Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 1 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
Government in Virginia is supposed to be conducted in the sunshine, not behind closed doors. A citizen’s right to know how officials conduct the public’s business is protected under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Public meetings are to be just that—public and open to the people.
All of this was blatantly ignored last week by the Rappahannock Board of Zoning Appeals Mien the BZA members announced that their regularly scheduled, advertized meeting was adjourned. After adjournment, after the departure of all observers, the Board went into executive session and then back into reconvened “open” meeting.
For all practical purposes, the meeting was secret. The reconvened session was not a regularly scheduled meeting and so the public had no opportunity to attend.
It was no piddly little matter that the BZA members discussed privately.
Antique dealer Steve DeMent applied for and was granted a special use permit in April to expand his business in Sperryville. The Board of Zoning Appeals attached certain conditions to the issuance of the permit and apparently, these conditions have been totally ignored. DeMent was warned—verbally by the Zoning Administrator and in writing by the BZA—that the building under construction was in violation of conditions included in the special use permit and
89.0%