Citizens threatened with removal

Tensions erupted Tuesday over plans for a controversial Lake Caroline convenience store with the president of the Board of Supervisors threatening to remove residents.

The meeting room was once again packed with Lake Caroline and other nearby residents as they continue to oppose the planned eight-pump Stribling Market developers have been seeking approval on for months. 

A state ethics opinion, traffic study, and pavement investigation were all discussed and one supervisor recused himself and left the room. 

Judith M. Fouladi, an attorney in opposition to the store and who has appeared before the board previously, began the meeting by pointing to an ethics opinion that requires supervisors to recuse themselves from all discussions involving a development in which a supervisor resides because of the possible effect on the value of the property. 

District 4 Supervisor Karl Banks lives at Lake Caroline. 

Fouladi pointed to a recent motion by Banks to schedule a public hearing on Jan. 16, as a violation of the ethics opinion. 

“Mr. Banks should have recused himself,” she said. 

She then passed around social media comments in printout which she said showed Banks commenting on Facebook and Nextdoor about the proposed Lake Caroline store. 

“Who polices you but yourselves, other than your honor or sense of integrity,” she said. “It was inappropriate for Mr. Banks not only to have brought motions but engage in discussions…on anything related to Lake Caroline.”

Robert DeCoster, another Lake Caroline resident who has been actively challenging the development, then raised questions about a traffic study ordered by the county that was completed in October but released at the end of December. 

DeCoster asked why there was a two-month lag between the completion of the report and releasing it to the public. 

He accused the board of trying to bury the report at a time when nobody was paying attention. 

He then said a pavement study ordered by the county was so technical the public hasn’t had an opportunity to digest it.

“A lot of this is being done in the dark of the night or not very transparent,” he said. “Transparency should be something very important to this board.”

DeCoster said the public is “no longer asleep” and they are prepared to continue to fight. He asked repeatedly for the board to hold a public discussion about the different reports. 

“We’re waking up and we want answers,” he said. 

Supervisors didn’t engage during the public comments section but later in the meeting discussed the traffic study and pavement report, which resulted in outbursts from the audience. 

Banks began by explaining when he voted for the traffic study, it wasn’t a study to decide whether a gas station was viable for the area, but to figure out how to solve the traffic problem. 

In July, Banks requested the traffic study for all of Stribling Road, at the time saying there was a traffic problem with 55 acres of commercial property currently undeveloped. 

“The county must do a traffic study — period,” he said back in the summer. “We have 55 acres of commercial property there to be developed. We have a traffic issue that has been growing for the last 10 years, getting worse and worse.”

He reiterated those comments on Tuesday, saying he never asked for a Lake Caroline gas station traffic study. 

“The traffic is a problem,” he said. “If you’re going to tie the traffic study to Lake Caroline then I need to leave. If the traffic study is for traffic then I need to hear what needs to be done to solve the traffic problem.”

Board President Gerald Steen then defended Banks, saying he didn’t consider the traffic study to be a Lake Caroline study either, which caused a mild uproar in the audience. 

Fouladi began making statements in the crowd before Steen hammered the gavel and told her to be quiet. He then asked Sheriff Randy Tucker to escort her from the room. 

“Mam, you have to quiet down or I’ll clear the room,” Tucker interjected, causing more tension in the crowd, with District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin then saying to Tucker, “Hope you have some room in that jail.”

County Engineer Tim Bryan then told supervisors that Stribling Road, which was the focus of the traffic study, was not part of Lake Caroline. 

“Does it help Lake Caroline, absolutely,” Bryan said. “It is a collector road outside Lake Caroline and that is what we were looking at.”

Despite the back and forth, Banks ultimately recused himself and left the room. 

“I’ll look at (the traffic study) at a later date,” Banks said. “I think it would make them more comfortable if I’m not there. I’ll leave, that’s fine.”

Banks left the room and supervisors were then presented with the traffic study, which was ultimately tabled to remove certain zoning language, as well as a pavement report. 

The traffic report revealed that traffic on Stribling Road is already over capacity by 100 to 200 cars per hour. 

The pavement report indicated the road would hold up with an increase in everything from passenger cars to semi-trucks. 

A public hearing is planned for Jan. 16 to address a zoning classification and commercial definition for the property in question located on the corner of Stribling Road and Caroline Boulevard where developers plan to put Stribling Market.