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Spotsy govt.-the odds & endsBy Dan Telvock
Xmas events for the weekend in Spotsy! Dec. 1, 2009 10:07 am
There will two family-fun events in Spotsylvania County this weekend.
On Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. the county will have its 32nd annual Holiday Parade. The route is from Spotsylvania Middle School to R.E. Elementary. The theme is "holiday treasures." There will be decorated floats, marching bands, Junior ROTC members, horses, alpacas, mules, carriages and, of course, Santa Claus.
On Sunday, Dec. 6 at 4:45 p.m. will be the 7th annual Spotsylvania Courthouse Christmas Luminaria on the lawn of the courthouse. About 500 candles will be lit. There will be local choirs.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1259680079
Tags: Xmas events
Second rezoning request for assisted-living and age-restricted housing Nov. 30, 2009 4:55 pm
Spotsylvania County's Planning Commission will have a public hearing Wednesday for a rezoning application for an age-restricted facility, assisted-living homes, commercial and office space. This rezoning is for 39.1740 acres that are zoned for commercial and residential. The applicant, Lee Garrison, is seeking zoning to allow for residential housing, office space and retail, which is called a mixed-use project. The land is on the east side of Lafayette Bouelvard, across from Hotchkiss Street. Garrison has the project broken into a commercial bay and a residential bay, with no mention of phasing the development. Here is the application and narrative.
The total units proposed for Lafayette Crossing are a 100-unit age-restricted apartment complex, 88 town homes, and 100-unit assisted living center. The application includes a request for a gas station, retail, a county-owned satellite site for the Magistrate's Office and up to 246 apartments. The county supervisors recently approved a similar facility at the beginning of River Road and the intersection of Bragg Road. It is unclear what current zoning would allow because all of the property has five different zoning categories. In glancing through the various documents I found this to best explain what the land can currently be used for:
This is an unusual case because Garrison is seeking his second rezoning on some of this land, a case which set a precedent in the county in which Garrison was given proffer credits for seven lots on Elys Ford Road that he put in a conservation easement before he filed the prior rezoning. Garrison is asking that his new rezoning proposal supersede his July 2008 rezoning approval, which was for 12 detached homes, six town homes, along with 11,800 square feet of retail and 27,000 square feet of office. County staff is recommended denial. You can read the staff report here. The planning staff recommends denial because the applicant is not taking enough steps to ensure that all of the land that is part of the rezoning is studied for cultural resources and that the cash proffers of $572,000 is $1.3 million short of county guidelines. Here is the full list:
Here is a copy of the applicant's cultural resources study. The applicant says the county will have a net gain of about $72,000 from the project.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1259618141
Tags: Lee Garrison, Lafayette Boulevard
Nov. 24, 2009 3:09 pm
Blogger, author and historian Michael Aubrecht says on his own blog that he can speak for the Civil War Life Foundation, which was created to raise money to open a new museum. He says Terry Thomann, the director of the museum, is still in talks with the county, as my article in today's Spotsylvania Extra states in the very end. You can read Aubrecht's blog here. He says:
Aubrecht says Mr. Thomann regrets "venting" to me some frustration he had with the county.
I personally didn't think anything. Mr. Thomann called WJ Vakos and told them he was moving to the city. He sent a letter to the county saying he was leaving by Dec. 1. He already closed the store in Southpoint I. My story today has County Attorney Jacob Stroman saying he expects the county and Mr. Thomann will open discussions soon. Mr. Aubrecht has never called me and I didn't know who he was until today. Mr. Aubrecht says that the closing was made because of economic decisions. But why would someone leave a building at which the rent was free and move to a downtown city location where the rent is not free?
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1259093386
Tags: Museum
Who will be on the VRE Operations Board and PRTC Board? Nov. 24, 2009 1:15 pm
The Board of Supervisors tonight are expected to approve the first step in moving ahead with membership to the Virginia Railway Express. They are basically approving the Secretary of the Commonwealth's certification of the county's entry. Although it is not on the agenda, supervisors at some point will appoint one supervisor to the VRE Operations Board and two supervisors to the PRTC Board. I wonder who will serve on the VRE Operations Board, which will be an important position when it comes time for VRE to get spending approved for its own budget? With any budget decision with VRE, the board's approval must be UNANIMOUS.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1259086541
Tags: VRE
Nov. 18, 2009 11:58 am
Beginning today and again at daylight tomorrow, all through traffic on Route 2 at this location will be redirected each day to one lane. Traffic will be flagged. Significant delays should be anticipated due to traffic volume on this road. This necessary rail crossing improvement is near the industrial park, Route 2 and Lansdowne Road. The repair schedule is being set with the goal of the least possible traffic interruption over the fewest days possible. It is recommended that motorists use alternate routes on these days to avoid traffic delays.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1258563491
Tags: traffic
Not Spotsy Related, But Here's Some More Art Nov. 16, 2009 12:57 pm
Sunday was beautiful. I spent a good portion of it walking around and taking pictures. And then I came home and was inspired to paint. This one is called "Snowman Flag"
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1258394242
Tags: art
Senator Edd Houck asks for input Nov. 10, 2009 6:39 pm
Sen. Edd Houck made an unprecedented plea for input to the Board of Supervisors tonight as he provided an ominous picture of the upcoming budget. He said the state is facing $200 million to $300 million in cuts before June 30, after already chopping $7 billion from the two-year budget. He said cuts to K-12 education are certain. He asked supervisors to provide some input so that the next cuts cause the least amount of damage to core services, such as public safety and education. “The reason I am here is this is severe and this is significant,” Houck said. Houck said there is no institutional knowledge from the General Assembly on recession like this because there hasn’t been one since the Depression. Houck said for the first time in state history the Virginia Department of Transportation is using maintenance funds for the secondary road plan to draw down federal dollars. He said the state relies on two main sources of funding: sales tax and income tax. Both are dropping. “You know and I know because of the Constitutional relationship between state government and local government, what we experience is obviously going to cause ramifications for you and your budget,” he said.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257896381
Tags: Houck
Nov. 10, 2009 12:40 pm
Water and sewer connections have declined so the Utilities Department is seeking an increase in some water and sewer rate tiers. People who use more than 2,000 gallon of water a day seem to be affected most. The Board of Supervisors has a work session on the rates today at 3 p.m.
You can read the Power Point here.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257874831
Tags: water and sewer
D.J. McGuire gets most votes for any Republican candidate for Lee Hill District Nov. 4, 2009 11:09 am
D.J. McGuire personally congratluated Gary Skinner last night for his re-election victory. McGuire said in a statement that he is thankful to all of the people who helped him during his first run for an elected seat in Spotsylvania County.
"Unfortunately, we didn't make it across the line this time, but the message of limited government and lower taxes reached the people all the same, and I appreciate all of your help in making that happen. Thanks to you, I received the most votes for any Republican candidate for Supervisor in the history of Lee Hill."
McGuire said he will follow Skinner's term and will remain active in local government business.
There wasn't an ounce of mud thrown in this contest, a rarity in political contests today.
This is the second time in a row, however, that Republicans lost in contested races in Spotsylvania County, which was not the case in most parts of the country and certainly in Virginia. What makes Spotsylvania different? I will be tackling that question this week.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257350947
Tags: D.J. McGuire
Nov. 3, 2009 8:32 pm
Spotsylvania County will become a member of Virginia Railway Express in February. That's a fact after tonight's election results show incumbents and Pro-VRE candidates Benjamin Pitts and Gary Skinner won re-election. Pitts defeated Chris Yakabouski for the Battlefield District seat. Skinner defeated D.J. McGuire for the Lee Hill District seat. Check out tomorrow's paper to read what the two winners plan to focus on in the next four years.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257298331
Tags: Gary Skinner, Benjamin Pitts
Gary Skinner is winner in Lee Hill District Nov. 3, 2009 7:54 pm
Gary Skinner won re-election in the Lee Hill District tonight. Reports are coming in that his opponent, D.J. McGuire lost three of the four precincts. Supervisor Benjamin Pitts is holding on to a large lead against Chris Yakabouski in the Battlefield District, with just one of four precincts reporting.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257296081
Tags: elections
Spotsylvania to lose its only Civil War museum Nov. 3, 2009 2:39 pm
The director of the Civil War Life Museum, Terry Thomann, said today that he will be leaving the location in Spotsylvania County at the I-95 visitors center to move to Fredericksburg. I will have all of the details for tomorrow's paper, but Thomann is planning this project in three stages. The first stage is opening a museum store on Caroline Street. The second and third phases are for a full-scale museum and a research center. Thomann was planning to locate at W.J. Vakos' Courthouse Village. Find out tomorrow why Thomann decided to switch gears and look at the city.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/dan/index_html?blogger_id=21&p=1257277177
Tags: Civil War Life museum
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Contact News and Notes from Spotsylvania County. Not everything I want to write can get in the newspaper. So, this is an avenue for me to provide more information to the public about what the Spotsylvania government is doing.
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Dan Telvock covers Spotsylvania County for The Free Lance-Star.
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