Zoning dispute lingers in Unionville

Both Orange County and Village Motorsports admit that their ongoing litigation tussle could be decided by one thing: proffers. Currently, the two parties and the county's board of zoning appeals are involved in four active legal challenges concerning the Unionville business's desire to have overflow parking for special events. If the right set of proffers can be suggested by George Carter, the owner of Village Motorsports, all the tension could subside.
Carter's attorney, Clark Leming, said that the dispute with the county over parking arose from his client's attempt to align Village Motorsports' property to a zoning determination made by previous zoning administrator Debbie Kendall. In the fall of 2010, Kendall told the Carters they could not use the residentially zoned portion of their split-zoned property for overflow parking, because it wouldn't comply with the property's current zoning. She suggested Carter could resolve the issue with a rezoning of that parcel to C-2 commercial. That rezoning application request was denied by the board of supervisors with a 3-2 vote over in the summer of 2011, but the supervisors added that the denial came in anticipation of an impending BZA hearing regarding the site and proffers, rather than the content of the application itself. Now, Leming doesn't buy that.
"The whole thing with the BZA seems to be a red herring," he said. "At that public hearing we had proffers that the board refused to take into consideration. Our whole idea in appealing was to put those issues on hold while we went through the front door with a rezoning."
During the public hearing preceding the board of supervisors' denial of the rezoning request, the overwhelming majority of speakers were neighbors of the business complaining about unfulfilled proffers from Carter's 1997 rezoning of the property, notably the deterioration of a vegetative buffer and business extending beyond specified hours. Another popular concern was that a blanket C-2 zoning would enable Carter to do much more than build a parking lot, possibly a large commercial building. Leming said that one of the proffers suggested by Carter leading up to the vote was to limit the land's use to parking, effectively prohibiting any structural construction.
A number of the neighbors of Village Motorsports have organized and retained the legal services of V.R. Shackelford for review of the ongoing legal challenges and applications concerning the proposed rezoning.
"They are concerned that a seed and grain store has changed into a business selling motorcycles and high-powered equipment," said Shackelford. "I have been asked to review the status of multiple suits in Orange County Circuit Court and review the status of a rezoning application currently before the planning commission. I will advise them on their best options. Their main concern is to make sure that past mistakes won't be repeated in the future."
Shackelford believes a resolution exists that can satisfy all parties, but said he is not prepared to comment at this time on what his clients want that resolution to be.
"Hopefully after some discussion, an agreement can be reached that can satisfy the neighbors, the county and Village Motorsports, but we're not there yet," he said.
The Carters have again applied for a rezoning of the property, but this time have included proffers with the initial application, including, said Leming, a restriction of the rezoned parcel to only parking. A public hearing scheduled for Dec. 16 before the planning commission, though, was postponed at the request of the applicant.
"There was an old commission and an old board," said Leming. "We thought the new board would be fairer than the previous one."
The postponed public hearing came more than a month after incumbent District 2 Supervisor Zack Burkett was defeated by current District 2 Supervisor Jim White. District 2 Planning Commissioner Walter Smith will continue serving on the commission until April 1, which is after the rescheduled public hearing date of Feb. 16. According to White, though, Smith has indicated that he will not seek reappointment.
In the days following the election, White said he was approached by both the neighbors of Village Motorsports and the Carters seeking meetings to discuss the zoning dispute.
"I initially met with both parties [separately] on the same day and came away from a series of later meetings thinking there were some reasonable requests made on both sides and that they should be able to sort this out," said White.
"I do believe it's possible for this to work out so that everyone gets a little bit of what they want."
District 5 Supervisor Lee Frame, then chair of the board, said he had not authorized White to negotiate these meetings on behalf of the county and that the supervisor-elect was acting of his own accord. White reiterated Frame's characterization and said he was trying to serve as fresh ears for the highly contentious dispute.
"I didn't represent the county, I didn't represent anyone," said White. "I was just there as a friend of both parties."
But while the prospect of an out-of-court resolution appears possible and beneficial to both the county and Carter, no such agreement has yet been announced. Leming hopes that continued reworking of his client's proffers can lead to an approved rezoning, but believes the county has been especially aggressive towards Village Motorsports.
"What began as an attempt to correct a simple issue has turned into something much more significant than that," he said. "The county has come after the Carters very hard, probably on an unprecedented basis. The level of details both parties have gotten into far exceeds the significance of the issues we're trying to work through."
Orange County attorney Sharon Pandak described Leming's portrayal of the conflict as "bluster, legal bluster," adding that the situation is quite typical.
"The county will have a zoning issue from time to time with a business and that's all this is," said Pandak. "The only difference is that the Carters have been insistent in appealing every decision."