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space, not not for a jail or holding cell.

“Given that restriction,” McCarthy added, “we can not lease it out to someone else for another use.”

“The county is doing this to meet an existing public need. We feel this is the best for the residents of the county and for the residents of the town,” he said.

McCarthy pointed out that the supervisors do not want to turn the old town hall into office space because they fear they will have to provide an additionalcourtroom within 'the next few years. “If we turn that into office space now, it will be very difficult to move them out later (for a courtroom),” he said.

Council member Ray Goochraised a concern about losing limited community resources. “We have lost the only general store in town,” he said.

“We are going to lose a very important arts perfomance space (referring to Ki Theatre, which currently is leasing the old town hall from the county.) This building is not as important. I would just like to say I think the county government is posing a greater threat to the town and 1 would like to see some long term planning,” he added.

McCarthy admitted the county has done no long term space study, other than a capital improvements plan that the county planning commission reviews each year.

He pointed out that there is no room to expand county government within the courthouse area because all the open space remaining there is either being used for drain fields or is a parking lot.

“I look at this (the garage) as solving the magistrates’ problem for as long as I am in Rappahannock County,” he said.

Acting on the suggestion of mayor Dean Morehouse, McCarthy informally agreed to add another restriction to the deed to limit the height of the building to its existing height.

With that Newbill Miller gloved to rezone only the land purchased^ the county as determined by a survey, with the restrictions proposed by the planning commission regard