HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP200600071 Legacy Document 2006-11-21DAGGETT
& GRIGG
ARCHITECTS PC
William B Daggett, Jr
AIA, NCARB
James P. Grigg
AIA
E Clark Gathright, P.E.
November 13, 2006
Mr, Brian Gillispie
1395 Lost Vallev Road
Earlvsvillc, VA 22936
RE: Inglewood Condominiums
Project #0520
Dear Brian:
This letter accompanies our invoice #2002-2452, which includes Clark Gathright's hours
for September and October.
While I know Von have had discussions with Clark. I wanted to write to provide votrwith
some background in support of the time that Clark has had to spend dealing with various
County Officials to obtain preliminary site plan approval. I know much of what I have to
Say will ling true for you as you have dealt with some of these individuals on other projects.
Because the County has changed assigned Planners twice since the beginning of the project
and since the successive planners are apparently not capable of maintaining their files,
'Clark has had to resubmit numerous items multiple times. He has also had to bring each
Planner up to speed on the status of the preliminary site plan in order to encourage them to
accomplish their tasks associated with the review process so we could gain approval.
In that regard, Glenn Brooks and Allan Schuck of the Engineering Department have taken
the opportunity to include successive rounds of comments beyond their initial response to
the content of the plan. Clark was forced to respond and resubmit a total of three times
rather than the single re- submittal anticipated by the Zoning Ordinance.
They have now determined that we must gain a "drainage easement" from Ms. Kochn, next
door to your site and that we must gain "excavation easements" on adjacent properties
because we show objects and altered contours close to or at your property lines. Clark and
I demanded a meeting with them to discuss these issues and found them to be intractable.
There exist no language in the Zoning Ordinance or supporting ordinances (VA Soil
Erosion Control Ordinance) that require such "easements". Mr. Brooks and Mr. Schuck
are "assuming" that the development of your property will "damage" your neighbors. This
assumption is unsupported by and evidence and is being made prior to the submission of
supporting calculations that are required during the "final site plan" phase of the submittal
process. In short, they are obstructing the approval of the preliminary site plan.
They have also identified an additional "problem" in the area adjacent to Ms. Koehn's
property where she is used to parking cars when her drivewav is fill. She, through a
neighbor, requested this area to be left "as is" so that she could continue using it as she has
for years. This was done at the public site plan review meeting in August and we have
100 10th St—t NE, Suiti, 200 - 0-1.11—ille, XTA22902 - Voic — (434)971 -8848 - FAX — (434)2963040
proposed maintaining the status quo in an effort to be "neighborly". Brooks and Schuck
could approve this but have chosen not to.
We must go to die Planning Commission for a "critical slope waiver` and have informed
the planner that we wish to also gain relief from the curb and gutter requirement so Ms.
Koehn can continue to use flic little parking area. In addition, we are going to use the
opportunity to request that the Planning Commission approve the preliminary site plan
without the two "easements" that Brooks and Schack are demanding. I will be very
surprised if they support the easements as there is no precedent in their ordinance to support
them. In this way we can move the process fonvard.
I am writing this because I suggested in my letter of proposal to you that the preliminary
phase of this process should take approximately= $7,000 to $10,600. With this invoice_, we
are slightly above $16,000.
Clark has done everything in his power to encourage the county administrators to be
reasonable and move this plan forward. They are not cooperative and in the case of the
Engineering Department have been obstructing the process with what appear to be
inappropriate "road blocks ".
To assist you in staying as close to the cost we had hoped would suffice I am not charging
for any of my time, despite the fact that I have had to attend meetings and assist Clark in
strategizing how to deal with these obstructions on a fairly regular basis.
We believe the Planning Commission meeting on December 5s' will provide us with an
opportunity to finally gain approval of the prelinrman, plan so that we can move on to the
final site plan process. We will represent your interests at that meeting and will report the
results directly to ,you. You are welcome to attend, but you may find it more frustrating
than anything else.
As always, let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Wilham B. Daggett, Jr., AIA, NCARB
President
Cc: File,
100 10th Street N&, Suite 200 - Chnl0t —ill., VA 22902 - Voice - (434) 971 -8848 - FAX - (434) 296 -3040
Daggett & Grigg Architects, PC
r I00 10th Street NE, Suite 200
Charlotteville, Virginia 22902
Phone #434 - 971 -8848
FAX #434- 296 -3040
Professional Services For
Gilflspie & .Asso<;iates
1395 Lost Valley Road
F.arlysville, VA 22936
Preliminary Site Plan
Inglewood
Project Billing Services
071 Engineer Hours
invoice
E Date Invoice #
71/6/2066 2002 -2452
Terms Due Date
Net 3o 12/6/2006
Description Hours
Rate Amount
39 13500
5,26500
Current Balance Due $5,26500