City Attorney Says There's No Need to Hire Legal Counsel for BZA

Alexandria City Council said Tuesday it will provide funding for legal counsel for the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals if the body or its members are brought into the legal proceedings as Alexandria appeals the BZA’s decision on the waterfront petition.

However, City Attorney Jim Banks and members of City Council reiterated during Tuesday night’s legislative meeting at a belief that there is currently no need to hire counsel for the BZA because it was named in the suit only to provide the record and is not a party to the case.

“I think that [City Manager Rashad Young] and I have been very careful looking at this from a legal perspective [and] from an operational perspective and we have not determined a need legally or operationally for legal counsel in this matter,” Banks told City Council, adding that he did not know of a role for outside counsel in the matter.

The a group of citizens who appealed the city planning director’s decision to reject their petition asking that the riverside area near their homes not be rezoned allowing development such as hotels.

In turn, the city filed a suit in Alexandria Circuit Court asking it to reconsider the BZA’s ruling. The case was filed as City Council for the City of Alexandria and Faroll Hamer, Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Alexandria v. the City of Alexandria Board of Zoning Appeals and April Burke and Elizabeth Gibney and Marie Kux and Michael Peck and Elizabeth Baldwin. The title spurred confused community discussion that the city was, in effect, suing itself as well as some of its citizens.

“We’re not suing the BZA,” Vice Mayor Kerry Donley said Tuesday. “We’re appealing the decision. It has to do with the broader land-use implications.”

Mayor Bill Euille said the legal action has “nothing to do with the waterfront” and that it has more to do with the BZA’s decision limiting development in the city by calling for a supermajority 6-1 vote by council on special use permits. He also said the city is not suing the BZA or citizens.

Last week, the where members expressed discomfort at having no legal counsel or city legal counsel, although Banks at that meeting explained that it would be highly unlikely they would need counsel because the BZA is acting only as a vehicle to transfer the record.

Donley and Councilman Rob Krupicka said Tuesday they would support the hiring and paying of legal counsel—a cost estimated as much as $5,000—if a lawyer was needed, but both said they didn’t understand what the lawyer would do beyond clerical work.

“The expenditure of $5,000 is a lot of money to do what a paralegal could do,” Donley said. “… If you’ve got this other lawyer here, she or he is just looking to justify their existence. That’s like bringing a bouncer into a bar; they’re just going out looking for a fight.”

Councilman Paul Smedberg brought the issue up during oral reports to start a discussion aiming to clarify the matter after councilmembers received a number of emails about the BZA issue.