James City County
“The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that the county has
to return proffer money to five developers and pay their attorney and court
costs, settling a case that has spanned more than two years. In the end, the
county will refund $270,000 in proffer cash to the developers of Windmill
Meadows, White Hall, Liberty Crossing, Williamsburg Landing and Stonehouse,
Deputy County Attorney Adam Kinsman said Monday. It will also have to pay
interest, likely 6 percent.
The case involves the timing of when proffers are paid to
the county. In 2010, the General Assembly limited localities' ability to
collect cash proffers early in the development process. Instead, new
legislation prohibited localities to collect them until just before a
certificate of occupancy was issued.
At the time, James City had proffer agreements outstanding
that predated the legislation, so the county continued to collect proffers
early, in accordance with its agreements. Windmill Meadows developer Lawrence
Beamer said he raised the issue back in 2011, and the county attorney advised
him to send a memo to the county. He did so, with the help of the Peninsula
Housing & Builders Association, and the county responded by filing suit
against him and other affected developers, he said.
The county suit asked the Circuit Court to sort out whether
the legislation should apply to proffer agreements retroactively. The
legislation did not specifically say whether it should have been, only that it
applies to ‘any’ proffers. In early 2012, Judge Robert W. Curran ruled in favor
of the developers.”
~Writes Cortney Langley of the The Virginia Gazette
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