Court Postpones Hearing on School

Purcellville Claims Role in Deciding Use of County Site

By Arianne Aryanpur (Contact)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The long-running legal dispute between the Town of Purcellville and Loudoun County over construction of a high school has been extended by at least a couple of months.

The Virginia Supreme Court, which had been scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case next week, has postponed the hearings until June. Attorneys learned about the postponement last week.

Chandra D. Lantz, an attorney for the town in the case, said such delays often occur when the court's docket is overbooked.

"They probably anticipated they would have room on the April docket for it, but they did not. It happens all the time," Lantz said.

The case is rescheduled for the week of June 2, and town and county officials said that means a ruling won't come until September at the earliest.

The county is trying to build the school at Fields Farm, just north of Purcellville, to relieve crowding at Loudoun Valley High School and other schools in the area. But Purcellville officials have argued that building the school without their approval would violate a 1995 land-use agreement between the town and the county.

The town filed suit in 2006 to block the project. In March 2007, Loudoun Circuit Judge Thomas D. Horne ruled that although Purcellville is entitled to have a say in development decisions in the area, its approval of the school is not required because a high school was shown on a map that was part of the joint agreement. Both the town and the county appealed the judge's decision.

Meanwhile, attorneys for both sides are still discussing a possible out-of-court settlement. Those talks were authorized by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors in December after Purcellville Mayor Robert W. Lazaro Jr. and Loudoun Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) met and agreed that the option of a negotiated settlement should be explored.

But when asked this week how the talks between attorneys were progressing, Lazaro and Burton each said that the other side had not gone far enough to forge compromise.

"We're willing to drop all litigation if they work with us. We're not going to drop all litigation if we get nothing in return," Lazaro said.

Purcellville officials have said that the Town Council must be given a vote on the project and that the county must agree to address their concerns about the high school's effects on traffic and utilities.

Burton said he remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached but was not pleased with the town's posture so far in the talks.

"The progress has not been nearly as rapid as I had hoped or believed was possible," Burton said. "I'm hopeful that a majority of the Town Council is interested in reaching a settlement. If they are, we can."

The town's municipal elections May 6 could change the direction of the case. Lazaro is facing Karl R. Phillips, a former Town Council member who has said he will seek to drop the town's lawsuit if elected. Three other challengers are running for council seats on a similar platform.

Schools spokesman Wayde B. Byard said Tuesday that the high school could open as early as January 2010. That date could be pushed back depending on the Supreme Court's timetable and the outcome of the case, he said.

Tagged: high schools, Loudoun, Loudoun County Public Schools, Purcellville, schools, Woodgrove High School

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