Parents and students of The Summit Academy — a Catholic liberal arts school for grades 6-12 — pleaded with the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors to support a move from State Route 3 to Gordon Road to build a new campus on 29.8 acres.
The opposition to the project was equally as forceful, but the supervisors sided with the private school and granted it a special-use permit Tuesday night to begin construction on the property located on Gordon Road and Browns Farm Road in an area previously designated as rural for zoning purposes.
“We have been given an opportunity to build an amazing school,” parent Jennifer Fletcher said. “We belong here in this county. We belong on Gordon Road. We belong here because we are a light that needs to shine in this county.”
The supervisors voted 5-1 in favor of the special-use permit with Chair Jacob Lane of the Livingston District, where the project is located, dissenting. Deborah Frazier, the Salem District supervisor who also works as the chief academic officer of Spotsylvania County Public Schools, abstained from voting.
Lane said his reason for opposing the school is simple — most of the residents in his district who contacted him do not want it.
“No matter what my personal feelings are on something, I was put in a position as the representative of the people of Livingston,” Lane said … “I cannot support this special-use permit simply for the fact that the overwhelming majority of my constituents that have contacted me through personal calls, personal meetings and through email, this is not what they wanted.”
Lane’s motion to deny the project failed by the same 5-1 vote with Frazier abstaining.
The speakers who came out against the project said that it will not generate tax revenue, but Summit Director of Advancement Nick Marr stated in an email to the Free Press that even as a non-profit, the school pays federal payroll taxes, and county property and personal property taxes.
“None of which we requested exemption from for this project,” Marr said.
Detractors also cited a traffic study that concluded the presence of the school will lead to an additional 679 trips per day on Brown Farms — a two-lane rural road. One nearby resident opined that the school may not be financially stable enough to guarantee work will be completed in a timely manner.
“Allowing this project to proceed in such a fragile financial state puts the burden on the residents of the community,” John Batt said. “If Summit Academy cannot complete this project responsibly or in a reasonable timeframe, we’ll be left living near a half-finished construction site, an eyesore that lowers property values and creates ongoing nuisances without any benefit to the county.”
According to its website, The Summit Academy is an independent, classical, college preparatory high school and middle school rooted in Catholic tradition. Its narrative submitted to the supervisors states it will hold no more than 350 students at the new location.
In other business Tuesday, the board tabled a vote on the Andora Oaks project until its Nov. 12 meeting. Andora Oaks is a proposed community consisting of 151 single-family homes on the south side of State Route 3, approximately one-half mile west of its intersection with Andora Drive.
The applicant, Terra Dominion HP LLC, requested the delay so that it can improve road proffers. The planning commission recommended approval of the subdivision by a 4-3 vote.
Former Spotsylvania School Board member Dawn Shelley spoke out against the project, saying that schools are already overcrowded and that she does not believe the staff’s estimate that the homes will only lead to 35 more students at Wilderness Elementary School.
“That’s 151 single-family homes right on top of each other,” Shelley said. “There is a lot of traffic already on Route 3 … Only $226,000 [in projected revenue generated from the project]. That’s not a lot of money. That’s barely three teachers.”
The county also revisited a discussion on a tax relief program for seniors that was continued from the previous meeting. Supervisors voted 5-1 to increase the relief from $1,500 to $1,900; increase the amount of yearly salary for eligible participants from $50,000 to $68,000 and the net worth of eligible seniors from $200,000 to $250,000.
Battlefield District Supervisor Chris Yakabouski voted against the motion, instead favoring implementing one or two of the changes rather than all three at once. Supervisor Lori Hayes of the Lee Hill District abstained, citing a lack of information.
The supervisors voted unanimously to draft an ordinance on new speed cameras in the county’s school zones. They voted for the ordinance to dictate a $50 fine on the first offense and a maximum $100 fine on all subsequent offenses. A public hearing will be held before the ordinance is implemented.
