BY FRANK DELANO
In a new lawsuit filed this week, opponents of an O'Gara tactical training base being built have asked a court to issue an emergency injunction to stop work at the site near Montross.
The suit filed Tuesday in Westmoreland County Circuit Court is the third legal attack on the project filed by George and Susan Ripol, Harry and Bonnie Boyden and Mary Porter Hall.
On Sept. 17, they filed a challenge with the Westmoreland Board of Zoning Appeals over the county's issuance of building and zoning permits for classrooms and shooting ranges on O'Gara's 351 acres of agricultural land. On Sept. 21 and 25, the county approved additional plans for the three shooting ranges, three shoot houses and an agility course.
In their new lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that their BZA appeal should have stopped all work at the O'Gara site. They also claim that the BZA appeal should also have stopped Zoning Administrator Robert Fink from issuing additional permits.
The new suit names Fink, the Westmoreland Board of Supervisors and O'Gara as defendants.
No defendant answers have been filed. County Administrator Norm Risavi said he could not comment on the pending litigation.
Work is continuing on the land O'Gara purchased in July for $2.5 million from Montross resident S. Bryan Chandler. But settlement of
That suit was filed in June by the Ripols, the Boydens and Hall. They claimed that the original O'Gara contract was adopted at a January meeting of the Industrial Development Authority that violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The plaintiffs asked the court to invalidate the contract. The county has asked that the suit be dismissed, but no hearing date has been set. The BZA meets Nov. 23.
The most recent county approvals of the O'Gara shooting ranges incorporate recommendations made in August by a noise consultant hired by the county at O'Gara's expense. O'Gara is building three ranges: 50 meters, 100 meters and 350 meters long.
The consultant recommended earthen berms at least 25 feet high on the three downrange sides of each of the three firing ranges. The plans approved Sept. 21 by the county require those berms to be 27 feet tall.
The consultant also recommended that each range be enclosed with a berm in back. The approved plans specify a 20-foot-tall berm at the back of each range and firing-range enclosures insulated with sound-absorbing material.
The county approved an O'Gara agility course Sept. 25. The course includes a mulch-covered track with a ladder, stairs, "dummy drag," a 2-foot-tall hurdle, a 4-foot-tall wall and a 15-foot-long, 42-inch-diameter pipe.
Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Email: fpdelano@gmail.com