Seven Ponds Road saga heads toward a truce as contractor agrees to move business by June 18
James P. Gannon
The long-running battle between a local excavating contractor and his neighbors on Seven Ponds Road in Amissville appears to be heading toward a truce soon, with the contractor agreeing to move his business operations out of the county by June 18.
The controversy that has rolled on through much of the past year involves business activities of B&S Site Development, Inc., the excavating contractor, which have upset neighbors in the residential neighborhood in which the company has conducted its business. They have objected to the heavy traffic, noise and visual appearance of heavy trucks, earthmoving equipment, delivery of supplies and comings-and-goings of B&S employees that they contend have disrupted the quiet of their neighborhood and posed safety risks on their road.
B&S owner Michael L. Brown has agreed to a proposed consent order sought by the county that puts a June 18 deadline on his business operations on Seven Ponds Road, where he lives. Brown has rented a site for his business in Fauquier County and plans to move his supplies and equipment to that property by June 18, according to his attorney, Michael T. Brown, who is no relation to the contractor.
The proposed consent order, which was negotiated between county officials and contractor Brown, has been agreed to and signed by the business owner and his attorney, but has not yet been filed and formally put into effect by the Circuit Court of Rappahannock County.
County Administrator John McCarthy, who enforces the zoning laws, last year found B&S Site Development in violation of the zoning at the Seven Ponds Road site, following a stream of complaints by neighbors. The business owner sought a special exception permit to allow him to operate a contractor’s yard from his home property, but the Board of Supervisors denied that application last December, which left Brown in violation of the law.
In the proposed consent order, Michael L. Brown denies violating the zoning law but agrees to withdraw his appeal of McCarthy’s ruling and agrees to the conditions of the consent order.
Under terms of the proposed order, Brown is restrained and enjoined from using his property to conduct business as a contractor’s shop and materials storage yard. The prohibited activities include parking of any excavating or earth-moving machinery such as bulldozers, loaders, back hoes, dump trucks and graders at the Seven Ponds Road property. Also prohibited are parking for employees who work off-site; storage of bulk items such as stone, gravel or palletized materials used off-site; parking of trucks and “low-boys” used to transport equipment off-site; and use of the residence by employees who are not owners or residents of the property or family members.
The order does not prohibit parking of autos or pickup trucks for personal use by residents of the property or guests; parking of farm equipment used on-site for mowing or maintenance; or maintenance of fuel tanks for personal use; or use of part of the residence as an office for use by owners or residents.
Until the deadline of June 18, the consent order permits limited activities connected with moving the business to another property, such as use of the low-boy tractor-trailer or other trucks to move vehicles and equipment or materials. The order limits the times, frequency and purposes of such continued activity, with the intent to allow the contractor to wind up his business activities at the site by the June 18 deadline.
Violation of the consent order, once it is approved and entered by the court, would be subject to a contempt of court order and imposition of a civil fine of $250 per day for each day any violation continues.
Attorney Michael T. Brown, representing the business owner, said in an interview that the moving of the business to the new Fauquier County site will require “a last flurry of activity related to their moving out.” He said neighbors on Seven Ponds Road should expect some increased level of activities, such as movement of trucks and equipment and supplies. He expressed some concern that neighbors might view these activities with alarm and consider them as signs that the business continues to disregard the law.
“They intend to do their very best to comply with the terms of the consent order,” he said of his clients.
-- James P. Gannon
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