Vineyard Square: “Let’s take a straw pollto move forward with that” –says Stought

By Valerie Cury

At the end of the July 23 Purcellville Town Council Work Session Council Member Caleb Stought asked Mayor Stan Milan to add a presentation by Casey Chapman of his revised proposal for the Vineyard Square Project to the September council agenda. The request was made even though the same presentation had already been presented on Sept. 26, 2023, at a former Town Council Work Session. The town council does not have any meetings in August.

Stought said Casey Chapman proposed a new project, and he wants Casey to “bring that back in September—and do a straw poll to move forward with that.”

On Sept. 26, developers Sam and Casey Chapman presented what they called a “new vision” for Vineyard Square in Historic Downtown Purcellville. At the time they said they are scaling it down since they have been listening to feedback from the community for their 21st Street project. 

The Chapmans added that instead of the approved six-story retail plus 40-condo project—which has been approved with active permits for 14 years—they would like to split the project into multiple buildings rather than one large structure. 

They envision splitting off the front building, which could be for retail, commercial, office, or boutique hotel. In the back via O Street, they want to construct four buildings at four stories each. Instead of 40 condominiums, they would reduce the number by a total of four—from 40 to 36. They also said they would lower the height of the buildings overall by 20 feet. The proposal offered no information about the footprint or square footage.

According to one of their older presentations their whole project totaled 171,000 sq.ft. of mixed use.

A change in an approved design would call for a whole new application submittal and a new site plan. This application should include public discussions, public hearings, comprehensive plan and zoning amendments—at both the planning commission and town council levels.  Multi-family dwellings are not allowed in the Downtown C-4 Historic District. Two apartments per structure are currently allowed in this district, and the permitted height is two and a half stories and 35 ft. high. 

If they want to change their approved plan—which expires in June 2025—they would have to go through a completely new application. This was confirmed by town planning staff at the time of their new concept. The Chapmans, however, said they want to keep their current approval as a baseline for their new changes and site plan. This way they would not have to go through a public process. Their current uses are not allowed in the C-4 District.

Stought received from Vice Mayor Erin Rayner’s campaign the total of $10,178 in campaign donations since 2022. He also received $1,500 from one of the owners of the Vineyard Square project. From 2020 to present day, Rayner has received a total of $72,467—an amount of which $24,950 came from donations from the owners of Vineyard Square, their affiliates, and a relative and one of their employees who contributed $10,000.

During Stought’s campaign last year, one of the owners of the Vineyard Square project also held a fundraiser for him.