Lawsuit filed against Accomack County

Back in 2008 initial planning began in Accomack County on what would be a residential and commercial development in the area around Wattsville and Atlantic. After a lot of back and forth, the county reportedly denied the re-zoning, and now the developers, Atlantic Town Center Development Corporation, Atlantic Town Center Properties, LLC, and Atlantic Town Center Utility Company, INC. have filed a lawsuit alleging that the County acted outside the Virginia state Constitution costing them millions of dollars.

The complaint says the developers planned apartments and town homes on 106 acres, and had broad support, including support from NASA Wallops Island to do so, but the area was zoned as agricultural and they would have to apply for rezoning.

The developers also planned a new waste-water treatment facility for the site and according to the complaint, the county approved the facility but only if it were re-situated within the planned community.

The complaint also says the county Ok’d a rezoning, but added a reversion stipulation that if certain milestones in construction were not met, it would revert to an agricultural zone, effectively making further construction illegal. The lawsuit alleges that the county acted unconstitutionally by doing so, and over the roughly 7 year process, cost the developers more than $8 million.