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By SHARON KILPATRICK
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
After considerable discussion during and after a public hearing, the Planning Commission recommended approval for a five-lot subdivision on Battle Mountain last Wednesday.
The property is owned by the Fauquier Bank which acquired the nearly 180-acre parcel in a foreclosure auction after the previous owner was not able to pay off a debt to the bank.
The application was to divide the property into three lots of 25 acres and two of more than 50 acres. Because much of the land is steep the number of lots allowed was reduced from seven to five.
Mike-Leake, assistant vice president at the bank, said the bank needed to be able to sell the property in separate parcels to recoup its losses. He several times referred to the subdivision as the “highest and best use” of the property. He said the bank had an obligation to its shareholders to regain as much of the money lost on the loan as possible and implied even selling the property in five separate lots might not take care of the entire debt.
Speaking in opposition, Marion Sharp said her parents had sold the property to the previous landowner 10 years ago. They had started building their “dream house” but ran into financial difficulties, she said. “It seems unusual for a bank to put its efforts into a subdivision. The bank has no vested interest in the county....We have seen what has happened to mountaintops. A large part of the property is in steep slopes. It is very visible from Route 211 and surroundhomes,
i hope sotTie thought is put into this.”
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