The Outlets at Richmond project has yet to get off the ground. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
The battle of the billboards is over, at least for now.
The Supreme Court of Virginia last week brought an end to a lingering legal dispute over an unbuilt billboard meant to advertise the long-awaited Outlets at Richmond in Hanover County.
The saga began last year, when EMAC LLC, backed by Ed McGeorge of McGeorge’s Rolling Hill RV Supercenter, sued Hanover County for refusing to renew a permit for a large digital billboard envisioned on McGeorge’s property. The land sits next to the future site of the outlets around Lakeridge Parkway and Lewistown Road.
EMAC claimed the county discriminated against it in favor of the outlets’ developer, and it claimed the decision will cost it upwards of $7 million in lost advertising revenue from the sign. A Hanover County Circuit Court judge ultimately dismissed EMAC’s case in late 2014 before it could go to trial.
Read the court’s opinion (PDF)
From there EMAC and its attorneys argued their way to the high court, where Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn issued an opinion on Jan. 14, ruling the verdict in the county Circuit Court should stand. EMAC’s appeal to the state Supreme Court challenged whether the lower erred in its ruling, in which case the matter should be sent back down to the county to be argued again. Justice Cleo Powell wrote a dissenting opinion, saying the Hanover court did err in its ruling, but Goodwyn siding with the county still stands.
While the Supreme Court ruling all but puts the matter to rest, state law does allow a petition process to potentially have the matter heard again. There’s also the outside chance that EMAC and its attorneys might find a new legal argument to introduce in Hanover Circuit Court.
EMAC was represented in the case by LeClairRyan attorneys William Shewmake and Vernon Inge. Shewmake did not return a call seeking comment, and Inge declined to comment.
The county was represented by County Attorney Sterling Rives. He did not return a call seeking comment.
The outlets, like the billboard, remain unbuilt after several years of publicity. West Coast-based developer Craig Realty is behind the project that would bring 375,000 square feet of space to the county, just off Interstate 95.
Craig Realty had previously said it was targeting a summer 2015 groundbreaking but that it wouldn’t begin construction until it had leases lined up for 50 percent of the retail space.
CBS reported in December that Craig Realty would look to have at least part of the outlets open by the winter of 2017, in time for the holiday shopping season. Stores mentioned in the report as potential tenants included Under Armour, Banana Republic and Gap.
Hanover County Senior Planner Mary Pennock said Craig Realty resubmitted site plans for the development in early December. The county reviewed the plans and sent back comments, related to typical matters of drainage, storm water and the like.
The ball is now once again in Craig Realty’s court.
“At this point in time we are waiting for the applicant to address the comments and resubmit the plans,” Pennock said.
At least one digital billboard, to be owned by Craig Realty, is planned to coincide with the development.
The Outlets at Richmond project has yet to get off the ground. Photo by Michael Schwartz.
The battle of the billboards is over, at least for now.
The Supreme Court of Virginia last week brought an end to a lingering legal dispute over an unbuilt billboard meant to advertise the long-awaited Outlets at Richmond in Hanover County.
The saga began last year, when EMAC LLC, backed by Ed McGeorge of McGeorge’s Rolling Hill RV Supercenter, sued Hanover County for refusing to renew a permit for a large digital billboard envisioned on McGeorge’s property. The land sits next to the future site of the outlets around Lakeridge Parkway and Lewistown Road.
EMAC claimed the county discriminated against it in favor of the outlets’ developer, and it claimed the decision will cost it upwards of $7 million in lost advertising revenue from the sign. A Hanover County Circuit Court judge ultimately dismissed EMAC’s case in late 2014 before it could go to trial.
Read the court’s opinion (PDF)
From there EMAC and its attorneys argued their way to the high court, where Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn issued an opinion on Jan. 14, ruling the verdict in the county Circuit Court should stand. EMAC’s appeal to the state Supreme Court challenged whether the lower erred in its ruling, in which case the matter should be sent back down to the county to be argued again. Justice Cleo Powell wrote a dissenting opinion, saying the Hanover court did err in its ruling, but Goodwyn siding with the county still stands.
While the Supreme Court ruling all but puts the matter to rest, state law does allow a petition process to potentially have the matter heard again. There’s also the outside chance that EMAC and its attorneys might find a new legal argument to introduce in Hanover Circuit Court.
EMAC was represented in the case by LeClairRyan attorneys William Shewmake and Vernon Inge. Shewmake did not return a call seeking comment, and Inge declined to comment.
The county was represented by County Attorney Sterling Rives. He did not return a call seeking comment.
The outlets, like the billboard, remain unbuilt after several years of publicity. West Coast-based developer Craig Realty is behind the project that would bring 375,000 square feet of space to the county, just off Interstate 95.
Craig Realty had previously said it was targeting a summer 2015 groundbreaking but that it wouldn’t begin construction until it had leases lined up for 50 percent of the retail space.
CBS reported in December that Craig Realty would look to have at least part of the outlets open by the winter of 2017, in time for the holiday shopping season. Stores mentioned in the report as potential tenants included Under Armour, Banana Republic and Gap.
Hanover County Senior Planner Mary Pennock said Craig Realty resubmitted site plans for the development in early December. The county reviewed the plans and sent back comments, related to typical matters of drainage, storm water and the like.
The ball is now once again in Craig Realty’s court.
“At this point in time we are waiting for the applicant to address the comments and resubmit the plans,” Pennock said.
At least one digital billboard, to be owned by Craig Realty, is planned to coincide with the development.