The Middleburg Town Council, meeting regularly in full-council "work sessions" as well as it's regularly-scheduled formal monthly meetings, continues to move toward final approval of zoning critical to the construction of the Salamander Inn and Spa.

On July 9 Middleburg's Planning Commission recommended that the Town Council approve all the amendments to the Town's Zoning Ordinance required to allow Salamander to begin breaking ground.

A formal vote on the changes was scheduled for the July 26 Council work session.

Before the Council could officially vote on the changes approved by the Commission, however, those changes had to be formally posted for public review, that is, advertised, in a legally recognized public newspaper, for at least two weeks in a row.

An advertisement listing the changes appeared, as scheduled, week one. For reasons as yet undetermined, however, the second week's ad did not appear. Some sources have blamed Leesburg Today for not fulfilling the Town's insertion order. Others point fingers at the Town staff, or Salamander, for not following up to make sure the critical second ad appeared.

In any case, the Middleburg Town Council must now wait until at least August 9, before voting on the zoning amendments.

Opposition Voices

Despite what appears to be a solid four-vote majority of Council in favor of moving the Salamander project along as quickly as possible (Council members Eura Lewis, Trowbridge Littleton, Lisa Patterson, and Karen Robinson), a vocal minority continues to oppose construction of the Inn and Spa.

Council Member Bundles Murdock has opposed the project consistently. Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk, a proponent of the original "memorandum of understanding" with Salamander, changed her mind after Council was given what she perceived to be a "take-it-or-leave-it" ultimatum, to increase the size of the inn to 168 "lodging units." Mark Snyder, widely perceived as the Council member who cast the deciding positive vote for Salamander's original proposal, now insists that the Town is not being adequately compensated for its concessions to the project.

Citizens have appeared before the Planning Commission and Council, expressing concerns about wording in the zoning amendments that appear to give Salamander a loophole for avoiding its promise that, once given permission to expand to 168 guest rooms, there would be "... no increase to capacities or square footage in any other area of the Resort."

Concerns about late-night noise were raised at the July 12 Council meeting.

A debate about who should bear the cost of changing the awkward and potentially dangerous Foxcroft Road intersection is ongoing.