Some real estate owners want to be within Urbanna’s boundaries — others want to “disassociate” from the town and its government.
About Nov. 13, Amy and Andy Anderson, owners of Urbanna Boat Yard and Marina LLC (URBBY) delivered to Urbanna Mayor Bill Goldsmith a lengthy letter requesting “to have all property and business relations removed from the Town of Urbanna.”
The Andersons’ letter to the town states, “The last time we wrote to you we did not receive a reply. We wrote asking for confidentiality, only to learn that this request was breached by the letter being shared around town; therefore, we have elected to share this letter with the newspaper.”
The following are excerpts of the letter’s main points. The entire letter is a public document and a copy can be requested from the town office.
Urbanna Mayor Bill Goldsmith declined to comment on the Andersons’ letter for this Sentinel story.
Cats
A few months ago, Andy Anderson spoke at a town council meeting about problems the marina faces with feral cats. He told council of the cats that have damaged boats and soiled them and cats are being fed by citizens at places adjacent to the marina. “People are feeding and holding abandoned and named ‘pet’ cats on our property line . . .”
Some Urbanna citizens have a history of feeding feral cats and attempting to keep the population in check through trapping, spaying or neutering, and returning cats to the properties.
Attempts to find a solution for URBBY appear to have been futile. “As stated in our letter dated July 5, 2023, we are holding The Town of Urbanna accountable for all cat damage done to our clients’ boats. Recently, there has been more damage and we will bill the town for payment when the estimate is received.”
Urbanna tax boundaries
The Andersons’ letter claims, “Most people who claim to live in Urbanna, do not.” Also, there is “representation without taxation. Those who live within the town boundaries pay town real estate and personal property taxes, while those outside of the town boundaries do not pay town taxes. You are exercising financial discrimination, and we want no part of it any longer. It is discrimination because you are affording benefits inequitably.”
Subsidizing town’s marina
“URBBY pays a significant tax bill to the town. As we understand it, the (Urbanna) Town Marina, our competition, does not pay or account for: town taxes, water bill, trash bill or the marina’s manager salary out of the marina budget. Essentially, URBBY taxes are subsidizing the budget shortfall of our competitor.”
Short-term rentals
“While final decisions have apparently not been made regarding short-term rentals for the entire town, the town is already putting more Airbnb (short-term rental) restrictions concerning our commercially zoned apartments. You are imposing restrictions above and beyond what the county does, therefore we desire to be removed from the town and only answer to the county. It is unacceptable that homeowners that live just outside of the town limits, within a minute or two walk to the heart of town, will be able to Airbnb their homes (rent homes short-term) and town residents will not.” (This is) “financial discrimination against town taxpayers, again.”
Town official bias
“It has come to our attention that one of the town council members has repeatedly discouraged an individual from helping us. This is vindictive, highly unprofessional, and we want it stopped immediately or we will pursue legal action. There is no justification for this behavior.”
Summary
“As a business, unlike town residents, we do not receive trash removal as a tax benefit – about the only benefit remaining in town. It could be debated that we receive a reduced water rate compared to the out-of-town users. In the last year, URBBY has incurred excessive water bills due to meter leaks and acts of God. We have tried repeatedly to have the invoices adjusted but there is always some new requirement for URBBY to fulfill. We have numerous meters on site in a confusing layout and we only have a year’s worth of data, while the town has all the historical data, which means you should easily be able to see the drastic increase in consumption across all our meters and adjust the fees accordingly. Simply put, we receive no benefit for our tax investment.”
The Andersons’ letter goes on to state, “The town lines physically and metaphorically are so blurred that your policy and tax structure is extremely unjust. Any one item above is not good but put them all together and it’s a complete justification as to why we want to disassociate ourselves from the Town of Urbanna, which obviously doesn’t see the value of URBBY or the many contributions we make for the town.”
