millions on their housing projects without adding schools, roads or infrastructure improvements. They saddle the existing residents with these burdens and continue to build even in a down market, devaluing everybodies property even more. Meanwhile, Stafford has practically no parks, no bike lanes or trails, and no commercial areas where walking or mass transit is an option.
2LongInStafford - I see that you are "cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet" unless that is your legal name
that anyone who wishes to file a lawsuit against the county
that is business related should submit to arbitration first.
These self serving lawsuits only cost the taxpayer money
since typically the County will prevail if they structured the
law properly.
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