A years-long suit over the zoning for a Wegmans Food Markets distribution center in Hanover County could be headed to a final decision next week.

A group of homeowners opposing the nearly constructed facility is asking the court to decide whether the Hanover Board of Supervisors violated state Freedom of Information laws when passing the original zoning amendment that led to construction of the Wegmans distribution center at Sliding Hill and Ashcake roads near Ashland.

At the crux of the homeowners complaint is that public meetings rules were not followed during the board meetings because of the pandemic in 2021.

While it’s possible the judge won’t make a decision over the board’s alleged FOIA violation, a ruling in favor of the homeowners would essentially mean victory without going to a full trial.

A recently filed motion asks the judge to void current approvals over the facility, and any future approvals unless the county holds new public meetings that comply with FOIA.

The distribution center, which is near completion, was announced in 2019 with the promise of 700 jobs for the community. Then-Gov. Ralph Northam said Virginia was using $2.35 million in state money as an incentive to build the center. It’s been built just hundreds of yards from the doorsteps of the residents bringing suit against the county.

Brian Buniva, a lawyer for the residents, said aspects of the overall project — like its zoning, permits and site plan approval, would be considered void. Buniva said that would render the yet-to-open facility an “illegal building” and that it should be considered inoperable.

Wegmans and Hanover are hoping to punt the FOIA question to a later date, and instead have a judge rule on their demurrers — arguments for dismissing the case.

Emails seeking comment from Wegmans legal representatives were not returned by Tuesday evening.

The board argued in recently filed documents that it wasn’t given enough notice that the FOIA question would be up for debate. Should a judge decide to hear those FOIA claims, the board is asserting that those claims are not supported by law, and that they could not prevent Hanover from making future approvals that allow the facility to open.

The five county residents sued the county in June 2020 to appeal the rezoning of the 220-acre site where Wegmans is building the distribution center. Wegmans later joined the suit as a co-defendant with the county. The center’s construction is close to completion and not yet operational.

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The initial suit argued that the county had violated state FOIA laws by holding a public meeting during the pandemic when the public’s ability to attend was impacted by “stay-at-home” orders from the governor.

It also had five other allegations that:

Amendments to the zoning request were filed just hours before the hearing

Neighborhood protections were too weak

The development would violate the Chesapeake Bay Preservation act

Truck sounds would exceed the county’s noise ordinance and light pollution would create a private nuisance

A Hanover judge ruled in 2021 that the locals didn’t have the authority to bring a suit of this kind against the county and dismissed it without considering any of their arguments. Homeowners appealed to the state Supreme Court which ruled in their favor, saying the residents did have standing to challenge the local government and that the lower court should consider all of their arguments.

The state Supreme Court has previously ruled in favor of two resident groups in Fairfax and Suffolk, who challenged their respective jurisdictions for similar allegations of violating FOIA. Buniva previously told the Richmond Times-Dispatch he sees that as a sign that any court will take allegations of an improper public meeting very seriously.

Along with the locals’ opposition to the distribution center, they have also said that the site is disrupting a historic community in the area called Brown Grove. It was designated a state historic district in 2022 — after Wegmans started construction — and was a historically Black community. That argument is not part of the lawsuit.

Should a court rule in the homeowners’ favor, the result could be new public meetings — planning commission and board of supervisors — for community feedback, Buniva said. Residents could then argue for more protections like a restriction on the facility’s hours of operation.

The privately-owned Wegmans, based in Rochester, New York, has about 100 locations on the East Coast, including in Short Pump, Midlothian, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg. The first North Carolina location opened in 2019.

The company in a July press release about the Ashland distribution center said the site will provide transportation to 24 stores. Operations are expected to be fully running by mid-2024, the statement said.

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