Sod farm owner, hauler file suit over new fill limits

By James Ivancic, Times Staff Writer

The property owner and hauler establishing a sod farm in Midland are challenging Fauquier County’s efforts to curb the dumping and storage of non-agricultural fill in court.

On Oct. 15, the attorney for Thomas and Jody Schottler and R.C. Hawkins Construction Co. Inc. filed a complaint in Fauquier County Circuit Court arguing the county’s regulation violates state code, is invalid and interferes with the plaintiffs’ lawful non-conforming use.

Several residents adjacent to property off Brent Town Road in Midland complained about truck traffic, noise, dust and drainage problems from the Schottler property where trees were felled, an access drive created, and fill deposited for the sod farm.

Hawkins Construction was contracted by the Schottlers to do the hauling and site work.

The complaints about the Midland site and others prompted the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors in September to approve a zoning text amendment that puts a limit on the amount of non-agricultural fill dumped or stored on agricultural land in Fauquier.

A county now requires landowners to apply for a special-exception permit to deposit more than 200 yards of fill within a 24-hour period or more than 4,200 cubic yards within a year on land more than 10 acres.

There is a 100-cubic-yard limit of fill within a year for properties less than 10 acres. Amounts in excess require a special exception approval.

In the case of the Schottler property, County Zoning Administrator Rob Walton on Sept. 28 cited the Schottlers and Hawkins for storing or disposing of nonagricultural fill in excess of the new limits and for expanding a non-conforming use. They and the county Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled to consider the matter Nov. 1.

Work on the sod farm was stopped after the zoning administrator issued a “certificate of imminent peril” to bring it to an immediate halt. The move has caused “severe economic harm,” said John Foote, attorney for the Schottler couple and Hawkins.

The fill material taken there so far by dump trucks includes material obtained from contractors for the Virginia Department of Transportation, mostly from Interstate 395 and Interstate 66 projects. Foote claims state law bars local governments from requiring state agencies or its contractors to obtain a special exception permit.

Schottler obtained permits from the Virginia Department of Forestry to clear timber from the land and obtained a land-disturbance permit from the county to install a culvert, clear a section of land and build an access road.

Reach James Ivancic at jivancic@fauquier.com