Fauquier Times 09/04/2024

Page 1

WILL LIBERTY WIN ANOTHER BIRD BOWL? Football showdown is Friday in Bealeton. SPORTS, PAGES 10, 11, 13 September 4, 2024

Our 207th year | Vol. 207, No. 37 | www.Fauquier.com | $2.00 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2023

Debate begins over planned senior housing village for veterans Planning Commission hearing on Hero’s Bridge Village is Sept. 17 By Tate Hewitt Staff Writer

Should Warrenton make it easier for Hero’s Bridge to build 44 affordable housing units for military veterans? Or should zoning laws be interpreted strictly, which would block the project? And does a 2020 Virginia Supreme Court decision point the way to a simpler solution? Hero’s Bridge, a local nonprofit that serves veterans aged 65 and older, has asked for a zoning change to allow construction of the veterans’ housing project. The WarrenSTAFF PHOTO BY TATE HEWITT

John Foote, attorney for Hero’s Bridge Village, speaks to the Warrenton Planning Commission about zoning changes.

ton Planning Commission began discussing the request on Tuesday, Aug. 27. The proposal is a joint project of Warrenton United Methodist Church and Hero’s Bridge. They want to rezone an empty lot at Church Street and Moser Road so Hero’s Bridge can build 44 affordable housing units for veterans, arranged in 22 duplexes. The plan includes access to services and recreation for the military veterans who would live there, and Hero’s Bridge hopes to build a 19,000-square-foot community center that the church would also use. The land is now zoned residential; the change would make it a residential planned unit development, which would allow a higher population density than single-family zoning does. The work session is just one step in a long road for Hero’s Bridge Village. The proposal was presented to town zoning staff last See HERO’S BRIDGE, page 2

Fauquier County students show improvements on annual state tests 72% of students passed English tests last school year, below state average By Meghan Mangrum

SUBMITTED

Deputy Editor

Fauquier County students showed improvement on their annual Standards of Learning test scores, but, like those across the state, test scores still lag behind pre-pandemic levels. Some Fauquier County students, especially those in third, seventh and eighth grades, also lag behind their peers in English. Overall, local students performed better on the state test in every subject during the 2023-24 school year than they did the previous year, with 72% of students passing English, 71% passing math and 70% passing science. See TESTING, page 4

There is the church, where is the steeple?

PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD

KETTLE RUN ROLLS AGAINST LIBERTY

The high school football season officially returned last week with the Kettle Run Cougars cruising past the visiting Liberty Eagles 39-7 on Friday. Fauquier High opened with a bye and will debut under new coach Donnie Downs against Liberty in the 31st Bird Bowl on Friday. MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE, pages 10 and 11

Heavy storms brought down tree limbs and left many in Warrenton without power from the evening of Thursday, Aug. 29 into Friday last week. A line of thunderstorms moving through the region brought hazardous weather to Fauquier County and the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, leaving debris and damage — like the toppled spire and cross of Oak Dale Baptist Church in Nokesville (pictured) — in its wake. A tree outside Warrenton United Methodist Church was also reportedly struck by lightning — with “huge gashes all the way down both sides” to prove it.

Remington’s Community Garden celebrates its 10th anniversary, page 3

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