“This is not my comfort zone, I don’t enjoy being here,” said contractor Don Hicklin of Nielson Construction Company when it was his turn to speak. And a quick glance around the room full of tense faces at the October 26 Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting suggested that he was not alone in those sentiments.
At issue was whether David Turner, who was renovating the Watson Manor property at 3 University Cir. until the City in August issued a stop-work order, had made “every reasonable effort” to preserve a 150 year-old beech tree and followed his own preservation plan. In the end, the BZA agreed with the City that he had violated the final measure of the 15-point plan, which stipulated that “if tree dies, owner shall replace it.” The BZA reasoned that the tree was not technically dead, and that therefore cutting the tree down was a violation of the site plan.
Turner argued, often through his lawyer Frederick W. Payne, that the tree had effectively died and that every reasonable step had been taken. Turner rejected the term “developer” to describe him, instead calling himself a “volunteer” who has been working pro bono to restore a dilapidated “Animal House” (“by day an eyesore, by night…an earsore”) for use by UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies and Culture.
“I am not now, nor have ever been, a defiant developer that disregards private or public trust,” said Turner, citing 20 years of experience. “I don’t usually resolve issues by hiring lawyers…but when some Planning Commission members make statements that this is a criminal charge and that there ought to be fines of $150,000, I knew I needed legal counsel.”
The arborist, Jamie Powell of Crozet-based Arbor Life, said the 48" beech “never had an ounce of care in its whole life,” calling it “a diamond in the rough.” As construction began on the driveway, however, he warned that if it fell over, it was likely to fall on the neighbor’s house, crushing it.
Jim Tolbert, director of Neighborhood Development Services, said the City didn’t expect them “to murder the tree and call it the death of the tree.” He continued: “The tree didn’t die—they took the tree down.”
Neither Tolbert nor Payne offered comment about what will happen next.
