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Kramer
cottage demo
a done deal
BY GERALD OCHS
Rappahannock News Special Writer
Peter Kramer’s appeal of Sunnyside Farm’s market complex demolition plan ended Nov. 3 when the Washington Town Council unanimously approved a modified proposal presented by Peter Kreyling. With a series of motions affirming the acceptability of proposed changes to the Clopton House, the Mercantile Building, and the Kramer Cottages, the Council erased any hope that the charm of Kramer’s work would escape the proverbial wrecker’s ball.
Public sentiment toward Sunnyside’s plans was slightly weighted toward preservation, but the Town Council favored accommodation and, as Council member Charlie Tompkins pointed out, “the major value of the property is its charm . . . other than that, the highly impractical [for business purposes] cottage seems an obvious candidate for demolition.”
Despite the unanimity reflected in the Council’s action, there was little sensitivity expressed during the review process. Mayor Stu Willis insisted upon an open review of each task group in the proposed work plan, and asked each council member for his or her response to questions of project suitability raised in applicable sections of the Town ordinances. Though an exhausting process, Mayor Willis’ approach to the review and approval process left no doubt about the council’s seriousness and understanding of the gravity of their actions.
Council member Reinhardt Lynch may have represented the collective sympathies of the council when he thanked Peter Kramer for being “part of the town,” and noted that “he was one of the reasons we came here twenty years ago.”
See COTTAGE, Page A8
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