School Dispute Up to Justices

Purcellville, County Have Day in Court

By Arianne Aryanpur (Contact)

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Lawyers representing Loudoun County and the Town of Purcellville faced off Tuesday morning at the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond, the climax in a two-year legal battle over the county's plans to build a high school just north of the town.

After an hour-long hearing during which the lawyers' oral arguments were interspersed with questions from the justices, the two sides began the long wait for a ruling that is not expected until mid-September.

At issue is construction of Woodgrove High School on a 230-acre parcel known as Fields Farm, a project the county is pursuing to relieve crowding at Loudoun Valley High and other schools. Purcellville officials contend that the high school would strain the town's roads and utility system and that building it without their approval would violate a 1995 land-use agreement between the county and the town.

Photo: Katherine Frey

Students head to class at some of the 10 trailers that serve as classrooms at the overcrowded Loudoun Valley High School.

In March 2007, Loudoun Circuit Judge Thomas D. Horne ruled that Purcellville is entitled to an equal say in land-use decisions within the area of nearly five square miles covered by that agreement. But he also ruled that the town's approval of the high school is not required because a future high school is shown on a planning map in the agreement, although the site on the map is about two miles from Fields Farm.

Both the town and the county appealed Horne's decision to the Supreme Court.

Town Attorney Maureen Gilmore, who attended Tuesday's hearing, said afterward that she was optimistic about the outcome of the case, based on the justices' questions and comments. County Attorney John R. Roberts did not return calls seeking comment.

"I thought the justices asked good questions and that [we] did a very good job of tying together the statutes that allow jurisdictions to enter into these annexation agreements and joint comprehensive plans," Gilmore said. "The justices seemed to focus on that."

Gilmore said that Purcellville's outside counsel, Chandra D. Lantz, argued that the town and the county are required to work together under the joint agreement. She said that at one point in the hearing, one of the justices questioned the county's position that the town was entitled to "input but not decisional authority." The county was represented by outside counsel William G. Broaddus.

According to Gilmore, another justice observed that the potential impact of a public facility on traffic and utilities should be considered when determining its location. In addition to their argument that the joint agreement does not envision a high school at Fields Farm, town officials contend that plans for the school do not comply with wastewater and transportation guidelines in the agreement.

County attorneys have argued that a new facility does not need a town permit if it would be built in the general vicinity of the site shown on the planning map, a position that Horne agreed with in his ruling.

As recently as last month, county and town officials were trying to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. The talks broke down when the two sides could not agree on the amount of county-funded road improvements, among other issues.

School officials initially hoped to open Woodgrove High in the fall of 2008. When Horne issued his ruling last year, they said the school could be completed no earlier than January 2009. This week, Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde Byard said the school could open as early as the fall of 2010 if the Supreme Court rules in the county's favor.

Tagged: Loudoun County Public Schools, Purcellville, schools, Virginia Supreme Court

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