Senior Living: Warrenton couple celebrates 70th anniversary, page 10 August 21, 2024
Our 207th year | Vol. 207, No. 35 | www.Fauquier.com | $2.00 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2023
New beginnings at Fauquier High
Students head back to class with a new principal, policy changes By Meghan Mangrum Deputy Editor
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The Warrenton Village Center project calls for nearly 400 apartments and townhomes, a parking garage and new commercial space along Broadview Avenue and Oak Springs Drive.
Town Council greenlights Warrenton Village Center housing complex By Tate Hewitt Staff Writer
Plans to redevelop Warrenton Village Center drew so many people to a Town Council meeting last week that police officers had to carry in folding chairs. Dozens of people attended, and 33 of them spoke for or against the development. Several people couldn’t get seats and stood along the wall for hours, waiting for their chance to speak. By the end of the fiveand-a-half-hour meeting, in a 5-2 vote, the council approved the contentious project pegged for the corner of Broadview Avenue and Oak Springs Drive. The approval clears the way to radically revamp the shopping center, creating a complex with
housing, shops and public spaces. The plan needed a special use permit from the town, which will allow builders to replace stores and parking lot space with apartments and shops on land that was previously zoned commercial only. The town also granted other waivers, such as reducing the size of buffers between commercial and residential spaces and waiving the town’s height restriction to allow four-story buildings. Supporters say the plan will provide much needed “missing-middle” living options in an increasingly expensive housing market, while critics worried about the scale of the project, how it might affect traffic, public utilities and whether the project fit with the town’s character.
The hearing gave the public a chance to speak directly to council members about the project. In addition to residents, speakers included officials from businesses and organizations and two candidates in this fall’s town council elections. Roy Francis, who is running for the Ward 1 council seat against incumbent Heather Sutphin, said he favored the project, but “it should be delayed to reduce its size and scope.” Larry Kovalik, who is running unopposed in Ward 3, asked about the future of affordable units in two sections of the development, which could be sold after an initial 25 years, earmarked for affordable housing. See COMPLEX, page 2
David Ferguson hustled down a hallway at Fauquier High School in bright red boat shoes. He passed a gaggle of freshmen on a tour of the cavernous high school during their second-period English class, some walking shyly or whispering to their classmates. Ferguson was off to his next stop, another classroom. For high school freshmen — and a brand-new principal — the first day of school can be exciting and nerve-racking. More than 1,100 students returned to the oldest of Fauquier County’s three high schools last week for the start of the 2024-25 school year. The school’s population makes up about onetenth of the 11,009 students enrolled in Fauquier County Public Schools this school year. Ferguson has big shoes to fill, but Fauquier High Assistant Principal Diana Story said that, though it’s hard, sometimes change is good. Much of the Fauquier High community — and the community at large — has spent the past year reeling from the death of longtime principal Kraig Kelican. The 62-year-old died in September 2023 from injuries suffered in a car crash on Interstate 66. See FHS, page 6
PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD
David Ferguson, previously a principal for Richmond County Public Schools, took over as principal at Fauquier High School in July.
SPORTS: Fauquier volleyball, Liberty field hockey previews. PAGES 8-9
Sept.
2024
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