BOS, BZA in litigation triangle

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is at odds with the county's board of zoning appeals. The two bodies are entangled in a triangle of litigation with Unionville's Village Motorsports and its owner George Carter. The multiple suits and appeals relate to Carter's attempted rezoning of a portion of his split-zoned property and alleged unfulfilled proffers from a 1997 rezoning. Carter is appealing multiple determinations by both current zoning administrator Gregg Zody and his predecessor, Debbie Kendall, to the BZA. The board of supervisors is appealing decisions the BZA made at an August hearing of another appeal by Carter. The board of supervisors has also filed a legal complaint against Carter for complaints of violated proffers, specifically the lack of a vegetative buffer surrounding the commercially zoned portion of the property.
The BZA is a board of supervisors-nominated and court-appointed judicial body that hears and rules on appeals of interpretations and actions by the county's zoning department.
Carter and Village Motorsports had attempted to rezone a residentially-zoned portion of its property to commercial to allow for overflow parking during a number of annual sales events held at the business. The board denied that request in a 3-2 vote in June, but noted at the meeting that the decision was based more on a then- pending proffer modification hearing scheduled before the BZA Aug. 24, than on the content of the rezoning application. Carter is also challenging the board of supervisors' denial of the rezoning request in circuit court.
It is the decisions of the Aug. 24 BZA hearing that the board of supervisors is now appealing to the circuit court. According to county attorney Sharon Pandak, a number of decisions were made against Zody at that hearing, but there's a great deal of confusion as to what exact action was taken by the BZA.
"One of the problems we're trying to resolve [with the appeal] is what exactly happened at that meeting," said Pandak. "The BZA appeared to decide against Gregg Zody in all matters, except relating to the vegetative buffer, which we were told George Carter had applied for a proffer modification for. It was a very confusing meeting."
The confusion is shared by the BZA, who voted not to approve the minutes from the Aug. 24 hearing, claiming inaccuracies in the recording of the voting. According to the unapproved minutes from the BZA hearing, which appear on the county's website, the BZA did not rule against Zody on any matter.
"Regardless of what is in the minutes, the BZA clearly did not rule in favor of Gregg Zody," said Pandak.
At the Dec. 13 board of supervisors meeting, BZA chairman Roger Gibson asked the county to supply the body with legal counsel, as it was his understanding that the BZA was being sued. County attorney Sharon Pandak, assured him that the BZA could not itself be sued, but its decisions could be challenged in court. Nevertheless, the board agreed to provide counsel to the BZA for one month to assist with the Carter appeals.
"They used to have [legal counsel,]" said District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin at the Dec. 13 meeting. "It would offer them guidance and instruction as to where to go."
The BZA postponed action related to another appeal by Carter at its Nov. 28 meeting. The appeal related to landscaping specifics of the vegetative buffer. That appeal will be ruled on by the BZA in February.
In addition to the intersecting suits, Carter has also reapplied for the rezoning of the residential portion of Village Motorsports' land, again for the purposes of an overflow parking lot during special events. A public hearing on that matter was scheduled for Dec. 15 and was postponed until Feb. 16 at Carter's request.
As for the alleged proffer violations, Pandak said that the county is not seeking fines at this point, just that any inappropriate activity be stopped. She did not, however, rule out the possibility of fines as the litigation progresses.
The proposed Carter rezoning has generated a great deal of anger from neighbors of the business. Following the June vote on the denied rezoning, District 1 Supervisor Shannon Abbs encouraged Carter to attempt to reconcile the grievances of his neighbors outside of the boardroom, so that the animosity doesn't make it to the public hearing. Pandak believes a similar solution could settle the pending litigation.
"The situation is obviously contentious," she said. "Court action is not going to address any longstanding problem. It would be nice if there was some ability to find cohesion between the neighbors and the Carters so that going forward into the future, the concerns of both can be addressed."