Plan withdrawn for group home

Shut out of a Griffinsburg-area neighborhood, the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board may leave the door open for legal action against a local homeowner’s association that is fighting a proposed home for adults with developmental disabilities.

Brian Duncan, director of the RRCSB, acknowledged that the vehement protests of residents were a factor in Tuesday’s board vote to halt the project.

“The RRCSB is a public, community agency seeking to develop services and housing for individuals with disabilities,” he wrote by e-mail. “A community that unifies in its objections is not an exclusive factor but one that is considered by the RRCSB.”

Duncan is also seeking the approval of the board to possibly file a complaint against the Village at Griffinsburg HOA with the Virginia Office of Fair Housing, alleging discrimination due to intellectual disability.

In a two-page recommendation on the matter provided to the Star-Exponent, Duncan cited the hostile environment that emerged when the RRCSB’s plans came to light late last month.

“It is unreasonable, in the presence of unified opposition, to pursue this programmatic course,” Duncan wrote.

Nearly 20 residents of the neighborhood voiced their opposition to the idea at last week’s meeting of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors.

The plans called for converting a vacant home at 8077 Conner Drive into a group home for about six adults. The road is located about seven miles northwest of downtown along U.S. 522.

An RRCSB employee would have overseen the home.

Duncan told the supervisors last week that none of the residents of the proposed home have criminal backgrounds and that nearly all of them have been RRCSB clients for decades.

Responding to questions about alternatives, Duncan said that continuing to rent properties or building a campus of group homes wouldn’t be in the best interest of the RRCSB’s clients, because having them live as plainly as possible in the community is an important element of well-being.

The RRCSB, which serves Culpeper and several surrounding counties, has operated group homes in the area for about 20 years.

Duncan said Thursday that the financial impact of withdrawing from the contact was not immediately clear.

In addition to concerns about the group of unrelated people who would occupy the house, the residents also said the subdivision’s lake and a lack of sidewalks and lighting would be hazards.

While the county took no formal action last week, Supervisor Tom Underwood, who represents the district, said the RRCSB should not be faulted, because it acted completely within the scope of the law.

“I certainly fully support the community services board and their mission,” Underwood said. “But I did disagreed with the proposed purchase.”

Underwood said he takes issue with the proposal because it might violate established covenants that specify homes in the neighborhood are intended for single families, among other clauses.

He noted, however, that while the project might have impacted the business aspect of the area’s homeowner’s association — specifically higher insurance or possibly cancellation of insurance policies — the home’s impact on the neighborhood’s overall environment would likely have been minimal.

Regardless, the insurance and HOA governance issues are “a valid concern, and it may have been an unintended consequence,” Underwood said.

“I support the community services board having a home in the Salem District. Hopefully it’ll work out well for everyone involved.”